After just getting back from Cancun - I want to live in Cancun:headbanger: 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?
@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 :icon_neutral:
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.
@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
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.]
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
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?
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.
