Finding work that contributes something to society, in Europe.

Posting this here while I keep looking into all job boards I know of, just in case there's someone around who can help. Thank you all, beforehand, for reading!

I'm 26 years old, and a South American immigrant in Europe (Madrid, Spain). Since I left my country six years ago, my main concern and the source of all my wrinkles has been to find job security in an organization where I contribute something to society. It really doesn't have to be an NGO or even something specifically within the field of permaculture: I think that making a forklift rental business work well, or helping install solar panels, is already something I'd enjoy doing for life. Bonus points if I can actually save enough to buy some land in the future, or to join an intentional community and bring some financial resources with me.

I've got about five years of experience in three roles, all of which required basically three things: research (from market research to reading research papers), communications (writing a ton of content) and operations. I think that, in particular, having gone through so many administrative processes in my life, I have found a sort of calling in being that one person in operations or HR who actually helps you solve an issue. Being competent and empathetic is a great way of working towards the betterment of the world, I think. I speak English and Spanish fluently, and understand Portuguese and Italian very well.

But (and this is a major but) I really feel that the only hard requirement I've got is that my work should actually do something for society. I feel I could never work in real estate speculation, or in fast fashion, or in selling things that nobody needs. It is amazing that this casually describes most of the jobs I find, to some extent. That and the fact that I don't have an university degree (I'm educated, but I haven't had the resources to finish college; an empty place in the wall is staring at me, where the diplomas for my four-year unfinished Law degree and four-year unfinished Philosophy degree should be) feel like crippling hindrances to actually get a stable job.

Do any of you kind folks know of any job opportunities in Madrid or, if remote, anywhere in the world, where I could do my work quietly and well, and earn about $2k a month? Even $1.5k would be fine for me, if I didn't have to care for other people as well. I don't have children, but I do frequently support friends and family who are worse off. I feel that something like keeping an eye on the operations of a plant nursery that ships accross Europe, or serving as a land manager for a renewable energy company that has solar or wind farms, or helping with recruiting and onboarding and company culture for a green startup could be ideal jobs. But I'd be more than happy managing a greenhouse, or just working there if they paid a living wage.

I'd be more than glad to send my CV to anyone who knows about any opportunities, or to hear about any job boards that present this kind of roles, and which I might now be aware of. For now, just being able to communicate so candidly about my job search (considering that job searching is all about presenting an uberconfident persona that knows everything and has two hundred years of experience) is already a big help. Thank you all for sustaining such a beautiful community here!

Hello, Miguel,
since you seem to be looking for honest work, then I will give you bad news: the only way to find an honest job in Madrid is to be your own employee.
Currently there's need for technicians, plumbers, painters and construction workers. There are many houses being renovated for turists, and the people doing this work is quite busy with the good jobs, so no one is taking the bad jobs.
If you try to work for such a company, they will either underpay you or require high certifications. You may instead work as freelance, the first year I think there's a discount for the social security fee. Afterwards, you have to make 350€ a month just for taxes, and then some for the small van maintenance or renting.
My argentinian friend started his journey in Spain by painting walls for elder people who couldn't afford an actual painter in Madrid. Currently he makes a live installing drinking water machines in Malaga.

If you prefer to stay in Madrid, check local advertisement pages for what kind of work is most demanded and what suits your needs.

with your background it sounds like you might be able to find a job in my industry, UX/human factors. Possibly you'd need to take a few courses to get a certificate (one nice thing is that credentialism has not yet taken over in this field) which would also give you an opportunity to do student work that displays your skills.

I unfortunately can't advise about what the job market is like in Madrid or even Spain more broadly, but over the ten years I've been doing this it seems to have been generally strong and I have met great UX people from Spain. There are also many remote jobs in my industry, which is something to consider because then if you find land you like somewhere, you can take your job with you.

UX definitely helps society*, especially if you focus on roles that are employee-facing. In my current role I do research to inform the design and release of tools used by automakers, to make their jobs less stressful and more productive (among other things). My job is fun, interesting (well, most of the time), and I feel like it's making the world marginally better.

(Of course it might be better if we didn't need cars, or if we had a radically different way of building them, etc. but given those things as practical constraint and focusing on what change I can expect to make...)

*Not in all cases. Sad to say but I believe it is ultimately a UX issue when you see things like dark patterns, design for addiction, etc. and when things are designed poorly (i.e. bad UX or no UX) there can be terrible outcomes. But that's why you have to be one of the good guys!

Hi Miguel,
If you wrote your post all on your own without the help of translation software, then you could easily teach English (and/or Spanish) I'm an English teacher. I work in public education so I find it very meaningful and I know from contact with our graduates that their ability to use English helps them tremendously. I also find a way to work topics related to permaculture and the environment into my lessons. OF course, to work in public education you need qualifications which means formal education. But you could work with adult learners who want to learn English online. It's not the best-paid online work--but there's a lot of demand so it's not hard to get a job that will pay you 10-20 dollars an hour for classes. Be careful though as there are a lot of companies that want to pay their online teachers more in the 5-10 dollars an hour range. In that case, if should definitely be the kind of thing where 100% of the lesson is planned for you and you just walk your students through the material. Because if you are planning lessons, obviously you need to know what you are doing, but you also need about 1 hour to put together a 1-hour lesson. So if you are teaching 20 hours a week, you are really doing 40 hours of work if you are planning everything.

Thank you all very much for your words of advice. I appreciate enormously that you all took time out of your lives to come and give some feedback to a guy like me, looking for work in a somehow disadvantaged position. Allow me to reply to each individually!

Abraham, I agree that physical work would be ideal and I'd be more than glad to engage with painting, repairs or gardening (especially gardening!) for a living. However, it seems that, as you point out, (1) the credentialism of the Spanish job market has gotten there too, and even though I know enough about painting, cleaning, gardening and small repairs to work in that area, an FP (for everyone outside Spain: the equivalent of a trade school degree) is needed to secure a position, and (2) salaries are terribly low (around $1k/month, $1.5k/month in really "high-end" positions). I don't have the financial means or the time to set up a company (considering how difficult it is to start a business in Spain, especially), to buy a van, pay for the driver's license, and buy all the necessary tools. I definitely would like to do it someday, but it's not very doable for me right now. That said, if you or your friend know of any open positions that are exceptions to these rules, I'd greatly appreciate it if you let me know! I've tried applying to some gardener positions myself, but they all have said I'm overqualified, or that it's too grueling physical work (even though I'm sound of body and would gladly use it).

Ned, I think your solution intrigued me the most, and I would love to have a chance to discuss it further with you. Would you mind if I sent you my email, or if I asked you to share yours, so I could get a better sense of the process one could follow to end up working in UX/HFE. I agree with you that UX can be used for evil (design for addiction is, quite literally, one of my definitions of evil work), but I've interacted with enough websites and products that were necessary for my work, yet painful to use, to know the value of good UX.

Melissa: thank you for this idea! I did write everything here without the help of any translation software, and I have, as I mentioned above, a fluent level of English. In my experience, though, this kind of work pays salaries mostly in the 5$-10$ range for non-native teachers. Here in Spain, in particular, is the job of choice for expats and exchange students who don't really need the money, but for whom an extra 800 euros or dollars a month makes a difference in the amount of fun they can have. Spain is, sadly, the most overqualified country of the EU (in terms of having the largest percent of its workforce being composed of university graduates) and everything related to teaching feels the impact of this overqualification, as there are many teachers offering private tutoring in a myriad subjects.

You mentioned doing this work online, though, so that may make the whole difference. Do you happen to know of any good online language course providers to send a CV to? I found a ton just searching around, but I'm concerned as to their reliability and their non-exploitativeness.

Miguel wrote:Ned, I think your solution intrigued me the most, and I would love to have a chance to discuss it further with you. Would you mind if I sent you my email, or if I asked you to share yours, so I could get a better sense of the process one could follow to end up working in UX/HFE. I agree with you that UX can be used for evil (design for addiction is, quite literally, one of my definitions of evil work), but I've interacted with enough websites and products that were necessary for my work, yet painful to use, to know the value of good UX.

I'm happy to hear you found my post helpful! I started in UX 10 years ago when I was 28 years old, and aside from getting married and having kids, that career change (I worked in the film industry before that--yuck) was probably the best thing I did in my life. Generous and patient people helped and mentored me along in that process so I try to guide and help others whenever I can. Yes, of course I'd be happy to talk however you want--PM, email, we could even find a time to do a video chat if you're comfortable with that.

(1) the credentialism of the Spanish job market has gotten there too, and even though I know enough about painting, cleaning, gardening and small repairs to work in that area, an FP (for everyone outside Spain: the equivalent of a trade school degree) is needed to secure a position,

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. The first years my argentinian friend was working as freelance for people with low income, doing petty works (painting, fixing stuff, sticking advertisements), no invoices, no credentials, no taxes, in the informal market. That way he made some money, some clients, and when he learned the job enough, he got a plumber certificate (you may get one by passing an exam, which he studied in his free time) and in time he paid the freelance fee and now he can sign his own certificates and give invoices as required.
I know there are free exams to some FP (professional formation) modules that don't require you to attend to classes, just passing the exams, which you can prepare with some books. It helps if you already know the trade.
I don't say that you have to follow his steps, maybe the market has changed in the meantime. I'm just saying that you can look for what the people is actually demanding and try to find something you think you can make some money. Preferably something suitable to your skills. I know technicians are in high demand in my city.
However.
I have another friend who is tutoring bachelors, (profesor particular), he is still unable to pay the freelance fee. Might be earning 700 euros per month. That's not much, but then he is living in a very cheap and small city, and his wife has a much better paid job. He is not a good example, but he is content because he can schedule the classes and care for their children. Actually he's taking the role of househusband (half journey job, caring for the house and the children). My point here is that teaching is not very profitable at this level.

Subnote: You need one and a half salary to pay for a home. If you only have one job, you may just be able to afford renting a room.
Subnote: Madrid has better paid jobs, but also more expensive lifestyle. Yes, there are more opportunities, but unless you plan on climbing in a big company, where you get the really well paid jobs, or become really successful with your own company, probably you will make a better life in a middle-sized city, like Sevilla or Valencia, where they are still open to foreigners, especially if they are honest workers.

Final note. If you follow the crowd, expect to be underpaid and abused. The same goes for the would be farmers around this forum. Trying to be a regular (small) farmer is a recipe for poverty.