Job Discussion Forums

[Will Marrs]

Hello! I am a 22 year old resident of California, finishing up my undergraduate degree at UCLA. My girlfriend is a Romanian citizen, with one more year to go for her undergraduate degree at the University of Bucharest. I want to live with her in Bucharest for about six months beginning next April. I just completed a six month internship in a preschool, learning about developmentally appropriate teaching practices for young children...and I am a native english speaker. I would like to find some sort of legitimate work to do while I am living in Bucharest, but so far I haven't had any luck finding work. The problem tends to be that my desire to be in Bucharest from April through September is too specific for most teaching and volunteer programs (it is all or nothing for my situation). I am not at all picky about what sort of work I would be doing, and I would probably accept purely volunteer work as long as it was worth-while (like helping out at an orphanage for example). Does anyone have any suggestions or advice for me? I visited Romania a few months ago for two weeks; I gained a basic familiarity with the language and culture...and I would love to make a positive impact on this country during my stay there. I would appreciate any wise words that might help me to find my way. Thank you!

[Bebsi]

Hmmm...excellent point Henry, it would indeed have shortened the diary. Which leads me to another rather logical conclusion: NG wasn't so much concerned with getting Romanian citizenship, as with entertaining us all at length, albeit unsuccessfully...a bit like a Kevin Costner epic or Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate.

Then again, it HAS provided us with a considerable deal of entertainment, and therefore has inded been a success, just not in the way that was intended. A bit like those awful B-movies that were so bad they were bloody good, e.g. The Attack of the Giant Killer Tomatoes.

From now on, can we consider a citizenship application form from NG...or even another posting keeping us abreast of her "quest"... to be the modern equivalent of a great, big squelchy tomato, three metres in diameter, rumbling and rolling towards us full of menace and foreboding?

*SHUDDER*

[Bebsi]

Will,

Mea Culpa as I accidentally posted my reply to another thread in this one...and in the process appear to have lost my written reply to your query. *Very Embarrassed Smilie*

In Romania, you will probably be on an extended tourist visa, which will limit your work options to some extent.

I say to some extent, because your options will be limited in other ways. Salaries in Romania are frighteningly low by western European and US standards. For most jobs you would need a good knowledge of the language and a thick skin: the idea of a westerner working here in a menial job for about USD 100 a month would evoke a mixture of screams of laughter and howls of anger (for taking someone's job away!!).

The only thing you could really do is English teaching, and even here you would have very few choices, as TEFL is not a huge industry here.

The British Council pays about 1,000 dollars a month but insists on a minimum of a CELTA and also, I understand, has a distinct preference for British/Irish citizens. International House pays about USD 400 a month plus very basic accom. This is, IMO, absolute slave-wages for a westerner, despite lower living costs than western Europe (not that much lower nowadays). It's all a matter of opinion I suppose, as some appear to be happy enough to come here to work for that.

However, you say you are actually happy to work in a voluntary capacity (at this point I will avoid jibes about IH being a voluntary organisation, on the basis of what they pay!!). As Romania is certainly not the dreadfully impoverished country it was in the 1990s, I suspect that it has far fewer vuluntary opps nowadays. However, I must admit to knowing very little about voluntary work, being a good deal more financially motivated myself! However, other posters on this site may be able to help you there. I would, however, strongly suggest posting in the General European Forum, as not many people read the Romania forum.

Best of luck!! If you require any further info or advice generally, feel welcome to PM me.