Job Discussion Forums

[TravelTeacher83]

Hello!

I'm scheduled to be in Poland in October 2012 for the CELTA and would like to ideally stay and teach there for a year or more upon successful completion of the certificate. I'm willing to go anywhere in the country whether it be a small or large city or town. I have 2 years ESL teaching experience in Korea along with 2 years teaching non-ESL back in the States, and will soon have TESOL certification. I just have a couple questions.

1) When do most schools do their hiring and when do most jobs start? I need to attend a wedding back in the US on 12/29 and I'm trying to figure out the timetable.

2) I'm a US citizen so what are my chances of actually finding a job at a school there?

Thanks for the responses!

[hrvatski]

Hi presumably 28-9 year old travelling teacher.

I encourage you to sift through the posts in this forum as you will find the answers you seek. You may also come across a number of posts by jaded old men who feel that Poland is a destitute black hole which will steal years from your life and give nothing in return, but pay no attention to them.

As it is raining outside, I will answer your questions anyway:
Semester 1 starts in October - you will be entering the workforce in November when schools have already hired and lessons are under way. Entering teaching in November will mean taking bits and pieces of work in various schools, and perhaps private lessons to sustain yourself - this is not desirable. I strongly suggest doing your CELTA in July/August if you can.

Schools can start hiring July or even earlier if they are really motivated, though the hiring season would peak around August / early September.

It is easier for schools to employ teachers from the UK and Ireland than the US, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand or say, Micronesia. That said, plenty of Americans do get work in in Poland, perhaps because the British and Irish are often drunken vagabonds.

[spiral78]

For what it's worth, I'll add that trying to start work in November is a bad idea for the whole region (meaning all of Central/Eastern Europe - you can't work in the West as a US citizen anyway, but their hiring season is the same as well).

As in Poland, in the rest of the region most hiring is done in August/September and most job contracts are for Sept/Oct through June. Trying to find something in November MAY be do-able, but it'll be tough.
I do recall quite a few US and Canadian newbies over the past couple of years who were unsuccessful trying to find work in this time frame. Their 90 days ran out and they were forced by circumstances to go home, basically.

As a US citizen, you will need to apply for a work visa within 90 days of landing in the Schengen zone (google if you're not familiar - it's important!). This means you would be best off to maximise your chances by timing your CELTA for August, ideally.

The whole region is a pretty competitive job market - it's not by any means equivalent to Korea in any way, from students, to schools, to wages, to how jobs are found.....in fact, you are likely to find that employers aren't particularly impressed by your pre-CELTA experience.

Maximise your chances of success by re-arranging your timeframe.

[TravelTeacher83]

My ideal was to do the CELTA in August or September but I'm currently still in Korea and contracted until late August so October was the next available time to do the the CELTA.

Thanks for the responses! It seems like the timing is not on my side with this one but maybe something can happen.

One more thing though...assuming I'm unable to find work in the country or general region and need to return to the US, what are the chances of being able to land a job there via Internet postings or will I need to fly back to Poland/region around the main hiring times and start hitting the pavement? Thanks!

[spiral78]

It's a competitive job market and most reputable schools simply don't need to take a chance on someone sight-unseen; there are lots of teachers around ready to interview in person. It's pretty rare to find work (again speaking for the region) from abroad; employers offering work to potential teachers at a distance tend to be either very small rural schools, schools with a bad rep with local teachers (pay issues, usually) - or scammers.

Basically, your chances of finding something from the US are slim.

[simon_porter00]

It's not all doom and gloom - if you go to Warsaw you'll quickly build up a lot of business one to ones with a school. I would think you'll get a full timetable within a month.

[spiral78]

How would that work with getting a work permit? I think in the Czech Rep, where I'm more familiar with the rules, this would make things pretty difficult, requiring a zivnotensky list - pretty expensive and difficult to set up in conjunction with getting a visa.

[sparks]

It works quite easily and cheaply in Poland. You take your American passport and zameldowania (card which shows you have a place to live). You tell them you want to open a business and fill out some papers and pay probably 17 zl or a little more. After a couple of weeks they give you a Regon number on a fancy piece of paper. With this you go to the Urzad Skarbowy (tax office) and tell them you want to open a business. You will also need a NIP (tax id number), which you can get there as well. Then to ZUS (social security). You will need a PESEL nr. which you can get there as well. After having these things you can go fill out the forms to get your residency card. You may have to have copies of bank statements, paid bills from your apartment, all of your new "business" documents, eye of newt, a small bottle of gypsy tears, etc. Really any piece of paper which may in some way show that you live in Poland. Then you wait for about a month and can come back and pick up you card. It shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred zl. in sum.

[simon_porter00]

[sparks]

This is the last I'll post on this because it really makes no difference to me and I won't argue on the internet. Americans can do this, as has always been the case, because of an agreement between Poland and America. Just the papers for the dzialnosc, and proof that you have a place of residence and pay your bills. You do not need a work permit from a school. They may ask to see a contract from a school that says you earn enough money to live, but that is all. You may have to write to the Urzad praca for proof of this as the people at Dluga 5 may not know this (although to their credit they have been getting a bit more efficient over the past few years.) The point is with the dzialnosc you don't need a work visa to legally stay in Poland, as you can be issued a residency card without a work permit.

[wojbrian]

Technically, you need your work stamp in your passport before you go.

I have never found a way around this...

[dynow]

[quote="simon_porter00"]

[simon_porter00]

I don't know. What I do know is the following:
1 - Everyone who is American that I work with have not been able to do it.
2 - Master shake and wojbrian haven't been able to do it and they're in Poland now.
3 - You cannot expect every change in regulations to be applied retrospectively so this argument "when was I to get my phonecall?" is nonsense.

In any case, this will all be cleared up soon as this summer I'll be contacting people to find a definitive answer for my website.

[dynow]

[wojbrian]

I was asked to leave and got a 1 year EU ban because I had no work permit in 2008/2009.

I did everything else I was supposed to do. Maybe there were ways around this but no one made any suggestion as to how.