I am planning to leave the auxiliar de conversacion program mid-school year and look for a job at an academy. Will that be a problem?

By
Bruno Bianchi
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Question

I am a language assistant in Madrid (auxiliar de conversacion). However, I am planning to abandon the aux program mid-school year and look for a job at an academy.

Considering that student visas require the certificado de aprovechamiento at the end of the year, will that be a problem if I switch?

Answers

These are the answers of some Facebook group members:

“Yeaaaa that’s quite shit to the kids and the school because they don’t get another aux for the rest of the year. An academy isn’t going to be able to hire you except for under the table, because you’re visa/papers are only for that program.”

“The school will report that you left, cancel your TIE, and you will not be able to get a job with that TIE”

“Quitting mid year is no problem. Now… why you think you’ll get a certificate from your school saying you completed the year (that’s all a certificado de aprovechamiento is) when you in fact did not is beyond me”

“I’m just going to put this here because enough is enough, imo. I completely get that people have to leave the program for a variety of reasons, emergencies happen etc. BUT this is so unfair to the school and to the rest of the people participating in the program…and those who are in limbo waiting for a placement who would be willing and able to stay the entire year. Situations like this will only add to the ministry putting more rules and limits in place because people take advantage of the program. I know full-well (been around) that this isn’t a real job in the eyes of the law but…for the staff and the students at most every school, it really is and I think it is only fair to treat it as such.
To answer your question, yeah, the school will likely report to the ministry you’ve left which would cancel and invalidate your visa and you’d not receive the carta.”

“That’s not really how the student visa works, most academies won’t hire you unless you have working rights”

“Wow, sorry but delusions of delusions. This is not how it works. Academies are not able to hire you. You’d need a different visa and they wouldn’t get approved for sponsoring you. Also, are you nuts? The hourly rate for the aux program is far better than anything you’d get at an academy and because the hours are so low, you can do other side gigs. Also, for ppl like me, who didn’t get a carta in lieu of ppl like you, this is just shitty on so many levels.”

“You’re so freaking entitled. So many auxes this year didn’t get a placement without warning bc they’re not allowing anyone who stays more than 2 years. Be grateful you’re getting 1000 euros for 16 hours with free private health insurance”

“Just my perspective as aux that was an EU citizen: it’s highly unlikely you’ll find a half-way decent job. I tried. I’m celta qualified and have relevant experience and I ended up staying as an aux because it was by far the best deal financially. To answer your question directly – I don’t think it’s very easy to switch to a work visa. your best bet is to apply for an automo visa and then get hired that way (and combine academia work with private classes which usually pay much better).”

“Y’all saying it’s unfair to the school to quit… ministerio thinks nothing of unceremoniously dropping you like a hot rock. As I plus many 3rd+ years know. With zero warning did not receive a carta and had to mad dash sign up as autonomo based on rumors back in June. Definitely quit if you have a better opportunity and you have 3+ years. That being said- immigration doesn’t work like that where you can cancel a visa to look for work. You have to modify the visa to autonomo on cuenta ajena . Also academies pay extremely poorly and per hour you are better off being an Aux, even if the years don’t directly count towards a passport if you want to be here long term. Contact English consultants for companies the pay is way better and a lot are classes online.”

“Will that be a problem if i switch?” uhhh yeah, it absolutely will. not sure how you think that would work, but i’m here to back up the precious comment and say that it won’t.”

“While it didn’t happen to me, it has happenned to many auxies that have had their contracts (carta de nombramiento) pulled out during the summer without warning because the Ministry decided to change their rules last minute. Some people had already had their houses sub-let, their return flights- and most importantly their schools wanted them back (they had to sign them and ask for them back in order to repeat). So, when someone is purposely quitting the programme just to have a visa, taking away the spot to a person who really wants to teach and keep their position… yea… I get the anger.”

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