Work / Job offer from IT Giant in Katowice, Poland (UNIX specialist). Information on tax and rental costs needed. [65]


Like I said, that may be a possibility, but it would probably not be any better than looking from India.


Yes, they're friendly enough, but not many of them speak English, especially among people over 40.


The richer countries of Western Europe would be a much wiser choice than Poland, both short-term and long-term. Scandinavia in particular.


German and/or French make sense, but there is little point in learning Polish unless you plan to spend many, many years of your life here. It's not an international language.


The opportunities for advancement, though, would be a lot greater, including future earnings and savings potential. Starting at a MNC in India and getting transferred to the home country would be a good strategy. Working in Poland won't help in this regard.


Good engineers are highly in demand in both the UK and the US, far more so than in Poland. A lot of Polish engineers have emigrated to these countries. Poland is a country that engineers emigrate from, not immigrate to. For good reason (low wages with little chance of advancement).


You heard wrong. Terribly wrong. Tertiary education in Poland is worse than in India, especially in technical fields, with a few minor exceptions. And abysmal in comparison to the States, the UK or Western Europe. Whoever told you that is full of baloney, and don't believe any hype you might read on the internet. Polish universities are aggressively marketing themselves to naive residents of developing countries as a viable cheaper alternative to American and British universities. It's essentially a scam. Don't believe a word of it.


That very much depends on what kind of car you want. Generally, yes, but then the amount you could save would go down. Depends on how much you'd be willing to spend.


I'm sure that you can get some type of paid TV package that will provide you with all the coverage you need. How much it will cost, I don't have the foggiest idea. The only thing I know about soccer is that the ball is spherical, unlike American footballs (and that makes me an expert in soccer compared to most Americans).


Understandably so. Like I said, although it's good money for Poland, it's not all that good on a global scale. Explore jobs in the UK, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany. Wages and opportunities are much better than in Poland, as is quality of life. You're even going to be able to see a lot more of Europe working in the States that you will be able to afford to working in Poland.

Don't forget, the differences between countries in Europe is enormous. Unlike the countries I listed above, Poland is poor and not a land of bounding opportunity. Wages are much lower. The difference between Germany and Poland is about the difference between Singapore and India. Just crossed the border a few months ago on the train, and the thing that struck me is that you could actually HEAR the exact moment that you entered Germany because of the quality of the tracks. Or rather NOT HEAR, because the ride became suddenly smooth and silent.

Oh. If you are going to Germany, avoid former East Germany. Racism is a very big problem there. In short, avoid anywhere in Europe that was once communist, as well as the countries of southern Europe. Stick to the list I gave above, and you won't go wrong. Get yourself located and situated in a global innovation center as soon as you can. There are none in Poland, or in former communist countries as a whole.

Work / Job offer from IT Giant in Katowice, Poland (UNIX specialist). Information on tax and rental costs needed. [65]


Salary is very good by Polish standards. Not so good by global standards. It comes to 56,000 USD per year. You could make double that or more as a Unix specialist in Western Europe or in the English speaking countries. The bottom line is how many DOLLARS you are able to squirrel away at the end of the month. While cost of living is somewhat lower than in the West, this does not offset the lower wages. I would keep looking for better opportunities elsewhere, though that is about the top you will get in Poland. Really good for IBM, who are notoriously low payers here in Poland. The fact that they offered you so much to work in Poland is a good sign that your skills are in demand, and you can find a better paying job in the West or the English speaking countries. Take it as a big confidence booster.

If you think that by taking the job, you will be in a stronger position to find a better job elsewhere, go for it. More about that later, though.



God knows why. Frankly, Katowice is one of the ugliest cities in Poland. It's a gritty, run-down coal-mining center that possesses very little in the way of charm compared to other Polish cities like Wrocław or Kraków, And Poland is not a rich country like Germany, Holland Sweden or the UK. Very far from it. And it's not multicultural by any stretch of the imagination. There are few immigrants compared to other European countries, especially from the subcontinent. I really doubt that you and your family are going to last a whole five years in Katowice. Sounds like you really have to do some more research on this.

Your wife is going to lose it sooner or later. Unless she is a very highly qualified IT specialist herself, she will have zero chance of finding employment in Poland. Likewise, educational opportunities for her are pretty slim pickings, so there is a very real chance that she will be bored to death. Without knowing Polish, she will have a very difficult time operating in Polish society. Knowledge of English is not widespread except among young students and recent grads. As for learning Polish, it will be several years of hard work before either you or your wife will learn enough Polish to operate comfortably. It's not a "plug-and-play" language like English or the Indian languages. The grammar is bewilderingly complex, and it will be a long time before you will be able to express even basic things. It requires such a large investment of time and effort that it is hardly worth it unless you are determined to stay in Poland for a very, very long time, which I doubt you will.

There will, of course, be a few other Indian and foreign women in Katowice who are likewise wives of foreign workers. However, whether there are enough of them to form a viable community, I don't know. I doubt it. There are very few foreigners in Poland compared to Germany or the UK. From my experience, Indian women have a very difficult time socializing with other Indian women abroad because of your rigid class structure. Keeping foreign spouses intellectually stimulated is a major problem here in Poland, even for other Europeans. There is a very high risk that she will become socially isolated.

The kid, however, is at a good age. He or she should have no problem fitting in, provided both you and your wife are open and supportive. Don't know about educational opportunities in Katowice, though. You'll have to ask your future colleagues about that, or maybe somebody else on this forum knows more about that. Expect to pay anywhere from 500 PLN on up for your kids education/day care if you expect him or her to be in an English speaking environment, if such a thing exists in Katowice.


A decent two-bedroom apartment is going to cost you from 2500 to 3500 PLN, including rent, administration fees and utilities. Highly depends on the level of comfort you desire. When looking at apartment prices, remember that the number of bedrooms is one less than the number of rooms advertised. So if you are looking for a two bedroom apartment, you will be looking for a three-room apartment (3-pokojowe). Also remember that the advertised price is NOT the full price of the apartment. There will be anywhere from 300 to 800 PLN in administration fees, and utilities will cost about 400 PLN for a family of three, and possibly more depending on heating, which is a wild card.

Food and sundry household items will cost you about 1500 to 2000 PLN for a family of three of your status. Possibly less if you're willing to adapt to the local cooking traditions. Possibly more depending on how exotic you want to cook. While I doubt whether there is a decent Indian shop in Katowice, you will be able to do your shopping in Kraków, which is about an hour and a half away. Can't say for sure how expensive that will be, though. Your future compatriot colleagues will be able to help you with that.

The above does not include clothes, books, home electronics etc. That's another wildcard that depends on your tastes and expectations.

Transit cards for you and your wife will set you back about 150 to 200 PLN a month. If you're planning to purchase or hire a car, that will be a major expense depending on what you buy or hire.

Entertainment expenses are a major wild card. It can add up to a lot if you spend a lot of time traveling to Kraków. Again, this highly depends on your lifestyle and preferences. Don't forget that you will have to provide sufficient activities for both your wife and your kid to keep them intellectually stimulated. What you don't want is for them to stay shut up at home with nothing to do.

As an Indian, you and your family are going to have to deal with winter in Poland. Unless you've lived in a country where there is really winter, nothing in your life will have prepared you for the actual experience. Many people from warmer climes simply can't deal with it and end up packing their bags in January and heading home. It's tolerable and can even be pleasant if you are totally satisfied with he money you are making. Less so if you are not. Katowice, in particular, can be very depressing in the winter.


This is a double-edged sword. Although, on paper, you will be working for IBM, you will be essentially cut off from the mainstream corporate ladder. It may not be there foot in the door that you are looking for. The jobs that IBM provides in Poland largely involve uninteresting grunt work that Americans don't want to do unless they get paid a real, real lot. It's essentially in-company outsourcing, and any corporate decisions made in your regard will be based on solely one factor: keeping costs low. And, considering IBM's reputation for stinginess in Poland, it is very likely that you will not receive a substantial raise in the next five years.

The interesting creative jobs stay in the US or or other wealthy countries. This will be a problem as far as advancement within the corporate structure goes. This is a major complaint among Polish engineers working for big international foreign companies. A lot of them feel trapped and cheated. You'll have to some very serious talks with some VERY experienced engineers back in India and ask for guidance in this regard. Take advice only from those who have worked for large corporations like IBM.

As for savings, your TOTAL pay in Poland will be equal to the TOTAL amount of dollars you would be able to save if you were to find an equivalent job in the US, for example, even taking cost of living into account. It's theoretically possible to save about $12,000 US per year if you and your family live modestly, and maybe a little bit more if you are frugal. That's the number that really counts, and it isn't all that attractive by global standards. About 20 percent of what you would be able to comfortably put aside if you were to land a comparable job in the States. That's a difference of about $200,000 in your savings account at the end of five years. No small peanuts. That will put your kid through the best colleges on the planet. Fine if you decide that a job in Poland is the only available stepping stone to a brighter future elsewhere for the time being, which I doubt is the case. But not good enough to justify a five-year stay, or to justify not looking for a better job elsewhere.

The preceding paragraph is the most important thing I've written. NEVER stop looking for a better job, and ALWAYS may career decisions taking savings potential in absolute DOLLARS into account. The worst mistake engineers make is to stop looking for a better job once they find a job. That is a recipe for misery and failure. Keep swimming like a shark.

Frankly, you might do just as well by staying in India for the time being rather than coming to Poland. Employment and educational opportunities for your wife will be much more easily available, the quality of life comparable or even better, and opportunities for your kid will be better, too. I have a Polish engineer friend who got transferred to India on a five year contract, and he has a wife and a five-year-old boy. They are having the time of their lives, and love it so much that I don't think they'll ever come back to Poland.

Last of all, if you are thinking of Poland as a "back door" to the EU, forget about it. With your qualifications and experience, there are much better ways of going about that without having to sneak in. You can walk proudly through the front door. Do your research, keep on evaluating other offers and opportunities, and, for God's sake, never act out of desperation. You don't have to. I'm inclined to think that patience and thorough research will pay off in spades for you in the end, and that Poland is not in the cards. Best of luck!

Work / Job offer from IT Giant in Katowice, Poland (UNIX specialist). Information on tax and rental costs needed. [65]

Briefly, if you are being offered any less than 12,000 PLN gross before taxes (8000 PLN net after taxes), it will probably not be worth your while moving to Poland with a wife and kid. There are plenty of much better opportunities in Western Europe and the English speaking countries. Your time would be much better spent exploring those opportunities.

Also, your question is far to general to answer except in the most general, and totally useless, way. You provided zero information about yourself. This is not a mind readers' forum. Where are you form? What are your qualifications, skills and experience. The same for your wife. How old is your kid? How long did you plan to stay in Poland? What are your plans after that? What do you expect to get out of working in Poland? How much do you want to save up? The more you tell us about yourself and your situation, the more useful an answer you will get.

Work / Employment in Poland for an English engineer [16]


Might be wiser to keep travelling to England to work than work in a call center. It's ok work for a kid, but it's not going to pay enough to live a semi-comfortable adult lifestyle in Kraków. If the OP had IT skills, proven sales experience or fluency in in-demand languages, he might be able to earn enough to make it worth while. Otherwise, it's probably going to be cold-call sales or low-level debt collections for very low wages. Frankly, those jobs are very unpleasant, and do absolutely nothing toward building a career.

Work / Employment in Poland for an English engineer [16]

Hate to be brutally blunt about this, Mark, but I think you seriously have to reevaluate your skill set and find a market on which you can sell yourself at a decent price. You've been in Poland long enough to know that Poland just ain't that place. All of my friends in civil engineering and construction related engineering are not having an easy time right now. It's a field that's more sensitive to economic downturns than other fields of engineering.

I would say that packing your bags and heading off to greener pastures is a more viable strategy. Maybe even signing a five-year contract in Saudi Arabia or the Emirates. I truly regret not having done so myself when I was younger. Never a day goes by when I don't kick myself.

Or try the States. Fire safety is a VERY BIG thing there, as wood construction is widespread, even in large cities.

Yes, Kraków is charming, but you know by now that the charm wears thin when the cash is tight. No shame at all in admitting that you can't make a go of it and moving on to new adventures and opportunities. Best of luck!

USA, Canada / Employment prospects in Poland and USA with a Computer Science Degree from a Polish university? [18]

Glad to have been of service! This is indeed a great forum! Good luck!

USA, Canada / Employment prospects in Poland and USA with a Computer Science Degree from a Polish university? [18]

Yes, they do. Unfortunately, they tend to be theoretical rather than practical, even in technical fields. If you're trying to assess whether a Polish recent grad is a committed independent thinker, you're going to end up relying heavily on correspondence and the interview.

Part of the problem is that there is no tradition of documenting a lot of the things that would give you a clue. Notice that I used the word "documentable" several times in the original post. It's frustrating when one of my students does something original and noteworthy, but can't get any documentation for it. Now, I have them pester teachers, headmasters and community leaders for official letters and certificates. Sometimes it takes months of pestering to finally get something on paper that an American university will accept.

News / Little statistics about immigrants in Poland. Employment and job prospects. [25]


Not quite. Fewer people means there are less resources to go around in the first place. Somebody has to harvest, mine or chop down all those resources to make them available. Somebody has to produce consumer goods, or provide services that can be traded for them. And it means that a lot of those higher wages are going to be spent supporting the elderly rather than being free for investment in the future. Demographic winter is going to be a real problem for European countries, including Poland. Especially Poland as Poland draws so few immigrants, and is not likely to become a major immigrant destination in the foreseeable future (rather than as a way station to the western European countries).

Immigration to Poland is currently not enough to offset emigration. The net migration rate to Poland has remained negative for the last fifteen years, and shows no sign of reversing. In ten years, the population of Poland is predicted to go into a steep decline that will last at least until the end of this century, by which time there will be only 16 million people left living in the country. That's less than half of what it is now. Rural depopulation is going to be a very serious problem, especially in Eastern Poland.

That's only taking quantity into account. The real big problem for Poland is going to continue to be brain drain. Unfortunately, there are no silver-lined clouds on the horizon with this problem, either.

USA, Canada / Employment prospects in Poland and USA with a Computer Science Degree from a Polish university? [18]


This is a big problem area for Poles applying to colleges in the US. Not many high school grads have a real employment history. Jobs for teenagers are not the norm. Not at all like the States. Civic and community involvement are also practically unknown, as is volunteering. Finding volunteer programs for the students that I prepared to go to the States and the UK was probably the biggest challenge I faced. To a young Pole, volunteering means spending one Sunday afternoon in January collecting money for WOŚP. It took a lot of research, inventiveness and persistence for me to find substantial volunteer programs for my kids. One spent two months helping poor kids in Georgia (the country, not the state). Another volunteered for a local agrotourism foundation and spent a couple of weeks representing the foundation at a youth conference in Romania.

At Polish universities, it's even worse. The overwhelming bulk of graduates have never worked a single day in their lives. Consequently, student entrepreneurs are a rarity. There is little like the culture of student or community clubs, organizations and sports teams like you would find at an American university. School spirit is completely alien to the Polish mentality, as is the idea that a student should be an active and engaged member of the student body. When I tell Poles about it, I am greeted with blank stares. Because of the extremely insular nature of Polish academic departments, most students aren't even aware that other departments even exist except perhaps as a vague and largely irrelevant abstraction. In fact, the whole concept of "student body" does not exist in the American sense of the word to any appreciable degree. The same with civic pride and community involvement.

Add to that that there is little in the way of partnerships between Polish universities and the business/industrial community, with the attending internships,apprenticeships and mentorships, it is far from a rarity that a Polish university grad has absolutely nothing at all documentable in the way of extracurricular activities or employment history to put on their CV. I've seen several grads put "Amnesty International" and the like on their CVs and grad school applications as the sole extracurricular activity. That's pretty pathetic.

Work / Irish guy moving to Warsaw looking for work ( currently in Marketing sector ) [18]


Fat chance. That was true ten, fifteen years ago, but that ship has long sailed, especially in the big popular cities like Warsaw. Way too much competition now. Native speakers are dime a dozen, and many teach for pathetically low wages, driving prices way down. The golden age of teaching English in Poland is over.


Pretty much useless on the Polish job market without an excellent command of Polish. There are scads of locals who are much better qualified than you.


Really, the only option is working in a call center. Could pay if you have solid and well-documented experience in sales. Otherwise, it's cold-call first-contact sales and debt collections, crap jobs that pay peanuts, probably too little to survive on.

The only language schools likely to hire you are crap schools like Callan method, direct method, Avalon or Berlitz. They pay very poorly, and sometimes not at all. Never agree to work for fly-by-night outfits.

As for teaching in better schools, you'd need at least a CELTA certificate. The best jobs are already taken and jealously guarded. You'd have to be really outstanding to break into the club. If you were talking about someplace off the beaten track, I'd say give it a go and plunk down the cash for the CELTA. But considering that you're coming to Warsaw, I say forget about it. At best, the money you make teaching will barely pay for a frugal existence. Essentially, there is no work available for the summer (it's all been snatched up already).


You both might stand a chance in Ireland, but forget about making a go of it in Poland. Her chances of finding gainful employment in Ireland are astronomically higher than your chances of finding same in Poland. The job market is brutal, and you don't have anything of particular value to offer. Your GF is going to lose interest fast if you can't support at least yourself. If you're planning on staying with her family, remember that you will be expected to contribute about 1000 PLN a month for room and board. Once you become a financial liability, you will unceremoniously be give the boot. Poles don't take kindly to moochers, slackers or losers.

Bottom line: If you can't convince her to join you in Ireland, then find another girlfriend. Even better, put off the whole girlfriend baloney for a while and work on getting some real salable qualifications. The money you would spend on the CELTA certificate would be better spent on tuition at home. Talk to a qualified career counselor and work out a realistic plan of making a future for yourself and your future family, and get to work on implementing that plan.

USA, Canada / Employment prospects in Poland and USA with a Computer Science Degree from a Polish university? [18]

The quality of education you will receive in a technical field is far below that you will receive in the States. Basically, there's no good reason for an American to study in Poland. Whatever money you might save in the short term will be more than offset by lower wage expectations in the future, whether in Poland or abroad.

I would not expect a "computer science" course to be all that useful on the job market. An engineering degree in information technology is a lot more useful. And, dollar for dollar, an engineering degree from a good school in the US is better than one from a good school in Poland, especially one that is taught in English.

The main gripes among science and technology students in Poland are that practical courses are abysmal and poorly funded, and that there is little in the way of partnership between universities and the business/industrial community, which greatly reduces job opportunities. The main gripes among young Polish engineers are that job opportunities are limited, wages are extremely low, and advancement is difficult because many of the engineering jobs in Poland are either outsourced or "internally outsourced", which means they are uninteresting, grunt work jobs for the lowest pay possible out of sight and reach of the corporate ladder. Forget about working in Poland. You would quickly become frustrated by the very low wages.

As for working in the States, a Polish degree doesn't open up nearly as many doors as a degree from a mid-range American engineering school. Your American peers will have spent five or six years making lots of useful contacts, working with the best equipment, and having a generally good time doing so. You'll be an outsider, with no useful contacts, who learned on museum pieces and is demoralized by student life in Poland, which is nothing at all like student life in the States.

All in all, I can see little advantage for an American to study in Poland. There are plenty of far better opportunities in the States.

Life / Let`s compare prices of services and products in Poland [359]

It has essentially gone away for Americans at least. Long ago. According to this months figures, the cost of living for a native Pole living in Warsaw is 32% lower than for a comparable native American living in Chicago. Because Americans living in Poland do not have the cost-saving support network that the locals do, that difference largely disappears for them, at least during the first few years. So for an American, living in Poland is not appreciably cheaper than living in Poland.

The savings due to lower cost of living have disappeared and have been overtaken by the loss in real wages, which have largely stagnated or even declined for the traditional job that Americans usually did here, namely teaching English. For other jobs, the wages are far too low compared to the wages in the States to justify a move, unless, perhaps, one is a highly educated, highly qualified, highly experienced specialist working for a Western company at Western wages. Otherwise, there's little work to be had at attractive wages, and not very much at unattractive wages, especially for entry-level jobs.

Teaching is no longer attractive for Americans because of increased competition from UK and Irish citizens, who get preference in hiring over Americans, and also because of the fact that fewer language schools offer a real full-time contract anymore, especially in the larger attractive cities. Fewer schools are willing to go through the hassle of getting a work permit for an American. It's easier and more profitable to hire a UK or Irish citizen.

For better paid jobs, wages are several times higher in the States than in Poland. For example, a junior IT engineer can expect no more than $20,000 before taxes, and often a lot below that for a first job. A senior staff IT engineer can expect to earn about $30,000 per year before taxes, about a third what they would make in the States, and a mere $40,000 if they are are a project or regional manager. Even a highly qualified, highly experienced SAP or HBase consultant is not going to make more than $60,000 per year before taxes. Only high level administrators and executives working for exceptionally successful companies can make more.

For university full professors, wages top out at $30,000 a year, maybe $40,000 for top administrators. An adjunct makes a mere $15,000 a year. Even at the lower tax rates academics enjoy, these wages are unattractive. Physicians, healthcare professionals and school teachers are paid very poorly indeed by Western standards. Needless to say, brain drain in these fields is enormous.

Law / Do foreign students graduated from Polish university need work permit before finding job? [24]


No better that with a M.Sc. degree from a good Indian university. Sorry to burst your bubble, but studying in Poland is not an easy way to enter the European Union labor force. If you can't study in Western Europe or in an English-speaking country, your best bet is to study at home in India.

Food / What Polish dish would you cook for a special occasion? [4]


That's probably the first time in history that "romantic" and "Polish dinner" have ever appeared next to each other. Polish food is excellent comfort food, but there ain't a spark of romance in it. At it's best, it would remind her of her grandmother. Unless it's at it's best, it's bland and dull. You're better off trying your luck with a romantic dinner wherever you come from.

And no, I'm not knocking Polish food. I grew up on it and like it very much, and cook it well and often myself. It's just not something to impress a date with as a foreigner.

Study / Bachelors in Civil / Mechanical Engineering Degree in Poland [39]

As Monitor said, there's little R&D done in Poland. It's R&D that drives partnerships between universities and business/industry. Production much less so.

Study / Bachelors in Civil / Mechanical Engineering Degree in Poland [39]

You're better off doing that in the UK, Germany or the States at a university that has strong partnerships with the automotive industry. It might be more expensive in the short run, but the knowledge and experience you acquire and the contacts you make will end up being worth A LOT more than anything you can get in Poland. Plus, there's a chance that you will be able to get financial aid and work during your studies, neither of which is going to happen in Poland, so it actually may work out being cheaper.

Here's a list of the best schools for automotive engineering in the States:

edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-10-automotive-colleges-and-universities-in-the-us.html

Basically, there is little, if any, advantage of studying engineering in Poland over studying at a good school in India. An engineering diploma from Poland is not worth any more on the job market than one from India. Compared to the States, practical courses are sorely underfunded, partnerships with business and industry are sorely underdeveloped, and the quality of student life is abysmal. It's probably the same or similar in India, that's true, but at least in India you have the home court advantage. You would be able to work during your studies, something that is near impossible for you to do in Poland.

Genealogy / Need help finding husband's family farm in Lubanow/Lodz [2]

Contact Paweł Wąs, president of the local historical society in Piotrków. He has a lot of experience with genealogical research in that area. If he can't help you himself, he can refer you to someone who can. His email address is:

klub.grota-piotrkow@wp.pl

Good luck!

Language / How do I Pronounce the Polish brand name " Axami "? [4]


Ah-KSAH-mee. The company name is based on the Polish word "aksamit", which means "velvet". The "x" is just for catchiness and exoticness. As mentioned above, "x" is not a Polish letter, though most people would know that it's pronounced "ks" in English, especially those in the target demographic.

Life / Moving to Krakow (and other questions) [23]

Limiting your future opportunities to Kraków is a fundamental mistake. Cast your net wider. There are plenty of places on this earth where a well-educated, well-qualified person can make a real difference and find fulfillment.

As for choice of majors, select something that is in real demand and opens up doors of opportunity in very many places. Generally, graduates STEM fields (Science, advanced Technology, Engineering and applied Math) are in demand, as are graduates with certifications in many (but not all) health-related fields. Generally, the more applied math a major requires, the more it is in demand in the real world. The factor that best correlates with job opportunities, job security, future earnings potential, future savings potential is the level of applied math you have. The majors that have the most bang for the buck for now and in the foreseeable future are petroleum engineering, geological engineering, biomedical engineering, financial engineering, financial mathematics, actuarial mathematics and econometrics. Graduates in these fields have high paid jobs waiting for them, and their potential for lifetime earnings is very high.

Majors that are just about useless are generally those that require little applied math, and are popular for that very reason. Because they are popular, there is a glut of graduates in many of these majors. For example, the number of psychology graduates each year exceeds the total number of people working in mental health. Graduates with these majors often work outside of the field they studies, and often are poorly compensated for their work, at least in comparison to STEM majors.

These are the majors to avoid: psychology, sociology, history, anthropology, languages and literature, culture, ethnic studies, gender studies and just about anything that includes "studies" in the name of the major, tourism and recreation, hospitality, law, criminal justice, political science, international relations, journalism, education (except math and science), agriculture, nursing (mostly), business, administration, marketing, art, music, cinema, and performing arts. Some of these may make OK second majors for STEM students, but overall, there is a huge glut of graduates in these fields.

You get the idea: those majors that are considered easy and appeal to the math-shy. Unless they are very talented and go to a top school, graduates in these majors have considerably more difficulty finding well-paid and satisfying jobs than their STEM peers. Even if they're talented, they have to compete with hoards of other grads in these fields for the jobs available.

Also, most STEM majors are not very useful without a graduate degree, especially biology and chemistry. Gone are the days when an undergraduate degree alone was the ticket to success. However, there are some good STEM jobs that can be done without a graduate degree. Medical technologist is one that springs to mind, and nurse anesthetist.

Having said that, never forget that the main reason you go to university is not to acquire knowledge. You can do that just as easily at home on your own. You're there to network, to build a wide net of connections among the faculty, your fellow students and potential future employers, and to become an insider in the field you chose. Never, ever forget that.

Oh, and I forgot to list one of the most useless majors of all: economics. Economics grads are dime a dozen, and about as useful as cockroaches. Unless, of course, they are top students from top schools.

Life / Moving to Krakow (and other questions) [23]


For people who really know exactly what they are doing, are creative, innovative and flexible, have taken the time to research the local market, and have a well-developed network of good contacts and advisers, plenty of solid experience, investment capital, a concrete plan, realistic expectations and enough savings to tide the bad weather until the investment finally pays off, Poland is a great place to invest in. Successful investment takes lots of hard work and sacrifice, constantly over many years. If you snooze, you could lose everything pretty darn quick.

Property is always a high-risk investment, especially for people who don't know what they're doing. That goes double for investing in property in foreign countries. For dilettantes, the lottery is a safer investment.

It would almost certainly be wiser to invest the money in yourself. Think about getting a USEFUL degree or valuable certification that opens higher paid job opportunities to you, and allows you to advance in a career that you enjoy.

Work / Opportunities for a foreign student seeking an work Internship in Poland? [5]

Almost certainly not, if you try to do it on your own. There is a chance if you apply through some international exchange foundation or agency, though. Expect the internship to be unpaid, although you might get a modest stipend from the foundation or agency that may, or may not, cover travel expenses and living expenses. Inquire at the dean's office or foreign studies office at your university.

Frankly, the opportunities for internships in Poland are very limited, especially for non-EU citizens. I would concentrate my efforts on finding an internship either in your own country or elsewhere.

Life / Do incidents such as the recent stabbings ever happen in Poland? [7]

Yes, it happens in Poland, too, though thankfully without large numbers of victims because gun use is rare.

When I was living in Skierniewice, a student in the local vocational school across the street from my institute stabbed one of his teachers to death with kitchen knives before stabbing himself in from of the class. If I recall correctly, the teacher survived. The student didn't. The student involved was the son of another teacher at the school. He was mentally unstable, but still going to normal school probably because of his father's influence.

Around the same time, teachers were having a hard time with a belligerent elementary student somewhere in eastern Poland (Sejny, I think) who had seriously harmed several of his classmates, some with an ax. Unfortunately, it was just about impossible to remove the student from the school. I guess you have to wait until he actually kills someone.

In another school, the students set the priest that was teaching them catechism on fire. Although I find the thought of religious indoctrination in public schools repugnant to the extreme, I don't think this was an altogether constructive response on the part of the students.

Love / Cannot get married as a catholic in Poland if I don't have sacraments - No kids without Church marriage [9]

My natural answer as a very practical man would be to forgo the large wedding and spend the money more wisely. However, Meat-head makes a very good point, much as I hate to admit it. Men forget. Women and elephants don't. Never ever ever.

Travel / 9-Day Poland Trip Itinerary: Warsaw-Krakow-Wroclaw-Poznan-Gdansk-Torun-Warsaw [27]


That's a lot better. There is a lot to see in those three cities alone, and you won't see everything in nine days. You will have a lot more time to see things, and waste a lot less time traveling around.

If you want, you can take a day trip to Kazimierz Dolny from Warsaw (small, very scenic town nearby), or to Zakopane from Kraków (scenic town in the high mountains). If your religiously Catholic, you can also take a special day trip from Kraków to Wadowice, the birthplace of Pope John Paul II. There's even a special, comfortable "Pope train" just for that. Also from Kraków, you can take a day rip to the concentration camp in Auschwitz if your interested in that. From Gdańsk, you can take a day trip to the massive medieval fortress at Malbork, which is truly impressive.

But you don't have to plan those day trips in advance.That gives you a lot of flexibility.

Whatever you do, make sure you see the Wieliczka Salt Mine just outside of Kraków. It's spectacular. Wieliczka and Malbork are the two most spectacular tourist absolutely-must-sees in Poland. It's worth paying extra for a personal tour guide at both places. You'll enjoy it a lot more than going with a group.

Life / Why is there such interest in Poland from the Asian population? A new wave of migrants possibly? [23]


Quite the opposite: innovation comes from wealth and leisure: abundant amounts of cash and luxurious amounts of time to obscenely squander on failed attempt after failed attempt. I know. I'm a research scientist. It's only when you feel safe and secure that you venture bravely forth into uncharted territory. The desperate huddle in their caves while they can, and only when that is no longer possible do they slink outside, concerned only about filling their bellies for a while, with innovation being the very last thing on their minds. Financial insecurity breeds conservative thinking, not innovation. Necessity ain't the mother of invention, regardless of how the saying goes. Poland is still very much a conservative country, and Poles feel financial insecure. Furthermore, brain drain is a major problem.

Map the number of patents per capita on a world map, and it will look almost exactly like the map of per capital purchasing power, and the proportion of liberal voters.


You do have to learn the difference between press releases and actual investigative reporting. The things you linked to were all press releases, which are always chock-full of masturbatory hype.


It's quite a different thing reading about something in a book, and actually experiencing it. There's nothing that a Nigerian, for example, has ever experienced that could possibly prepare him for the experience. Nothing at all stupid in being surprised. Actually, they're not surprised so much that it's cold, but that it's REALLY, REALLY cold ALL THE TIME and EVERYWHERE, for months on end and as far as the eye can see. And the darkness is a bit of a shock, too. They go to school in the morning in the dark, and walk back home in the afternoon in the dark.

Study / Cost of studying music in Poland [5]


Ummmm.... why are you asking this on an internet forum, instead of writing to schools personally and asking them directly. That's the only way you're going to get a truly accurate and useful answer. Also, be aware that tuition and fees may be quite different for EU students and non-EU students.

Also, when figuring out the total cost, do not forget to include airfare and the cost of getting a visa.

Here's the tuition and fee schedule for the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music:

chopin.edu.pl/en/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/cennik_2013-2014_angielski-marzec.pdf

It's going to cost more than 10,000 Euro in tuition alone, plus give or take 1500-2000 Euro for room. For a starving student lifestyle, he'll need about 2400 to 3000 Euro beyond that. So total cost will be 15,000 Euro a year, at least.

For a list of other state music schools in Poland with links to their websites and some further information, check out this old thread on this forum:

https://polishforums.com/archives/2005-2009/study/poland-music-27497/

Life / Why is there such interest in Poland from the Asian population? A new wave of migrants possibly? [23]

Press releases give a very highly distorted vision of reality. Stick to real investigative reporting, not self-generated hype. As far as engineering and science education in Poland goes, the two things students unanimously gripe about are poorly funded practical courses of little didactic value, and poor partnership between engineering schools and the business/industrial community, both of which limit employability.

Also, most of the best Polish engineers go West. They can't afford not to. For example, given the same qualifications, experience and position, a single engineer can easily save up $50,000 a year in the States. They wouldn't even make that much in total in Poland, and wouldn't be able to save up that much in five, or even ten years. You're not going to make a Silicon Valley out of someplace that suffers from massive brain drain.


Winter in northern Europe is quite a shock for people from warmer climes. Every year, I see the despair and horror on the faces of the foreign students in mid-October when the first cold snap arrives and they are told that they ain't seen nothin' yet. I usually take at least a couple of them shopping for proper winter clothes. One student I knew from Kenya seriously thought the world was coming to an end. And by the time April rolls around, they are totally sick and tired of the cold, and not at all eager to repeat the experience. Many foreign workers from warmer countries won't stay through a second winter unless the pay is very, very tempting. Especially if they have family. Students might put up with it for a few years, but working stiffs won't, unless, again they are amply compensated.

Also, working in an outsourcing center ("murzyn polowy") or an "internally outsourced" center ("murzyn domowy") means that your essentially outside of the corporate mainstream; there's little chance for advancement in the outsourcing center, and little chance that the corporations who contract with the outsourcing center will notice you. Even if you work at a corporate location in Poland, you're often not fully integrated into the global corporate structure, and advancement is difficult unless you get a transfer. Until then, you're just boxed and labeled as cheap labor for boring grunt work. A common and major complaint among Polish engineers working for western companies in Poland, many who took the jobs specifically because they thought the corporate ladder would be open to them. They feel cheated when they find out it's not.

Language / Correct way of saying "Again please"? [7]

Actually, I'd say quite the opposite. It does not necessarily communicate disbelief at all, though in some situations, it can, depending on context and tone of voice. And it's acceptable even in the most formal situations. I don't find it relaxed or informal at all. In the informal situation you depict, I would be more likely to say "Wątpię.","To chyba jakiś żart?", "Żartujesz!", "Daj już spokój!", "Co ty bredzisz?", or even "Ale pierdoły.", depending on how strong I want to express it.

Life / Why is there such interest in Poland from the Asian population? A new wave of migrants possibly? [23]


Au contraire. It will happen if it becomes more economically feasible to more outsourcing centers in developing countries that are able to do the job cheaper than existing outsourcing centers in Poland. Why hire an engineer in Poland for $36,000 a year when you can hire one in a developing country for a lot less?

$36,000 may seem like peanuts by Western standards, that's true. But don't forget that even half that is a fortune to many engineers in a lot of the developing world. Yes, many jobs will still be outsourced to Poland, but the heyday is near, or perhaps already gone, and the slow decline will then start. Outsourcing is not a sustainable industry, but a transitional economic quick fix. It's unstable by it very nature, with a tendency to boom and bust built in.

Life / Why is there such interest in Poland from the Asian population? A new wave of migrants possibly? [23]


I'm not so sure. At some point, it's going to be more economically feasible to open new outsourcing centers in developing countries than to keep outsourcing centers in Poland operating with imported labor. Also, as long as Western Europe and the English-speaking countries offer engineers a lot more in terms of quality of life, opportunities for advancement, opportunities for self-improvement, life-time earnings potential, and, most importantly, life-time savings potential in absolute dollars, the best engineers from developing countries now working in Poland will be siphoned off as fast as they can be replaced, and eventually even faster.

Overall, wages for engineers in Poland are not all that more attractive than wages in India in terms of quality of life and savings potential, and, if anything, they will become relatively less attractive in the coming years. Furthermore, wages that might seem competitive to an Indian before he comes to Poland will seem paltry once they get a taste of the Polish winter, and also when they realize that they are cut off from the mainstream corporate culture and have little opportunity for advancement. Add to that that there is little opportunity for employment for spouses and children, and few of those who make the move to Poland will last more than a couple of years, especially if they have salable skills.

If anything, the role Poland now plays as an outsourcing country will soon peak and start to decline, and I expect that to occur soon rather than later. The fact that outsourcing centers in Poland have to resort to importing foreign labor is a sign of impending decline, not future growth.