My friend is looking for a job in Poland with a physics degree

One of my buddies wants to move to Europe. He has considered Poland and Germany as his choices of residence. He has a B.Sc in physics from CalTech (A very good American school). His grandfather taught him some Polish. He also has a strong computer programming background.

With these noted skills, is it feasible for him to try to look for a non-teaching job with his physics degree in Poland?

Not really. There are plenty of people with degrees in Physics working in quite bad jobs here. He would be up against strong competition.

I must confirm this. A lot of competition and if he really get a job, he will get a very bad salary. I was looking for my own company for a secretary with some technical skills and I got more than 100 applications from high educated and desperated persons (either from physics) - ok, we are located country-side, but in bigger cities it will not be better.

He should think twice about this idea.

However, one thing that separates him from Poles with physics degrees is that he studied at a very prestigious school. I don't think any Polish schools come close to CalTech. He's had no trouble whatsoever finding a good-paying job in America.

Why then he wants to relocate to Poland?

It's meaningless in Poland.

He doesn't speak the language, and that's all that matters. In fact, he's underqualified by Polish standards - even by European standards, he would be expected to have an MSc before going into the workplace.

At the end of the day, why bother with a foreigner who needs a work permit when you can hire someone just as good locally?

If he had a PhD, he might be in with a shout, but a humble Bachelor's degree isn't going to get him far here. Although Polish science is underfunded it is world-class. The stuff I'm in contact with (through proofreading) is published in all the best journals. Can he really offer something Poles can't?

Many foreign companies have IT centers in Poland and the working language is usually English, they still preffer people who are fluent in Polish too but If he's good in programming, he should find something... but the salary would be far from American one for that kind of job of course...

Should and something are very good expressions in this case.

If we lived in early 1990s, he would be welcome with open arms and hearts.

However, Poland progressed a lot since 1990s.

B.Sc. is equivalent to the Polish "licencjat". This is too little to land a good job in a process based on screening of resumes by HR. Now, it is entirely possible that his actual programming skills are outstanding. In such case, he should look for a job through personal networking.

A little bit of advice: he should emphasize "programming" rather than "physics". For programmers, formal requirements are often loose. For physicists, a Polish "magister" or a PhD (from any country) would be necessary.

Watch out for Harry. He will laugh you out.

[quote=EM_Wave]He has a B.Sc in physics from CalTech (A very good American school).

CalTech is not a very good American school. It's a great school-one of the best of its kind.

Unfortunately we're in Poland and that doesn't count for squat. (Delph et all, please bear with me while I speak my lingo.)

Let's go back to the title of this thread for a minute. It should be: A friend with a physics degree is looking for a job in Poland.

Enough said.

I'm bearing with you ;)

And yes, you're spot on the money. The university you attend doesn't really count for much here, unless it's something that absolutely everyone knows of (Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge).

I even know someone who struggled after graduating from MIT - HR people in Poland were simply throwing the CV's in the bin because it was "only" an undergraduate degree - despite the great name that it has, it meant nothing in the eyes of Polish HR drones who could only see the title and not the qualification.

Sad but true. CalTech has a great reputation in the US, even better than MIT in some areas, but that doesn't cross the pond in most areas. I think the OP's friend is SOL. Do you know that one?

In case of IT, a kind of degree he has is irrevelant...


Yes... because obviously I can't guarantee that he would find a job... but he should...


You mean now there's less demand for programmers ?

besides research and teaching, what other jobs can physicists get?

I don't know about Poland, but you'd be surprised at what kind of jobs you can get with a physics degree in America.

It's not rare to find physics majors working as "engineers" here in the US.


That's really unfortunate because there are a lot of schools in the US that are way ahead of anything in Poland. (MIT, Harvard, Yale, CalTech, Georgetown, UC Berkley, Columbia, Brown, Stanford, and the list goes on)

Does Poland have a semiconductor fab?

Good question.

yes. Actually one of most advanced in the world

ammono.com

they have developed a technology of growing GaN crystals of previously unseen clarity. This is material that will be base of future generations of microprocessors, LED's and hybrid cars - its properties exceed silicon crystals by very far shot.

outrageous thing is:
by the end of last year they were in desperate need for money to keep their patent rights. noone on Poland wanted to help them.

Well, at least we have great stadiums... ;(

Finally a group of people bought them (in January I think), I could not find any information about those people

If he is EMWawe friend I would rather not have him in Poland; regardless what degree he have.

I think it's EM Wave himself. I can't believe that people here are so stupid to help him...

Haha trust me, I would NEVER want to move to Poland.

I would never believe that you have a Polish American friend.

I don't have a problem with PolAms in general. I just don't like the ones on this site.

But you insult all Polish people and their descendants.

rygar

Thank you for your link which says by the way - " A little Polish company you've never heard of is beating the tech titans in a key technology of the 21st century" .


It is another proof how western society is illl informed about the state of Poland as a country or its people , repeating the same worn out patterns promoted by Zionist media .

No wonder Polish HR are not impressed by US diploma`s holders . As far as we know in Poland the simple fact is - maybe Polish science is underfunded but if we have such brains as those young team of Ammono we are ready for a great progress.. OP has got no idea about Poland and its people claiming the US schools superiority over Polish and especially its graduates especially in science .

If you have spare time you can read OP other posts, which would give you better understanding what idea about anything he have. Normally it's BS.

If his friend is the same, he should stay out of Poland.

Quite a lot of people who work in high level banking have physics degrees or at least they do in the UK, could be different in Poland, then there is also engineering...so fs, there are lots of jobs open to those with physics degrees / masters and PHDs

Many multinational financial institutions when firing focus less on the contents of the degree but rather the difficulty and dedication required to achieve it. Put it this way, I want work in an American bank in Dublin where a successful manager has his degree in microbiology specializing in diseases. Competencies can be picked up while book learning is often sadly irrelevant to your daily tasks, the ability to absorb and understand complex processes however is a valuable skillet.