If you live in the Santo Domingo area you are probably aware of the Agora Mall recently opening up. Along with giving you a new place to shop there is also a possibility of being able to get a job among the about 2000 jobs that will be offered by the 180 shops (when and if they are all opened). Before you get your hopes up too high though, if you are a foreigner Agora Mall Jobs might be a little hard to get.

Jobs For Foreigners

Retail store jobs can get a little harder to get for foreigners. The Dominican Republic requires employers to hire local people if possible and only give jobs to foreigners if the position can’t be filled by locals. That means without some sort of special training that makes it hard for an employer to hire locally, it will probably be close to impossible to get one to hire you.

That doesn’t mean impossible though. Language translation and language training for employees are always possibilities. Being a native speaker, especially if you are fluent in Spanish might be useful to many stores that are also trying to cater to tourists. This can be especially true if the products to be discussed require a higher level of English or another foreign language than is usually available by locals who may only have a basic knowledge of the language.

Of course the hourly wage is going to be a lot lower than you might be used to in another country. However if you are only trying to supplement your existing income that may work out well.

So for “staycationers”and others that want to live in the DR long term but are not exactly rich it still comes down to is it worth hunting for a job here and taking the lower wage or is it better to head back to the States or another country to pick up a short term (but hopefully higher paying) job, and come back after you have built up some money. That can be a tough choice, but there is no harm in checking around and seeing what is out there!