Job Discussion Forums

[dannypoet]

Hi,

I am a newbie so please don't be too harsh!

I currently work in a decent paid job in IT in the UK but its not what I want to do for the rest of my life so I am looking for a break, to do something different, for a few years before I get stuck in the mortgage grind (I'm 24 so just on that cusp at the moment)! TEFL fits the bill to me, as I have both a desire to teach, I enjoy English, and I would love to live abroad and possibly pick up a foreign language.

I'm looking to do it right, I dont have teaching experience (outside of a bit of IT training I conducted in the Czech Republic) so I'm hoping to do a CELTA and then find work. I've been reading these forums as a lurker for a few weeks now but I'm still a little unclear on a few things so hope you don't mind me asking here?

I originally wanted to TEFL in Berlin but Ive heard the market is really bad in Germany, also the CELTA course is �1000 there rather than �650. I don't like Prague (too many tourists) so Im considering Eastern Europe (inc Poland) where Ive visited before and loved!

Sorry for the life story Ive just seen newbies get a hard time before so thought Id get all of the facts out of the way.

My questions basically are:

1.Is getting off a plane and doing the CELTA and then trying to find work in Poland the best way of doing it?

2.Is it possible I'll be offered a job by IH after completing my course?

3.Are contracts common or will it most likely be freelance work?

4.How much will I be looking to earn (and for how many hours)?

5.Will an apartment/bills be included? If not how much would a flat share be and would it be easy enough to find with bohemian Worldy types (and also how much)? Any good areas I should consider?

6.Would there be any extra bonuses?

7.Will there be any tax/pension costs or are these deducted from my wage before I see it?

8.Is there health insurance or as a Brit is it free for me like it is at home?

9.Is there any factors I should consider as to what happens at home in the UK (regarding tax/Ni etc)

10.Anything else Ive missed?

11.Anywhere else I should consider?

Again apologies for the nature of my long post, Ive posted a similar threads on the European/Russian board so please don't be offended if you come across it, am also considering there!

[Kymro]

I'll just say one thing.

You shouldn't have any serious difficulty finding work in Poland.

[svenhassel]

1. getting off a plane and just doing the course is probably the cheapest option

2. forget working for ih the pay is crap. the training is very good though

3. both a contract with a school, freelance to private students and/or companies is possible.

4. depending on where you live/work you'll get anywhere between 2000 and 3000 upwards. zwotys that is.

5. flats also vary in prices warsaw 1500, krakow 1000 villages and other smaller towns 500. zwotys. i haven't looked for any bohemians but i'm sure you'll find them if you look

6. bonuses? great looking girls and cheap beer and er.........poland

7. health care should be preovided by the school.

8. you pay tax to an eu member state and you can probably make contributions to the uk tax system if you really feel the need.

[Grrrmachine]

Danny, welcome, very good questions which have all been answered elsewhere.
I can only comment financially - your average working week in a school teaching teenagers and adults will be about 20-25 hours a week, and you should be getting a basic 50zl per 60mins before tax. Some other teachers will scream that you can get more, but you have to have experience or the guts to go for it - it's a decent first wage and you'll survive fine on it.

Once you've got yourself settled, corporate clients may be offered by your school, or you'll pick up privates by word of mouth - this'll help with beer tokens and the like.

Tax-wise; every school is different, it seems. Most likely you'll see around 10% of your wage disappear as you work on "umowa dzialo" contracts, and you can then take out your own health insurance policy in Poland and still make NI contributions at home.

Once you've got six months or a year under your belt, you'll also be able to join in the other 24 year olds who have just jumped on the mortgage wagon

[Sgt Bilko]

Just in case you really want to work for IH. The pay differs in different areas but, in the southern group (Wroclaw, Opole, katowice, Bielsko) a newcomer is on about 2300zl for an 80 hour month i.e. slightly under 30zl an hour. Out of that you have to pay for a flat (and bills). The flats are around 650-700zl for a shared place. There is nothing to pay out of the gross figure in terms of tax and National insurance. Overtime is 50 or 55zl an hour - again net of tax.

As far as I know, in the north (Torun, Bydgoszcz etc) you get less but they pay for the flat so you end up with about the same amount (1600zl minus bills).

Wroclaw almost certainly won't take a newbie but Katowice might - depends on the recruitment situation. They're getting much fussier about B passes as well - a C pass and no experience probably won't be enough.

One word of advice about flats - choose a tower block if you can. The bills are much lower than in a nicer looking smaller unit.

Good luck

[wawel]

While I have seen a few positive comments about the place, I think most would agree Katowice isn't a great place to live. it is a bigger city in the south but is really depressing.

I lived in Gliwice for a year and I thought it was really nice for the Silesian region. I always counted on making 3k/month, sometimes less but most of the time a little more. The rynek is decent there. Anyway, just my 2 cents but most on this board seem to have much more experience with these places than I do.

[YakTamer]

Katowice usually asks for B pass but Opole will take C (depending also on the course tutor's report)

[philyyy]

Wroclaw almost certainly won't take a newbie but Katowice might - depends on the recruitment situation. They're getting much fussier about B passes as well - a C pass and no experience probably won't be enough.

I think Wroclaw is full up for teachers now. They may well have taken one newbie this year as indeed they did last year but as the man above poits out, it's not common for them to dos o.

Katowice wants graduates because they have to have 90% graduates to qualify for their "good school in Poland" certificate or whatever it is they're part of.

In Bydgoszcz I think the wage is still 1,575 zl as it was last year for 1st years but you only have to pay the telephone bill from that, not gas, electricity etc.

[cezarek]

1,575 zl

Is that for real?

[philyyy]

See the other post on here about Bydgoszcz I.H. and 1,575 ZL.