Where to look for English-Only Employment in PR

Hola! I'm Suzanna from the mainland USA. I've traveled to over 30 countries and PR is by far one of my favorite places to visit. PR literally feels like home to me. So much so that I'm interested in moving there next month. I'll be flying down from the mainland. My Spanish speaking skill is basic; however, my understanding of the language is greater. 

Where can I find English-only jobs in PR or jobs that will work with my basic Spanish skills? Are there employment/ staffing agencies that I can contact for assistance? Where's the best place to search for jobs? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi there,

Ultimately I think it depends on the type of job you are looking for and what your background is. When I moved her 6 years ago  ( also from Denver) I was in a similar boat as I knew very little Spanish.

I think USA jobs  would be a good place to start: https://www.usajobs.gov/

There are also  customer service/ call center jobs that can be found online.

Competition is rampant though so patience is key.

The San Juan/ metro area will probably give you the most opportunity to find  something sooner vs later .

Buen dia 😃 Thank you for the info! My background is vast (IT, healthcare, training and development, HR, non-profit, social services, etc and during my college years I've developed customer service call center and sales experience). I'm in Denver now but am originally from the east coast. Colorado is a nice state but not for me. PR is more of where I want to be.

I will look into what jobs I qualify for through the usajobs site 🙏🏽! Hopefully I find something soon! Please if you see anything, don't hesitate to send my way!

If you don't mind me asking, what inspired you to move there and how did you develop your plan to move? Did you find housing first?what advice would you give?

With the skills and background you have I don't think you'll have to much of a problem landing some form of employment.  The question will probably be more about what type of income structure you can live comfortably with. Be sure to approach this area with an open mind and remember always that the $$ stretches pretty far here with exception maybe being  electricity and certain groceries.  I will say that compared to Denver I feel that the cost of living here is substantially less.
You may want to focus on finding an IT job right there in Denver that can allow you to work remotely as you transition to PR.

Family was my motivation for coming here. I had to promise my in-laws that I'd bring my wife back to PR at some point and that point came when our first son was born in 2013.  My background was in sales and I found a job prior to moving, at a hotel selling vacation packages to tourists, and my wife found a customer service job with one of the airlines. It took a few years to fully adapt to the difference in lifestyle and pace but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I now work primarily at home for real estate lending/ mortgage institution based in PR and my wife is able to stay at home and she focuses mainly on home schooling our son. We gradually built our home over a 4 year period starting in 2008 so it was ready prior to our move.

I feel it's very important to find a source of income prior to making a move, as for housing , it's not necessarily a must to have that in place before moving as you can find rentals , long or short term as you decide where on the island you want to settle.

You are correct! I noticed jobs on the island are slow to come by. Thank you for your excellent advice! I'm leaving Denver soon so I'll start looking. If not there, I will look remote jobs in the area I will be in - in the meantime.