Work / Navy Guy seeks help looking for work in Poland! [19]

Honestly - don't bother with the CELTA just yet, unless you can (I doubt it...) convince the Navy to pay for it. I can tell you for an almost certain fact that as an ex-Navy guy, you won't be able to put up with the bullshit that comes with the job in Poland.

Your best bet would be to come to Poland for two weeks, and spend the time talking to as many companies as you can. You've got enough experience to be taken seriously, and I'd be willing to bet that there's going to be several companies who might be interested in you. Don't forget about all the subcontracting that goes on here - there's bound to be some interesting possibilities once you're here.

I know little about defence, but perhaps someone else here will be able to point you in the direction of where the relevant companies are in Poland?

Also - will you be moving to a certain area, or are you free to choose?

USA, Canada / Can you BE Polish without SPEAKING Polish in the US? [256]


Can't speak Polish, can't be Polish. Koniec.


But we all have shared ancestry, therefore, ethnicity is meaningless.

Work / In order to work in Poland, do I have to graduate from a Polish university? [10]

Why do you want to work here?


Jobs where they can't find people from the EU. In other words, people with experience, knowledge and ability.

Work / Navy Guy seeks help looking for work in Poland! [19]

Joe, how much experience do you have in the Navy?

USA, Canada / Can you BE Polish without SPEAKING Polish in the US? [256]

@jasondmzk

Your wife is a friend of mine ;)

And to answer your question - no, you can't be. Speaking Polish is integral to the Polish character.

Law / IT department (computer programming) - Opening up an Office/Business in Poland [53]


True, and even plenty of Germans considering work there now. But anyone studying IT there was probably too stupid to get into a good university ;)


Not surprised ;) I was there once and saw absolutely nothing to make it worth going back, except the boats...

Law / IT department (computer programming) - Opening up an Office/Business in Poland [53]


That's exactly what was told to me - they outsourced the project to Romania, yet ended up actually paying more - and they didn't get the benefit of completing a major project in-house.


Much of this is pretty easy to deal with, actually - for instance, job advertisements can be (and should be) solely in English. I wouldn't even consider putting an ad up in Polish - you want people who can function in English.

Yes, there are agencies - but you have to be careful with them. Many of them will have partners with other service providers, and Poles rarely know about the concept of "impartiality". It can work in your favour - but equally - against you. However - from what you say - you can do much of the work yourself as it's not too difficult - the hardest part is finding reliable, trustworthy local partners.


That's one reason to actually go to Poznan - you're closer to Germany, yet unlike Warsaw, you won't be paying Western Europe salaries. It's still a big city, there's still plenty of very good coders around (I could easily sort out a few CV's to be sent to you if you really are willing to pay above the going rate - I know people who would be interested) and a university which produces a lot of good graduates.


Hmm - this shouldn't be a problem anywhere you go.

If you are serious about this - I'm happy to talk to you about what's involved. It's not so difficult - in fact, it probably sounds more difficult than it is. But the first step is making a trip here to make sure that you want to do business here - again - if you want to come to Poznan, I'll happily set up some meetings for you with people already doing business here so you can get a feel of the place. It's actually a shame you posted now - I have a good friend who is in SF quite often, but his latest trip just finished yesterday.

But really - what you propose isn't so difficult once you know how :)


There's nothing in Bydgoszcz or Szczecin worth considering.

Real Estate / Foreign investor, properties in Poland, walk away from mortgages? [209]

Mark likes the idea of communism, remember - he would be first in line for his state-subsidised flat.

Law / IT department (computer programming) - Opening up an Office/Business in Poland [53]


It doesn't work for everyone - I was told one story by an IT director of one big company where they spent several million zloty outsourcing one project (against his wishes) - only to end up with much more problems than if they'd developed it themselves. So - I can see why someone would want to keep it in-house.

He's also in California - I can understand the reluctance to outsource it to thousands of miles away.


I think he's not in Germany, rather, just he has a German citizen dealing with it for him.

USA, Canada / Getting a VISA to USA by a Polish person nowadays [339]


Revered?

Hardly.


Are there? Can't say I've ever seen a queue here. Maybe you're mixing up Poland of 2011 with Poland of 1991?

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]

I suppose you've never heard of the quote "also the animals possess a soul and that men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren".

By a no lesser authority than John Paul II. Nice of you to disregard his teachings - and entirely consistent with your application of Catholicism.

Study / I am coming to study at the University in Wroclaw and have some questions about employment [9]


It might, but you'll need to put the hours in with self-study - the course itself won't be enough. And a lot will depend on you - with languages, it's impossible to say if you'll be good enough or not. Bear in mind that you'll also need "academic" Polish - it won't be enough to simply be able to use every day Polish.

Study / I am coming to study at the University in Wroclaw and have some questions about employment [9]


Are you sure it's a wise idea to work during an intensive Polish course? I know a couple of people who have done them - and if you expect to be good enough to study Polish at the university level, you won't have time to work during the course.

Work / Is it true that foreigners in Poland can teach English without any teaching certificate? [30]

Without a doubt - if you go to tinpot areas of the world, certificates are meaningless. I have a Polish friend who managed to convince many schools in Latin America that he was actually "Mark" from England.


But what I'm saying is that there's no standardised concept of what a "TEFL" exam is - it's a meaningless concept. You need to clearly specify what you're talking about - and as said above, the Trinity/CELTA ones are the gold standard in Polish private schools.

Work / Is it true that foreigners in Poland can teach English without any teaching certificate? [30]

No-one is going to employ a Chinese English speaker (with English as a 2nd language) when they can hire plenty of talented Polish teachers who have the papers.


There's no such thing as a "tefl exam".


Apparently the pass rate for the CELTA is around 95% - but as you rightfully say, most employers will ask for A or B. A "pass" is a sign of not being prepared enough.

Work / What job can I find if I just finish Polish preparatory courses? [5]


Forget about it - you're not going to get employed here as a teacher. It isn't unheard of, but you'll have to network like mad and be very, very good at seducing/influencing people.

Work / What job can I find if I just finish Polish preparatory courses? [5]

You can work in kebab shops.

Law / IT department (computer programming) - Opening up an Office/Business in Poland [53]


Really? Last I checked, Gdansk was nowhere when it came to being desirable for IT graduates. Then again - what would you know?


Perhaps for people that don't leave their village, yes.

Law / IT department (computer programming) - Opening up an Office/Business in Poland [53]


Why? It's poorly located in terms of transportation, it doesn't have much in the way of IT graduates and it's not well known for being a base for IT. Rather poor city in this respect, actually.


Aw look, another user using a guest account to make a personal attack because he's too much of a coward to use his own username.

Love / Unmarried couples in Poland = pathology [310]


Are you married, Polonius?

You post so much about "gays" and "liberal fools" - but I never see you post about love.

Law / IT department (computer programming) - Opening up an Office/Business in Poland [53]

What does it change if he's creating 5 jobs or 500 jobs? The process is still exactly the same.

Life / What is wrong with Poznan? [197]


Applies to every single "open access" public transport system in the world.

Try finding a place to buy tickets for Berlin trams - far more difficult in the depths of East Berlin than it is in Poznan.

I stumbled across this interesting news story -

cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/02/22/canadian-students-medicine-overseas.html


Confirms what I was saying in this thread - and it's even better knowing that our little friend here certainly won't be a doctor back home, too.

Law / IT department (computer programming) - Opening up an Office/Business in Poland [53]


I'd recommend Poznan at the minute - there's not so many companies competing for the best, unlike places like Krakow and Wroclaw.


Likewise, Poznan - it's located exactly halfway between Warsaw and Berlin, making business trips easy. It's also close to Wroclaw, and has direct flights to anywhere that you'd want to go.


Average salaries are about the same as other big cities, and you can get office space very cheaply if you know how to negotiate.


I used to run such a business - not any more (was offered a dream job!), but if you're seriously interested in this, I wouldn't mind making a proposal to you. I wouldn't be interested in taking a high fee - it's more of a "personal interest" to keep my knowledge up of the market than anything else.


Income taxes are quite low - 18/32%, with social insurance contributions of (roughly) 20% from both employer and employee. However, there are ways to cut your social insurance bill - depending on the nature of what you do.


Gumtree, as well as speaking to the universities directly. It's not a problem to find qualified, English-speaking personnel here in IT.


Oh yes - there's a lot of things. Generally speaking though, operating a business like this won't be difficult - and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You'll certainly find that you'll hear plenty of bullshit about how difficult it is - usually by people who want to charge you as much money as possible.

If you want - drop me an e-mail at office@lindenia and we can talk further :)

History / Lithuanians hate Poles? [156]


Oh look, we have another North American who failed in Poland and has a big chip on his shoulder as a result.

Did you ever live/work in a Lithuanian gmina? Did you ever have contact with the Lithuanian minority? Naaaaw. Didn't think so.

As for "more discrimination in Lithuania" - really? Based on what? Your local "Polonia Kielbasa Pierogies" newspaper doesn't count.

History / Lithuanians hate Poles? [156]


Basically, it's up to the discretion of the person doing the registering. But - there is a general principle that names must be in accordance with Polish grammatical norms - so females must have names ending in "a". There's no law anymore about "approved" names - but you might find that the registar demands it to be spelt in accordance with Polish spelling norms.

Hence - a Lithuanian living in Poland will be refused the name "Roze" because the Polish variant is "Roza".

And even worse - say for instance, you want to name your child AGNÉ. You can't - because you can't register using the proper e.

(plenty of stupid Polish-spelling English names though)

History / Lithuanians hate Poles? [156]

Ask yourself why Lithuanian children aren't allowed to be named freely in Poland.

History / Lithuanians hate Poles? [156]

Spoken like a true North American ignorant person.

You haven't got a clue what's going on in Lithuania - you haven't even got a clue what kind of discrimination takes place in Poland against the Lithuanian minority.

But actually - what you've described is exactly what the Poles have done there. They want to keep their place, so their political leaders have managed to whip them into a frenzy - making it seem like Lithuania hates them, blah blah blah. It's all petty political point scoring.

(ask yourself, if you're so knowledgable - why are Lithuanians prevented in Poland from giving their children certain Lithuanian names?)

Genealogy / I'm half Polish American, but I'm very Patriotic about my ancestry [47]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria-Hungary

Common usage is to say "Austria-Hungary" to refer to the state that existed after the Dual Compromise of 1867. In Polish - Austro-Węgry.

Life / What is wrong with Poznan? [197]


2675th in the world? That's a top quality degree right there!

Life / Ephiphany - Święto Trzech Króli [12]

It was a great excuse to go to Wroclaw and drink with a friend of mine and his wife. I thoroughly approve - let's make sure that from now on, the 6th of January always falls on a Thursday, Friday, Monday or Tuesday!