Well, here we are. My final blog while I’m in Spain, and somehow I posted it a week early. I’m adding a little post-mortem introduction here to make this into a totally different blog. I’m not sure what to say to that encapsulates my last two months here, so I’ll leave that for the final post. Instead, I’ll just say that this last week has been defined by highlights and sad farewells.

This last week I squeezed in a last few memories in Spain just before saying goodbye to students in the program leaving early.

The most important thing to be a successful Spanish employee is to be present. Being at a certain place when you say you will be at that place is even more important than actually doing what you are supposed to do at that place. This knowledge was a critical piece of advice I use to gain the respect of my coworkers. My supervisor gave me this information much later than I would’ve liked: six weeks into my internship rather than on the first day.

Americans stereotypically see Spain as a relaxed country where work isn’t taken seriously, at least compared to America. I have found Spaniards of all ages to agree that the American work culture is much more intense. By this they mean the work week is longer, breaks are more restricted, and finding a job is much more arduous. They also believe there is far more opportunity for social mobility, and that the two factors are linked.

Here’s me at the Prado! Looking a little glum, I probably needed a nap.

The most basic level of success in a job is keeping said job. This is universal, or at least true for both Spain and the U.S. It may seem incredibly obvious that to attain that basic success an employee must show up on time. However, the components of being present are quite nuanced in Spain.

Just because in the U.S when you say you’ll meet someone at 9:00 AM you’ll be there at 8:45, and in Spain you’ll be there at 9:05, doesn’t mean that timely face-to-face meetings aren’t valued. Far from it, American work culture has become much more conducive to working from home and Spanish culture. When I said the meaning of being present is nuanced, I meant that while you can show up a little late, you absolutely cannot reschedule in advance to meet online. The best way to summarize the difference is that in the U.S, if you do good work in person or online it makes little difference. In Spain, if you reschedule to work online it matters little how hard to you work from home.

If the first level of career success is keeping your job, the second is rising to a better one. Additionally, if the requirement for that first level is being present, the requirement for the second is being socially connected. This has a different meaning than networking in the U.S, where the emphasis is on forming transactional relationships with those with more power than you. In Spain, this means having strong personal connections with everyone in the office.

Here’s just a small part of the crowd at the Euros Final singing along.

I would like to preface the rest of this point by saying my office is likely different from most Spanish workplaces. As I’ve said in the past, my office is young, casual, and modern. Most people are in their 20s-30s, you can wear t-shirts and jeans, and the culture is quite egalitarian. Because of this unique culture it’s possible that my experience working in Madrid isn’t representative of what most Madrileno employees experience. Alright, back to social connections.

I haven’t witnessed someone be promoted, so I can’t definitively say what a coworker was doing right that led to their promotion. Even is someone was promoted while I’ve been at Smile and Learn, my colleagues probably wouldn’t see a reason to tell me. Watching the head of my department, marketing, has led me to the conclusion that the priority is interconnectedness.

The department boss, Mathieu, is clearly both sociable and respected. He easily jokes with his subordinates and talks with them as equals. However, when it’s time to talk shop Mathieu naturally slips into the role of taskmaster, and his friends become subordinates without complaint. The bond between Mathieu and the marketing department goes beyond the power of his title. I believe the department would naturally defer to him and stop talking to hear him speak even without his position.

Here’s me and a couple friends at the Euro 2024 Final after Spain scored. Very hype crowd.

It may be the case that social connectedness in and of itself is the Spanish definition of higher career success, rather than connectedness being a means to it. The program coordinators in the U.S. prepped us for Spanish culture. After they finished talking about how power distances and social contextuality are both higher, they unveiled the importance Spaniards place on the collective.

While collectivism isn’t as much of a priority in Spain as in East Asian countries, it’s much more so than the individualist U.S. I see this demonstrated in how much more social Spaniards are than Americans. It’s the norm rather than a luxury to meet friends in the evening after work. Grabbing a drink, a bite, and a seat on a terrace until midnight on a Monday night is what most people do.

This is one of my favorite things about Spain. I love both the idea that being social is the key to success, that being social might be success itself, and that being together after work is just as much part of work as sitting at your desk during the day. While I might find more opportunity after I return home, I will certainly enjoy working for it much less.