Do “In Demand” U.S. Jobs = Expat Jobs in Mexico?

By: Khaki Scott
Simply finding a job in Mexico is not a career destination. Finding a job in Mexico that pays enough to leave plenty left over for investing in Mexican real estate is the next best thing to finding Nirvana. The three most active job markets in the U.S. today are Health Care, Information Technology, and the catch-all phrase of Professional Services. In order to immigrate to Mexico, foreigners must prove that they have an income of approximately $1,500 USD per month, depending on the current exchange rate. In addition, Mexico does not hire foreigners unless it is for a position for which no Mexican worker can be found. This investigation will look at the most sought after skills north of the border and give Americans and Canadians an idea of whether or not training in these areas will win them a successful career in Mexico.

There is a great need for Home Health Aides in the U.S. and the pay is low but rising because it is cheaper to hire home health aides than to support people in nursing homes. This job does not translate well to a job in Mexico because the Mexican culture, as a whole, produces service-oriented citizens and English is now required in schools. This means these jobs all go to Mexican citizens at Mexican rates of pay. American Home Health Aides, if they can find a job, will be paid Mexican wages and will not earn enough to even meet immigration income requirements, much less be able to invest in real estate.

Medical Assistants, such as Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants, are in a great position in the U.S., in Canada and in Mexico. The key here is learning Spanish and then hiring out to a Spanish-speaking specialist in Mexico as a liason to English-speaking patients. Medical tourism, plus an exploding population of resident expats, is making this a great job for Americans who opt to live south of the border. School is no cake-walk, but the option to live and invest where one chooses is the prize for finishing – and what a prize it is!

Mental Health Counselors and Social Workers are also in a good position both north and south of the border. The demand for psychologists is growing, especially as baby-boomers age. With the proper documentation, psychologists can develop quite nice practices in areas in Mexico that have a large expat community. Social workers would do well to get nursing home experience north of the border and then look for those same positions in the growing American assisted living and nursing home community in Mexico. These careers also require a degree and speaking Spanish would be a huge plus here as well. Medicare will soon be coming to Mexico, so keep these career areas in mind.

Information Technology does not translate well to finding a job in Mexico because Mexico is the Godzilla of Information Technology in the 21st century. However, this does not mean that there are no jobs for Americans in this area in Mexico. One could, given time and financial backing, build quite a nice web design practice. It would be tough going and many fall by the wayside, but it can be done. The best IT jobs are the remote positions in which Network Systems and Data Analysts work for American companies online, get paid in dollars, and are allowed to live anywhere in the world they want to live. This is a highly competitive job market and a degree in Information Technology or Computer Programming is a must.

Professional Services included careers such as: paralegals, financial services, accountants and auditors. Many Americans think there would be opportunities for them as paralegals in Mexico. This is probably not the case because a rapidly growing segment of the Mexican legal community is bilingual. Financial services does offer an open career path but, like Web Design, would take a good deal of financial backing, time and proximity to large expat communities to build a successful practice. Accounting, on the other hand, coupled with a little financial services background, is a real winner for the potential expat. American and Canadian expats both need tax experts with whom they feel comfortable. If that tax person just so happens to know their way around Social Security rules and how to use IRA money to purchase investment property, then so much the better! This is a wide-open field that is just coming into its own for American and Canadian accountants who want to live in Mexico. All of the professional services careers require a degree and, if the career seeker is planning on moving to Mexico, the ability to speak Spanish is strongly recommended.

The best future opportunity for gringos in Mexico is the one that is now expected to become the fastest growing segment of the professional and business services sector: Employment Services. A degree in Human Resource Management and the ability to speak Spanish translates here to having one’s finger on the pulse of every expat job market in Mexico. Here too there are online jobs with some of the largest employment companies in the world. They need recruiters and placement specialists who will be paid in U.S. dollars and are allowed to live anywhere they want to live. Although this too is a competitive environment, its rewards make it well worth investigating.

Understanding the Mexican culture, the south of the border job market and its rules, and what Americans are and are not allowed to do in Mexico will make it easier than ever before for younger Americans and Canadians to make the leap into a new life in Mexico, where investing in a secure future is still a reality and where the quality of life is better than ever.

Resource: Ten Careers That Make Employers Look for You