Life / Health cover for a married couple in Poland [70]


Not particularly. Healthcare costs could well exceed whatever they contribute to the economy, and a retiree who finds a measly 400 PLN a month for health insurance burdensome is not likely to contribute all that much to the local economy in the first place.

In any case, disabuse yourself of the idea that they are going to throw a parade in your honor upon your return. If that's the attitude you are going in with, you are not going to have a fun retirement.

Study / Need advice with admission to the University of Warsaw!! Please help!! [26]


Yes. But the process starts with the academic advisor, who will refer the applicant to the proper office.

Study / Which out of Warsaw University of Technology CS, Eastern Mediterranean University CE, Maltepe University SE? [6]

An engineering degree from an ABET accredited school is by far the best option career-wise. That degree has good value on the global market. All the better if it is in your own country. Far superior to a non-engineering CS degree from WUT.

Yes, international students at Polish universities are at a disadvantage compared to the natives. Even for natives, the drop out rate is about 50 percent. For non-EU students, it is much higher. Polish universities are terrible for taking care of their students, and if you get lost, well, then, you get lost. Not their problem.

English-language programs at Polish universities are mostly a joke. I would recommend studying in Poland only for those who already speak Polish fluently, and who have ample money of their own to pay for their studies and living expenses without having to work part-time.

Good luck!

Law / Questions on Civil Wedding Ceremony in Poland- Do we get the certificate on the day? [25]

@Honeymoon55

That's not how it works. You get the certificate only after you get married. In Poland. After the wedding, you can go back to your country and have a religious ceremony or party of some kind there, but it will not be an actual wedding because you were already married in Poland.

Which country were you planning to do this in?

Law / Questions on Civil Wedding Ceremony in Poland- Do we get the certificate on the day? [25]

@Honeymoon55

For you to get a Polish marriage certificate, the wedding has to be performed in Poland, under the supervision of the competent authority. No, you don't have to invite anyone except the witnesses. Where were you planning on getting married, and why there, and not in Poland?

Work / Teaching Mandarin in Poland [10]

@satomoto

As a student, you are unlikely to earn more than beer money by giving lessons in Mandarin. Certainly not enough to contribute seriously toward funding your studies and living expenses. In fact, you are highly unlikely to find any type of paid work that would do so. If you need to earn money to finance your studies and stay, then Poland is not the country for you. Make your plans on the very safe assumption that you will never be able to earn a single penny during your stay in Poland.

Yes, there is some small demand for Mandarin instructors in Poland. However, whatever need there is is likely already largely satisfied by Chinese nationals already in the country, particularly those with permanent residency or citizenship. It's a classic case of supply exceeding demand.

Most of the larger language schools in the main cities have someone to call for languages like this. The most likely scenario is that schools will take your name and add it to the bottom of the call list, and occasionally call you when no one higher up on the list is available. Which could well be never.

As for private lessons, that is difficult enough with English, which is highly in demand. You may be able to find an occasional student or two, but that would provide for little more than beer money. The few people who do teach Chinese for a living have spent an enormous amount of time, energy and effort building up their clientele and establishing a reputation for themselves.

Study / Need advice with admission to the University of Warsaw!! Please help!! [26]

@slavicradio1992

First of all,congratulations are in order to getting accepted at the University of Chicago! It's a fine school, and a great city. You will have a good time there and learn a lot!

Now about your transferring plan. There are a couple of problems with that. First of all, it is very difficult to get foreign courses recognized by American universities. Unless you discuss this in detail with your dean ahead of time and come up with a plan they will accept, it is unlikely to save you any time or money. Some deans will allow a well-planned "junior year abroad" for selected students.

Second of all is the big difference between American and Polish universities in terms of curriculum. American universities require a lot of study outside of your major, in terms of both general education and elective courses. They also emphasize extracurricular activities of all sorts. You won't find much of that at a Polish university. Students specialize from the very beginning, and learning is very compartmentalized by department. In Poland, you are a student of a particular department, and you take courses almost entirely in that department. In the States, you are a student of the university at large, and will take courses in many different departments. So Polish universities don't have the equivalent of American general education courses, and even taking electives outside of your department is a major hassle.

As for saving money on general education courses, the most practical strategy is to take those courses at a "feeder school" or junior college that has a specific agreement with the University of Chicago. There are many such schools in Chicago itself. For example, if your program requires a course in history, you could take that course at another college in Chicago at a much cheaper price. As long as this is discussed ahead of time with your academic advisor and approved by your dean, the university will accept those credits toward your degree. Same with other general education and elective courses.

The key is to discuss everything ahead of time with your academic advisor. They will gladly tell you what will be accepted, and what will not. You can also ask about the possibility of a junior year abroad.

Good luck with your studies! Like I said, Chicago is a fantastic city. I used to live there myself, and just took two of my Polish students on a two-week vacation there in June. I hope you are a foodie, because Chicago is foodie heaven!

Work / 10 Years Exp With Data Warehouse, Machine Learning and Big Data Salary For Krakow [15]

@DataGuy

The biggest problem is that wages are low, and cost of living relative to wages is high, which means that saving substantial amounts of money is very difficult.

Another problem is that there are a lot fewer immigrants in Poland than in western European countries or the English speaking countries, and most of those immigrants are single male students or transient workers, so that there is little in the way of immigrant communities in Poland.

The next problem is that English as widely spoken as in the western European countries, and Polish is a very difficult language that has little value outside of Poland.

The last thing is that IT work in Poland is almost entirely outsourced, so it is basically the kind of work that nobody in the home country wants to do. Also, even for multi-national corporations, you can be cut off from the corporate career ladder.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]

It appears to be some sort of romantic fantasy, a variant of the "noble savages" myth. That is what struck me when he said that Poland is how Ireland used to be 20 years ago. I don't know where this "family values" thing is coming from, though. In the US, that is a religious right dogwhistle code meaning blatant homophobia. I'm struggling to guess what it means to him.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


Actually, it might. Exposure to the harsh realities of everyday life in Poland will help him appreciate how good he had it back in Ireland. He certainly be disabused of a lot of silly romantic ideas.

It might be the shock therapy he needs to get him out of his slump.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


Indeed there are. Didn't dispute that. It's not for everyone, though.

I'm not convinced that there are many opportunities for Western paramedics, though, aside from drilling operations.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


Ummm... I used to teach at a nursing school myself. And I've worked with lots of people who did stints in the Middle East (my current closest co-worker did). I was considering doing a stint in Saudi Arabia myself at one time, so I've done my research.

Life / Where can I buy a second-hand bicycle in Warsaw or Lodz? [10]

Best way is to ask your friends or co-workers.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


Yes. Only. The same for nurses. Those who are only nurses are from the countries I listed. Higher level nurse specialists are from Western countries.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


I thought of that, too. But he's only a paramedic, and that's not the type of medical professional that is in demand there. Indians, Pakistanis and Filipinos get hired for that level of work.

However, there is the possibility of finding work as a paramedic on an oil platform or remote drilling site in Scotland or elsewhere. He can earn quite a bit if he is willing to work over the winter.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]

@delphiandomine

Probably not. But working full-time in Ireland, he should earn enough to take extended vacations/leaves in Poland.

Genealogy / Osolek, Russia (Poland) or damn you transcribers! [15]

@kaprys

He wouldn't find anything anyway. There's no Osolek or Osołek in the Geographical Dictionary, which is exhaustive for that time period, and if it's misspelled, changing just a few letters would give matches with hundreds of possibilities, any of which may be the village in question. And that's just if you keep the initial "O".

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


I had a great time in Wrocław, and even miss it still. But then, I was qualified out the gazoot and didn't have to worry about saving money. Or even earning money. And I was willing to invest countless hours for years on end to learn the language. I heartily recommend it to anyone in that position. It's a great place for semi-retirement. It's a horrible place if you have to earn and save, or don't speak the language, and have no intention to learn Except for a very few highly qualified, highly experienced individuals. Which the OP is not by a long shot.

I have no patience for bullshitters who paint a rosy picture of opportunities for working in Poland, though.

Moving from Ireland to Poland would require such a massive reduction in his earnings and savings, and quality of life, that it would be nigh suicidal.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


I gave him the best suggestion he is going to hear: Get his act together back home in Ireland and forget about Poland, because it just ain't going to happen. Ever. Ain't no way he's going to find any job in Poland at wages that can support him and his kid with his present experience and qualifications.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


Yes. But that does not contradict what I said, which is that practically all of the high-enders are long-termers (or actual certified professional teachers who teach at the international schools).

Is this guy going to be able to make a decent living for him and his kid by teaching English? My money's on "no". He's been posting about coming to Poland and working as a paramedic for seven years now, and he's still pretty clueless. Delusional, even.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


From a measly one-month course? Which is hardly intellectually demanding? Get real.


The competition from the higher end of the market is much, much more formidable. You're talking about guys who have been here for ten or twenty years, the battle-hardened survivors of thousands who have tried, not clueless newbies fresh off the plane.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]

@skubus

That would be for a senior executive at a major financial institution.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


Definitely not "plenty", and by far most of them have been there for some time and are already long established. Breaking into the higher paying realms of English teaching is much harder now than it used to be. And the time it takes to get established and build up a good clientele is much longer. That ship sailed long ago. Poland is a lousy country if you are considering a career in ESL.


To pay as little as possible. And find med students more than adequate for their needs. And wouldn't view an older paramedic as much more qualified.


You do see the contradiction here, of course.

Law / Poland's visit visa refused; "intention to leave the country is not determined". [35]

Appeals work only if you can prove that the decision of the consul was not in accordance with the law. If you can't do that, it would be a waste of time and money.

Work / 10 Years Exp With Data Warehouse, Machine Learning and Big Data Salary For Krakow [15]

@DataGuy

Well, then, what do you think about what they are offering? Is it tempting, or is it ridiculously low?

Generally, good jobs are advertised solely by word of mouth, face to face in the real world. Internet sites and recruiters get the table scraps. So if you are interested in working in Poland, then take advantage of your network of real-world professional contacts and expand it as necessary until you have good real-world contacts that actually work or have worked in Poland. Rest assured that anything you find on a website or from a random recruiter is extremely unlikely to be your golden ticket to fame and fortune.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]


No, he couldn't. That market is pretty over-saturated because of the American and Canadian medical students in Poland who are willing to teach medical English for beer money.

Work / 10 Years Exp With Data Warehouse, Machine Learning and Big Data Salary For Krakow [15]

@DataGuy

I didn't say anything about taking an offer. I said apply and see what they offer. That will give you a good idea whether it is worth pursuing the matter further.

Work / 10 Years Exp With Data Warehouse, Machine Learning and Big Data Salary For Krakow [15]


Why don't you ask the people who are hiring? Apply for jobs and see what they offer.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]

You'll barely make enough to survive on your own, and perhaps not even that. With a child in tow, it's flat out impossible. You'd be tempted to eat that child just to get a little protein in your diet.


This is some sort of a joke, isn't it? Your kid will be picking through garbage bins for potato peels.

Sorry, bud, but you really have to get your act together back there in Ireland. Poland just ain't in your future.

Work / Paramedic salary in Poland [69]

@skubus

Realistically, you chances of finding gainful employment with your present qualifications is remote to the extreme in Poland. There is a very good reason why medical professionals of all kinds are abandoning Poland in droves.

Sorry, but there is nothing you possess than can be sold for a fair price on the Polish labor market. You've been posting here for seven years already and presumably reading related threads on this during that time, so further explanation is unnecessary.

Why are you so determined to come to Poland?