Job Discussion Forums

[simon_porter00]

Having found this website and having a number of questions myself and finding that most have been answered in some fashion before I�m asking for help in a slightly different way.

I�ve compiled what I think are the answers to my queries about teaching and living in Poland and if I have anything wrong please can people say so and I shall amend this first post accordingly.

I�m writing this from my perspective only � LLB Graduate who will have CELTA (and maybe TEFL too), UK citizen with a Polish Mother, who wants to live and legally work in Krakow. Therefore there won�t be any questions about work visas and documents as far as people from across the pond are concerned.

When to apply for work:
Beginning of September onwards. The method seems to be approach the 72 schools in Krakow early with your CV organise an interview with the DoS and go from there. If you type �szkola jezykow obcych + city� into Google you�ll find a list of schools where you want to go. I�ve seen that good schools seem to be the York School, Gama Bell and The Stairway School. Any further comments on schools would be welcomed.

When finding work:
Do the schools just interview you? Or do they let you do a demo lesson? What kind of procedures do you have to go through to be offered the position or is it based on your CV?

Qualifications:
LLB and CELTA with no experience seem to be the basic intermediate level qualifications and I shouldn�t find too much difficulty in finding a job paying well. I say intermediate because I sense that TEFL is seen as a lesser qualification (in terms of what schools look for i.e. they would prefer a CELTA) and DELTA and/or experience better.

Wages:
A good wage, if you�re looking for legal work with my experience above would seem to be 45zloty per 45 min before tax from what I�ve read. Is this realistic?

Hours:
20-25 hrs/pw in a school seems to be the consensus, plus as many privates as required.

Tax:
20% flat rate is imposed, the first 20% of which seems to be tax free in effect making the tax rate 16%. The tax is to be collected PAYE by the school you�re working for. Although this doesn�t seem to be the case in all circumstances � do all schools collect taxes, can you do this by yourself?

Bank a/c:
You need a Polish one. Bank a/c can be opened with a passport and a residence card or �maldurek� (proof of address). Pekao SA have a Eurokonto to allow you to get an a/c with just a passport in GBP, USD and zlotys.

Private work:
50zl/hr, the clients (mostly girls it has been said) to pay for a months block in advance because private bookings are notoriously unreliable. Design a reasonable flier and decorate the city and its buildings with it.

PESEL:
The Polish ID Number. You get it when you register yourself at living at an address in Poland

To get PESEL:
You need an official registered address card. I�ve seen this takes about 2 weeks to a month to get but where does this come from?

People from the UK:
You don�t need a work permit c/o the EU, but do need a residents card.

Buying Apartments:
I assume you have to get a PESEL before any of this is done, but generally speaking (and I know that might not be possible) is this a relatively simple thing to do or swamped in the mire of red tape? I�m looking to buy a property Oct/Nov so any advice here would be appreciated.

Textbooks:
English File and Headway. Don�t know if this is widely used and by what type of school but was a reference I picked up whilst browsing.

Thank you to the people who have already contributed and from whom I�ve gathered this information, namely: Alex Shulgin, Gregoryfromcali and Redsoxfan and others. And if anyone can answer my questions then I would be very much obliged and when I�m over in January � visiting a friend studying at UJ I�ll shout you a beer.

[Alex Shulgin]

You seem to have your stuff fairly straight.

Is there any reason why you are looking only at Krakow? If you want to specialise in legal English then Warsaw might be a better choice. Many more big law firms and most employ in-house language consultants (proof-reader and teacher basically). The money is far better here and you could go to Krakow every weekend without breaking the bank. Return train ticket is 100PLN and that's a 60 minute private lesson in Warsaw.

Recruitment varies from school to school. Some just interview and some have a 'demo lesson' taught to the interviewer as part of the interview. Don't think about a DELTA until you've taught for at least two years.

I can't comment on Krakow wages but here in Warsaw 45PLN per 45 minutes would be after tax not before.

Don't bother trying to do your own tax. It's far easier to get the schools to do it for you.

Don't design a flyer or post adverts unless you declare income earned from privates and pay tax on it. Better to let your reputation spread by word of mouth. Make sure that you always refer people who can't have lessons with you (because you're busy when they are free or whatever) to other teachers you know. What goes around comes around.

You don't need a PESEL in order to buy a property.

Let me know if you're passing through Warsaw.

[simon_porter00]

Thanks for your reply Alex,

Funnily enough only studied Law out of interest and to get accelerated promotion in the RAF. However, a dodgy right eye failed the medical and put paid to that. No real interest in getting involved in Law.

I was studying last academic year at UJ and met my girlfriend there, who is now in a gap year with me back in the UK, so we'll be going back to Krakow to allow her to finish her final year - so this is why its Krakow. After that however, I could be anywhere.

I'm pretty sure most of my questions about finding work have been answered through my search with the possible exceptions of knowing good schools and bad schools.

Also is it wrth doing a weekend TEFL course if you've got CELTA? Is it a case of more quals the better or is CELTA the best starting qual?

I am looking at making this my career for at least the next 6/7 years and would like to get a property in Krakow and am doing plenty of research into it at the moment, but seeing as this is off topic i'll pm you my questions.

Cheers again

simon_porter00

[simon_porter00]

OK I would PM you if such an option was available. If you've got a few seconds Alex could you drop me a line on [email protected]

Ta

simon_porter00

[gregoryfromcali]

[cezarek]

[cezarek]

[simon_porter00]

Thanks for all the information.

I guess the stark reality is quite different from what a lot of people (myself included) would expect. Although there is plenty of people warning you won't make a fortune out of Poland there still is a very good chance of making a very good life for yourself should you want to stay in Poland - as I may, seeing as i'm getting rapidly fed up of England right now.

I guess the only way to find out is to hit the ground in Poland (speaking metaphorically here) hard and fast and battle like a trooper to get the best out of it. From my own personal plans is to be in Krakow early doors in September, start teaching in October and have an appartment before Crimbo. Of course I have a lot of questions regarding house buying and mortgages and should any of you guys wish to share any infor please email me at [email protected]

Once again, thanks for all the advice received so far