Job Discussion Forums

[Racheala]

HI,

I'm looking to do the CELTA through IH in Jan 07 and then look for work in Poland. My querie is this - Do I need to apply for a Polish work visa/residence permit (I'm still reeling over the different damn types of visa'a around the world for legally working) before I go and do the course? Is it sensible to try and find work before I do my course or just rock up to the schools once I've finished the course? I'm Australian and was hoping there may other Aussies out there that had done a simmilar/the same thing

[slodziak]

Racheala,

Clearly there aren't that many other Aussies around! I'm British but will try and give you a couple of pointers.

With regards to your visa question you are much better off asking the Polish embassy in Oz. Certainly having an EU passport makes things much easier for employers around here so if you can have all of your documentation in good order it will make it easier for them to hire you. My wife is an experienced English teacher but also a Sri Lankan national and yet getting her work documents sorted out was surprisingly painless - I'm sure for an Aussie it should prove at least as trouble-free.

In terms of how you approach schools it is definitely a good idea to contact a few to see how they would approach hiring an Australian national i.e have they done it before, how did they go about it etc. In terms of work I would suggest you get all of your documentation worries out of the way, come to Poland to do the CELTA and then start looking for work.

A word of warning. January/February isn't the worst time to be looking for work in Poland as a lot of places begin a new term but September is really the best time to be looking.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help but I saw no-one had replied to your post and I don't want you think nobody cares!

Stephen