Hello everyone,
I am new here and quite relieved I discovered this forum by accident. I am reaching out to the expat community regarding a rather difficult situation I have been facing, professionally. I have been living in Colombia for almost two years (over a year in Bogotá and since February in Manizales) and I have NEVER been able to find a job. I know I am not the only one but I consider my professional profile interesting and I find it hard to believe that it is so difficult to encounter employment for a trilingual engineer, even in Colombia. Regardless, I know for a fact connections are emphasised so I am hoping that I will find someone in here who can help me and possibly be of assistance job-wise, I can obviously send out my CV if needed. I am an engineer within the field of renewable energies and sustainable development with a Master in International Management. I speak French, English and Spanish.
If you can help me or give me any kind of tip, I would be very grateful if you could post in this thread.
Cheers,
Arthur
Desperately looking for a job in Colombia
Hi Arthur,
Please send your resume to [email protected] - We are currently hiring in Bogota, and need French speakers.
Thanks,
Ben
Hello maybe speking whit SENA
Hello,
Thanks for the answer. However, I have no idea what it is. Could you be more specific?
Will check it out. Thanks!
I would think that to work at SENA in any city in Colombia you would need a cedula -- meaning, some form of residence status. SENA being public sector is likely to require this.
I obviously have a foreigner cedula but I do not think it'd help for such an organisation, as colombians are usually favoured. But I can give it a try.
It might. Give it a try. I worked for awhile at a Coliombian government institution -- with legal permission quite obviously -- not SENA it was another institution -- but I have since left Colombia. I have a cedula extranjera. Actually, that cedula is still valid as it hasn't expired yet. But I'm not using it right now because I am not in Colombia. You will have to go through a lot of background checks and stuff for any government position in Colombia. Yes, they usually favor Colombians. Yes, it pays to know someone and have a personal referral. That's how it works in Colombia.
For government positions you are likely to find that fluent Spanish-speaking ability helps, which you said you have. I speak fluent Spanish although English is my native language.
Well, as my original post said: it has not come that handy so far (and it has been almost two years). I'll keep trying though. Thanks for the help.
Colombia can be super hard to find a job. The recent deportation of thousands of Colombian living and working in Venezuela by the government of Venezuela flooded many places in Colombia with job seekers, putting even more pressure on an already tough job market. I lived in Colombia for nearly a decade. I might go back sometime, we'll see.
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