5 months looking for a job in PL and nothing! suggestions?

Hi there,

I'm living in Lublin since the beginning of April and been looking for a job since then, everywhere in Poland. Have filled more than 50-60 job applications and only had 2 interviews, from which I was told "you are overqualified".

Been mostly applying to english-speaking opportunities since my polish skills are in the basics. Have a polish wife and have a karta pobytu, so I have no legal obstacles to get a job. Can speak fluent spanish, english, and german, and have Master studies in Informatics.

So... what's going on here? I'm losing my patience, never had so many troubles to get a job before, and I've had many jobs before. I'm already proposing my wife to relocate to another country.

So before doing such a move I'm trying my last chances, does anyone has any reasonable suggestion? I'm not after the 4000zl/month jobs, I was offered this from Comarch which I find pretty embarrassing.

Thanks in advance!

probably the thing to do. even though poland's economy is teetering on the positive, i doubt thing will actually improve anytime soon.

You find 4000 a month an embarrasing offer? Do you know how much most Poles make? I think with that attitude that you should relocate immediately.

what is your specialization? I'd say that for most people that call themselves 'informatyk' this salary is more than average in Poland.

Probably you misunderstood what I'm meaning, I understand salary levels in Poland and I know that many people earn lot less than this and still make a decent life. I am meaning that for a high level studied and multilingual experienced professional its is not a good offer, if you consider living in a city like Warsaw which is in no way cheap anymore.


Software applications project leading.


I have to disagree, for fresh-graduated programmers this is the salary expectation, but for IT project manager or Senior Project lead it is not.

Some figures of salaries of IT professionals in Poland, F.Y.I.

hays.pl/library/pdf/poland/IT.pdf

I started 4 years ago on a salary way below the one you mentioned (actually 3.000 net), which is for somebody like me coming from Belgium a real shock. Even when it was for Polish norms a very good salary.

I was before looking for a job in this country for almost a year and also was thinking of going back, but in the end I accepted it.

And I think it was a wise choice.You start to work (yes earning a lot less than at home). But in the meantime you improve your language skills, you network and get to know people around and you will be in a much stronger position to look for something else.

It is in every country the same: it is much easier to find a job when you are already working.

And Poland is a European country with good universities and lots of unemployed people with good qualifications and lots of experience. Why would somebody be prepared to pay you double what Comarch offered you?

no, you don't have to...

informatyk - a guy with general computer knowledge, kinda helpdesk guy - fix computers, printers etc etc - basic stuff

you as an IT project manager should earn more than 6000zl per month but I'm not sure if there are companies who would hire non-polish speaking IT project managers... especially now - crisis thing....

Well I was meaning 4.000 gross salary


This is what my wife tells me all the time. I don't come from a rich country, however in Mexico well prepared people are well paid. Maybe my mistake is to expect such situation here... hmmmmm. Thanks for your feedback!

There's a saying in the UK that it's often easier to get a new job when you're already employed. In this case, seeing as you are seemingly unemployable, I'd be taking the 4000zl/month job and seeing if you can move on once your language skills have developed.

Certainly, I'd say that someone with a 5 month gap on his CV who is actively turning down jobs is certainly unemployable.

If you don't know what you really want, you'll never get it.

I never mentioned I turned down jobs, I said I only had 2 interviews, and actually none of them was with Comarch. The offering from them is through a contact that told me I would get that money if I agree to work there as a programmer.


I guess you are not an H.R. manager, so that saves me from your judgment of being employed. Thanks anyways.

I am a HR manager and I have to agree with delphian on this one you will find it much easier to find a better job once you have a job,

Have you tried registering on goldenline.pl Its a very good headhunting site used by lots of recruiters.

Also have you approached the larger international companies with a base in Poland? Ie Dell, IBM etc.

I would also suggest registering with as many agencies as possible, Although initially the agency will take a commission from your salary you stand a very good chance of being taken on by the company directly.

Hays and Grafton are probably the largest in Poland with English speaking staff.

4000 pln a month is **** but then surely its better than nothing while gaining experience of how things are done (or not done) in Poland as once you have experience within Poland you are a much more attractive proposition than someone who has never worked in Poland?

hope it helps and good luck

OK, I get everyone's point on this.


Yes I did, most of the IT-related: IBM, HP, Microsoft, Sabre, Nokia-Siemens, Google, Accenture, CapGemini... just to mention some..


Already registered by MichaelPage, Hays, Manpower and Randstad.


I agree

I wonder you can't at least get a job at some language school. My father didn't have any problem with it. Maybe it's because you came to Poland in April. In Sept. or October you probably wouldn't have any problem. Are you willing to drive to Siedlce?

I know some schools over there too. It might help.

I guess Comarch should be a good option for you - they are doing imlementation projects all over the world - also in Mexico :)
I think you need to contact right person to get proper iterview for you.
Try to contact this guy :
portel.de/nc/nachricht/artikel/40164-comarch-next-generation-network-p lanning/12/
(emails of comarch employees are quite easy to guess: <firstname.lastname>@comarch.com)

Good luck!
Marcin

did you try all the call centres as a tech for sure alot of it would be english speaking

I'd strongly propose you to apply to Shell, Zabierzów(Krakow suburbs). The team working there speak in 9 languages so the person with your language skills would earn there more than 4k gross...but I guess there will be no job as IT specialist.

olito, it is not very good time to find good job... maybe good option for you would be "one person private firm" and working as a contractor.

Another option is apply in companies concentrated on IT wich main job is to sell people to other companies, PowerMedia for example.

PS.


This actually tells us nothing about your specialization :-) But your language skills are exceptional. If you are fluent in german and CapGemini didn't take you, then it means that current market conditions sucks... In my opinion, if you are really so fluent in german and english then you should go to Germany and don't look back. Of course there could be some legal problem because of your "karta pobytu".

I really would not like to leave behind all my specialization in IT fields just to end up teaching languages, but hey it is an option!


I was told by many people that almost all the good opportunities are available through contacts. I agree, I need a good contact somewhere, that's why I'm trying my luck in here also! Comarch... I worked for them 3 months in an internship back in 2007, and all the actual workers there suggested me not to apply there (they said it sucks!)... but hey, it is another option!


I haven't tried, but again I have the feeling it would be like going back in time to year 2000 when I started to work in Mexico earning peanuts and wasting my time. However, yes it is another option!


It's not my field, but I could try if I don't find anything else soon.


I have considered being self-employed, I did so couple of years even having a job and it works quite well if you have contacts that get you into the market.


Well well, what have I done in SW development? Stand-alone applications, client-server applications, financial applications, web applications, dynamic/static web sites, experimental applications in logistics... from analysis to design to development to maintenance...

Some programming languages and suites that I fluently use/have used: Java, J2EE, Visual Basic, VBA, COM+, ASP, JSP, PHP, CSS, XHTML, JavaScript, XML/XSL, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, WAMP, IIS, Tomcat, Apache, Eclipse, JUnit. I also have lead projects, meet customers, gave tech support, write technical specifications or user guides. I even have experience in H.R. compensations (10 months).


They didn't even bother to reply to my applications!


Well, I am parallelly applying to german companies to try my luck, but psychologically I don't know if I want to go back to Germany, I lived there for 3 years and I didn't like the german way of life (ordnung muss sein!)

Thanks everyone for your concern, I'll try to diversify my options!

I'm in the software industry and to be honest I've found it tough here. I came from Vancouver where staff turnover is high and companies are constantly expecting to hire people with experience, into senior positions. Here, it so often seems that these senior positions are sourced internally -- or at least without the rigourous impartiality that I was used to in larger western companies. I've managed to get back to Team Lead level (where I was umpty years ago in the West) but it hasn't been an obvious journey.

Theres a job going, based in Glasgow - may involve international travel - but not too often.

You are right. Specialists like you shouldn`t accept such humiliating conditions.

The question is: how long are you able to live in constant denial?