How to Use Networking to Get a Job in Brazil

Picture my best Al Pacino face, throwing my hands out front of me stating “It’s who you know, capice?”.

Who you know because they will do you personal favors based on their friendship and commitment to you.  Now mark my words: if you want to get ahead in Brazil, you have to make good connections and build your local network of “friends”.

And by network of “friends”, I mean people who you are on a buddy basis that can be called upon when needed.

This can be something very confusing for us gringos and here’s why…

When You’ve Made a New “Buddy”

A smiling Brazilian comes up to you and reaches out his hand to greet you: “Oi sou Djavan, tudo bem?

And you greet him back.

As you get conversing a bit, you can’t help but wonder if he is trying to just be friendly or if he wants to be a friend?

The truth is “both and neither”: surface level friendships are the backbone of getting things done in Brazil – especially getting a job.

As an example, if you need to get your car fixed, you’ll do it through one of your buddy’s friends because if you don’t, you could end up being taken for a ride (pun intended)!

This is why it’s important to not only learn how to develop and nurture your “web” of Brazilian buddies, but also build and use it too.

An Illiterate Man Got an Unbelievable Job via a Buddy

I know this man who is a foreigner, he is pretty much illiterate (a wonderful man though).  He was in dire need of a job but wasn’t able to get anything other then a bakery assistant job making a whopping R$600 reais a month ($300USD)…

Until one day he met a guy who he then befriended a bit, this guy happened to be very well connected.

After hearing that he was looking for a better job, he made a call to his buddy at a prestigious International School.  This buddy then said “ok for you, I’ll interview him”.

He was then interviewed and got a job as the PE teacher making a salary of over R$3,500 a month (good money in south Brazil).

All because of who he knew…

Is it starting to sink in yet?

Here’s What You Can do To Build Your Network Now

Josh Plotkin over at and I were at an Internet Marketing even recently in São Paulo , and while we were there we did a series of video interviews.

It was of use putting our heads together and talking about the single most important element in finding a job in Brazil: networking.

Check it out for yourself:

(Watch  on YouTube)

Note: I left the part where Josh picks his nose in on purpose – just don’t tell him hehe

As you can see, it’s all about getting your feet wet and making the networking happen.

Sitting behind your computer screen can only do a tenth of what it can back home for your career, you have to hit the ground running and push your way through.

This is the key to job success!

Final Words

I’m going to keep this post a bit short as I’m travelling tomorrow and have suitcases awaiting me.  Though, at the same time, it was important to share this tip with you as it’s probably one of the biggest questions I get in my inbox “how do I get a job in Brazil?”

So take these words to heart and follow our advice, it will do you good and bring you closer to your dream job in Brazil.

Until next time!

Valeu – Cheers,

Kevin

P.S. give it an ol’ thumbs up if helpful!