Job Discussion Forums

[maruss]

After contributing to this site for quite a few years,I have observed that most of the problems people find with working in Russia seem to centre on a few common topics such as:contracts-or lack of adherence to them,bad organisation,deception or even downright lying by employers,poor pay and accomodation and lack of support and understanding when facing problems with authorities,sometimes verging on ignorance and denial etc etc...No doubt people will raise others and have done in the past and admittedly there are occasions where the employee,rather than the employer may be responsible for the problems they are facing.
Without going into too much detail on a point I have made before,this could be due to the mistaken expectations people who have who have never been to Russia before,and this is why I stress that if at all possible at least one previous visit to the place is highly desirable before making the decision to go there,even if it's only to Moscow or St Petes. for a few days!This is because Russia is NOT just another version of somewhere like Hungary,Poland or the Czech Republic etc. moved farther East,despite it's geographical proximity to these countries and is a completely different ball game.For now I will leave people to reflect on this and maybe submit their ideas.......in a future posting I will give some ideas of how Russians see their country from one of my closest friends who is well-educated and has lived and worked abroad.I am very open-minded but have to admit that he shocked me!

[spiral78]

I think you've made some very useful points.

Having lived in the CR for some years, and done project work in Moscow along with a bit of travel in the country, I can say that Russia would be FAR more challenging (to me, at least) in terms of living/working.

To me, the place is quite extreme - utterly lovely and exciting at times, and completely filthy and dangerous at others. I never found a consistent middle ground in my months there, though obviously more time and familiarity with language and people would likely bring a better balance.

I would agree that it's not a place for newbies to just walk into, though undoubtedly some have done it successfully.

[Peg Leg Pete]

For me the main issue would be the almost total absence of a functioning rule of law. If something is illegal the response is usually "so what'. This carries over into the business world and English language teaching is no different. "You can't treat staff that way". "So what". "You can't not pay your staff". "So what". Etc.

You have to be totally sure about who you are working for. Will they pay you? When? How much? Visa support? Accommodation? Contract-is it legal? Absolutely every detail.

I like it here, but I make sure I don't drop my guard.

I am looking forward to reading your friend's comments.

[maruss]

But here are just a few:The Soviet Union was a great world power until the west managed to destroy it!We had guaranteed jobs,housing,free health care and education etc etc.....But what about personal freedoms to travel abroad,democracy,human rights etc?Most people do not need to go abroad when we have plenty of nice places for them to go to in our own country-they should stay home and support our economy!(I would add that my friend lived and worked in Cyprus in his student days and met his wife here too.He still travels abroad at least once a year and his wife complains if they don't!)Russians don't need too much freedom as they only get out of control-they respect strong leaders with a 'big-stick' rather than drunken idiots like Yeltsin who made Russia a laughing stock,or Gorbachev who destroyed the Soviet Union!Russia today has no values or national goals and all people care about is personal enrichment using any means it takes...the higher up you go the worse the corruption gets,nobody trusts anyone any more except their closest family and those who can leave or are sending money abroad so they can in future......
In Soviet Times the K.G.B were answerable to the Politburo,but now the F.S.B. is answerable to nobody and has total power under Putin......In Yeltsins time the mafia ruled the business world and the police were afraid of them..nowadays the mafia is the state and the police are part of the network....
(These are just some of the things he told me last week and some I think are true,especially about conditions in Russia today)
I will write some more soon.

[spiral78]

This largely echoes what my Czech father-in-law says about the Good Olde Days and how the World's Been Ruined. Though I think it's more deeply coloured in Russia.

Quite a lot of this is interestingly true of many people in the US as well, I think:

Most people do not need to go abroad when we have plenty of nice places for them to go to in our own country-they should stay home and support our economy (Something like 80% of USA citizens don't hold a passport, right?)

.......today has no values or national goals and all people care about is personal enrichment using any means it takes...the higher up you go the worse the corruption gets,nobody trusts anyone any more except their closest family ....(did the Tea Party not write this original little idea??!!)

[VladJR87]

I am sure there is a lot more corruption and a lack of rule-of-law, particularly at the lower levels (you would be very hard pressed to get away with bribing your way out of a traffic ticket in most of the United States). But anyone who thinks corruption is absent at the top level is dead wrong, the only difference is Russia is not afraid to admit it. Here in the United States we pretend rule-of-law is king, and corruption is evil- but trust me, its incredibly prevalent. And rule-of-law is not so king after all. I suspect it is similar in most of the west.

Though I have only spent a little time in Russia thus far (moving on Sunday ), I agree, both from experience and research, that the problems people have are largely due to false expectations and being unprepared.

By the way, I think a lot of these assertions about Russia are incorrect (or at least not 100% on). I think most people are alike, when you get down to it, anywhere. We may not all agree, but everyone has values and morals, the majority of people's only focus is not necessarily personal enrichment... etc.

It is easy to paint with broad strokes.

But like I said, I have spent a lot of time studying Russia, but very little time actually there so far. So maybe my opinions will change, ask me again in a few months .

[spiral78]

(you would be very hard pressed to get away with bribing your way out of a traffic ticket in most of the United States).


It's clear you didn't grow up or live in my old neck of the woods.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

VladJr,
Yes, please, get back to us in a few years' time, when the reality of living and working in Russia becomes more apparent.
Meanwhile, please compare Russia (#154) and the USA (#22) with some data: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results
Quite frankly, to compare the corruption in the US with that in Russia is laughable.

[Peg Leg Pete]

Though I have only spent a little time in Russia thus far (moving on Sunday ), I agree, both from experience and research, that the problems people have are largely due to false expectations and being unprepared.



But like I said, I have spent a lot of time studying Russia, but very little time actually there so far. So maybe my opinions will change, ask me again in a few months .[/quote]

Some problems are caused by lack of preparation. However, the fact remains that Russia is not like the rest of Eastern Europe. I think you are wrong to believe that problems are largely the fault of poor preparation. It's more to do with Russia being totally different. Give yourself a few months and let us know how things are.

[VladJR87]

[jonniboy]

[maruss]

Only the people who deserved to have cars could get them in the Soviet era(His grand father was Soviet Ambassador to places such as Kenya and Austria in the 1930's and 40's and no doubt very lucky to be away from Russia when Stalin was in power!)....
Russians who leave Russia and live abroad have no sense of patriotism and are a disgrace to their country..........(I teach a few Russians English here in Cyprus and they all say they left in search of a better life for themselves and their families,as well as security and stability and to escape from corruption etc.I would also point out that all of them were financially quite well-off,not very rich but certainly not poor and come from Moscow.They also have good levels of education)
Russians who go abroad then start to compare everything in Russia negatively with other countries......(there is no answer to this,other than they are saying what they have seen with their own eyes!)
It is not true that people cannot express their views freely in Russia,nor is the media censored...(Try asking to go on T.V. and criticise the government or especially Putin,or explain why so many people prefer to keep their mouth shut.Why are journalists frequently attacked or even killed?)
People should not waste money on imported goods and buy Russian products to support the local economy(My friend bought both a French speed boat and a new Mercedes in 2010!!)
There are plenty more things he said but overall,despite his education and wide knowledge of life abroad(he even admits that he is worried about his childrens future sometimes!)he still seems to suffer from the same kind of 'amnesia' as many other Russians about the Soviet era,something which also applies to Greek-Cypriots here who studied there at that time!
Unlike in Germany and other countries,the past has never really been extensively discussed and expurgated officially in Russia,except for a few years during the Yeltsin era and hardly any perpetrators have even been reprimanded,let alone punished.This is perhaps one of the most worrying aspects of how the country is sliding backwards,rather than developing into a more democratic society with civil institutions which are necessary to maintain it.The last time I flew out of Moscow in 2006,I happened to be sat next to a retired army veteran who had been involved in the capture of Berlin in 1945.He insisted that Stalin had been a great leader who knew how to deal with criminals and wished he stilled ruled todays Russia,saying that it was just western propaganda that he had murdered innocent people!!!Although Russians with such views today are of course a minority,they are not so small in number as we might like to believe.

[VladJR87]

[jpvanderwerf2001]

[VladJR87]