My experience leaving Canada and going to Poland to find a job

POLAND . The Unofficial Guide

Fumon56

Feb 12, 11, 06:22 #1

I have been following this forum for a while and I would like to contribute my own story to encourage others who are trying a shot at life in Poland.

So now the story…

I have been doing very well in Canada and I did not leave Canada because I had some issues. In fact, I was very happy in Canada but love sometimes works in a strange way…

I have a B.A. in psychology and I have been working in the Insurance industry for the past 7 years. On top of this, I speak, Czech, Russian, Polish, English and French

Before I left Canada I decided to test my value on the Canadian market by visiting a recruitment agency (I have been in the same company for the last 6 years). To me it was important to see what kind of offers I could get and what should be my objectives when I get to Poland. They were able to pull me out some very interesting job offers with attractive salaries. (Obviously, I am not expecting the same salary in Poland)

Now, It has been 3 weeks since I left Toronto and so far I was able to get 3 interviews in the 50+ resumes I sent. All these interviews related to positions requiring knowledge of Czech..

In my last interview they mirrored me a possible salary of 6000 in a non-managerial position.

Next Wednesday I have another interview for a manager’s position with knowledge of Czech.

This all sounds a bit strange since it looks like my knowledge of Czech is a major factor in getting into interviews… Probably, there is a big supply of overqualified jobseekers who have a good knowledge of most of the languages I speak (except for Czech)…

This is still an evolving story and many things can happen. If anyone is interested I will make sure to update this post once I get to “the end of the tunnel”.

plashThreads: 1 Posts: 6 Joined: Jan 22, 11 ♂	Feb 12, 11, 09:36 #2
good luck keep it high and wish me also a good luck ;) finding a job in Poland, but me I don't have Czech

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,412 Joined: Aug 29, 07 ♂	Feb 12, 11, 09:50 #3
Fumon56: If anyone is interested I will make sure to update this post you should. thnx

plashThreads: 1 Posts: 6 Joined: Jan 22, 11 ♂	Feb 15, 11, 10:36 #4
have a look to this, may be it can help A job offer for The CitiBank International in Warsaw ;)

gumishuThreads: 17 Posts: 3,943 Joined: Apr 6, 09 ♂	Feb 15, 11, 18:39 #5
good luck Fumon :)

BBmanThreads: - Posts: 459 Joined: Jan 4, 11 ♂	Edited by: BBman Feb 15, 11, 19:15 #6
Hey good luck fumon. You're very brave for leaving canada for poland to work. I did the same recently (for fun). I worked in Poland for a couple of years, made decent money for Polish standards, but the work environment in Poland is very primitive and brutal, thus i chose to leave. It was a great adventure though. Have fun and keep us updated!

Pinching PeteThreads: 1 Posts: 1,111 Joined: Feb 23, 08 ♂	Feb 15, 11, 19:32 #7
BBman: Poland is very primitive and brutal What do you mean? Can you elaborate?

♂

Feb 15, 11, 20:23 #8

Pinching Pete:

What do you mean? Can you elaborate?

The foremost issue I had with working in Poland was the discrimination I witnessed in the workplace. The first place I saw this was in the CVs: date of birth, self photos, place of birth etc. There is no reason for this kind of personal information to be available to an employer BEFORE the applicant is hired! It IS only used to discriminate and no one seems afraid to discriminate. I believe this because I've personally heard hiring managers openly talk about throwing away CVs of older applicants or young women, for instance. I've also seen managers fire older employees with excellent work performance only to replace them with younger people. The worst thing about this is that the sacked employee can't do much about this discrimination. Most Poles complain about all this too.

I also found the Polish workplace to be less professional than in Canada. I encountered lots of "hamstwo," lack of professional diplomacy, and generally speaking disorganisation. I think poles are still learning the new post commie ways of business and I have no doubt things will improve.

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