Job Discussion Forums

[dan_m]

Okay I am mooving to pland and am looking for a job i will be a going there in Feb. That is a fact. I need to get a soft landing job the reason being that I have 2 pets a small dog and a cat. And I need need a place right off. The usal ground pound like I did when i first arrived in China 4 years ago is not an option. So I am asking for HELP if you know any positions openings that supply appartment and airport pick up please send me the information.

Also I please no bickering on this board. I am asking for help not for people to start picking back and forth.

I am skimming the boards for any info i can get but please and current informaion or advice would be welcome. I know that right now there is not alot of jobs offered but please the fact is I am going there in Feb and I need to get a job and a place to stay.

[beachrunner]

One Warsaw school which offers (or used to) a flat etc is Greenwich School of English.
Most schools probably have some access to flats or could assist in some way � if you really stress what help you need and they really want you, you might be lucky. But it it's not easy.
You could register at
http://www.eslbase.com/
and be notified of jobs in Poland.
Or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/polang-jobs/
Sending your CV everywhere is still the best solution.
I assume you�ve already checked out the animal regulations. Taking pets into the UK would be v hard. I'm not sure but EU Poland might have tighter regulations than it did before.

[redsoxfan]

Dan,

A couple things. First, teaching in Poland is a bit different than in China. Basically, there's a higher standard here, and if you want the help of people on this board, you must make them believe that your request is worthy of their time. I'd guess that few people have bothered to give you advice because your postings are written so poorly. Use punctuation, correct spelling, correct grammar...If teachers here think that you are unfit to teach in Poland, they will unlikely go out of their way to have one more person take a job that they otherwise might have got. Not trying to be a jerk, just offering some advice.

Second, most people won't help you on this board unless it seems that you've put in many hours of research on your own. This means applying on-line to schools which advertise on tefl.com and other such sites. More importantly, you must send out your CV with a cover letter to as many schools as possible. I've already suggested going to ang.pl and clicking on the "szkoly" button which will give you a list of some 1500-2000 schools in Poland, along with their e-mail addresses. You should do this--expect to spend many hours on this project. PM me if you don't understand some Polish words on ang.pl.

If you're expecting teachers to flood you with job openings at their schools, well, I think you won't find much. You need to be proactive.

Finally, while I understand your desire for a contract with a flat included, I'm not sure about this airport pickup thing. I don't know how things are done in China, but I wouldn't expect this service here in Poland. Why not just take a taxi?! They'll rip you off to the tune of 20 bucks, so what?

Schools here generally expect their teachers to be relatively independent, so such things as flats, airport pickup, weekend trips with other teachers, airline tickets, etc. are generally not included. Heck, if I were to teach in China, I'd expect such things because I wouldn't want to have to get around completely on my own in China. But it's a rather different scene here.

My advice is to use ang.pl as a database with which you could send out a couple thousand CVs. Then, when you get a job offer, post the specifics on this board. You'll find that folks are quite willing to give advice if you give them something to work with. But don't expect other teachers to set you up with a job.

Just my two cents--good luck.

[Alex Shulgin]

[Lavaboy]

Wow, this sentence is an absolute masterpiece: "Okay I am mooving to pland and am looking for a job i will be a going there in Feb." A kind soul you are, Redsoxfan, to have bothered....

[Yorkshire Ian]

Are you sure? Not too late to back out.

I have not seen any places that give flats. Anglo School maybe, when they offered me a job they had flats. So perhaps try them?

Of you fail to get somewhere that gives you a flat. You will have to get the newspaper on Wednesdays, its new flats day, although any time is ok. Get a Polish person to do your phoning for you if there is no price listed. Try Mokotow as an area, it is relativly good area. Also the area around Jana Pawla is ok.

Hope this helps.

[Master Shake]

[gregoryfromcali]

Since you have pets I would try to arrange a place to stay before coming to Poland.

You can try International House, since they have their own apartments renting to you would be better than having an empty apartment.

As far as a soft landing I think they're fairly rare unless you're interested in going someplace that has a problem attracting teachers.

But I could be wrong and it might not be so bad, yet chances are it probably won't be the most beautiful city in Poland.

The best thing to do is bring as much money as you can because it may some time before you're schedule is full.

Be sure to tell them you have experience. Yes, it's not China but you'll adjust.

(By the way, to those other people reading this. China is not without its challenges.)

[joshsweigart]

If you find any job with a school, it may be possible for them to help you find what you need even if it's not standard practice. Perhaps some kind-hearted secretary could find you a place in the newspapers before you land. With pets and coming in the middle of the year it may be difficult to swing this though. It's quite a bit to ask of a school. As was stated before many of them don't really feel like leading you through your first couple of months and prefer if you know the city and are already established. You might really want to think about waiting until next summer. Also the permit thing may be a big hassle that schools may not want to go through for half a year.

Of course, if you're determined and have some savings you can do it.