How easy is it to get a job in Cancun?

[drewp]

After just getting back from Cancun - I want to live in Cancun I'm a civil engineer by trade but I don't see too much demand for Traffic Engineers in Mexico. I did do a timeshare presentation and I think I could do a WAY better job selling timeshares to people than that guy. How tough is it to get a job being a timeshare guy, bellman or some other job that it helps to speak english and be personable?

[rawkus]

@drewp: Its very easy to find timeshare jobs here.

Most expats that I know here still work or started within timeshare when they first arrived.

Obviously there are good and bad companies, like within any line of work.

I applied to be a bellboy(I assume thats the same..?), but never got the job - They told me I was overqualified, even though I had NEVER worked a single minute with hospitality...

Maybe its really considered to be a "low" occupation here in Mex? Dont know.

I did do some concierge work, which I really enjoyed, until they started pushing everyone to do extra hours daily, without any increase in salaries.

Plus it was hard to work with only Mexicans, mostly because they had their own "group" and weren't to keen on letting me(or any other "outsider") in.

Haha, they also charged guests money under the table to deliver messages, and were furious when I refused to do the same

[drewp]

Where do you live? Are there nicer neighborhoods that are reasonably priced?

[Epic]

depends on what your budget is like and what you are looking for.

[RiverGirl]

Are there nicer neighborhoods that are reasonably priced?

Cancun has everything from $10,000 USD a week rentals to shacks that rent for $20 USD a month. Do you want indoor plumbing? If so you probably need to pay more than $20 USD a month.

[rawkus]

@drewp: I live next to the Hotel Zone entrance(the entrance towards Downtown, NOT towards the Airport)

Pay 4000MXP/month for a 1 bedroom flat, but have no bills - electricity, maintenance, water, gas etc. is all in the price.

I like it since its close to everything - 3 min walk to Plaza las Americas, 1 minute to the Hotel Zone bus, taxis are lined up across the road(for the days when you oversleep..hehe), 10 min walk to Wal Mart, etc.

I dislike it since we have a fair amount of "incidents" - the municipal refuse to fix the lights in the park for a few months, and yet another neighbor was stabbed(twice...) a couple of weeks ago.

But hey, I experienced worse when living in Australia...

EDIT: 4000mxp = 318.98 USD as I write(xe.com), just to give you an idea

[V]

Drewp, I've decided you must be a "glass half full" kind of guy, just from the title of your thread! There are opportunities here, of varying kinds, for people of differing skills and talents who can roll with the punches, and stay positive.
____________________

More on apartments

I live near where Rawkus lives- he's right about how convenient it is- and pay 9,500 pesos per month for a relatively modern, fully furnished and equipped, two bedroom, one bath apt. None of our bills is included in the price. Cable (telephone, TV and Internet) costs 499 pesos/month; water 60 pesos; gas 150 pesos, and elec is 350 pesos/month, year round average (the range is 130-630/month). We have a/c in each room, but we only seem to need it when the temp rises above about 84 degrees; and, at night, when necessary to drown out any noises from the street, year round. [Others report much larger consumption, but may have bigger places (ours is about 900 square feet), or like to stay cooler, much of the time.]

[matkirk]

Like Rawkus says it is really easy to get timeshare jobs etc here and just to give you another idea of prices- I pay 4200 mxn pesos for a top floor apartment in excellent condition with views of the sea and hotel zone, fully furnished with European style modern furniture, stainless steel fridge and oven, TV, sky, 2 balconies, washing machine, 2 full bathrooms and a bonus dog to guard the stairs

[drewp]

Thanks for the info!! Thanks for the compliment since I am pretty optimists about most things. But I am also pretty practical and there must be some major negatives to living in Cancun or more people from the US would move to such a paradise. I did notice that most of the workers at the hotels (bell men, front desk, time share reps) were Mexican - is there difficulty getting a tip orrientated job if you are American?

[matkirk]

You might get lucky and get something but remeber if you work front desk you have to obviously be fluent in Spanish as the majority of the people in the summer will be Spanish speaking. Timeshare you can get - anything else is luck of the draw - there's a mini vac sales team in the same building as me always looking for people.

[drewp]

The guy that did my timeshare pitch was a chemist by trade - I can only imagine that selling stuff on a resort is mucn more enjoyable than being stuck in a lab all day.

[V]

Never did timeshare, myself, but as I understand it, it's commission work, and subject to seasonal fluctuations, with low season here being a long stretch from May through November, more or less. Is that a factor, those of you who will know?

[LTL]

Getting a job is not necessarily the hard part. Making money is.

By law we can not take a job “away” from a Mexican.

Your choices basically are;

Timeshare
Call center
Real estate
Teaching English (very few)

The chances of you working as a bellman or front desk are slim to none. If you have a career that you enjoy and are making good money, I would not recommend you move here. If you do, make sure to have a pretty decent sized nest egg to keep you going while getting settled.

[matkirk]

This will give you an idea Ofertas de empleo - CompuTrabajo

[drewp]

Some great info! I have a 6 year old daughter I don't see moving away from for another 12 - 14 years but it is great to dream.

[V]

When you have time to dream a little more, and consider the possibilities, here's something else you could look at-

http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/livi...ng-cancun.html

[drewp]

I did notice a couple possible money making businesses that seem to not be in Cancun. Is it illegal to sell ice cream bars on the beach or roads. I saw a couple ice cream places at La Isla but we would have killed for a ice cream bar on the beach.

[drewp]

Am I reading things correctly? An foreigner can't work a job that a Mexican can work. So if my grandma wanted to move to Cancun and work as a walmart stocker - she can not be hired since it would take a Mexican job?? What if she gets a Mexican version of a Green Card?

[V]

A foreigner can't work a job that a Mexican can work?

It's not that open and shut, so far as jobs go and, furthermore, there are ways to create work for yourself so that, in fact, you are taking no job at all, yet still working. (Have you gotten that far, yet, in your reading?)

As for a "green card" (immigrant status) that's a whole nother kettle of fish, and unnecessary, if all you want to do is live and work here.

If you've read all the way to the end of that previous thread, here's another for you-

http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/livi...on-cancun.html

After a six month long struggle, I now have work in two government institutions, one state, and one national: arguably, my work could be done by a Mexican national, but I qualified for the work and was given official permission to do it.

[drewp]

Wow - sounds like this topic has been discussed a couple times before! V - very detailed thread with a lot of good info for someone that is just thinking about moving down under.

[V]

A glimpse of life here can be found on this thread, just to round out the picture-

http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/livi...ve-cancun.html

[gbchayctca]

Oftentimes people with professional degrees (chemists and others) are working in jobs like time share sales not because of preference bit because of necessity. Very difficult to find jobs in Mexico, even for the educated. Many, many doctors drive taxis in Mexico City.

[V]

That wouldn't surprise me, at all, gbchayctca: Mexico has a chronic problem with unemployment and underemployment, and the professional classes are not exempt from this malady. But, what is generally true becomes, to a degree, meaningless when applied to an individual case.

Finding work to do here is a matter of figuring out where you could fit in, and how big a price you're willing to pay to make it happen. For many, it simply wouldn't be worth the price; that said, there are scores of foreigners living and working, happily, in Cancun. Others, less fortunate, have tried to make a go of it, suffered setbacks and disappointments, and left.

[ToriB]

All I have to say is, if it wasn't for my bf who works his tail off 14+ hours a day; I sure as hell wouldn't have made it here. I have gone to 4 Timeshare Interviews, and only 1 was somewhat doable....it was just 100% commission, as all of them were, but they seemed somewhat trustworthy. The others were three of the most horrendous operations I have ever witnesses. They were lying thieves who encouraged their staff to say WHATEVER it took to make a reservation. I could only imagine what their sales people do once the innocent actually take the sales presentation. I know not all of them are like that, but it sure is a cut throat job that is not as easy as people think.
Anywho....thanks for letting me rant.

[lilnottsman]

Just out of curiosity why would you not just move to Miami. You'd be looking at the same piece of ocean and scenery, latin American influences, except you'd have the advantages of living in the US (cheaper electronics, cheaper electricity, cheaper household goods).

[V]

Ignoring that Cancun is on the Caribbean, and not on the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico, neither of which can match the beauty of the water, here, the main thing that keeps us out of the U.S. is the absence of readily available, comprehensive, and affordable health care. This issue is discussed in some depth on the thread-

http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/livi...es-cancun.html

Through a combination of permanent international health insurance, self-insurance, and the considerably lower cost of medical care and treatment, it's easier to achieve here, than there.

[coby]

Originally Posted by lilnottsman

Just out of curiosity why would you not just move to Miami. You'd be looking at the same piece of ocean and scenery, latin American influences, except you'd have the advantages of living in the US (cheaper electronics, cheaper electricity, cheaper household goods).

I buy an awful lot of electronics and use more electricity than I should, but even with all that considered, it is incredibly less expensive to live here than Miami.

For $600 a month here, we have a cozy and well kept 2/1 apartment in a quiet and safe neighborhood only 2.5 blocks from the beach. The last time I was in Miami, a 400 sq. foot studio in a similar area (slightly farther from the beach) was $1200+.

[ToriB]

I am thinking lilnottsam might be asking the original poster this question? But if not, I have NEVER had a desire to ever go to Miami, even to visit. Just had to Cruise out of there. My cousins who live there, HATE it. And the Crime is Dade County, is out of control. Ontop of that, Miami is so very very expensive.

[drewp]

Hey where did all my topic activety go Crime is way more exciting than jobs any day!

[ToriB]

Originally Posted by drewp

Hey where did all my topic activety go Crime is way more exciting than jobs any day!

LOL...Steve split the topics. It's now listed as Crime. Yeah, seems we all have plenty to say on the topic