English Guy Looking for Work In Kielce

♂

Feb 21, 11, 15:50 #1

Dzien Dobry..

I should have done this ages ago. I have just moved to Kielce to be with my girlfriend. This is obviously extremely exciting but the honeymoon period could quickly end if I do not start earning money.

Anybody want to offer me a job... Let me know and I will forward my CV and important details...

But you can rest assured I am extremely hard working and at the moment willing to do pretty much anything while I am getting settled.

Look forward to hearing from people

Regards.

Jon

convexThreads: 46 Posts: 7,185 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Edited by: convex Feb 21, 11, 16:03 #2
winstone78: But you can rest assured I am extremely hard working and at the moment willing to do pretty much anything while I am getting settled. There are a lot of people that can do pretty much anything here. Got any particular skills? Might help... Either way, good luck on your search.

Wroclaw BoyThreads: 57 Posts: 5,478 Joined: Jul 3, 09 MEMBER ♂	Feb 21, 11, 17:07 #3
winstone78: Anybody want to offer me a job... winstone78: I should have done this ages ago. Youre going to have to do a lot better than that, what have you tried so far?

♂

Feb 21, 11, 18:08 #4

I have my TEFL certificate and have been emailing these to the local schools in Kielce but this has not had much success so far. So I will walk in and see them personally. I think this maybe a better option.
I have also put my CV onto infoPraca.com and applying for work there, but again no good news yet.
Word of mouth is also being used. My girlfriend is speaking to her colleagues and I already have Doctors interested in private English lessons.
I have a qualification in Leisure and Tourism so will be bombarding the hotels in and around Kielce.

♂

Feb 21, 11, 19:50 #5

winstone78:

I have my TEFL certificate and have been emailing these to the local schools in Kielce but this has not had much success so far. So I will walk in and see them personally. I think this maybe a better option.

It is. Poland is very much a bird in the hand kind of place when it comes to employing people. Showing that you're physically there in Kielce is important. Always go in person. Always.

It's also critical that you learn conversational Polish (this will help you immensely in a place like Kilece and helps your native speaker cred too - it's also a kind of advertisement of your own language learning skills (which can translate into teaching skills)).

Also, always, always, always say you'll call them back. Don't pay attention when they say there's no need, say you'll call back (in person) in a week and stop by a bakery on the way and buy something sweet for the secretary or whoever else might be in the office.

♂ [Suspended]

Feb 21, 11, 22:38 #6

winstone78:

This is obviously extremely exciting but the honeymoon period could quickly end if I do not start earning money.

I'm not talking about you here, but this is a very common story at the minute. I know at least two people who have gone back to the UK because they simply can't make it work in Poland - usually the story is that they've moved here without much of a plan - and it's often much more of a struggle than they first expect.

The problem with finding work at this time of year is that schools are already "set" in what they're doing. Teachers have already been hired, so your best hope is to find a school that doesn't already have any native teachers working there - problem is, natives aren't the "holy grail" anymore.

What mafketis says is absolutely spot on - if you go to the effort of treating secretaries properly (and in schools, they're normally girls in their 20's!) - it will pay off. Expect the first six months to be an utter slog, though.

♂

Feb 22, 11, 02:20 #7

I have been in kielce a few times an its not an easy place to find work. There is not many other people in this city who arent polish. I know there is a very successful irish man there an they have an irish english school but i cant remember the name. Local guys in kielce arent the nicest towards us, but the girls where always very nice thats what i found from it. There is a scottish man in kielce well there was, I met him there 2 years ago an he has some businesses

mohammadmad	Feb 22, 11, 08:59 #8
tell there manger you come back with a baseball bat in a week if he does not call you back with a job

♂

Feb 22, 11, 11:37 #9

I have got work lined up already, within a couple of days now, which i am quite pleased in teaching Doctors English at the hospital my gf works at. One of the Dr's husbands is a judge and he has asked me for private tuition.

If I teach the individuals in such a high professional status successfully and word of mouth gets around I could have done very well for myself with a high class of client (who will pay more than the schools)

However, I am well aware of the struggle it is going to be and that Kielce is not Krakow and Warsaw. My confidence in finding jobs in these cities would be higher.

I am sincerely taking note of what I have been reading and will use it wisely - maybe not the advice about the baseball bat, but give it a couple of months :-).

Coming to Poland, failing and running back to London with my tail between my legs is not an option for me.

♂ [Suspended]

Feb 22, 11, 12:39 #10

winstone78:

However, I am well aware of the struggle it is going to be and that Kielce is not Krakow and Warsaw. My confidence in finding jobs in these cities would be higher.

Funnily enough, you might actually have much more success in Kielce than in either of those two cities. It's a small provincial city, yet there's always going to be quite wealthy people around. If you don't mind the place - you might just do very well by focusing on high income clients.

All I can say is that you should network, network, network like mad.

aphrodisiacThreads: 22 Posts: 3,998 Joined: Apr 15, 09 ♀	Feb 22, 11, 12:42 #11
winstone78: Coming to Poland, failing and running back to London with my tail between my legs is not an option for me. you'll do fine.good luck.

♂

Feb 22, 11, 12:46 #12

And don't forget to put up little notices (with tear-off strips showing a contact phone number to your girlfriend) outside schools and other educational establishments offering private lessons to intermediate and advanced learners of English. Advertise in newspapers - including the freebie in Kielce. Invest in specialist English books if teaching doctors - use the internet to research areas they are interested in and make wordlists for your own education and perhaps for them to check their knowledge against.

Just some ideas harking back to when I was teaching all and sundry - now I limit myself to merely being a walking encyclopedia of legal terms! And no - I wasn't always so modest ...

MEMBER ♂

Feb 22, 11, 12:52 #13

delphiandomine:

Funnily enough, you might actually have much more success in Kielce than in either of those two cities.

Thats what i thought.

winstone78:

Coming to Poland, failing and running back to London with my tail between my legs is not an option for me.

Its been 5 years for me, still here.

Its tough man make no mistake, I would say the 4th year was the most difficult for me, at first i just loved everything, the honeymoon stage.

delphiandomineThreads: 42 Posts: 9,954 Joined: Nov 25, 08 ♂ [Suspended]	Feb 22, 11, 12:58 #14
Wroclaw Boy: Thats what i thought. Yep, it's a big enough place to have enough professionals with cash to burn - I mean, what's a doctor or lawyer going to spend his money on in Kielce? Definitely better to be a big fish in a small pond than the other way round.

winstone78Threads: 1 Posts: 6 Joined: Feb 21, 11 ♂	Feb 22, 11, 13:06 #15
I see your points about Kielce... I have noticed that the ExPat community here is rather slim and that Marta's friends pretty much jump on me when they have the chance to speak English as they never ever get the chance. 'The Professionals English Teacher’ - I like the sound of this :-) I hope I become that big fish and that I have a long and successful period of swimming around...

MEMBER ♂

Edited by: Wroclaw Boy Feb 22, 11, 14:07 #16

delphiandomine:

what's a doctor or lawyer going to spend his money on in Kielce?

The Oncology centre in Kielce is one of the best in the country - its huge, i had the misfortune of spending quite a bit of time there and the Hotel next to it last year. Good place to network for the OP. The head of the Oncology department is definitely a fluent English speaker as he spent years as a consultant in New York. If you could some how get through to him, then he could bring up the topic at a board meeting or something.

Those guys have cash to burn as you say.

♂

Feb 22, 11, 16:01 #17

@Wroclaw Boy - That is superb advice.... I will be on my way to the Oncology Centre during the week.
Luckily for me I will be able to take a nice walk and back...

One thing I would like to know, which I haven't got a clue about... Is how much should I charge p/h for private tuition. Does anyone have an idea? Someone I know said he knew people in Warsaw that charged 80pln ph. Being in Kielce I would have thought 40/50pln ph would have been the going rate?

Maybe I could give 10/15% discounts for students?

AlbanaichThreads: 4 Posts: 45 Joined: Nov 6, 09 ♂	Feb 22, 11, 20:52 #18
I've just been spontenously been offerred a job in Krakow as a dance teacher. . . . . . not that I'm taking it up. There's apparently a big demand for people who can teach American Swing dance, West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Discofox. . . .. . . . . Maybe you should've learned Modern Jive :-)

♂ [Suspended]

Feb 22, 11, 21:08 #19

winstone78:

One thing I would like to know, which I haven't got a clue about... Is how much should I charge p/h for private tuition. Does anyone have an idea? Someone I know said he knew people in Warsaw that charged 80pln ph. Being in Kielce I would have thought 40/50pln ph would have been the going rate?

Go with what you feel you can get away with. Don't be afraid to quote a ridiculous amount to people who clearly have money - Poles are very much the kind of people that are impressed by high figures - low price is seen as low quality by many of them.

You're not far off though - 40/50zl an hour will be about the going rate there. You might get more if you visit people in the workplace, but generally speaking, 40-50zl will be about the right price. But really - use your own feeling to give prices. 50zl tends to work because people can give you one note - I found that the phone is always ringing at 50zl an hour, but 60zl an hour is just too much for the market to bear at the moment outside of Warsaw for private clients that come to me.

A cracking way to get ahead is to register your own business - it's a piece of cake, and many clients will like the fact that you can give them a proper invoice. If you want any advice with that, we can guide you through the whole thing :) It'll cost you about 500zl a month in compulsory taxes and accountancy fee, but you can get away with murder when it comes to expenses. It'll also allow you to get into companies - and you can obviously undercut the schools by quite a bit. The nice thing is that by doing it this way, you'll also be able to dabble in whatever interests you - not just teaching.

winstone78Threads: 1 Posts: 6 Joined: Feb 21, 11 ♂	Feb 23, 11, 08:08 #20
I am fortunate that my gf has her own company, accountant etc etc and as it happens we have been discussing the above and it makes sense that any work I do is through her business. Once I am making enough money and everything is running smoothly (that could be years haha) then I will set everything up on my own...

john1981

Mar 30, 11, 17:37 #21

Hi
Im looking at being in the exact same situation as the OP in about 6-12 months time (depends on how long it takes my girl to find an apartment after her job starts, It depends what my lady finds, but chances are she will be living in Skarżysko-Kamienna and commuting to Kielce for work) - and likewise turning around and running away isnt going to be an option since im quite madly in love with her, and she has obligations in poland that prevent a full time move to the UK anytime soon.

At the moment i dont speak any polish, though i obviously plan to learn what i can (im not amazingly adept at learning languages, though i do speak uh.. bad german in addition to english) and my employment background is pretty much exclusively IT support. im in the somewhat enviable position at the moment of having a full time job while having no expenses near enough, so will be able to save at least £5000 (£25000 ish PLN?) in the meantime to give me a bit of a buffer once i get there.

What would you folks suggest i do i the meantime to prepare? im thinking a TEFL course would be a good idea, but other than that?

♂

Mar 31, 11, 09:11 #22

john1981:

Skarżysko-Kamienna

One thing i can say is you should be careful while your there! I've been there a few times while heading to somewhere different, one time a few "chavs" where following me around the train station and i was convinced they were aiming to give me a kicking, however they disappeared when they saw some police wondering around. For sure i would recommend getting a good knowledge of polish under your belt for day to day life!

In regards to teaching, do a CELTA it's much more recognised and nowadays in Poland quite essential!

25,000PLN will keep you going for a while, but i would say get in contact with language schools in the target area soon as they will be starting to think about teachers for the upcoming school year.

If you do move there PM me if you want to hook up for a beer, i visit Starachowice (15km away) a few times a year!

Good luck :)

POLAND . The Unofficial Guide	Unanswered \| Archives
POLAND . The Unofficial Guide	Poland Tips and Ideas	Witamy, Guest \| PF Members \| Gold Members

Home \| Unanswered \| Archives \| Random \| Statistics	Time in Poland: 19:13 / May 26
About Us \| Contact Us \| Rules, Privacy \| Poland Advertising	© 2005-12 PolishForums.com