Tips for getting your first job in Costa Rica

First of, they should be aware of the rules of living hereand what it takes to be legal to work.

Note that they cannot apply for a work visa as this must be handled by an employer, and expect it to take 'quite a while'

Many employers wish expats to work for them, but do not want to pay out the benefits such as healthcare, vacations, etc..
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Foreigners cannot work in Costa Rica, nor collect welfare, nor vote.  You can apply to work here, but you'd have to be a specialist in some field other than bar tending  LOL.

It is very very difficult to find jobs in Costa Rica...   Most gringos are self employed and that is not easy either.... You must have some sort of skill that is beyond what most tico,s can do.Like some computer work and it would be a major company.   It is a general law here that if a tico can do the job then a gringo will not get it . other wise may be a few jobs under the table but even that is hard  You can look in local news papers or the tico times .  Good luck jobs are very hard to find and I would not count on it  for income

Too bad the Canadian government didn't protect their citizens as well, when it comes to flooding the country with immigrants "and allow them to do jobs that Canadian's can do".  I love Costa Rica's regulations "No such classification as immigrant", "no foreigners permitted to vote", "and no welfare checks for foreigners", what a great system.

Canada is entirely comprised of "immigrants".  The Aboriginal populations have been here for about 16,000 years, and the rest of our descendants began to show up in the 1600's.  The Canadian culture is a mosaic of Aboriginal, European, Asian and African customs.

Without immigrants, Canada would not be where it is today. Immigrants from many countries were brought there  to teach 'Canadian citizens' trades. that were desperately needed.

Have you declared yourself to be a 'non-resident of Canada'?  I expect you will accept a Canadian pension at a later date?

Once a foreigner applies and is approved for Costa Rica citizenship, they can indeed, vote.

Sad to say 'no welfare checks for Costa Ricans'.
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Didn't you tell us your wife was from the Philippines? And when and from where, did your family initially come from?

Hi all,

You guys drifting off topic

Can we please stick to the topic and to the questions here :

What are your tips and advice for getting a first job in Costa Rica?

What are the job hunting steps to follow? Where to look for offers: newspapers, Internet, recruitment agencies, word-of-mouth?

What are the top hiring sectors?

What would you recommend to young professionals wishing to start their career in Costa Rica?

Much thanks

Maximilien

Dear Khlerias,
Canada importing vast numbers of immigrants and giving the welfare for life has destroyed that county, as the video below clearly indicates.  I was just praising the Costa Rican government for not taking the same route.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFFq9CkG4k

Oh, well...if it's on the INTERNET, it must be accurate. I guess you were right all along. Dang!

You can work on-line.  I've been researching blogging this year ad one job that keeps getting mentioned is Virtual Assistant.  There are books on how to do it.  You could work for several people, if one person doesn't need you full-time.  I would look into that, if you're not a permanent resident.

A relative of mine has worked for Social Services in Toronto for over twenty five years, so the information provided about the welfare problem in that country are true and factual.  You've really got to give the Costa Rica government a lot of credit for making attempts to protect their workers and citizens from "MULTICULTURALISM".

I've been learning about seo (search engine optimization)too. Every page and picture on the internet needs to be optimized if it's for a business. This is so it moves closer to the top when a person does a web search. I think you can get training and get certified to do this for other people. Then, you can work virtually too.

Our neighbour here works for a car insurance operation in the US "on line".

OK very very tough to get a job here.  Costa RIca protects its workers so most ordinary jobs like bar tending cooking ect can not be had unless under the table and that is risky could be deported if caught.   So that leaves high profession jobs that locals have no real skills at.   There are a few jobs teaching English but only a few . You can do contracting and building or even real estate but good look as market is slow in those areas . Very tough to make a living here.   If you have a professional skill then look on line and who is hiring in Costa Rica but you will need extreme luck

Tips for getting your first job? There aren't any because it's nearly impossible. I keep hearing that online gambling hires expats in San Jose but I'm not sure if it's true. Unless you have a specialized skill a Tico can't do, you won't get hired for anything. In an outlying area you MIGHT get hired to manage or work in a bed and breakfast or hotel IF you have experience.

It's illegal to work until you're a permanent resident which takes years. You can manage a business but not work in it. Many do but technically you can get kicked out of the country for doing so.

Working online is great if you can figure out a way.
I've been working online for 3-4 years but it's not as easy as those who sell courses on it would have you believe. In fact I'd say 80% of money made by individuals online are made by convincing others it's easy to make money online! LOL.

SEO? It's voodoo! To be successful you have to get results and getting results is nearly impossible because Google changes it's algorithms regularly and no one can really figure out what it takes to rank on page 1. Just getting traffic to a web site is very hard. Forums like this are one way, but still you have to be able to monetize that traffic....

So yeah, making money online is one way to make money while living in Costa Rica... IF you can figure out how to do that! GOOD LUCK! It's POSSIBLE but by no means easy. Virtual assistants? Unless you are a great writer or have great web design or some similar online skill you will be a victim of outsourcing where in India, Philippines and Taiwan and so on people will work for 1/3 of what you'd like to make for doing your virtual assisting!

Best way to work in  Costa Rica is probably to start and manage a business where you employ Ticos to do the work and you just manage the business.

Make sure you go to arcr online and understand the resident requirements.

I WISH the USofA would have protected its jobs for its own citizens the way Costa Rica does. There are something like 6 million jobs outsourced now in the USA that will never be available again here. Then on top of that all the restaurants, retail stores, fast food, etc hire mostly Latinos, many of them here illegally.