Expert: Sandra - 8/26/2009

Question
I am looking for work in Fortaleza.
At the moment i still work in Holland as a manager in a big hotel.
in Fortaleza i would like a equal job, it don't have to be in a hotel.. i know there are international companies who are looking for qualified personnel. i just don't know where i find them.

Answer
Well, the first question you would have to ask is why a company would want to spend a lot of time and money and hassle to get a work visa for you, rather than hire an equally or better qualified Brazilian (of which there are many). Most companies, including hotels, are more likely to hire if you already have permission to work legally (through permanent residency). Also they usually prefer that you appear in person to be considered for any job, so you would likely already have to be in Brazil.
And a big part of hiring in Brazil has to do with who you know. Companies are more comfortable hiring someone known to them, someone referred by someone they know, etc. i.e. a known quantity, and someone that because of the referral isn't just another strange gringo, but a person known to be adapted to the culture, language, salary level, etc. This is why recruiting firms and/or headhunters, or searching from abroad, doesn't work well.
One more thing to consider is that, outside of the hotel/hospitality industry, a large number of
companies are located in the business hub of greater Sao Paulo city, not in the traditionally
more economically challenged northeast.

I believe that expert Edison has listed, a number of times in his previous answers to similar questions, websites to help find international jobs, as well as recruiters, so doing a search for these might be helpful.

Best of luck.