Job Discussion Forums

lit46 · Joined: 10 Sep 2007 Posts: 18

What is the best way to go about getting a job in Poland from the UK? I've got a degree+CELTA but no exp. I would consider most cities but Krakow, Olszytn and Gdansk are my favourites.
Thanks for any help! Smile

YakTamer · Joined: 29 Mar 2004 Posts: 86 Location: Warszawa, Polska

The best way of getting a job is to be here in person, rather than trying to get the offers while you are in the UK. Most of the best schools only hire locally. You can check the schools out and speak to other teachers.

Even without experience, a native speaker with a CELTA and degree will not struggle to find work, although you're timing isn't perfect (a month or two earlier would've been better).

Read the post by Simon Porter on this forum about how to go about finding work.

ready2go · Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 11 Location: Canada

Hi... I'm a bitter mistreated ESL teacher who landed in Poland two years ago. Had a degree, and TESOL but no experience. Heard too that the best thing was to go there and find work. I did find something after a month (a place called "C.E. Libra")run by the nasty director Anna BInek Glabinska who is a bold faced liar and at the time wasn't paying her staff and barely paying her overseas teachers. Of course I didn't know this. She also didn't complete the visa process as promised. You can only be "legit" if you have work before leaving home but that wasn't recommended. I worked my butt off, never missed a day and enjoyed the students.
Afer a year or more of promises, she did pay those who were in Poland or had connections. I got screwed out of about $600 US. The school did close down some of it's branches. I've known other teachers who were mistreated by other schools and not paid so I'd say avoid this corrupt country.
I followed up on this situation by sending translated documents to a government agency and have yet to have a response.
If you've got money to blow and want to throw it down the toilet, go to Poland. They'll be more than happy to oblige.

simon_porter00 · Joined: 09 Nov 2005 Posts: 505 Location: Warsaw, Poland

Hello Ready2go,

I'm sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience and fully understand your bitterness towards the school and it's owner that you worked for. It's not only you that's been treated in this shoddy way, there are plenty of schools out there that will take you for a ride and no care either way, however this could be said for nearly every country in the world.

If your experience tells us anything, (and this is in no way an attack on you) it's to spend time researching the school you interview for, asking teachers who work there, even students if you can to see what the school is about. It also is important, if you're a newbie, to go to a number of interviews to see different schools and more importantly different contracts. You'll quickly learn and see the better from the poor.

Once again, i'm sorry that you had such a bad experience within Poland, if you even consider Poland again and willing to work in Krakow/Warsaw i'll happily help you (so will this board) in finding a better school.

Big_Cannon · Joined: 31 Dec 2007 Posts: 47

ready2go · Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 11 Location: Canada

Hi, ya you're right and we do this partly for the excitement of a risk. My time was running out and fewer jobs were to be had in February and after talking to a few schools, chose the wrong one. Yesterday I did receive a two page response from the government agency in Poland that I complained to 4 months ago. I've forwarded it to my translator and will see what they have to say. Meanwhile I have good memories of many of the people I met and sights in Krakow and Gdansk. Of course you could do this just by being a traveller, not a teacher. " Buyer beware!"