Job Discussion Forums

[dragonpiwo]

Absolutely sound advice.

It has been in decline since the 90s. Meanwhile, Poland has become expensive.

It's a huge gamble.

[chuckMC]

It's a gamble with no chance of winning. If he "wins", he's stuck in a poor country earning a poor salary by international standards. 20 years from now he will regret making this decision. His savings will be little in terms of US dollars. He probably won't have a pension. His earnings will remain the same unless he strikes gold with a rich client. Like everyone says, wages are flat and competition higher. He will be swimming in shallow water.

[delphian-domine]

See, chuckMC, what you're missing is that you don't really know how Poland works. All you're looking at is "oh, you can possibly earn much more in the West" without even thinking about the real cost of living there.

In Poland, as long as you've got healthcare, no-one is going to attempt to hit you with huge bills, nor will you have to struggle with insurance companies that will do absolutely everything in their power to refuse to pay.

In Poland, you don't have the problem of school districts being funded entirely locally, so the level of teaching in Wielkopolskie is exactly the same as in Swiętokrzyskie.

In Poland, you don't have such massive inequalities - even so-called "bad" areas such as Praga in Warsaw are really nothing compared to the slums of America, the UK or France.

More to the point, if you actually speak Polish, you can see what's available out there. Your perceptions are entirely based upon a very limited world view with no real concept of what happens beyond your small town, let alone the whole country.

Poland is full of opportunity, but it won't come to those teaching Callan in Ciemnogród.

[Master Shake]

[dragonpiwo]

My profile was on NS.com. I advertised at 70/hour. Had about 30-40 hits. Only one was willing to come to my place and only that one was willing to pay 70/hour. I had more experience than anyone on the website. Between October 2014 and January 2015, I was in Poznan. I went to 20 interviews. All told me my 70PLN/hour was way too much. I ended up working 10 hours a week to keep busy.

Poland isn't cheap now. I'm in the UAE where electricals, jewellery, clothes, petrol, cigarettes, free medical insurance, using a phone and taxis are way cheaper than Poland. Food and beer from the shop are about the same. Only rent is high but we earn 10 times what a wage in Poland is and I have free digs and food on a camp, which is like a resort.

I have a house in Poland and the plan is to have 2 or 3 flats in the next 10 years and then retire at 55 mortgage free.

So enjoy working yourself into the grave. I only work 4 days a week and the wife and I are loving the beach life.

I must be daft.

[wojbrian]

[delphian-domine]

Dragonpiwo, tut tut...using a phone is most definitely not cheaper in the UAE. I just checked and the prices are coming in at around 300AED (which is more or less 1-1 with the PLN) for anything resembling a decent plan.

My Orange phone here is 89zl a month for unlimited calls and text messages to all networks and landlines in Poland, along with 2GB of data. Contract, of course. If I stayed on Plus, I could have the same plus unlimited LTE data, but their choice of phones is shockingly bad.

Beer as well... come on, I asked a friend in Abu Dhabi, and he said that 25-30AED is about normal.

Some stuff will obviously be much cheaper due to the lack of VAT/excise tax or subsidies such as petrol. But when you find figures such as 300AED for internet access (!) when I've got a decent 60mb cable connection for 60PLN - well... come on.

Electronics - I've just looked at phones, and they're actually slightly more expensive there.

Other things will be cheaper, sure - petrol especially. Not sure I'd quite like to drive there though...

I have a friend living out there that put it quite well - he regards the place as a fantastic place to save money for a few years, but it's a dreadful place to raise a family due to the astronomical costs of schooling. In your situation, the UAE makes perfect sense - but it might not make sense for others.

[dragonpiwo]

Beer in a shop not a hotel Delph. The i-phone 6 is half the price here.

[dragonpiwo]

Back to the op. It will be hard and money will be tight. Perhaps, not all of the time, but some/a lot of the time.

Poland is a nice place for a couple of years, especially in the summer. Ignore us lot and go and see for yourself. If it doesn't work out, go elsewhere.

[chuckMC]

There is a reason why MILLIONS of Poles go abroad. And there is a reason why there