Immigration in Chile: finding a job and obtaining a residence permit
Hello everyone, my name is Nadezhda, and in this article I will tell you how my husband and I moved to live from Petersburg to Chile. Compared to moving to a conditional Europe (they found a job - submitted documents - moved), this story looks more like an adventure and you will be interested in reading it.
Chile is not the most popular destination for immigration, so few people know that here:
So it was that in October 2015, we, the frontend developer and QA engineer, bought one-way tickets and went to conquer a new continent.
We did not find a direct budget flight from St. Petersburg, so we flew to Buenos Aires via Dubai (90,000 rubles for two each way). From there, we took bus tickets to Santiago (it takes almost a day, 200 USD for two). At the airport of Buenos Aires, a tourist visa was slapped without looking, and high up in the mountains, on the Chilean-Argentine border, too. An interesting thing is Chilean customs control. Control, in addition to weapons and drugs, food. Much can not be imported in principle, and the permitted products must be declared, for this issue a special form. I had to quickly finish the chocolate bar in the queue for passport control.
In 2017, there was a direct flight Santiago - Paris - St. Petersburg (18 hours, 3000 USD for two at both ends).
And now, Santiago! The first thing was to find accommodation. Having looked at the proposals and having estimated the financial possibilities, we stopped at the beginning of renting a room. Now I can not say that it was a good decision, but at least we found an option in 3 days, moved from the hostel and felt like people. In general, renting in Chile is much more complicated than in Russia. There is a law that makes it difficult to evict a tenant if he has stopped paying. “Difficult” means that it is possible to evict a person only by a court and not earlier than in a couple of years, by giving the annual rental price to lawyers. In general, the level of paranoia of landlords surpasses here, and the law of the jungle results in the fact that undeclared nuns pay for housing at one and a half to two times more expensive. Because they do not have documents, and their ears, feet and certified diploma do not sink. For example, in 2015, we paid 470 USD (280,000 CLP) for a small room, and now we pay 545 USD (320,000 CLP) for an entire apartment along with a communal flat.
')
True, according to rumors, now there are more offers, for example, our friend in 2017 rented a furnished apartment for the same 300,000 CLP. This, of course, pleases.
Accommodation Search Services:
www.homeurbano.com - furnished apartments from agencies for periods of 3-4 months, a good option for foreigners
www.compartodepto.cl - rooms, long-term offers from hostels
www.goplaceit.com/cl - furnished and unfurnished apartments, mostly agencies, but there are also owners
www.portalinmobiliario.com - mostly unfurnished apartments for a long term (from a year), as a rule, for withdrawal it is required to have a permit and documents confirming income (for example, a working contract)
View from the window
As I wrote above, we were going to get a residence permit by finding a job with a Chilean employer.
A few words about the qualification - I graduated from LETI in 2009. Since 2005 I am engaged in testing, I started with manual, then I automated it. Spouse graduated from St. Petersburg Polytech in the same 2009, and for a long time wrote on Flex. To find work in Chile, he learned JavaScript. English is both spoken, Spanish was at the level of "my your understand." Now, of course, pumped.
Then I will describe my search in more detail, but I will only say about my husband that, as a result, everything worked out well for him too.
Unlike Russia, there is no single portal for searching for vacancies similar to hh. There are several main sites, resume formats are slightly different and you have to copy and paste a lot. I had two CV options - in English and Spanish. I placed them where I could and responded to all the vacancies that seemed suitable to me. About a week later (the speed according to local standards is space) three answered me. One of the respondents asked if I had a work permit and after an honest answer, no, I disappeared from the horizon and did not respond to letters. The second office turned out to be a Chilean testing outsourcer, and they took me there, but I preferred the third option - a branch of the American credit bureau, where I still work.
Sites for job search:
www.getonbrd.cl - almost exclusively for programmers, my husband found a job there
www.trabajando.cl - a general -wide Rusurs, I found a job there
www.computrabajo.cl is another shared resource
I'll tell you more about the interview. They were all full-time, such is the bonus of unauthorized relocation.
They called me and invited me to the office to talk. I managed to explain myself, agreed and came. The technical director talked with me and asked about what I had been doing in my previous work, but he began, of course, with the question “why Chile?” And is it true that it is snowing all the time in Russia. We talked only in Spanish, and, nevertheless, they sent me a test task, and then invited me to the second interview.
The test task was very simple, to write test cases, and there was nothing more complicated than equivalence classes, so I felt damn overqualified myself.
The second interview turned out to be "psychological." This is such a special Chilean entertainment - all applicants to the special psicĂłlogo laboral ("working" psychologist) send. There I interpreted color spots, drew a person in the rain and explained how people in the pictures feel. And the psychologist senor also tried to find out if I tried drugs, and finally asked to write his name in Cyrillic. In general, they talked emotionally, even though the brain was completely boiled away.
A few days later, they began to persistently call me and call me to a lawyer, as if to clarify my visa situation and sign the contract. I was somewhat amazed at the fact that the offer was not sent, but I had to sign something, so four times I asked them to send the details to me in the mail, at least they could offer what salary and where the office was located. Each time they promised to send everything, but instead they called them again and asked them to come to the lawyer "straight away", which they weary. Probably, the problem was aggravated by the fact that at that time I knew the language much worse, so I don’t exclude the possibility that I just misunderstood them. As a result, when they were still honored to send me an offer, I already had a much more interesting offer from the credit bureau and refused.
This is a branch of the North American credit bureau of 600 people, half of which are the complaint handling department, and the rest are more or less IT specialists. I don’t already remember if they called me or wrote to me at first, I just remember that all communication was in English. Anyway, they invited me to the first interview, where I talked to a woman from the personnel department about previous jobs. I suspect that they assessed the level of English and general adequacy. About Russia and the bears did not ask, and thanks for that.
A couple of days later I was assigned a second interview, a technical one. There I spoke with the lead and two embarrassing testers, and then I completed the test task. It was not bad, you had to write code in an hour to test the function with the “file name” parameter, make several SQL queries and come up with cases to test an abstract application, about which only the database schema is known. In general, compared with puzzles from the first office, it is quite meaningful.
A couple of days later I was again invited to talk, already with the manager. It turned out to be a Colombian, so we, among other things, discussed the merits of Chile as a country for immigration. There I was asked more about my character, strengths and weaknesses, what I was interested in doing and why I went to the testers, not to the programmers. The dialogue was funny in places.
I: - I am quite introverted, it takes me time to get used to the new team ...
Francisco: - Yes, I understand that in a foreign country it is more difficult, it may take at least a month?
I: - ... about a year.
I don’t know what he thought about it, probably wrote it off on “Russian exoticism” and decided to risk it, because after a few more days they called me to talk for the fourth time. Formally, it was not an interview to evaluate my skills, but rather a type of "conversation with the main man to have an additional opinion from the side." So the conversation turned out to be quite secular - I enthusiastically carried something about the Northern War and the founding of Petersburg, which is Petrograd, Leningrad, again Petersburg and, in fact, Peter. And he told me about the importance of credit history for the average US citizen and how corporations earn money on it, so everything went smoothly. But if you think that after this an offer was sent to me, I’ll immediately say that it’s not, it’s not so easy with corporations.
Ahead was the background check, meaningless and merciless. Who has interacted with offices like Hire Right will understand me, and whom fate has mercy will be horrified. These guys are checking everything, asking for contacts of former colleagues from all places of work for 10 years (thank Skype, he remembers everything), scans of Russian labor and, pardon me, give urine for drugs. The analysis, however, is paid by the firm, but still not funny. This bother took about two weeks, and then, finally, they sent me an offer, I signed the contract, and the notary assured him. It was possible to apply for a temporary residence permit.
Near the office
As I mentioned at the very beginning, it is very easy to get a Chilean residence permit for a year - you need to find official work in the local market, and I completed this quest. Now I had to send the documents by registered mail to the migration service (extranjeria) and wait for a work permit. At the end of 2015, it took about a month, and I went to work as early as January 2016. The whole process from signing a contract (December) to obtaining a visa (April) took 5 months. A work permit is a piece of paper that allows you to work officially until a higher power decides whether or not to give a permit. Theoretically, it is possible to work on it only in the company that signed the contract, but in practice no information about the company is indicated on it, which creates scope for various machinations. After receiving a temporary residence permit, I went to the local registrar (registro civil) and there I was made an ID - a plastic card with a photo and an identification number (RUN).
Types of temporary visas and requirements for them on the official website of the migration service .
It is impossible to open an account in a local bank without a residence permit. Therefore, the first few months they paid me with a check, and it had to be cashed. A strange feeling, as if you get into an old Hollywood film, where a gangster with a hat changes a piece of paper for a pack of dollars. That is, of course, peso, but still.
After receiving the residence permit and local ID, I came to Banco Estado and opened the so-called Cuenta rut. This is an internal Chilean account, it has many restrictions, but what a relief after running around with checks and cash! To open a full-fledged settlement account with a visa / mastercard card, you need to be confused, since not all banks open it to foreigners with a temporary residence permit, plus they look at the salary level, ask for a copy of a working contract or even a certified diploma of higher education. Most likely because, together with the settlement account, the client is provided with a credit limit, a credit card and a checkbook (!), Even if he does not need either the one or the other, or the third. On the advice of a colleague, I spoke with a representative of the bank with whom the company has a corporate agreement, and in a couple of weeks I did everything.
The medical system is quite complicated and expensive if you pay out of pocket. But for wage earners, everything is relatively simple - 7% of salary is paid to an insurance company, which covers 60-80% of the cost of medical services. Many insurance, one state and a bunch of private. Private provide different "plans", often tied to a particular clinic, in which coverage will be more. But with any insurance you can go to any clinic, only the price will depend on the "plan". If the "plan" is more expensive than 7%, then the missing amount can be paid in addition. My company also provides employees and family members with additional insurance for USD 10 per month, which covers another 80% of the cost of the service after deducting what the basic insurance covers. The clinics themselves also offer additional insurance, so this question is useful to study properly in order to get the maximum for your taxes.
The average salary of a middle programmer / tester is 2000 - 3000 USD (1,200,000 - 1,800,000 CLP) per month net. Signora, respectively, from 3000 USD and above.
I will not write about prices in detail, I will list the main thing: rent, food, transport.
The rental price is very dependent on the area. A single-room unfurnished apartment in the fancy Las Kondas costs approximately 680 USD (400,000 CLP), the center already has 425 USD (250,000 CLP), and in less prestigious areas it is even cheaper. Utilities are expensive, depending on the area (I pay about USD 100 for a 35 sq. M), and water, electricity and gas are charged separately. Internet is also expensive - 25 USD.
The price of food in the supermarket is about 50% higher in my subjective feelings than in Russia, but on some products (wine), on the contrary. There are also markets, products are better and cheaper there. We usually spend about 100 USD (60,000 CLP) for a large (70 liters) backpack of food, including meat, fish, cheese, vegetables, and fruits.
Public transport - metro and buses, one trip costs a little less or slightly more than 1 USD, depending on the time (at rush hour more expensive). I met the controllers for two years twice, so if you wish, you can also ride a hare, and in extreme cases, pretend to be a hose (crossed out) a gringo.
As you might guess, local people do not suffer from workaholism. Despite the forty-five-hour working week, everything is very slow and relaxed - very few people stay in the office after 6:00 pm to complete the task within half an hour. At first, this is annoying, but if everything is somehow more or less working, why bother? To live with wolves ... The Chileans themselves are very friendly by Russian standards - when they meet, they embrace, women are either kissed on the cheek or they denote a kiss by touching their cheeks and smacking air. At first I shied away, and now I even like it - I don’t have to think whether to lend a hand or not, and catch puzzled looks. The work ethic is strange here - expressing dissatisfaction directly or criticism is not accepted, asking questions like “why goat the bayan?” Also, admit that you don’t know something or you don’t understand - for no reason in the world. Of course, nobody explained all this to me, and out of habit, I chose the truth-womb from my shoulder, regardless of the ranking table. I suspect that in the first few months the people were somewhat shocked and very tense. Well, the clash of cultures is a fee for diversity. Slowly got used to each other. And on the first annual review, that same Francisco noted my “straightness” as a unique virtue, which Latin America really lacks. And what am I, I'm nothing, I'm sitting and primus mending. But, if in the working relationship the difference in “mentalities” (a terrible word, but I don’t know how to formulate it) is gradually smoothed out, then in all the others it should always be borne in mind.
our team
Here everything is slow, often disorganized, but sunny, calm and tasty. Therefore, it is necessary to go here with the appropriate attitude - if the soul asks for a drive and propulsion, then Chile will most likely greatly disappoint, whatever one may say, this is not Germany or Silicon Valley. However, if you want heat and stability, then this is a good and affordable option. Available in the sense that if you suddenly want to go to Chile, all you need is money for the first time, basic Spanish and a certified diploma. Yes, the language is important if you do not want to pay for everything at the rate "for rich white gringos who do not understand that they are fooled" and you need to work in the local market. Well, after English, Spanish goes like clockwork, and over time, “immersion into the language environment” does its job.
I will not describe the difficulties of the first year of life in a foreign country; this is a topic for a separate article, dramatic and a bit heroic. The main thing is that everything stabilized in the end, and I do not regret that I left.
A gift from colleagues for Christmas
Thanks to those who read, ask questions in the comments.
1. Why Chile?
Chile is not the most popular destination for immigration, so few people know that here:
- Open migration policy. Citizens of the Russian Federation at the border put a tourist visa for 90 days. If you have found a job during this time, you can get a temporary residence permit for one year (visa temporaria). After the temporary give indefinite residence permit (permanecia definitiva) and after five years of citizenship. Chilean passport - all-terrain vehicle, gives the right to visa-free entry to many countries including the whole of Europe and the United States.
- The most developed economy in South America.
- The Mediterranean climate, compared with which the night-street-lamp-pharmacy from November to March, significantly lose.
So it was that in October 2015, we, the frontend developer and QA engineer, bought one-way tickets and went to conquer a new continent.
2. Flight
We did not find a direct budget flight from St. Petersburg, so we flew to Buenos Aires via Dubai (90,000 rubles for two each way). From there, we took bus tickets to Santiago (it takes almost a day, 200 USD for two). At the airport of Buenos Aires, a tourist visa was slapped without looking, and high up in the mountains, on the Chilean-Argentine border, too. An interesting thing is Chilean customs control. Control, in addition to weapons and drugs, food. Much can not be imported in principle, and the permitted products must be declared, for this issue a special form. I had to quickly finish the chocolate bar in the queue for passport control.
In 2017, there was a direct flight Santiago - Paris - St. Petersburg (18 hours, 3000 USD for two at both ends).
3. Search for housing
And now, Santiago! The first thing was to find accommodation. Having looked at the proposals and having estimated the financial possibilities, we stopped at the beginning of renting a room. Now I can not say that it was a good decision, but at least we found an option in 3 days, moved from the hostel and felt like people. In general, renting in Chile is much more complicated than in Russia. There is a law that makes it difficult to evict a tenant if he has stopped paying. “Difficult” means that it is possible to evict a person only by a court and not earlier than in a couple of years, by giving the annual rental price to lawyers. In general, the level of paranoia of landlords surpasses here, and the law of the jungle results in the fact that undeclared nuns pay for housing at one and a half to two times more expensive. Because they do not have documents, and their ears, feet and certified diploma do not sink. For example, in 2015, we paid 470 USD (280,000 CLP) for a small room, and now we pay 545 USD (320,000 CLP) for an entire apartment along with a communal flat.
')
True, according to rumors, now there are more offers, for example, our friend in 2017 rented a furnished apartment for the same 300,000 CLP. This, of course, pleases.
Accommodation Search Services:
www.homeurbano.com - furnished apartments from agencies for periods of 3-4 months, a good option for foreigners
www.compartodepto.cl - rooms, long-term offers from hostels
www.goplaceit.com/cl - furnished and unfurnished apartments, mostly agencies, but there are also owners
www.portalinmobiliario.com - mostly unfurnished apartments for a long term (from a year), as a rule, for withdrawal it is required to have a permit and documents confirming income (for example, a working contract)
View from the window
4. Job search
As I wrote above, we were going to get a residence permit by finding a job with a Chilean employer.
A few words about the qualification - I graduated from LETI in 2009. Since 2005 I am engaged in testing, I started with manual, then I automated it. Spouse graduated from St. Petersburg Polytech in the same 2009, and for a long time wrote on Flex. To find work in Chile, he learned JavaScript. English is both spoken, Spanish was at the level of "my your understand." Now, of course, pumped.
Then I will describe my search in more detail, but I will only say about my husband that, as a result, everything worked out well for him too.
Unlike Russia, there is no single portal for searching for vacancies similar to hh. There are several main sites, resume formats are slightly different and you have to copy and paste a lot. I had two CV options - in English and Spanish. I placed them where I could and responded to all the vacancies that seemed suitable to me. About a week later (the speed according to local standards is space) three answered me. One of the respondents asked if I had a work permit and after an honest answer, no, I disappeared from the horizon and did not respond to letters. The second office turned out to be a Chilean testing outsourcer, and they took me there, but I preferred the third option - a branch of the American credit bureau, where I still work.
Sites for job search:
www.getonbrd.cl - almost exclusively for programmers, my husband found a job there
www.trabajando.cl - a general -wide Rusurs, I found a job there
www.computrabajo.cl is another shared resource
5. Interviewing
I'll tell you more about the interview. They were all full-time, such is the bonus of unauthorized relocation.
Chilean company - outsourcer
They called me and invited me to the office to talk. I managed to explain myself, agreed and came. The technical director talked with me and asked about what I had been doing in my previous work, but he began, of course, with the question “why Chile?” And is it true that it is snowing all the time in Russia. We talked only in Spanish, and, nevertheless, they sent me a test task, and then invited me to the second interview.
The test task was very simple, to write test cases, and there was nothing more complicated than equivalence classes, so I felt damn overqualified myself.
The second interview turned out to be "psychological." This is such a special Chilean entertainment - all applicants to the special psicĂłlogo laboral ("working" psychologist) send. There I interpreted color spots, drew a person in the rain and explained how people in the pictures feel. And the psychologist senor also tried to find out if I tried drugs, and finally asked to write his name in Cyrillic. In general, they talked emotionally, even though the brain was completely boiled away.
A few days later, they began to persistently call me and call me to a lawyer, as if to clarify my visa situation and sign the contract. I was somewhat amazed at the fact that the offer was not sent, but I had to sign something, so four times I asked them to send the details to me in the mail, at least they could offer what salary and where the office was located. Each time they promised to send everything, but instead they called them again and asked them to come to the lawyer "straight away", which they weary. Probably, the problem was aggravated by the fact that at that time I knew the language much worse, so I don’t exclude the possibility that I just misunderstood them. As a result, when they were still honored to send me an offer, I already had a much more interesting offer from the credit bureau and refused.
Branch of the credit bureau
This is a branch of the North American credit bureau of 600 people, half of which are the complaint handling department, and the rest are more or less IT specialists. I don’t already remember if they called me or wrote to me at first, I just remember that all communication was in English. Anyway, they invited me to the first interview, where I talked to a woman from the personnel department about previous jobs. I suspect that they assessed the level of English and general adequacy. About Russia and the bears did not ask, and thanks for that.
A couple of days later I was assigned a second interview, a technical one. There I spoke with the lead and two embarrassing testers, and then I completed the test task. It was not bad, you had to write code in an hour to test the function with the “file name” parameter, make several SQL queries and come up with cases to test an abstract application, about which only the database schema is known. In general, compared with puzzles from the first office, it is quite meaningful.
A couple of days later I was again invited to talk, already with the manager. It turned out to be a Colombian, so we, among other things, discussed the merits of Chile as a country for immigration. There I was asked more about my character, strengths and weaknesses, what I was interested in doing and why I went to the testers, not to the programmers. The dialogue was funny in places.
I: - I am quite introverted, it takes me time to get used to the new team ...
Francisco: - Yes, I understand that in a foreign country it is more difficult, it may take at least a month?
I: - ... about a year.
I don’t know what he thought about it, probably wrote it off on “Russian exoticism” and decided to risk it, because after a few more days they called me to talk for the fourth time. Formally, it was not an interview to evaluate my skills, but rather a type of "conversation with the main man to have an additional opinion from the side." So the conversation turned out to be quite secular - I enthusiastically carried something about the Northern War and the founding of Petersburg, which is Petrograd, Leningrad, again Petersburg and, in fact, Peter. And he told me about the importance of credit history for the average US citizen and how corporations earn money on it, so everything went smoothly. But if you think that after this an offer was sent to me, I’ll immediately say that it’s not, it’s not so easy with corporations.
Ahead was the background check, meaningless and merciless. Who has interacted with offices like Hire Right will understand me, and whom fate has mercy will be horrified. These guys are checking everything, asking for contacts of former colleagues from all places of work for 10 years (thank Skype, he remembers everything), scans of Russian labor and, pardon me, give urine for drugs. The analysis, however, is paid by the firm, but still not funny. This bother took about two weeks, and then, finally, they sent me an offer, I signed the contract, and the notary assured him. It was possible to apply for a temporary residence permit.
Near the office
6. Submission of documents for the first permit
As I mentioned at the very beginning, it is very easy to get a Chilean residence permit for a year - you need to find official work in the local market, and I completed this quest. Now I had to send the documents by registered mail to the migration service (extranjeria) and wait for a work permit. At the end of 2015, it took about a month, and I went to work as early as January 2016. The whole process from signing a contract (December) to obtaining a visa (April) took 5 months. A work permit is a piece of paper that allows you to work officially until a higher power decides whether or not to give a permit. Theoretically, it is possible to work on it only in the company that signed the contract, but in practice no information about the company is indicated on it, which creates scope for various machinations. After receiving a temporary residence permit, I went to the local registrar (registro civil) and there I was made an ID - a plastic card with a photo and an identification number (RUN).
Types of temporary visas and requirements for them on the official website of the migration service .
7. Bank account
It is impossible to open an account in a local bank without a residence permit. Therefore, the first few months they paid me with a check, and it had to be cashed. A strange feeling, as if you get into an old Hollywood film, where a gangster with a hat changes a piece of paper for a pack of dollars. That is, of course, peso, but still.
After receiving the residence permit and local ID, I came to Banco Estado and opened the so-called Cuenta rut. This is an internal Chilean account, it has many restrictions, but what a relief after running around with checks and cash! To open a full-fledged settlement account with a visa / mastercard card, you need to be confused, since not all banks open it to foreigners with a temporary residence permit, plus they look at the salary level, ask for a copy of a working contract or even a certified diploma of higher education. Most likely because, together with the settlement account, the client is provided with a credit limit, a credit card and a checkbook (!), Even if he does not need either the one or the other, or the third. On the advice of a colleague, I spoke with a representative of the bank with whom the company has a corporate agreement, and in a couple of weeks I did everything.
8. Medical insurance
The medical system is quite complicated and expensive if you pay out of pocket. But for wage earners, everything is relatively simple - 7% of salary is paid to an insurance company, which covers 60-80% of the cost of medical services. Many insurance, one state and a bunch of private. Private provide different "plans", often tied to a particular clinic, in which coverage will be more. But with any insurance you can go to any clinic, only the price will depend on the "plan". If the "plan" is more expensive than 7%, then the missing amount can be paid in addition. My company also provides employees and family members with additional insurance for USD 10 per month, which covers another 80% of the cost of the service after deducting what the basic insurance covers. The clinics themselves also offer additional insurance, so this question is useful to study properly in order to get the maximum for your taxes.
9. Prices and salaries
The average salary of a middle programmer / tester is 2000 - 3000 USD (1,200,000 - 1,800,000 CLP) per month net. Signora, respectively, from 3000 USD and above.
I will not write about prices in detail, I will list the main thing: rent, food, transport.
The rental price is very dependent on the area. A single-room unfurnished apartment in the fancy Las Kondas costs approximately 680 USD (400,000 CLP), the center already has 425 USD (250,000 CLP), and in less prestigious areas it is even cheaper. Utilities are expensive, depending on the area (I pay about USD 100 for a 35 sq. M), and water, electricity and gas are charged separately. Internet is also expensive - 25 USD.
The price of food in the supermarket is about 50% higher in my subjective feelings than in Russia, but on some products (wine), on the contrary. There are also markets, products are better and cheaper there. We usually spend about 100 USD (60,000 CLP) for a large (70 liters) backpack of food, including meat, fish, cheese, vegetables, and fruits.
Public transport - metro and buses, one trip costs a little less or slightly more than 1 USD, depending on the time (at rush hour more expensive). I met the controllers for two years twice, so if you wish, you can also ride a hare, and in extreme cases, pretend to be a hose (crossed out) a gringo.
10. People
As you might guess, local people do not suffer from workaholism. Despite the forty-five-hour working week, everything is very slow and relaxed - very few people stay in the office after 6:00 pm to complete the task within half an hour. At first, this is annoying, but if everything is somehow more or less working, why bother? To live with wolves ... The Chileans themselves are very friendly by Russian standards - when they meet, they embrace, women are either kissed on the cheek or they denote a kiss by touching their cheeks and smacking air. At first I shied away, and now I even like it - I don’t have to think whether to lend a hand or not, and catch puzzled looks. The work ethic is strange here - expressing dissatisfaction directly or criticism is not accepted, asking questions like “why goat the bayan?” Also, admit that you don’t know something or you don’t understand - for no reason in the world. Of course, nobody explained all this to me, and out of habit, I chose the truth-womb from my shoulder, regardless of the ranking table. I suspect that in the first few months the people were somewhat shocked and very tense. Well, the clash of cultures is a fee for diversity. Slowly got used to each other. And on the first annual review, that same Francisco noted my “straightness” as a unique virtue, which Latin America really lacks. And what am I, I'm nothing, I'm sitting and primus mending. But, if in the working relationship the difference in “mentalities” (a terrible word, but I don’t know how to formulate it) is gradually smoothed out, then in all the others it should always be borne in mind.
our team
11. Was it worth it?
Here everything is slow, often disorganized, but sunny, calm and tasty. Therefore, it is necessary to go here with the appropriate attitude - if the soul asks for a drive and propulsion, then Chile will most likely greatly disappoint, whatever one may say, this is not Germany or Silicon Valley. However, if you want heat and stability, then this is a good and affordable option. Available in the sense that if you suddenly want to go to Chile, all you need is money for the first time, basic Spanish and a certified diploma. Yes, the language is important if you do not want to pay for everything at the rate "for rich white gringos who do not understand that they are fooled" and you need to work in the local market. Well, after English, Spanish goes like clockwork, and over time, “immersion into the language environment” does its job.
I will not describe the difficulties of the first year of life in a foreign country; this is a topic for a separate article, dramatic and a bit heroic. The main thing is that everything stabilized in the end, and I do not regret that I left.
A gift from colleagues for Christmas
Thanks to those who read, ask questions in the comments.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/352076/
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