Polish workers in England, advice need to find a place to live and a job.

Hello

I was just wondering how you found working in England and what plans was set before you moved here because I have a friend that is thinking of coming to England and does not know how to find a place to live/work etc and is worried about this.

so I was just wondereing how you did that.

As no one as replied to your question yet, I thought I would bump your thread.

My words of wisdom may not count for much as I'm not Polish, but I've come across quite a few through my work and I can certainly suggest a few situations your friend should avoid.

Firstly, what's his English like ?

I only ask because if it's not great, he will end up being ripped off either by an employer, a landlord or a bank (or all three). Banks have a very bad habit of throwing credit cards, loans and complicated fee charging bank accounts to foreigners who have no idea what they're getting themselves into. It ends badly I can tell you.

Any job worth doing or house worth living in will come with paperwork to sign and he needs to be able to know what he is reading and signing. Despite everything you might have heard, the only things that get translated into other languages tend to be a few leaflets from the local council etc.

Has he ever been to England ? I would suggest a holiday first so he has some time to check things out, without the pressure of needing to find a job there and then. He needs to do some thorough research and have enough money be able to live somewhere nice. Cheap places to live are cheap for a reason and the UK, especially the south, is a very expensive to live.

If he decides to move here, he might need as much as £3,000 to keep him going until he finds a job as unemployment is high and there is no welfare state for someone that has never worked here before. He should also give himself a deadline and if it's not working by such and such date, he gives up and goes home.

I don't know if this is any use to him, but all I can really say is don't be a stereotype. If he's a plumber or a builder, speaks hardly any English, asks for everything to be translated, has a pregnant wife, two children and not much of a plan, people will groan.

If, on the other hand, he has something to offer, wants a decent job with prospects, has great spoken and written English and the only baggage he has is his luggage, I'm sure he will have a really good chance of doing well.

It all depends what he does on whether or not he will get a job, as for housing, there are plenty of letting agencies or if he looks in any Polish shop window he will see cards for people looking for accommodation or looking for people to share.

In all honesty it's probably not the best time to be coming to the UK.

I have to agree with Shelley on that one, although there is always seasonal summer work coming up. Your friends best bet is to start looking for a job while he's still in Poland before coming here. What type of work is he looking for?

Some good advice given here....The most important thing for anyone contemplating a life in the UK is to ensure that you have got a place to stay while you look for a job , and enough money to keep yourself alive till you have one....

I rescued a number of Poles in Leeds UK that were in a bit of a pickle , and gave em a free place to stay till they found a job , but not everybody will be so lucky....

I did manage to find jobs for several Poles that spoke no English , but its better if you can speak a little bit....

It is possible to go to another country with no knowledge of the language , and little money , i did it , but its not for everybody , you need to be a survivor , and be a bit lucky...

Things can soon go wrong , and you have to be able to see when you need to call it a day and go back home... Too many Poles are too proud to admit they are not going to make it in the UK , and stay in a bad situation rather than go back home and admit defeat....

Super last part, wildrover. Maybe they know that many Poles tried this, only to come back to the UK shortly thereafter. I think the truth of the matter is that Poland hasn't been badly stung by the crisis, compared to others, but that employers put up a front that gave off the impression that they had fallen on bad times and that work was scarce.

The crisis cemented the jobs of those that could do so and others were left out in the cold. I have talked to many Poles who have temporarily come back to Poland and they say that, every time they return to the UK, there is more and more uncertainty. I believe that Poles would be better off back here. They miss their homeland and it's a major hassle getting set up abroad. The rat race will make them feel that there is no time for all the kafuffle and that it's better to stay put.

Yes, this is very important. I gave a figure of £3000 which may seem more than enough, but that might only last someone a few months, unless they're sleeping on someone's floor.

Don't come all this way to sofa surf.


A willingness to take a few lessons or at least get a book or two from the library to help develop better English would probably help too.

To get anywhere, this guy need a job, a place to stay and a bank account and speaking little or no English would leave him very vulnerable.

Ok thanks for all the help, it helped alot. One more question, She has a number of qualifications in logistics, the qaulifications on internationally recognised, do you think that this will help with work? her English is also perfect atleast in my opinion it is in both written and spoken.

I'll put it to you like this, I have friends who are solicitors who have been made redundant, I have friends in finance that have been made redundance, my friends husband who was a director for a building company was made redundant...are you getting the picture? There are circa. 300 people per position at present in the UK, do you honestly think they are going to employ someone who just stepped off a plane? I dont want to be rude to you or your friend, but it really isnt a good time.

It will certainly give her a much better chance and it's heartening to hear that she obviously wants a career rather just a job, however, as Shelley said, it's not a good time here at the moment for someone to walk into a job.

I also know of people that have lost their jobs and good jobs are hard to come by. Your friend needs to do some serious research and have a job to come to, rather than come here to look for a job.

As I said before, I would suggest a holiday first, maybe send her CV out a bit while she is here, test the water and see what sort of reaction she gets. Tell her not to burn any bridges just yet.