IT guy looking to move to Medellin and get a job.

ozgringo says on Aug 21, 2008, 07:04:

Hi, I think you have a couple of viable options if you want to work in Colombia. Form a business with someone you can trust locally so they can handle the Spanish side of things or work remotely through someone like odesk.com or thirdly start an online business with remote clients.

With limited Spanish you have little chance of getting work and the pay by US / Euro standards is really bad.

tried to think of something deep to write here.. but couldn't think of anything..

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ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on Aug 21, 2008, 07:09:

Without speaking perfect Spanish, you will have a hard time finding anything worthwhile. On top of that, you would be lucky to make 20% of what you make in NYC. On top of that, you have visa issues. Also, since you are about to turn 30, you will find that most Colombian companies don't like to hire anyone above 30. I know this sounds insane, but it is the norm.

Without "palanca"(connections), you will have a difficult time starting a successful business.
Good luck to you, but things will not be easy.

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pedro says on Aug 21, 2008, 07:10:

If you start your own business in Colombia, you will have to really hustle and make not much money.

Easier to search your home market for a "work from home" job. You work from home 100% via internet, but your home happens to be in Colombia. You fly back to the US once every 2 to 3 months for meetings, relationship building etc. You grew up in New York so you still handle the language and cultural aspects of your USA workplace without even blinking.

que nota!

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Mononoke28 says on Aug 21, 2008, 10:57:

ColombianoGringo says on Aug 21 (today)
Without speaking perfect Spanish, you will have a hard time finding anything worthwhile. On top of that, you would be lucky to make 20% of what you make in NYC. On top of that, you have visa issues. Also, since you are about to turn 30, you will find that most Colombian companies don't like to hire anyone above 30. I know this sounds insane, but it is the norm.
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Amen to this. My husband was an Ingeniero de Sistemas and worked for two very prominent companies in Tuluá, got laid off and that was that. He's very, very good at what he does, excellent references and work experience but could not find anything in Tuluá, Cali, Medellín or Bogotá in IT or programming. So it's not easy since unemployment in Colombia is so high.

Also, my sister in-law is an accountant, worked for a sugar refinery in Tuluá for over 12 years, quit because she thought she was going to move to Bogotá but didn't. Now she can't find any work because she's too old, and she's only 35.

Diana

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panaca says on Aug 21, 2008, 11:34:

Thanks for your help guys. Seems like working for a company is out of the question and opening up a online business is the way to go.

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david barkley says on Aug 21, 2008, 12:49:

Please explain the over 30 not hired rule in Colombia????

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Lisa Zee says on Aug 21, 2008, 12:55:

There is always picking coffee or washing dishes! LOL (joke)

Feliz Navidad!

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Mononoke28 says on Aug 21, 2008, 13:12:

david barkley says on Aug 21 (today)
Please explain the over 30 not hired rule in Colombia????
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It's an unwritten rule that anyone over 30 is too "old" to work unless they've been at the same job since they graduated high school or college. It's illegal, that's for sure but most companies follow that rule. It's very unlikely that a company would hire a 40 something woman or man vs. a 22-25 year-old person. It's sad, isn't it?

Diana

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ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on Aug 21, 2008, 13:48:

I find it so ridiculous, but this is pretty standard practice with most companies in Colombia. Why would you rather have some twenty something wet behind the ears kid, when you could have an experienced, probably more mature employee? Obviously, one of the primary reasons is that they can pay them less.

Between 30-35, you may still have a chance, but once you hit 40, you can pretty much forget easily finding a good job. Of course, with some good "palanca" you can, but most foreigners, and most Colombians for that matter, don't have that kind of pull.

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david barkley says on Aug 21, 2008, 13:54:

I still do not understand the logic, they think over 40 cannot train? it is true a 25 year old can abuse more then a 40 year old.

Also do not understand whether this comment is true, becuase most Colombian have not finished school until 25-28, so that gives them 12-15 years to earn a lifetime income.

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ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on Aug 21, 2008, 15:01:

I didn't say it made any sense. In fact, as I said, I find it incredibly stupid.

My wife used to be a manager for the largest staffing company in Colombia. For most client companies, they didn't even bother with employees that were over 35 or 40 because they would get rejected and it would waste everyone's time. It is illegal as hell, but it is widely practiced.

They won't necessarily fire someone just because they are over 40. There are plenty of people working past 40. This attitude applies primarily to new hires. However, since employers know very well that older workers have a hard time finding jobs, they pretty much have the employee by the short and curlies.

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Mononoke28 says on Aug 21, 2008, 15:40:

It makes no sense at all. My dad owned his business and went bankrupt at the age of 47. He spent about 3 years looking for work and nothing came up, every door was closed because he was too "old" to get hired. That's why we ended up here in the States.

I also agree that it's incredibly dumb especially because the best engineers I've worked with have been the older, almost ready to retire kind. They are extremely knowledgeable, dependable, never miss a day of work, are always on time and give you 100%. Young folks, they could care less and many come to work hungover Monday mornings.

Colombia doesn't agree though.

Diana

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juli says on Aug 22, 2008, 05:46:

Another "situation" is your photo on your resume. Many employers will not even look at a resume unless it has a photo. Doesn't matter the job. If you don't "look the part" you won't be considered, and we all know what that means.

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gimmedub says on Aug 22, 2008, 06:59:

www.computrabajo.com.co

give that a search and see what's out there and for what pay-scale... IMO unless it's a multi-national you're going to be living paycheque to paycheque...

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papiChulo says on Aug 22, 2008, 07:18:

juli... yea ain't dat da turth... when I saw a couple of resumes in colombia I was really surprised that there was fotos... but I'm from PC canada shite hole anyway.

some of the rudest people I know don't smoke

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JChrisusa says on Aug 22, 2008, 10:42:

I was in the same situation as you as I was looking to move to Bogota. I am an experienced IT Manager with CCNA and windows server admin experience however I wasn't able to find anything. I speak spanish (however not perfectly) and the only few offers I had were lower than 50% of my actual salary.
I wish you good luck, but I don't believe it is possible to switch from IT in the US to IT in Colombia.

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Tejeringo says on Aug 27, 2008, 18:50:

Hey JCrhis , I am also a CCNA, isn''t 50% of what you make in the US a lot in Colombia ?

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viajero123 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Aug 28, 2008, 04:34: