Misfit
28 May 2015
Life / London vs Kraków - considering a move [8]
What's a better paid alternative for non-Polish speakers?
only if you're prepared to work in the outsourcing industry
What's a better paid alternative for non-Polish speakers?
Misfit
27 May 2015
Life / London vs Kraków - considering a move [8]
Two week update:
Pro
- Trams and buses run through the night (albeit just hourly in certain cases)
- Filtered milk is available in the giant Carrefour and the 24 hour Tesco (look for Zimne Mleko)
- There is a 24 hour mega Tesco
- Meat lovers can get a fast fix at Polish weigh and pay buffets in the train station/Krakow Galeria
- Buying travel tickets on the tram requires coins but the central stops take credit cards
Cons
- Hailing a taxi on the street is asking to be ripped off. Uber on the other hand requires no cash and no grasp of the Polish language. Double win!
- As DominicB mentioned, the cost of living for expats is very high compared to local salaries. One recruitment agent told me her Polish candidates beg her for London jobs. A local also told me that the cost of living is high for her too and one of her sisters prefers waitressing in Devon
- Train station ticket offices require workers to be dour old hags who don't speak English. Use the ticket machines instead
- A train ticket from Krakow to Warsaw is much more expensive than you might expect
- The recruitment process involves them asking you what yoiur salary expectation is, then telling you 60 thousand zloty a month is unreasonable. I don't understand why this play this pointless charade (unless they are trying to scam people who do no research).
Two week update:
Pro
- Trams and buses run through the night (albeit just hourly in certain cases)
- Filtered milk is available in the giant Carrefour and the 24 hour Tesco (look for Zimne Mleko)
- There is a 24 hour mega Tesco
- Meat lovers can get a fast fix at Polish weigh and pay buffets in the train station/Krakow Galeria
- Buying travel tickets on the tram requires coins but the central stops take credit cards
Cons
- Hailing a taxi on the street is asking to be ripped off. Uber on the other hand requires no cash and no grasp of the Polish language. Double win!
- As DominicB mentioned, the cost of living for expats is very high compared to local salaries. One recruitment agent told me her Polish candidates beg her for London jobs. A local also told me that the cost of living is high for her too and one of her sisters prefers waitressing in Devon
- Train station ticket offices require workers to be dour old hags who don't speak English. Use the ticket machines instead
- A train ticket from Krakow to Warsaw is much more expensive than you might expect
- The recruitment process involves them asking you what yoiur salary expectation is, then telling you 60 thousand zloty a month is unreasonable. I don't understand why this play this pointless charade (unless they are trying to scam people who do no research).
Misfit
12 May 2015
Work / B2B (business to business) vs normal employment contract in Poland [7]
Thanks! Sounds the same as the IT contracting model in the UK
Thanks! Sounds the same as the IT contracting model in the UK
Misfit
11 May 2015
Work / B2B (business to business) vs normal employment contract in Poland [7]
Can anyone explain what taking out a B2B contract rather than a regular one might involve?
A consultancy firm is offering both options and it would appear that the salary offered is the same but with the B2B contract it is paid net rather than gross, leading me to suspect the B2B route requires paying polish employment taxes through my own (Polish?) limited company
eg normal contract pays 12k gross, b2b pays 12k net
Can anyone explain what taking out a B2B contract rather than a regular one might involve?
A consultancy firm is offering both options and it would appear that the salary offered is the same but with the B2B contract it is paid net rather than gross, leading me to suspect the B2B route requires paying polish employment taxes through my own (Polish?) limited company
eg normal contract pays 12k gross, b2b pays 12k net
Misfit
10 May 2015
Life / London vs Kraków - considering a move [8]
Hello if you have moved from London to Kraków I would love to hear from you. What were the biggest drawbacks/unexpected bonuses?
I know it's presumptuous to make this post but the most entertaining threads returned by a search of this forum for "London" were an enquiry about working in a strip club and a story about a man chopping his own sausage!
I've lived in (and left) Sydney, Zürich, Berlin, Vienna and London.
As far as I can see, Kraków is:
- bike friendly
- more pleasant to look at (low rise buildings, pretty centre, delightful river)
- clean
- uncrowded
- slightly less polluted
- largely graffiti free
- offering more job opportunities for me (paradoxically, since investment banks are near-sourcing here like crazy and the London IT contacting market is mainly awash with dull regulatory reporting work)
- offering 4 city centre flats for the price of a single london flat in zone 2
but
- the language is very challenging for native English speakers
- there is a 6 month winter (but I like the cold & skiing)
- bureaucracy is rampant
- a decent steak is hard to find / lobster is unthinkable
- plush gyms are overpriced
- filtered milk isn't available
- a PLN salary would make foreign holidays / buying foreign made electronics & clothes rather expensive
Having lived in several countries I find that local salaries and costs move in line, so I find the financial case is largely irrelevant
Hello if you have moved from London to Kraków I would love to hear from you. What were the biggest drawbacks/unexpected bonuses?
I know it's presumptuous to make this post but the most entertaining threads returned by a search of this forum for "London" were an enquiry about working in a strip club and a story about a man chopping his own sausage!
I've lived in (and left) Sydney, Zürich, Berlin, Vienna and London.
As far as I can see, Kraków is:
- bike friendly
- more pleasant to look at (low rise buildings, pretty centre, delightful river)
- clean
- uncrowded
- slightly less polluted
- largely graffiti free
- offering more job opportunities for me (paradoxically, since investment banks are near-sourcing here like crazy and the London IT contacting market is mainly awash with dull regulatory reporting work)
- offering 4 city centre flats for the price of a single london flat in zone 2
but
- the language is very challenging for native English speakers
- there is a 6 month winter (but I like the cold & skiing)
- bureaucracy is rampant
- a decent steak is hard to find / lobster is unthinkable
- plush gyms are overpriced
- filtered milk isn't available
- a PLN salary would make foreign holidays / buying foreign made electronics & clothes rather expensive
Having lived in several countries I find that local salaries and costs move in line, so I find the financial case is largely irrelevant