Job Discussion Forums

mgee · Joined: 16 Nov 2004 Posts: 3 Location: liverpool

OK so I've accepted the offer from Angloschool in Warsaw. The money is 2800 zloty per month after tax and there's free accomodation - is this enough to survive??

Also, on what I consider to be very little knowledge of Poland, I'm flying out to start on Tuesday - in other words help! What are the most essential things for me to bear in mind as I ready myself for a winter wonderland (apparantly Warsaw had its first snow of winter today)?

As ever any guidance/help/info is gratefully recieved...

dragulescu · Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 14 Location: N.Ireland

Congrats! i really hope u have a good experience, unfotunately i am still at uni, i hope to go to Poland to teach english in the next few years, and hopefully stay there.i cannot advise you on the teaching aspect or anything about the school, but i CAN recommend Poland, it is a fab country, i have been mostly in the south of the country, only Warsaw briefly, the Polish people are warm and helpful behind those often miserable faces. try Okocim beer, it is lovely. You will adore the food, especially kielbasa, kabanos, bigos and wonderful home-cooked cakes. in the summer you should find a special brand of tomatoes called malinowa, i think, they melt in your mouth. Please be careful in warsaw central station. Men will find the women attractive, some are too skinny though and they are known to be gold-diggers. Unfortunately for us girls, the men are not attractive, how does that happen??? they are very thin and not my cup of tea, facially. Anyway, go to the south if you can afford it! see krakow, wroclaw (west) and my favourite place, ZAKOPANE, mountain resort, excellent in the winter and adorable in the summer, try the smoked cheese! and the highland tea Laughing

hope this is of some use. yes, there has been lots of snow, great! i look forward to hearing how you get on!!! dobranoc, czesc! ( i can't put Polish accents on the letters!)[/quote]

Alex Shulgin · Joined: 20 Jul 2003 Posts: 553

2800 net plus appartment is a bit on the low side as far as market rate for teachers goes. The normal rate is about 50PLN gross per 45 minutes, so that's a net of either 42PLN or 45PLN depending on which tax model your employer uses. Assuming you work about 20 hours a week you're looking at around 5000PLN after tax. Sorry but 2200 for the flat is way too much. Decentish two room flats in the centre start at 1200PLN a month if you have the flat to yourself (which I doubt Angloschool do).

On the plus side: you'll be able to live reasonably well on 2800PLN a month.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

I just want to say that I really like the Polish girls. I am not currently in Poland but I am studying at a German university and know many polish girls. They are cute and really friendly. I have been to Krakow and it is really nice. I am not sure if I could put up with the polish winters.

patrykt · Joined: 18 Aug 2004 Posts: 51

Alex I'm not following your math. 45 zlotys times 80 hours a month comes out to be 3600 zlotys, which means that our friend is only paying 800 zlotys a month. That seems reasonable. Assuming that our friend doesn't have any student loans or credit card debts dogging him from back home, he'll be okay. Throw in a few extra hours at another school or a couple of private lessons and he'll be fine.

Alex Shulgin · Joined: 20 Jul 2003 Posts: 553

Steve Smith · Joined: 06 Jul 2004 Posts: 26

Blimey Alex! Please show me where I can get a flat like that for 2,200zl! Links to websites, scans of Anonse pages, phone nos, whatever you've got!

Alex Shulgin · Joined: 20 Jul 2003 Posts: 553

Nauczyciel · Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 4:49 pm Post subject:

Any news from mgee? How is the job?

patrykt · Joined: 18 Aug 2004 Posts: 51

Alex here in Poznan a teaching hour is 45-50 minutes. So when you say that you work 20 hours that means you only have 15 hours of actual class time, but are paid for 20. I like the mathematics in Poznan.

peekay · Joined: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 15

Hmm I've been offered 2 jobs, both seem reputable schools. One paying 1800 zl plus free accommodation and bills, the other approx 2400 zl no accommodation costs included. Both for around 25 hours a week I believe.

Sounds like this won't be enough to survive on - or have things changed since this thread started?

Alex Shulgin · Joined: 20 Jul 2003 Posts: 553

peekay · Joined: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 15

One is in Opole and the other is in Gdynia. I'm not much of a party animal (too old Smile

) but would at least like to be able to afford the odd ryanair flight home for the weekend! I know I'd be able to supplement the income with privates but not sure how easy they'd be to come by.

Its my first post qualification EFL job abroad (although I've taught adult literacy in the UK) so don't expect to be able to get the best paid jobs around - just looking for experience and a foot in the door at this stage. But on the other hand I don't want to have to live like a total hermit Smile

cheeseandegg · Joined: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 58

I'm earning 4500zl per month and paying just 400zl for my flat (tax fiddle). The side effect of this is that I'm living in a miserable little town kilometres away from anything. I've had enough now and decided to apply for a job with Angloschool in Warszawa regardless of the obvious drop in salary. Money isn't everything as I've now realised. I can't wait to be living in a big city again!

mezdupa · Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 11