Working in Santo Domingo
Moving to Santo Domingo? Apart from finding suitable accommodation, you will probably have to look for a job as well. We have gathered some helpful information for you on how to proceed. Let's hope this makes your search a bit easier and gives you time to daydream about your new life in paradise.
Santo Domingo is undeniably the Dominican Republic's leading destination in terms of expatriation, as well as its capital and principal city. Over the years, Santo Domingo has been attracting large numbers of foreigners for various reasons, among which numerous career prospects are available there. In fact, unlike other Dominican cities, it is easier to find a job in Santo Domingo due to its developed and diversified economy. However, you have to make sure that you have the qualifications and skills that are required by the local labor market. One of them is undeniably proficient in the Spanish language.
It is not entirely impossible to find a job without knowing any Spanish, but it indeed makes it more difficult. Of course, you could always opt for a more prominent and international company, which may not require having any prior language skills other than English.
For apparent reasons, speaking a country's primary language can never be wrong.
Santo Domingo's economy
Santo Domingo is not only the Dominican Republic's capital city but also its economic hub. In fact, the national wealth is concentrated around this city. Moreover, many foreign companies have successfully set up their representative offices there. You will also find international franchises such as Barrick and Goldcorp, which are two of the leading job providers.
Moreover, Santo Domingo benefits from the support of the US, especially in the field of information and communication technology. Therefore, many companies that are evolving in this sector have been set up there over the years. Note that development and modernization, since the early 2000s, have been a real blessing for particular fields, such as real estate, road infrastructure, as well as trade, and business. You will also find many shopping malls in the city.
Finding a job in Santo Domingo
You are required to apply for a work visa and a cedula, which is a residence permit, to be allowed to work in Santo Domingo. Note that you have more chances of being hired on the spot rather than from abroad. In fact, employers prefer face-to-face contact with candidates. Hence, it is recommended that you first travel to the country with sufficient funds to support yourself for 6 months.
Tourism, trade, and call centers are the city's main job providers. Try your luck by sending spontaneous job applications to companies operating in these fields. Bear in mind that you will have to accept local wages, which may be equal to a third of what you might expect. You can also search for job offers on the Internet thanks to general and specialized websites, as well as professional social networks.
Good to know:
Having a good level of Spanish will definitely be an asset during your job search and could help you outshine other foreigners
Applying for a residence visa in Santa Domingo
Before you can apply for any job, you will have to make sure to have your papers sorted. This means you need a residence visa in order to work in the Dominican Republic (DR). While this can be quite a painful and long-lasting process in many countries, here in the DR, it is relatively fast and straightforward, apart from the mountains of paperwork. It can be easier to get a lawyer involved to handle this part if you want to make sure you hand in everything correctly.
If you have already found a position and want to start as soon as possible, you can also apply first for a temporary residence visa. This application can be made in any country at the embassy of the DR. Once you are in the DR, you have to show up at the Migration department within 60 days of your arrival to apply for a permanent residence visa.
Although the temporary residency permit has a validation of one whole year, you have to renew it again every year if you wish to stay longer in the Dominican Republic. When 5 years have passed, you can automatically apply for permanent residency without having to show the same kind of proof as for the permanent residence applied for directly upon arrival.
Good to know:
While being considered a temporary resident, you can still hold a job outside the Dominican Republic, which is interesting for those working in a remote position, as you don't have to pay taxes on this income.
Once again – it is crucial to have at least some knowledge of the Spanish language if you want to find a job in any of the regular job sectors, even more so as the unemployment rate (although having been at its lowest for many years) is pretty high, which makes the job hunt extraordinarily competitive, so, apart from speaking Spanish, you will have to provide some remarkable skills in order to stand out. For this reason, it is best to secure a job before moving to the Dominican Republic because otherwise, you might end up looking for a job for many months without seeing any results.
Also, if you want to keep up a rather high standard of living, keep in mind that wages are way below the average, and you might want to save up some money before going there to have a backup plan if plans do not work out as you have wished for.
Working online in Santa Domingo
These days, working online, remotely, or as many call themselves, as a digital nomad/freelancer can be a good option if you are having trouble finding a job in the Dominican Republic. It opens up the job market to many positions around the globe, and you don't have to limit yourself to national options.
Of course, you can also find opportunities within regional enterprises. We have gathered a shortlist of websites that we found to have a significant overall presence in Santo Domingo to help you find your dream job while living in paradise.
Not every platform works equally well for every branch, so depending on what you are looking for, one might fit your job search better than another. Find out for yourself:
We probably would not have chosen this platform as a job portal a while ago. Still, today, this site is considered a necessity to provide the presence of a professional social profile on the internet. Before, it used to work as a network where professionals got contacts and blogged their specific interests and content. Today, a considerable number of companies expand their employee network by posting their available jobs. Currently, LinkedIn has more than 10 million users in Spain, which makes the Dominican Republic an excellent candidate for meeting the job demand in the Spanish language.
The new recruitment modality has reached an optimal point in its development, and now professionals can train and test their skills through tests. This means it is a helpful tool for the differentiation of applicants and an opportunity for those prepared to demonstrate their competitiveness in the market. You simply must be on LinkedIn if you intend to get a job online or maintain a constant presence in the market. It establishes a job section in which you can search for opportunities based on your profession or skills.
Just by browsing the same platform, you will see offers according to your knowledge, and you will receive emails with opportunities to apply for recruitment. If you are interested in a specific company in this network, you have the possibility to search for it. This represents a great advantage for professionals with specific interests.
Upwork
Known internationally, you will find jobs in the online modality. It is recommended for those who are fluent in the English language and have professional skills in marketing, web design, or other related fields; they often provide simple jobs to start filling out your resume, but you must be attentive. The competition is high.
Fiverr
It is a job website with a somewhat different modality here; freelancers publish their offers, and employers are the ones who choose from the catalogue of services. Design an attractive cover and research your competition to provide up-to-date services and attract customers.
Freelancer
Freelancer is an online job board in which services of different branches are requested, intended for smaller companies. The company is headquartered in Sydney and was founded in 2009 by Matt Barrie. We recommend that you make an attractive CV where you concentrate on your previous work, skills, and university degrees. This will be processed by mediators of all the pages of the list, and you will be evaluated if you're considered an excellent fit to join them.
Indeed
Unlike the job portals that people usually use, this network allows you to search for a job among all the available platforms. It works as a search engine for published works. The main thing is to track the offers of companies and place them in their search results. If your style is to save mental energy by searching directly on Google, I think Indeed will be a great tool for you.
You will receive an email with the offers available to you at the time they are published. You have the option to share your CV, although it is not considered necessary. This network has about 100 million users worldwide.
Working for an embassy in Santa Domingo
Whether you have experience within the diplomatic sector or as a translator, depending on the embassy, there are plenty of options for you to work as long as you can present a certain level of Spanish. The job opportunities within an embassy can range from working as a computer and IT specialist to a position as a visa assistant or heating, venting, and air condition technician. You see, plenty of choices. One reason to work at an embassy is the high payment. Usually, you will earn up to double the regular income in the ordinary job world. Depending on the embassy, you might be eligible for receiving a compensation package (health, separation, among other benefits), something you would hardly find in any other company in the Dominican Republic.
Coworking in the Dominican Republic
Over the past few years, more so in the last two years of the worldwide pandemic situation, many people were either forced to rethink their way of working or intentionally changed it. Not going to the office every day of the week has become quite popular everywhere, and so has working from home. But sometimes, your home is not equipped to convert it into an office, or you simply do not want to mix your personal living space with your professional one and seek other possibilities. This is where shared workspaces come into the game. What used to be working in a coffee shop became working in a co-work.
Throughout the city of Santo Domingo, you will find many choices of well-equipped coworking places that offer their clients not only dedicated desks but also conference rooms and office infrastructure like copy machines, etc. It also helps professionals to connect with each other and form fruitful business collaborations.
Useful links:
Santiago de los Caballeros – CIDEU
Panorama económico de la región norte en tiempos de pandemia
Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Mipymes
Ofertas de empleo de trabajo por internet desde casa en República Dominicana – MercadoJobs
Ofertas de empleo Trabajo por Internet en República Dominicana – Opcionempleo
