Job Discussion Forums

[AussieDave]

I am desperately wanting to return to Poland (Krakow preferably) ASAP to teach english, and to be with my girlfriend.
What is holding me back is no work visa, bad time of year to look for work, no TEFL certificate.
I am wondering people's opinion on this board as to whether I would be able to attain a job offer in
Poland based on the condition I would complete the TEFL/CELTA upon my arrival?
Would I be able to attain a position in March/April after completion of a TEFL course?
What would be my best plan of action?
I have sent out several emails to language schools in Krakow and Poland and got one response from Profi-Lingua
but based on this boards' opinion of that school I didn't apply at all.
I am able to get to Poland as soon as I know something is viable, but without me being there
maybe I will not get any offer?

My information
-dual US/Australian Citizen (two passports)
-BS in Business
-no teaching experience
-willing to get TEFL/CELTA at earliest possible date

Is there any step I can take towards securing a work visa prior to leaving the US?
Is there any organization/company that assists with visas?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[simon_porter00]

Well it doesn't look good, but not impossible.

Regarding being from Oz. Find out if you can work in Europe and the schengen zone before thinking about applying. There are some recent threads on this board about this and get clued up. Being a British native i'm not able to help you out any further, but search the whole site for info, and you'll find it's been discussed before.

You'd want a CELTA ideally before thinking about work. IH in Krakow offer a good course, apparently, and you'd be able to do courses in Wroclaw, Warsaw and other cities as well. The course is a month long, so allow time for thatGet on the internet and find out when these courses run.

Without a CELTA, you'd find work OK, but you'd get bugger all money and work for dodgy schools who are a quite a lot lazy with paperwork and will pay you cash in hand i.e. sod all.

Teaching isn't something you can just 'do'. You have to want to do it or you'll get found out. Polish students are hard work and if you don't put in the effort or they decide you're rubbish they'll talk to the director about binning you. Harsh, but this is what happens. If you can chat freely, are friendly and are outgoing these character traits will help you out.

March and April is not the best time to arrive. The second semester is underway and most schools (the decent ones) will have their teachers. After the exam sessions in June, Polish people of all ages will desert Poland for various reasons until schooling starts again in October. You can use this time to get your CELTA but you'd have to bring cash from home and sell yourself hard to get privates/business lessons.

Speaking with an Oz accent, will set you apart from the Americans, but it might not be everyone is after. Once again, sounds harsh, but people are mainly after British English and in my experience, to a lesser extent American English. I've taken classes from a teacher, who's student binned him because of his accent from across the globe.

As a last word, if you really want it, you'll find work. But you'll have to want it and put in the graft in finding work.

[spiral78]

I suggest you read through the thread about 'helping a fellow American' - it's just below this one somewhere, I think. It's got useful, detailed info about getting a legal working visa as a non-EU citizen. You can do, though it's a hassle.

Yes, you will need a CELTA or equivalent.

No, it's unlikely that you'll get any job offers from abroad. Like most of Europe, it's very rare for reputable schools to give you a second thought if you're not in-country. And you will need to be sure that any potential employer is going to help you to get the legal paperwork in progress - you will have to plan to do lots of footwork yourself, but you'll need local support.

If girlfriend is Polish, this will help, in terms of dealing with language, officials, and paperwork.

March/April IS bad timing. Most contracts run Sept/Oct through June. You probably can find some work, but expect slim pickings until the new contract season begins after the summer break.

[AussieDave]

Berlitz seems to have job openings - 'starting immediately'
Have you heard anything about this?

What if I just left in the next few days/week?
Would this increase my chances of landing a more reputable job?

Thanks for all the advice so far.

[Richfilth]

Berlitz? I thought you wanted to be a teacher.

This week and the next it's the winter break for schools in Warsaw (and a few other cities, I believe.) Unless you're ready to teach Business English, which doesn't rely on semesters or term systems, it's going to be a hard tramp around schools for you handing out your CV, but it'll be even harder in the summer months.

[spiral78]

Quite honestly, you might want to consider Berlitz as an entry route for now, and plan to take a course in the summer and get a 'real' teaching job in September.

Berlitz is a franchise, and every branch is different, but the general story is that they pay a bit low on the local scale, but the upside is that prep time is minimal to non-existant as teacher are required to use the Berlitz methods and materials. Said methods and etc are not particularly highly respected by research into second language acquisition over the past twenty years, but Berlitz is a well-established company and corporations seeking a 'safe' and 'respectable' contract for their staff's lessons feel comfortable dealing with Berlitz.

I don't think too many people want to stick with Berlitz long-term - pay is an issue, and etc, but it might be a useful way to get yourself located in the country more quickly.

[AussieDave]

Well, I will be in Krakow on Monday and will start searching for jobs upon arrival. I have a long list of schools baed on some assistance from this board and I'm gonna see how it pans out.
Does anybody recommend any schools in Krakow, Poland?
Does anybody think it's possible to get a job offer from a reputable school with the condition that I will get a CELTA/TEFL ASAP?
I'm going either way but any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks for everyone's advice.

[anospi]

Good luck AussieDave. I don't know what Krakow is like, but in Wroclaw a lot of people are just looking for exposure to English with Native Speakers. That is, conversation only. They don't care if you have a CELTA or not, as long as you can talk and help them out with their mistakes. The thing here is that you'll have to do it privately. My guess is you'll have trouble finding a position at a school without a CELTA. I can't imagine it'll be easy for you in the beginning. Someone said Polish students are hard work, and that's true. They keep you on your toes and if you don't put in the work you'll get caught out in no time.

In my experience, your accent won't matter at all. I'm an Aussie, and I've found myself being a bit of a novelty here. Most students assume you're English because they don't recognise the accent, but they love it when they find out you're Aussie! Be it kids, uni students, or businessmen, I've never had any issues with my accent.

[phantombedwetter]

Hi Dave,
PM sent and will give you more details when I've squared away my post holiday admin.

The advice you've received in the above posts (Particularly SP) is pretty much the reality.

1. Get a CELTA
2. Try to get all the experience you can.

Knock on doors! Don't just send "To whom it may concern..." email CVs.

Good luck.