Is finding an engineering job in Poland difficult? Do I have to be fluent in Polish?

♂

Sep 12, 11, 17:20 #1

Hey everybody. Just wondering if you can help me out. My fiancé and I are considering moving from Ireland to Polandat some point in the future. My fiancé is Polish so she wouldn't have any problems with the language or finding a job. I have basic/intermediate Polish and am a qualified Engineer with more than 5 years experience. Ideally we'd love to settle down around the Cracow area since her family is from there. Does anyone know how difficult it would be to find an engineering job in that area without completely fluent polish? Also, does anyone know what the average engineering salary is in Poland? Any information you could provide would be very helpful!

♂

Sep 12, 11, 17:31 #2

Does anyone know how difficult it would be to find an engineering job in that area without completely fluent polish?

The question is what you can offer a potential employer that a Polish candidate can not offer and whether that plus will outweigh the rather large minus of you not being able to communicate with the majority of the Polish staff at the company. In other words, it is going to be very very difficult.

Foreigner4Threads: 22 Posts: 1,990 Joined: Nov 18, 07 ♂	Sep 12, 11, 17:35 #3
You'll have to look at trans-national firms as there are a few of them that have English as their official work language. I don't know Krak-land that well in terms of the market there but I know it is the case with some companies in Silesia (keep in mind they're foreign owned).

pipThreads: 11 Posts: 1,293 Joined: Jul 4, 11 ♀	Sep 12, 11, 17:35 #4
what type of engineering? I think it is a good idea to look for foreign companies that have offices around Krakow and apply from Ireland with the intent to move.

♂

Edited by: benny194 Sep 12, 11, 20:16 #5

@PWEI: I was thinking that would be my biggest hurdle. My Polish is progressing fairly well but it's going to be quite a while before I'm satisfied with it. You think I would be better off waiting?

@pip: It's fairly broad to be honest. I've experience with mechanical engineering, project management and general research and development. I've heard that Krakow is more IT focused. Do you know if there are many general engineering companies in the region?

pipThreads: 11 Posts: 1,293 Joined: Jul 4, 11 ♀	Sep 12, 11, 21:25 #6
I wouldn't know- but I think there is somebody here that does---I can't remember who, unfortunately. Just sit tight a bit somebody will pipe in soon enough.

♂

Edited by: jwojcie Sep 13, 11, 13:35 #7

benny194

I have no knowledge at all about your domain, but just for sport I looked into the net, so for example this site:
http://praca.money.pl/
with "inżynier mechanik" phrase which I hope means more or less "mechanical engineer" gave me this:

http://ofertapracy.monsterpolska.pl/getjob.aspx?JobID=102002466&WT .mc_n=g01

"Product manager with English in Automotive field" in Cracov.
It is from grafton recruitment agency:
http://www.grafton.pl/oferty-pracy-detail.html?refNum=6017243
another one:
http://www.grafton.pl/oferty-pracy-detail.html?refNum=6017242

Why not contact them and apply just for sport? I'm quite sure you'll be able to get info about wage differential in your domain from head hunters.

As for general engineering companies in the region if not Cracov then Upper Silesia area is quite close - which means many possibilities (probably I should mention here Fiat factory in Bielsko-Biała, or other factories in Tychy or Gliwice). Big international companies are located mostly in special economic zones. Here you can see for example list of companies in such zone in Upper Silessia:
http://www.ksse.com.pl/lista/dane_list/lista1.php?lang=en

Maybe you will find a company you've always wanted to work for ;)

benny194Threads: 1 Posts: 3 Joined: Sep 12, 11 ♂	Sep 13, 11, 18:16 #8
Thanks jwojcie. There's lots of useful information here! I'm going to take a look around for good recruitment agencies and maybe expand my area of search a bit. Until then I'm going to work harder to improve my polish.

AjbThreads: 12 Posts: 340 Joined: Jul 14, 08 ♂	Sep 13, 11, 18:34 #9
Hi, i have a good friend who is employed in a polish company, he is a native who started with intermediate Polish. So for sure it is possible! As far as i know Krakow is an IT area, however 90km east is a city called Bielsko-Biała, which has Fiat and many other companies connected to it. I shall PM you with some ideas :)

benny194Threads: 1 Posts: 3 Joined: Sep 12, 11 ♂	Sep 14, 11, 13:23 #10
Thanks very much Ajb. Much appreciated!

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

Home \| Unanswered \| Archives \| Random \| Statistics	Time in Poland: 02:49 / May 27
About Us \| Contact Us \| Rules, Privacy \| Poland Advertising	© 2005-12 PolishForums.com