Hi all, new to the forum so posting as a guest for now.
My wife and I are in the very early stages of considering a move back to her native Poland (I being irish and we both live in Dublin)
I work in the banking industry and am well qualified in this field however I speak almost no Polish at present. What are my chances of finding good work in the North of Poland? Gdansk area to Elblag area?
Obviously my lack of Polish is a big drawback but I am open minded in the type of career I would consider to make this move happen.
We are not in anyway looking to be rich and I am in no way expecting a potential salary to be anywhere close to what I currently receive. However if we are to move we would like a reasonable standard of living and in time to own a home, raise a family etc.
Very open ended question but I would appreciate any feedback.
hi Mark. I think you would need the language to get any job. You could teach English but would need a CELTA and I imagine that would be a bit of a come down for you. Are you having Polish lessons?
I'm not worried about 'stepping down' as it were, I am open minded to anything that provides decent long-term prospects.
From what I understand (and I may be wrong) it is possible to get by teaching English but not exactly comfortably. We are married and hoping to start a family in the short to medium term and therefore I suppose I need something that provides a more comfortable living standard.
I did complete some Polish lessons but found the language unbelievably difficult! If we did move to Poland, language lessons would be top of my to do list.
I had heard that a lot of international companies are locating in Gdansk area but perhaps speaking Polish is still the number one criteria
I should also mention that my wife would be intending to find work. While she doesn't have a university degree she is fluent in English after working in Ireland for almost 15 years
By far the best option would to get hired by an Irish company or one based in another western European country and apply for a transfer to their operations in Poland at western wages. By far the worst option is to show up on Poland without a job. In that case, the best you could find is some lousy support center job that won't come close to covering the costs of the lifestyle you seek. In any case, it would be rather foolish to move to Poland without a good job lined up already.
The main problem with working in Poland is not so much the low wages, but the abysmally low savings potential. You might be reconciled with the former, but it is the latter that will soon take the wind out of your sails. Your savings at retirement will be a lot higher if you were to stay in Ireland than if you came to Poland to work for Polish wages, and the opportunity cost would be excruciatingly painful. You say that you are not looking to be rich, but obviously you are not looking to be poor, either.
As your planning is in the early stages, you have time to learn the language and build up a network of real-world contacts that can help you find a good position, as well as to climb the ladder a bit at a western company so that you are more easily considered as a potential candidate for a transfer.
Most moves like this fail miserably because of the huge gap in family earning and savings potential, as well as social isolation on the part of the non-Polish spouse due to lack of language proficiency. Proximity to in-laws is another reason. You don't want to have to be dependent on them at any cost.
Can it be done? Yes. But it is going to take some serious preparation. Otherwise, the sacrifice will be prohibitively too great to endure.
Hi Mark, your chances could be above average if you target the right companies. As for the banking sector there are a number of Uk based banks which are moving their back end offices to Poland. With this in mind you may want to contact the BPCC in Warsaw or contact the Irish Embassy/Consulate trade department. German/French/British and American companies are specifically looking for Polish based foreigners to recruit for upper management as they are a little disillusioned by the locals lack of self-regulatory mechanism. in respect of corporate CSR policy. Consider it your belated christmas present,good luck with the quest.
