Female Juris Doctor/Native American Speaker/Jobs in Warsaw

The comments about "I know what I'm worth" are interesting - I wonder if she realises the reality?

No. I would prefer a position for less money where my qualifications mattered over a high paying position where they wouldn't be necessary. I take pride in having accomplished what I have and don't appreciate when someone demeans this because it makes them feel better about their video game filled afternoons.


Polish people support Poles. Poles would rather be offended by some expat being rude to a Pole who understands the difficulty of her position but would like to remain optimistic that her entire education won't be rendered horse manure simply because she made the right decision for her family. You really think that I don't understand the difficulties that I am facing? Why else would I come to a forum to ask for advice? If it was simple, I wouldn't be here, so telling me something I am quite aware of is not useful. I certainly did not foresee this thread going down this ugly road and, while I appreciate everyones feedback, I'd really like to ask the commenters to please hold off on the pessimism. I'm already depressed enough as it is knowing that my education isn't worth much in Poland and being constantly reminded of it is getting old. I guess it was wishful thinking that posting on here would help steer me towards a career path that I could be proud of and that my kids could be proud of (once I have them). Silly me. Thanks for your input though. Really, you are all class acts.

I guess it's really down to starting a business or back to school for me. Fingers crossed my idea is a winner because I definitely did not foresee going back to school at 29. I think I'm quite looking forward to the possibility of running into some of you in this "village". Remember 29 year old feisty woman :)

Hmm, on second thoughts, perhaps you might fit in at a big firm after all.

Have you contacted the amcham.pl/index.php they will have a list of USA companies and investors based in Poland.

I thought you were an American.

BTW, I don't think any 'expats' have commented in this thread.

Born in Poland to Polish parents. Polish passport and all. I am a naturalized US citizen as well so I have dual citizenship.

But still as much of an 'expat' as people who have immigrated here and also have European passports.


Do the Americans encourage that?

Yes :)

I though it was tolerated but discouraged.

At least you have a passport from an EU state so you can work in Poland easily.

jon357
Yes :) I tried to post a link to the page "US State Department Services Dual Nationality" but I am new here so I'm not allowed :(

You should be able to find some work here, however in the field of law, as many connections as possible help. The legal profession can be something of a closed shop. A British guy had to really push a few years ago to be admitted to the bar.

Well, perhaps according to EU law. But I think that Poles are rather patriotic and I think that my being born in Warsaw is a little different.

Insulting someone repeatedly and making baseless accusations really isn't a good way to find a job, you know. The fact that some of us are in a position where we can spend afternoons playing video games while being paid to do so is neither here nor there :)

But when I talk about money, are you really willing to accept a junior position and salary at the age of 29? I ask because I can't imagine starting employment at the lowest level in a corporation at that age - especially having to work alongside 23/24 year olds with the mentality of such.


That's a remarkably naive statement. Those of us living in Poland can attest to having seen thousands of situations where Poles have screwed over fellow Poles, often over tiny things. I remember one story told to me by a rather high ranking executive - his boss (the CEO) wanted to fire someone but wanted them to resign rather than fire them. What did they do? They took his car parking space away from him - it was a perk that wasn't mentioned in his contract, but it meant he had to walk in all weathers from the nearest car park rather than parking underneath the building. Unsurprisingly, the guy quit after a month of such mindgames.

It has to be said, I don't see much room for empathy in Poland.


I doubt it, especially as you'd be considered to be American by most anyway.


Trying to be pragmatic rather than optimistic might be a better idea. Doing the CELTA costs you 4000zl and can get you into many decent situations in terms of meeting the right people - but insulting people and suggesting that you only want something good won't get you anywhere.


I think you're looking at it the wrong way, personally. Instead of crowing about your education and how you can maybe do this and maybe do that, why not focus on what you can actually do? You aren't qualified in Polish/European law, so you've got a disadvantage there - but perhaps you can find a company that exports to the USA and could do with a bilingual person who knows her way around American law. Certainly for exporters, there can be possibilities - but of course, they wouldn't be able to pay you highly.


Then look at it from a different perspective. Yes, your doctorate isn't worth much here for people and that you're also seen as a liability for employers (29, married, without kids = red flag when considering Polish employment law) - but there may very well be some demand for someone that can draw up American contracts for exporters. Polish exports in 2011 to the USA totalled $232,765,000,000 - someone who can guide these exporters around the American market in terms of legalities (complying with labelling laws, etc etc) might very well be in demand.

But you won't find such jobs advertised, nor will you be likely to get them by sending CV's blindly. The best way in the door is to do the CELTA, spend a couple of years teaching and see who you can meet along the way. For a 4000zl investment (a drop in the water compared to the cost of your education, I'm sure!) - you might find many doors opening up that were previously closed.


Would be a pleasure - I could probably have a very interesting discussion with you about why women are so terribly discriminated against in the labour market in Poland.

The fact that EU wide (more or less) we can live and work where we want is only a positive - and worth mentioning that some of the greatest patriots have all their roots elsewhere - I'm sure you'd say you're an American patriot ;-)


That can work either way - some people can be awkward about it for reasons I've never bothered to analyse.

Oh I know! I've pretty much given up on that idea to be honest because I really do not want to be in school in my mid 30s :( I just thought that someone on here might have an out-of-the-box suggestion that I hadn't thought of.

Maybe you mentioned it in the thread, but what about teaching Legal English? I used to find it very hard to get teachers for that and there is definitely a demand from law firms for high quality training.

The problem is that she doesn't have any knowledge about how to actually teach except Asian experience. That's why I suggest the CELTA - it will show that she's serious about it (and not likely to quit as soon as she finds a better job) - and it will give her the knowledge needed to go into a classroom.

More than a red flag! That could well be a 'after a month or two we won't see her for five or six years' flag.

Thank you. This was something that I thought about a while back but, honestly, since my move to Warsaw in May all my energy was aimed at planning my wedding (it was June 29th!) and I've completely forgotten about it. I think this is a great suggestion and really appreciate it.


Thank you (I couldn't quote the whole thing because I can't post links)! I have not yet done this but I feel strangely optimistic about this suggestion :)

Well yes, quite ;)

Being Polish might even work against her in this respect - the automatic assumption will be that she's after a permanent umowa o prace just to run off on maternity leave. Polish employment law really does encourage sexism.


What I would suggest is that - if you can - you should use your husband's business to be able to provide invoices to clients. What you could then do is market yourself as being someone who can handle the responsibility of the export process - from clearing export customs through to delivery to the client, combined with making sure that the service meets US law and requirements. You don't have to worry about Polish law then - all you need to know is the customs clearance rules, which aren't particularly difficult to comply with.

Another area that might be of interest is in helping people administrate Delaware companies, but I'm not sure at all as to their popularity in Europe...

A final suggestion - do you know anything about US tax law?

I did think that this was a possibility and was hoping that there would be a demand for it.


MUAHAHAHAHA! Vacay fo life!
just kidding :D


I know federal personal income tax law and federal corporate tax law.

Remembering of course to first adjust stated objectives of his company to take into account the relevant PKD entries.

I would prefer to do something on my own rather than rely on my husband. I just want my business to be independent from his so that the liability of the businesses won't overlap. Plus, in his industry, he can't really operate as a sp. zoo and, in my opinion, that just leaves us open to too much liability.


Ahhhhhh memories.

Harry knows better than me, but I think you're jointly liable anyway for debts regardless of what name is on the company?

There is one downside - as far as I recall, consulting work in Poland means you have to register for VAT automatically. But you can always just invoice for something else...

I mean, based on this factor we should just operate as separate entities. Maybe I'm being overly cautious but I get nervous when I hear that someone has to operate as a sole proprietor (by virtue of their industry) and doesn't have limited liability.


If I have an LLC, it is a separate entity from even myself so even if I were to be jointly liable, my business entity would not.


Again, I may be too cautious but I think that operating separately would be the more conservative, albeit, more costly route.

No, understandable. But I would check the debts situation out - you may have to make a formal declaration of being financially independent from your husband.

Perhaps - if you could find a way - there could be good money in finding a way for Polish people to operate limited liability companies without the crushing requirements and costs of complying with Polish company law?

It's worth pointing out that a Polish Sp. z o.o costs are horrendous and complicated. I invested this route a while ago, and I simply couldn't find accounting services for less than 400zl/month + VAT - and I wouldn't have trusted the accountancy practice in question. They also take a considerable amount of effort to administrate, and aren't much use for small busineses. I understand exactly what you mean by not wanting the liability, however.

This could work but then he would never fear losing half of everything to me if he ever even tried to cheat on me. LOL. JK. We have thought of this and we are seriously considering it but if my business activity were associated with his, all that separation of finances wouldn't prove effective (at least I think).


Perhaps in this respect his firm could be of use. His accountant could just do my firms accounting. Still, I wonder if that would somehow link our two business entities in some way and open my LLC to his liability.

Shouldn't be any issue as long as the two businesses don't have any relationship - the only question would be whether your shares in the LLC would be counted as joint assets were he to have problems with his business.


If the businesses aren't linked in any way and his workplace isn't the same as yours, then I can't see how they could link the two - unless they proved that he was using your business to benefit his in some way. Running them at arms length from each other should do the job :)

Not married myself and the 'Mrs' doesn't run a company. However, if the OP and her hubby formally separate their assets, good luck to anybody who wants to go after his assets for her debts.