Job Discussion Forums

[wwwordsmith]

Newbie hoping to get some useful feedback.

I'm trying to determine which country in Central or Eastern Europe would offer the combo of the shortest distance to Italy or Greece; the best employment opps. in a legitimate language program or school; and the best living/working conditions, in general.

[Mike_2007]

When I chose Romania, I chose it over other C/E European countries (namely, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech Rep) for a number of reasons:

1. Easier language meaning living there independently would be easier
2. Good weather. People associate 'Eastern Europe' with cold and snow, but Romania has a climate something like northern Italy
3. Market at that time wasn't saturated, although there are fewer options here
4. Reasonable cost of living

There are downsides, of course, but I'm in my 7th year here and have no intention of leaving. Others have been and gone, having not been able to find their niche. There are frustrations, plenty of them, but living abroad is all about adapting and coping, isn't it?

With regard to your other criteria, Romania is pretty close to Greece, although Bulgaria might be the obvious choice there. Italy, however, is very readily accessible from Romania. Due to the similarities in language, lots of Romanians live and work in Italy, and nearly everyone has relatives there, so there are a lot of cheap flights to numerous Italian cities in addition to a regular bus service.

All the best

[spiral78]

From my current perspective in the Czech Rep, where it's a lovely minus 13 degrees..................and where the language is arguably the most difficult of all the Slavic family!

I think Mike's post is a really useful one. I'll just add a bit of general info, for what it's worth, in a very general sense

Related to living/work conditions: A newbie to this region can expect to have a year or two of pretty challenging (though can be rewarding) experiences. There are many, many newbs who start out here, and so it takes some time to build a local rep and contacts and language skills as Mike has pointed out. These enable one to land the 'better' jobs and schedules going in a particular city.
Expect to have some start-up costs, wherever you go here - you'll need to plan to pay for airfare, and for your accomodation and upkeep for at least a couple of months after arrival. Landlords normally want a month's rent as security and the first month up front (and you may pay a rental agency the equivalant of a month's salary as well). Employers generally pay monthly - at the END of the month worked.
Most newbies start out in business English - meaning teaching in companies (in the offices of your students) and this means travel around a city to get to class. There are usually some in-school classes - or you might get into a situation where you are working in a state-run school - but they are less common.

Long story short - there are dues to pay to gain access to 'better' jobs that are linked to 'better' living conditions - but if you're really into it, the journey itself can also be quite rewarding, so long as you're not expecting cushy conditions!

so far as countries, you might also do some research into Slovenia. I don't think the job market there is very big, but it's located nicely for the southern climes you mention and there might be some opening somewhere that would fit your wishes.