Post: #1

I come seeking advice:

I am considering packing up shop and moving to Poland.

I see that there is a lot of talk on here about Poland and I see that there are more people than I thought that live in Poland.

Now, considering the average Polish person earns around 1500zl - 3000zl. I think I would be able to live a comfortable life there for more than a year without working if I have saved up about $20,000 beforehand.
But that is not so interesting to me. I would prefer to have a normal life (work, drinking, sports etc etc).

I am always told by my polish friends that because I am a native English speaker, that is a huge advantage and companies will want to hire me. But that sounds very un-realistic to me.

I am a Automation / Robotics technician and all my qualifications are in the engineering, electrical and mechanical field.
That seems kind of useless as there an endless supply of Polish people to do those kind of jobs.

Most Polish people make a living by owning their own business. I am not interested in that.
I don't think I have the ability to make money off an online business either.

I am curious to know if there are many big international companies in Poland that could use native English speakers.
I am willing to try almost anything. I can easily bullshit my way through a job interview and I can adapt quite fast.



So, for the that live / have lived in Poland... Do you have any information for me?
Or am I pretty much fucked?

Post: #2

Depends where you want to be, but with your post I assume it would be first tier city, where all major employers are.
Accenture likes to hire foreigners. Try pracuj.pl, and speak directly with hiring managers (there are topics on this forum how to do this) and make your research for cities you are interested in.
Costs as for Warsaw - forget about living here for 1,5-3K PLN. Just a studio (long term - 1+ year in ok location) will cost 1,5 K + utilities. Food - a mediocre lunch mo-fri costs average of 20 PLN. For decent dinner outside multiply by 3-4. List goes on. My point, living on decent level in capital city starts at 4 K.

Post: #3

I will most likely be in Bydgoszcz, or Warsaw. At least those are the cities I can get free accommodation and set myself up the easiest.
Perhaps I will buy a house in Sopot if it all goes well.

I'm not really worried about the cost. If i have to spend an extra 1000 zl every month.... Whats that? an extra $4000 for the whole year? I will get that when my holidays are paid out at my current job.
I know how much things cost there because I go there at least 2 weekends every month.

Thanks a lot for those websites, and speaking directly to hiring manages is a good idea. I will definitely do that.

Post: #4

I was in Warsaw over the weekend, at the tortilla factory where lots of foreigners hang out. After speaking to about 20 people it seems that the only demand for foreigners is in teaching English, or selling things.

Post: #5

(02-17-2014 05:23 AM)spalex Wrote:  I was in Warsaw over the weekend, at the tortilla factory where lots of foreigners hang out. After speaking to about 20 people it seems that the only demand for foreigners is in teaching English, or selling things.

Thanks for the update. I wonder how well teaching English pays. I am sensing not that well?

Post: #6

(02-17-2014 12:25 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  

(02-17-2014 05:23 AM)spalex Wrote:  I was in Warsaw over the weekend, at the tortilla factory where lots of foreigners hang out. After speaking to about 20 people it seems that the only demand for foreigners is in teaching English, or selling things.

Thanks for the update. I wonder how well teaching English pays. I am sensing not that well?

You'd be lucky to be earning $1,000 USD and that's busting your ass. It's about the same everywhere in EE. TESOL is an ok side/retirement gig but to pack up your bags and move there with that as your only income source is a bad idea imho.

Post: #7

if you're searching for a job, Poland has a growing market for IT Specialists.
SAP and cloud ERP software (SuccessFactors, Workday)

Post: #8

(02-17-2014 05:30 PM)Wreckingball Wrote:  if you're searching for a job, Poland has a growing market for IT Specialists.
SAP and cloud ERP software (SuccessFactors, Workday)

Wreckingball, how is the market for hiring programmers there? Any idea of the salaries for experienced web developers? I may be interested in setting up a development center there. Poland and Romania were top of the list.

Post: #9

(02-11-2014 02:38 AM)spalex Wrote:  I am a Automation / Robotics technician and all my qualifications are in the engineering, electrical and mechanical field.
That seems kind of useless as there an endless supply of Polish people to do those kind of jobs.

Pickup a job working in the North Sea. Pull a 28/28 rotation, or get in with a few headhunters and pinch hit when someone doesn't show up for work. The oil/gas industry is desperate for skilled tradesman, and while it won't get you to Poland 365, you can feasibly only work 4 months out of the year to cover living expenses.


http://www.rovworld.com/docs/rates.html

Post: #10

What sort of life is achievable on 10, 000 -12, 000 zloty, net? In one of the major cities?

Post: #11

(02-17-2014 05:33 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  

(02-17-2014 05:30 PM)Wreckingball Wrote:  if you're searching for a job, Poland has a growing market for IT Specialists.
SAP and cloud ERP software (SuccessFactors, Workday)

Wreckingball, how is the market for hiring programmers there? Any idea of the salaries for experienced web developers? I may be interested in setting up a development center there. Poland and Romania were top of the list.

Have you thought about the Baltics? If you learn Russian while you're there, you can also tap into the Russian pool of developers. Estonia and Latvia are IT-mad so you should be able to find plenty of staff there. Same thing in Russia, but in Russia they don't speak English.

Post: #12

(02-17-2014 07:50 PM)DaveR Wrote:  Have you thought about the Baltics? If you learn Russian while you're there, you can also tap into the Russian pool of developers. Estonia and Latvia are IT-mad so you should be able to find plenty of staff there. Same thing in Russia, but in Russia they don't speak English.

Cheers Dave. I haven't checked out Estonia but I did come across Latvia. Russia would scare me some since I am pretty ignorant in terms of how they do business there. I lived in Ukraine for some time and wouldn't do business there. hah For that reason, I was hoping to keep it within a country that has strong intellectual property laws.

Post: #13

(02-17-2014 09:22 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  Cheers Dave. I haven't checked out Estonia but I did come across Latvia. Russia would scare me some since I am pretty ignorant in terms of how they do business there. I lived in Ukraine for some time and wouldn't do business there. hah For that reason, I was hoping to keep it within a country that has strong intellectual property laws.

Based on 60 Minutes yesterday, I wouldn't want to be too sucessful in Russia. I mean I know about the oil guys and their run ins with Putin, but here is a wealthy American getting fucked good there. Apparently at one point his fund took one dollar and made it 35 dollars in not that many years, pretty awesome. But his strategy was to buy corrupt companies and stop the corruption to boost profits.

I knew Russia wasn't the greatest place for laws, but watch the interview. Scary.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-fi...in-russia/

Post: #14

(02-17-2014 09:31 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  Based on 60 Minutes yesterday, I wouldn't want to be too sucessful in Russia. I mean I know about the oil guys and their run ins with Putin, but here is a wealthy American getting fucked good there. Apparently at one point his fund took one dollar and made it 35 dollars in not that many years, pretty awesome. But his strategy was to buy corrupt companies and stop the corruption to boost profits.

I knew Russia wasn't the greatest place for laws, but watch the interview. Scary.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-fi...in-russia/

CBS doesn't work here, but if it's about William Browder, he's very far from 'clean' himself. As in any country, don't question the authorities. Glen Greenwald and his counterparts at The Guardian haven't had a great time either. Assange has been made a prisoner without any trial taking place. All of those events took place in countries which trump themselves up as bastions of freedom.

Running an offshore development centre would not be an issue at all, as it isn't a public facing business - you would be invisible to the authorities. It's much easier to do business in Russia than it is in Ukraine. Belarus would be another option. In any case, you could avoid having to deal with Russian bureaucracy and risk by having a local employee handle the business aspects and work as a contractor for you.

Tallinn is one of the top IT centres in Europe. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for... IT salaries are quite high there, but if you need the best developers then that would be the place to go. The tax regime in Estonia is very flexible too.

Post: #15

(02-17-2014 09:31 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  Based on 60 Minutes yesterday, I wouldn't want to be too sucessful in Russia.

Peter Pomerantsev wrote about the Magnitsky affair about a year ago. On Browder and investing in Russia, a few days ago I posted the following in another thread:

(02-10-2014 06:43 PM)Icarus Wrote:  On investing in Russia, here's an interesting talk by Bill Browder, founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, on the widespread corruption that still pervades Russia's economy:

Post: #16

(02-17-2014 09:55 PM)DaveR Wrote:  Running an offshore development centre would not be an issue at all, as it isn't a public facing business - you would be invisible to the authorities. It's much easier to do business in Russia than it is in Ukraine. Belarus would be another option. In any case, you could avoid having to deal with Russian bureaucracy and risk by having a local employee handle the business aspects and work as a contractor for you.

Tallinn is one of the top IT centres in Europe. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for... IT salaries are quite high there, but if you need the best developers then that would be the place to go. The tax regime in Estonia is very flexible too.

Cheers mate. Yeah, the bureaucracy was more of a worry for this type of thing in Russia. I still have nightmares of dealing with anything government in Ukraine. hah

Post: #17

(02-17-2014 05:33 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  

(02-17-2014 05:30 PM)Wreckingball Wrote:  if you're searching for a job, Poland has a growing market for IT Specialists.
SAP and cloud ERP software (SuccessFactors, Workday)

Wreckingball, how is the market for hiring programmers there? Any idea of the salaries for experienced web developers? I may be interested in setting up a development center there. Poland and Romania were top of the list.

I have no idea. I'm not in Poland. Where I work, there's lot o work outsourced to Poland (SAP and Cloud ERP software). Some companies in Portugal are also building branches in Poland for .NET and Java specialists.

Post: #18

It seems my question has been missed. What sort of lifestyle can you expect on 10,000 Zloty net per month?

Post: #19

(02-19-2014 06:45 AM)Teedub Wrote:  It seems my question has been missed. What sort of lifestyle can you expect on 10,000 Zloty net per month?

A very good one!

Rent shouldn't be more than 2000 a month (of course depends on which city)
Groceries and alcohol is also very cheap. Something is wrong if you are spening over 1500 a month there.

Post: #20

(02-19-2014 07:03 AM)spalex Wrote:  

(02-19-2014 06:45 AM)Teedub Wrote:  It seems my question has been missed. What sort of lifestyle can you expect on 10,000 Zloty net per month?

A very good one!

Rent shouldn't be more than 2000 a month (of course depends on which city)
Groceries and alcohol is also very cheap. Something is wrong if you are spening over 1500 a month there.

I'd be willing to pay more Zloty than 2000 for a pimped out apartment haha.

Post: #21

(02-19-2014 06:45 AM)Teedub Wrote:  It seems my question has been missed. What sort of lifestyle can you expect on 10,000 Zloty net per month?

with that kind of money, you can live very well in almost all European Countries. You can still make it in Stockholm, but not in Norway. Also Paris and London would be tight

Post: #22

^ It's about £2k/$3.5k net. It's decent, but for the standard of living you can get in Central/Eastern Europe for that, I'd swerve London etc.

Post: #23

Sorry to resurrect an old threat, but this interests me too.
I've got an eye on Estonia for IT work. I do Oracle ERP type work and noticed I don't need a work visa in Estonia.
Accommodation seems affordable; I was think it wouldn't be a bad place to set-up base.

Post: #24

I wonder did the OP find work?