| Costa Rica's popularity and good business climate has
brought with it a whole slew of enterprising foreigners. Unfortunately,
some of these people lack qualifications in their fields of
endeavor.
In Costa Rica, the word expert is sometimes used very loosely
in the expatriate community, on numerous websites, English
publications and on business cards.
Do not get me wrong; there are some highly qualified English
speakers here. Nevertheless, one should be extremely cautious
when dealing with foreigners who consider themselves experts
in Costa Rica. Just because a person was a professional in
his home country or has gone through the process of moving
here does NOT qualify him to be an expert here. Some foreigners
consider themselves experts just because they have lived here
for a short time. Remember, anyone can build a website and
say anything about themselves.
We know people who move here, and go into business and miraculously
become experts overnight. Costa Rica is indeed a magical country!
Many naive newcomers have been taken advantage of by other
foreigners who call themselves experts, but are really incompetent
imposters. So, be careful!
We suggest that if you happen to come into contact with any
foreigner who calls himself an expert, no matter how convincing
he may be, do all of the following:
- Ask for references from other foreign residents who have used the expert's services.
Don't rely on the testimonials that appear on a person's
website. They may be slanted. If your expert will not give
you any references, you will know immediately you are being
duped or sold shoddy second-rate services. Also, try to
contact the person's last employer before they moved to
Costa Rica. Again, if they will not give you the contact
information, you can bet the person is hiding something.
If a person who is not of retirement age claims to have
been highly successful in his or her former country, they
may be trying to cover up something about their background.
- Check with the Association of Residents of Costa Rica to see if they are familiar
with the person's services.
- Enter the person's name in a search engine such as Google to see what comes up.
There are even companies you can pay to do a background
check if you suspect something.
- Ask how long the person has lived in Costa Rica. If they have been here for less
than 10 years, be careful. It takes years to understand
this country. It takes more than a year or two to know the
ropes. Many of these neophyte relocation gurus and entrepreneurs
mean well but just don't have enough experience under their
belt.
- Find out what the person's educational background was when they lived in their
home country and if they have any formal training in the
Latin American culture, studies or foreign investments.
If someone was a plumber, janitor, welder or doctor, for
example, prior to moving here, this does not qualify them
to give professional advice in Costa Rica.
- Beware of colorful, well-designed web sites built by the so-called experts to
express their admiration for the country to attract naive
foreigners.
- Be cautious of publications that appear to be helpful on the surface but incessantly
hype the services of the person(s) or organization behind
them.
- Over the years we have run into so-called foreign experts who live comfortably
in upscale in Ivory Towers and gated communities in gringo
enclaves such as Escazú. The majority of their
friends are other English speakers, so they have never have
really immersed themselves in the local culture. They are
virtually still foreigners living among other foreigners.
These people live in virtual isolation from the real Costa
Rica. Few of them have any contact with Costa Ricans except
for their maids and servants and rich Costa Rican friends
from the country-club set. They rarely venture out of their
safe environment to gather the necessary experience to confront
real life situations here. Most live as if they were still
in their home country, and give advice about a country and
culture they really don't know.
- Most important find out if the person is truly fluent in Spanish. There is no
way a person can have expertise unless he or she can communicate
with the locals and understand the nuances of the local
humor, culture and language. Beware: there are many foreigners
who say they speak fluent Spanish with a vocabulary of only
a couple of hundred words. I have run into many of them
in my 25 years here.
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