Young Spanish nurse pursues her dream in Germany

Moving abroad was a big decision for her and her family, but the Your first EURES job (YfEj) project supported her all the way.

“My father is a craftsman, but he’s been unemployed for a long time,” Nerea says. “My mother worked in a hotel until two years ago. She was released and has since been unemployed, so the family income is really very low.”

After secondary school, Nerea trained as a Specialist for the Care of Dependent Persons. Although she knew the job opportunities with this vocational qualification were not especially good, she enjoyed the work and found it satisfying.

“I applied to old people’s homes and institutions for people with disabilities, but didn’t even get a job interview,” she says. “Most of the graduates from our school work in private care or in households. You earn very little there, and I didn’t want to be the third unemployed person in the family.”

She found out about the YfEj scheme through her school. The nearest language school that collaborated with the German employer Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO), a social services provider, was in Alicante, 170km away from her home town of Valencia. With practical advice and some financial support from EURES, she gained a place in the project.

“My family supported my decision, but it wasn’t easy,” she says. “During the language course in Alicante I had to rent a room and needed a little money to live. I got that from my parents. Now, I want to take care of myself. That's my main motive. The project with the AWO is exactly the right thing for me. I want to develop my career and I can do that here. And if you can work and earn enough money to live on, that's even better.”

And Nerea is enjoying her new life and the challenges it brings, she says. “I like working at the AWO and I am interested in the new language and culture. The most important thing is that I am independent and earn my own money.”

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