Study / Which is the best university to study international/european law and international relation in Poland? [29]

Why not a top school like Georgetown, London School of Economics or Berkeley? A degree in international relations isn't worth much unless it's from one of the top schools. If you can't get in to the top schools, study engineering, or any other STEM field with lots and lots of advanced applied math.

Study / Part Time Work in Jozefow/Warsaw for Euroregional University student (MBA Program) - any chances? [14]


Things were looking rosy until this point, but contact with Merkel spoiled all his hard work and preparation, and the only jobs he would be hired for in Poland are of the blow and hand variety. I recommend that he attend a six-year demerkelization program in North Korea to get rid of the taint, erase all traces of his previous identity, and get adopted as a sex pet by a prominent Polish woman like Renata Beger or Violetta Villas.

Study / Part Time Work in Jozefow/Warsaw for Euroregional University student (MBA Program) - any chances? [14]

Getting an MBA only makes sense if you 1) already have at least five years of solid management experience behind you already; and 2) earn the degree from a top school that is respected by potential employers.


It does indeed matter to potential employers. Show them an MBA from some joke school like the one in Józefów, and they will either ignore you, or laugh in your face.


On the job market, no one gives a **** what you think. It's what your potential employer will think, and he certainly will not have a high opinion of the school in Józefów.


Means nothing to potential employers.

Listen, kid. I'm trying to save you time and money. The school in Józefów is a waste of both. Quit dreaming otherwise. And an MBA is worthless unless its from a very good school and is backed up by abundant prior management experience. You can earn a much more useful degree at a much better school in India or wherever you come from. Unless you get into Warsaw Economic University, forget about coming to Poland. It has little, if anything, to offer you, especially since you cannot afford to live and study there without working part-time, which is impossible for foreign students like you.

Wake up, smell the coffee, and make more realistic plans that better fit your career goals and budget. Quit mentally masturbating and thinking that a crappy MBA from a crappy school is going to open up any doors for you.

Study / Part Time Work in Jozefow/Warsaw for Euroregional University student (MBA Program) - any chances? [14]


Agree. An MBA is not worth much unless it is from a top school, and an MBA from a worthless school like the one in Józefów is only good enough for wiping your behind after you do the poo.

You've been scammed, Shy123. That school is not even worth the poo.

Study / Part Time Work in Jozefow/Warsaw for Euroregional University student (MBA Program) - any chances? [14]

Zero chance. There are no jobs for foreign students in Poland. Don't come to Poland to study if you can't pay for it without working, and make your plans on the very safe assumption that you will never be able to earn a penny in Poland.

Also, that school in Józefów is a joke. The degree is worthless and won't help you find a job, in Poland or anywhere else. Go to a real university and study engineering, not to a joke university to study something worthless like economics or international relations.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


When you won't have money, everything about your relationship will become solely about the money. "Love" is ok when times are good, but when the cash runs out, so does the love. Take it from someone far older and experienced than you. If a relationship does not make sense in dollars and cents, ain't nothin' that love can do about it. So if your planning to get married, take love out of the equation and see if it still adds up. If not, then end it so that both of you are free to pursue more realistic partners without wasting time.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

Schools are generally closed or working at reduced capacity during the summer, and often pay teachers half-rate during that time. Not likely that you will find any work then, especially in a small town. Like Harry said, most schools start up around the beginning of October, so looking before August is pretty pointless.

As for private lessons, it takes years to establish a reputation and a reliable client base. Count on earning only enough to cover beer and smokes the first year. Nothing serious.


If by "his house" he means his parent's house, you will be expected to contribute at least 1000 PLN to the household budget each month, or else you will soon be seen and treated as a parasite. And parasites are not treated well in Poland, especially by "mothers-in-law", so to speak.

The only thing that makes sense in your plan is that you are avoiding the big, popular cities like Wrocław, Kraków and Warsaw, which are all crawling with "native speakers" scrounging for even the crummiest teaching job.

Otherwise, be aware that moving to Poland to make money very rarely works out, and moving for love even more rarely. It would be much more sensible for him to move to your country and try to make a go of it there then for you to try to make a go of it in Poland. The golden age of English teaching in Poland is long gone.

Study / Polish schools and Polish educational system level in your eyes [135]



If you want a job in Europe, DON'T study economics, business, administration, marketing and finance, The market is super-saturated with graduates in those fields. Or if you must study in these fields, either a) study at one of the very best schools in the WORLD (like Harvard or LSE, no Polish schools qualify), OR study a math-intensive field like actuary science, econometrics, financial mathematics or financial engineering at a very, very good school (again, not many, if any, Polish schools qualify) AND be a top student AND be a very, very aggressive go-getter and self-promoter (forget about it if you are a mediocre student or the stereotypically shy and polite Asian nerd type).

Actuary sciences is a very highly paid field and you will never have to worry about finding a job anywhere. The studies are VERY difficult, though, because of all the very difficult exams you have to take.

You best option, though, is to study petroleum engineering, geological engineering or biomedical engineering, For that, you probably have schools in Korea that are better or at least as good as those in Poland. Or pick a very good university in Western Europe or the United States.

You really haven't given any good reason for wanting to study in Poland, specifically, so I have to agree with your parents here. Do you even know anything about the country?

Law / Can non-EU spouse/dependent work without work permit in Poland? [26]


Actually, the best way is for her to transfer, but if her company has no presence in Poland, that's pretty much out. Next best way is to find for her to find a job in her home country with a company that does do business in Poland, and then get transferred. Third best way is to find a job with a company in Poland while she is still in her home country, Worst way is for her to come to Poland and then start looking for a job once she is there; there is practically no chance of her finding a job that way, unless she has serious kick-a$$ experience, like ten years experience as a project or regional manager or high-level consultant, and even then, it's not going to be easy.

It's best to make your plans on the very realistic assumption that your wife will not be able to find work in Poland.

Work / Warsaw - General Employment Situation for French man focusing on Business Development B2B and HR/Recruitment [8]


I lived 12 years in Poland, and the only such cases I saw were in information technology, and those guys has some serious qualifications and experience. They now own their own web design company in Poland, and it's doing very well.

Things are much harder in business-related fields, though, unless you really have something to sell in your CV and know the local language. Poland turns out a massive surplus of graduates with degrees in business, administration, marketing, economics and related fields each year, and only a fraction of those find relevant jobs, even those with masters degrees and MBAs. I wouldn't count on finding a job after arriving in Poland unless you had 1) serious qualifications and experience that make you stand out on the very competitive job market; 2) a pretty decent working knowledge of the local language, including speaking and writing at a reasonable level of fluency; and 3) lots of very useful contacts and connections close to those who make real hiring decisions. I'm sure exceptions exist, but it's not very wise to make plans based on exceptions and luck.

Otherwise, I would say that you are wasting your time trying to find work in Poland when there are much better opportunities elsewhere for someone with your qualifications. That is, unless you go the classical route of finding work in the West and getting transferred to Poland at Western wages.

Why are you interested in Poland, in particular?

Travel / Recommendations for a stay in Krakow? January, winter. [5]

The salt mine in Wieliczka is an absolute must-see. Truly an amazing place.

Work / British living in Poland - looking for work? [2]

Barrie, what do you expect to hear? Without serious qualifications and experience, the best you are likely to find on the highly competitive Polish job market is a job in cold-call sales or low-level bill collections at a call center, lousy work that pays lousy wages, perhaps too little for you to survive on comfortably in Poland.

My advice would be to go back to the UK, go back to school, and earn a degree or learn a trade that means something on the job market. Otherwise, your life is going to $uck big time, especially in a country with a highly competitive job market like Poland.

PS: If you are a native speaker of English, be advised that your writing is at elementary school level, and that will not make a good impression on potential employers. If your communications skills are lacking, you might not even find a job in a lousy call center.

Work / Security/Defence Analyst/Consultancy work in Poland [5]

You gave us basically zero information about yourself and zero specifics about what you want to know, and are confused that nobody answered you?

As a generic answer, your best bet would be to get hired by a Western consulting firm in a Western country, and get transferred to Poland earning Western wages. Otherwise, there isn't much point. Better opportunities are abundant elsewhere. As for showing up in Poland and looking for a job after you arrive, forget about it. That is a recipe for disaster. Especially in the consulting field where, if you plan to stay independent, it takes years of hard, back-breaking work and eating ramen noodles to build up a reputation.

Poland is not at all a friendly job market for those who don't know exactly what they are doing. Do your research and make a specific and realistic plan that is not over-optimistic. Remember that anything is going to take twice as long and cost twice as much as you expect it to, and in Poland, I would double that again to be on the safe side.

Work / Job in Poland for MBA [10]

It's still a pretty unrealistic and unworkable plan, because it will be nigh impossible for you to find a job to support yourself with your qualifications and experience. Basically, nothing you have is needed on the Polish job market. I would make plans of sharing your life with your spouse somewhere else besides Poland, because your chances for success are remote, at best, there. Or consider finding another spouse.

Sorry, but Poland is just not in your future. Look elsewhere.

Work / Warsaw - General Employment Situation for French man focusing on Business Development B2B and HR/Recruitment [8]


Foreigners of this type are generally hired in the home country of the international company and transferred to Poland. Not many off-the-street job seekers get hired for jobs like you are looking for inside Poland itself, unless they have impressive IT skills.

My advice is to get hired by a French company or other international company that does business in France while still in France, and get transferred to Poland, preferably earning Western wages.

Otherwise, there is little incentive for you to move to Poland. Wages are low, opportunities are limited, and numerous better opportunities exist elsewhere.


That's overly optimistic, even if you are fluent in Russian. It might work for reading, and probably also reading, but you will require a lot more time to develop speaking and writing skills, even at the intermediate level.

Work / Job in Poland for MBA [10]


Practically none. Poland is crawling with unemployed people with MBAs in marketing, and they speak Polish. No need to bring in anyone from abroad unless they had serious and extensive management or administrative experience, which you don't.

So looking for work for someone with your qualifications and experience is a waste of time. Look elsewhere. You're chances of finding better work is much higher in India than it is in Poland.

Now if you had an engineering degree and experience in IT, that would be a different matter...

Work / Salary for an experienced professional in an MNC (Lodz / Warsaw - Poland) [5]


If you get less than 20,000 PLN gross (13,000 PLN net), it would hardly be worthwhile coming to Poland. Ask for 25,000 PLN gross, and don't be sad to turn them down if they don't accept.

Work / Potential work and new life for Native English speakers in Warsaw [6]

Do you have any salable qualifications or skills? If not, then the best you will do is cold-call sales or low-level collections at a call center, lousy jobs for lousy pay, especially in an expensive city like Warsaw.

Life / Cost of living in Wroclaw (rent price too) [119]


Not really. It might be a little tempting if you are a recent grad, but if you have any experience, it isn't all that generous. Even if you are a recent grad, your time would probably be better spent in India beefing up your qualifications rather than spending a year or two in Poland gaining experience that most likely will not help you very much in your future career. The amount you quoted will get you a basic apartment and pay for basic food. No luxuries or savings. A toothache or the flu can wipe you out financially for many months. Too much risk for too little gain.

Work / 100,000 PLN (per year) in Krakow - Is it enough for a couple to survive on? [18]


That comes out to 5500 PLN a month after taxes. An American couple could survive on that in Kraków, modestly. But not with the lifestyle you envision in your post.


Even if you live frugally, that doesn't leave all that much to save up. Maybe three hundred bucks a month for a rainy day fund if you're very careful, but not much more.

It doesn't look like a tempting offer to me, especially since neither you nor your wife will be able to significantly improve your qualifications. You'd just be putting career development on hold for a year or two, for no real gain or purpose that I can see.

You'd almost certainly be better off staying in the States, developing your skills and qualifications, and searching for better employment opportunities.

Work / Salary and cost of living information - Krakow [257]


Too little to have much of a life in Kraków. It should be about that much NET.


Despite the lower wages, living costs in Poland are relatively high, especially in the big popular cities like Warsaw, Wrocław and Kraków.

When making your decision, base it on how many POUNDS you can put away at the end of the month. Don't calculate your savings in any other currency, because it's meaningless. If it turns out that you can squirrel away 50 pounds a month in Kraków, and 200 pounds a month in the UK, then, regardless of the actual wages or cost of living, the job in the UK is by far the better option, financially at least.


For that little, you would be reduced to dumpster diving and sleeping under bridges in Kraków, and probably also trading sexual favors to dirty old visiting German businessmen for candy bars and cigarettes. You'd squeak by with a lot of luck, little, if any, savings and no life to speak of at 5500 gross. To live somewhat decently you'd really need at least 7500 gross. And you don't become an "expat", rather than a simple foreign flunky, until you make substantially more than that.

Real Estate / Bydgoszcz - studio/apartments [19]

I, and others, have already told you that you are wasting your time trying to nail down an apartment in Poland by looking on the internet or in agencies before you come.

And I told you how to solve the situation, by asking your colleagues at Atos after you arrive.

Which part don't you understand.

And as for the question you didn't ask, but should have, if you are not making at least 4000 PLN net (6000 PLN gross) in Brzydgoszcz, there is absolutely no point in coming to Poland. At that rate, you will be able to survive frugally and won't be able to count on saving anything. That assumes also that you don't drink, don't smoke, don't date, or don't have any other expensive hobbies or habits. Of course, you would not be able to bring your wife or family here on so little money.

If, on the other hand, you are making over 4000 PLN net, then there is simply no point in saving a few hundred PLN a month by getting a room instead of a studio apartment. The increase in savings will almost certainly not be offset by the larger decrease in the quality of living.

I don't know about any other details about your stay, but if you are looking at 1200 PLN for a studio apartment as too expensive for your tastes, then, no matter how much you are making, it is far too little for you to come to Poland.

Real Estate / Bydgoszcz - studio/apartments [19]


Basically, the only way that is going to happen is by asking your coworkers at ATOS if they know if anything is available AFTER you get to Bydgoszcz. If one of your coworkers has a larger apartment with a free room, they might rent it out to you. How much they expect you to pay is their call.

I highly doubt that anyone would rent a room in their apartment to somebody sight unseen, least of all a foreigner.

You don't say how much they are offering you, but if it's not enough to afford 1200 PLN for a studio apartment with, then it's just not worth coming to Poland at all.

Forget about it now for the time being. You sound completely clueless, and clueless people don't last long in Poland. Take a few months or years to learn about working in Poland and how it all works, talk to lots of people from your country who have worked in Poland, and then reapply for the job. Right now, you're not ready, and won't be for a long time.

Life / What should a foreigner do when invited to join Christmas dinner with his Polish-friend's family? [21]


Traveling on the 23rd or 24th is plain hell. By all means, take the train and travel first class. It's well worth the money. The second class cars will be a zoo, and you might well end up standing in as crowded passage the whole trip.

Buy your ticket a week in advance, or buy it online. The lines at the ticket counters at the train station are very long and move very slowly during the peak holiday travel season.

Work / Shifting to Poland - 6000PLN after tax good enough for Krakow? [12]


Depends on your qualifications, your position and whether you are single or have a family to support. It could be quite good or very poor, depending. Give details.

Study / Poznan University of Technology - information needed (Telecommunication master) [13]


That is too little to support a family of three and pay school fees, whether net or gross. Also take into account the cost of airfare to and from Poland, and your visa fees, and you will have less than nothing left.

Life / What should a foreigner do when invited to join Christmas dinner with his Polish-friend's family? [21]


Not at Christmastime. The house will be decorated enough with the Christmas tree and all. On other visits, yes. You're better off with chocolates, tea or liqueur/dessert wine.


Good is the operative word here, so ask a local for advice if you are buying vodka.


Those are gifts that family members give each other, not that an outsider would give, especially a younger stranger. Far too intimate. Unless you already know them very well.

Study / Poznan University of Technology - information needed (Telecommunication master) [13]


Basically, no. There is very little chance that you will be able to find a job, even less so one on which you could support yourself, your wife and your child in Poznan. If you do not have enough cash to pay your way through your whole study period, forget about coming. Of course, chances are even lower that your wife will find work.

Sorry, but it does not appear that you will be able to study in Poland, especially if you are expecting to bring your wife and child along. Without a 100% scholarship that covers your tuition and apartment, there is nothing you or anyone can do.


Engineering management courses are generally not very useful for finding high paying jobs. Your time would be better spent beefing up your engineering qualifications than taking a whole bunch of time consuming and useless management courses. Try getting a degree in petroleum engineering, geological engineering or biomedical engineering at a good school in Egypt.


As I said, studying in Poland is not a viable option for you. There is no advantage for you in coming to Poland to study. If you are thinking of Poland as an easy back door to the EU, think otherwise. That would be a foolish mistake, and you will waste a lot of time and money.

Get a more useful and salable engineering degree in the fields I mentioned from a good school in Egypt or other country in the region, and you will have little trouble finding high paid jobs anywhere you want. Those specialties are in high demand and demand will increase throughout your lifetime.

Work / Job consideration in Warsaw - what would be my expenses in case I move here? [11]

Exactly. A foreigner who doesn't know the language, the country, the city and the culture cannot live as cheaply as a native Pole. And without knowing the language, its going to take a long time to learn the ropes by hit or miss trial and error. Losing his home court advantage is going to cost him.

Karma, on 5000 PLN in Warsaw, expect to live like a monk, and save nothing, and you won't be disappointed. All it takes is one dental abscess or two weeks in bed with the flu to wreck your budget for many months.

But if you're a glutton for punishment and a big fan of potatoes and cabbage, go ahead and give it a try. My bet is on you being back in India by Easter, so you had better make sure the job you have now will be waiting for you when you get back. If not, you're screwed.

Life / Kissing on the cheek in Poland. Lips for lovers only? [39]


Definitely an Indian or Pakistani. And probably a troll.