What salaries are for IT specialists (Senior QA Engineer) in Poland?

Hello guys,
I am planning to moving to Krakow. I am a Sr QA Specialist, and I would like to know what salaries are for this position.

I would be very grateful for your help. Thank you.

Take a look at: tiny.cc/hays-report because this report shows well what are salaries differences between regions and fields. But I don't see there your specialty.

here they write: "Senior QA 12 000 zł" ( crn.pl/news/wydarzenia/badania-rynku/2013/03/spadly-zarobki-w-branzy-it ) But it's little meaningless without specifying weather it's Warsaw or not (differences are major).

By "QA" do you mean "Quality Assurance", or rather "Testing" ?

If the former, please be aware that in Polish adverts it might mean the latter...

By QA I mean Software Testing Engineer.

Move only after you land a well-paid job. Do not move on the assumption that you will find one once you get here.

The range of salaries can vary very widely, depending on qualifications, experience and current market supply and demand. Knowing average salaries is helpful, but, in the end, the only figure that counts is the one that your prospective employer offers. Employers in Poland are highly motivated to keep wages as low as possible, and that is often their primary, and sometimes only concern. Poland is not a friendly market for job seekers, even for IT engineers. Wages are still significantly lower than in the West, which significantly limits your ability to save up in absolute dollars or euros. Paths to career advancement are more limited, as many IT jobs are outsourced with the best jobs remaining in the home countries. Opportunities for quality advanced further education are also more limited than in the West.

Whether you should move to Kraków or not depends, more than anything, on whether you are offered a well paid job BEFORE you come. Other considerations are your qualifications and experience, and the demand for them on the job market; how long you plan to stay in Poland; what you expect to get out of your stay in Poland; the generosity of the offer in comparison to what you can make in your home country or in the West; and your plans for your future life and career.

Where are you from (citizenship), and why exactly do you want to come to Poland?

I am currently from Belarus, and I am looking for open positions in Poland.

I am thinking about salary 10000 brutto which will be approx. 7000 PLN netto. Will this salary be enough if I am planing to move with my child. (I am raising him alone).


I have 5+ years experience of both manual testing and automation scripts (selenium).

+1

Btw in my limited and perhaps merely worthless hearsay experience, the salary is between 8 and 15K PL gross/brutto per month in Wrocław. I don't think jobs are plentiful but at times it seems those with specialist IT skills do a lot better than average.

Look at it: I've heard that groceries and consumer goods are cheaper in Poland, but services, rents, costs of keeping apartment are cheaper in Belarus. And as for salaries, I don't know about testing, but when it comes to programming, to get more than 7000 - 8000 net out of Warsaw one must really stick out of crowd, have solid experience and send many applications.

Salaries that high are for project and regional managers, high-level administrators and high-level consultants, or for experienced high-level specialists in areas that are in especially high demand. Non-managerial non-specialist positions are unlikely to pay more much more than 5000 PLN net.


Yes, you could raise a child as a single parent on 5000 PLN a month. It might seem a lot when compared to what you make in Belarus, but you can do a lot better in the West. In any case, don't move until you have a well-paying job already secured, and don't simply take the first job you are offered. Take the time to do your research, and shop around. Cast your net wide, not only in Poland.

This poster's remark is probably correct, I'm probably confusing your role with another more specialist one. So, forget my 8K talk.

Inwroclaw you're quite right the salary range you have posted is just that for senior programmers/developers in both Wroclaw and Krakow. Taking into consideration that QAs/testers earn slightly less Id say that what you are aiming for Katrina85 is in your reach as long as you have these 5 years of experience.

Thanks, frd. (I find the roles a bit confusing!)

He probably can't get a work permit in the 'West', and its probably easier to work near to home.

She not he.


To show that it is reality here is fresh ranking of the salaries in game development in Poland. All numbers there are NET, but nearly half of workers are self employed.

Salaries in game development are much smaller than in enterprise or banking. It's possible to count big game companies in Poland on the fingers of one hand. The average is being dragged down by very small unimportant companies. Beside that game dev in Poland is very young. In comparison Wroclaw and Cracov are big IT sponges right now in the south Poland, with huge foreign corporations. Senior programmers and QAs are in high demand and 3 years of experience can land you an over 9k gross job.

[Moved from]: Salaries in Poland for specialists and executives

Hello,

I just came across a report made by the Antal Recruitment agency in 2013 about salaries in Poland for specialists and executives. The report is written in Polish but tables with figures are easily understandable even for a non-Polish speaker.

Here is a link to the report: kariera.kozminski.edu.pl/fileadmin/kariera.kozminski.edu.pl/Raporty/Antal_-_wynagrodzenia_specjalistow_i_menedzerow.pdf

From the report, a description of the methodology used to compile those figures:

Further to that below - but I don't know anyone who would make so much money (even if they are considered specialists in Poland). What gives ;)

Merged: SALARY NEGOTIATION - How much can I ask for working as a professional IT engineer in Poland?

Hello Folks,
i am negotiating now my salary with a polish company. i will work as a professional IT engineer. i am very experienced and they need me. how much money should i ask as a net salary ?

P.S. i am not polish, so i expect more than the average salary to make it worth!

@ Fantoumas-
You can ask for 10,000 gross per month - see how much of that they are willing to pay.....

Hi friends, I have around 9+ years of experience in Telecom testing(QA) domain(BSS), Curently I am negotiating for some offers with a Poland based IT organization. I have a family (wife, son, dependent mother)How much should I ask, taking into consideration I am not from Europe (I need to earn a bit extra !) besides, I am not aware of the tax structure also in Poland?

You're probably wasting your time trying to negotiate with employers in Poland. Your time would be much better spent trying to find a better paying job in a richer country in western Europe or in an English-speaking country, where wages, and, more importantly, savings potential are much higher than in Poland. I doubt that anyone in Poland will pay you enough to cover travel and living expenses for four people allowing you to live in relative comfort and allow you to save up a significant amount of cash to pay for your eventual relocation to a richer country, unless you happen to be senior high-level management or administration. Even as a move to "get your foot in the door" of the EU, I can't see that happening without putting your family through hell.

The main problems with Poland are low wages, high cost of living relative to wages (especially for recent immigrants with no knowledge of the local language, customs, lifestyle and consumer habits), and very low savings potential. Those last two are working strongly against you, as is the is the cost of relocation and visa fees for three adults and a child. Remember that you have to deduct relocation costs from your first year income when compiling your budget.

Even if you were to come alone and leave your family at home, you would have difficulty supporting yourself, supporting your family, and saving up a significant sum of money for future relocation.

hi Dominic..thanks for the eye openers! :-)..stil..if its to be taken, how much should I negotiate at, i just saw taxing being around at 30-40% of income....or shld I not go at all?

hello dj, if you are that experienced, you should have been doing the math yourself. i am from Turkey, i was offered gross 13000 but i refused, coz i do more money here. but things would be different, there s no perfect path in life. i can move later on.

if you were bornin 1981 and having 10 years of IT experience, go for 12000 pln/gross/month minumum. add/subtract 500 per year if you have more less XP.

Also, dominicB, its not easy to land jobs in IT directly in UK/USA/west europe. but its easier in poland.
there are relocator sponsor companies in poland.
some HR recruiters called me from swiss, UK, USA but they were not willing to do sponsorship. so it all ended without progress.
if you have friends in chicago i can give you CV. noone is a poland fan here anyway. even those indians or egyptians arent probably.

BTW i heard google, IBM etc pay crappy wages there in poland. so dont expect a lot from those i say.
its like you get 2/3 of gross salary, and they provide you healthcare. one day if you retire from poland at 67, having those 1/3 pay cut from your gross makes sense. otherwise, NO

Cost of living for three adults and a kid will be at the very least 6000 PLN a month, and that's only potatoes and cabbage, a place to sleep, and no fun, comfort or savings. So that means 9000 PLN gross a month at the very minimum. Realistically, you would need a lot more than that, about 15000 PLN gross if you want to save about 4000 PLN a month, which should be your minimum savings. Plus more for comfort, entertainment, recreation and travel. Frankly, you will have trouble getting that much in Poland without serious managerial experience.

Any employer pays for a specific job to be done and doesn't care if the employee has to feed 5 kids, 2 grandmothers, 3 dogs, 5 cats and 10 hamsters. The employee just needs to adjust their lifestyle to their income. To tell a recruiter I need XXXX because I have a lot of expenses is irrelevant when applying for a job.

Guys, so, is it ok if the offer is around 20-25k PLN/per month+healthcare?

That would be extremely high for a non-managerial position, and even for a managerial position, it would be at the high end of the scale. It would easily cover the cost of living quite comfortably for your family and allow you to save up a significant amount of money.

If someone offers you this much, then, by all means, accept the offer.

Thought I'd resurrect this thread rather than start a new one.

I'm a Technical Writer with a few years' experience, and my Project Manager is pushing me towards QA/software testing so that I can, in corpospeak, wear many hats. From a salary perspective, does it make more sense to focus on my Technical Writing skills or to rebrand myself as a QA tester?

For reference, the only way to reach 15k PLN net as a Technical Writer is to invest in software and training, on tools that cost a minimum of 1000EUR.

Merged:

What are the salaries are for IT specialists (Senior QA Automation Engineer) in Poland?

I am Going Poland as a Senior QA Automation Engineer. This is software testing job with programming in java.

Please let me know what should I ask for. I am married and we both will come there.

Thanks

@vishrocks21

Breakdown of your costs:

Travel and relocation, including air tickets, travel to and from airports and embassies, residence permits and shipping of minimal essential items, amortized over 12 months: about 1000 PLN a month for the both of you.

Housing, basic one-bedroom (two room) apartment in a decent neighborhood with easy access to ground transportation, all inclusive including all utilities except phone/internet/TV: 2000 to 2700 PLN a month, the former for the cheapest cities, the latter for Warsaw.

Groceries and regular household supplies and expenses: 1500 to 2000 for two people. Less if you cook and eat exclusively at home using less expensive in-season local ingredients , more if you cook with non local ingredients or if you often eat, snack or drink away from home.

Occasional expenses like clothing, shoes, bedding, furniture, kitchen supplies, computers, cell phones, doctor, dentists and medicines, taxis, etc.: budget at least 500 PLN a month. You and your wife will need to buy a complete winter wardrobe, including good shoes.

Plus another 300 to 400 for phone/internet/TV and monthly local transit passes. Forget about a car. It isn't necessary anyway. Public transit is good.

So that is at least 4500 just for necessary expenses to live a modest, no-frills lifestyle in the cheapest cities, and up to 6000 in the better cities, like Wrocław, Kraków and, especially, Warsaw.

Then there is recreation, entertainment, travel and vacations. Trips to western Europe or back to India will be very expensive. You are also going to have to pay to keep your wife occupied so she doesn't go crazy. This is a wild card. It can be anywhere from 500 to 2000 a month, or more, depending on whether you travel back to India.

And then there's savings. The budget above will give you a minimal rainy day fund at best. You'll have to add your savings goals to the above total.

So let's say 8500 to 10000 PLN with modest savings (enough to save up for an eventual move to a richer country). That comes out to 13000 to 16000 PLN a month gross, the lower figure for the cheapest cities, and the higher figure for the better cities like Wrocław, Kraków, Poznań, Gdańsk and especially Warsaw.

If you're not making at least that as a senior engineer, then there is no point in taking the job.

Also, never tell them your salary expectations, no matter how much they insist. Always kick that ball back in their court and make them provide an offer first. Revealing your salary expectations puts you in a very disadvantageous position during negotiations.