Julie, tell us why did you decide to work for Nordea? What kind of opportunities does your job offer?

Julie Skov: I&rsquo;m 23 years old and I just finished my bachelor&rsquo;s degree last summer. I wanted to take a gap year before proceeding with the master&rsquo;s program and I found this opportunity to work at Nordea very interesting. I see it as an excellent opportunity for me to gain some international experience within one of the largest financial companies in Denmark, and I think it&rsquo;s a great investment if you want to continue and develop yourself within Nordea once going back to Denmark. I also think Nordea is a great place to work if you want to experience the organizational transformation which is taking place at the moment. Seeing how the operations can be optimized and the costs reduced by centralizing the processes and creating one common operations center in Nordea.&nbsp;In my former job in Denmark I was working with organizational and cultural transformations in the oil and gas industry as a student assistant, so this aspect has been quite interesting for me, and I think it&rsquo;s important that as a process officer you have the possibility to contribute to the business development.

What does your typical day look like now that you live in Poland? 

J.S:&nbsp;Since I moved to Poland I have gotten much more free time, and I have become more social. On a typical day I work from 8 a.m.- 4 p.m., but the working hours are flexible, so I can schedule them according to my other plans. I work as a Junior Process Officer in the Real Estate Sales Team, collaborating with my colleagues and stakeholders in Denmark every day to ensure efficient case handling. I&rsquo;ve gotten a greater insight to the Danish real estate market and the sales processes, which I think is quite interesting.

After work I usually hang out with my friends in the gym or at the local caf&eacute;s. Ł&oacute;dź offers some very nice shopping and nightlife facilities in the city and there are a lot of young people from abroad here, so there are plenty of opportunities to make new friends. On weekends I like to go out with my friends for a drink or to play badminton, but I have also spent some weekends travelling around Poland. The prices here are very low, which gives you a lot of freedom to do what you want to.

Do you use your native language at work?

J.S: Yes, all the documents and programs that I work with are in Danish. I communicate in Danish with all personal banking advisers, customers and stakeholders. I help my Polish colleagues with translating some of the complex cases and identifying key information to solve the cases, so I&nbsp;use it all the time.

Did the company help you with relocation?

J.S:&nbsp;Nordea made sure that my relocation went smoothly. The travel went very well. I was picked up from the airport and accommodated in a nice hotel for the first couple of days before moving into my apartment which Nordea had found for me. They helped me with opening a Polish bank account and registering my residence at the municipality office. Furthermore, my team has been very open and welcoming inviting me to team events and showing me some cool places in the city. The environment in the office is very young and informal, which allows you to get close to your colleagues and go to work with a smile. There is also a big international community at Nordea, which really made me feel like home because there are so many Scandinavians, so it&rsquo;s nice to know that you&rsquo;re not alone and you&rsquo;re all in the same boat. We like to visit each other on weekends or go out for a drink.

What do your friends from Denmark think about your work here? 

J.S:&nbsp;They think it&rsquo;s cool that I took such a big step moving to another country. Once I received the job offer I asked my friends for advice on what to do, and they all thought it was such a great opportunity for me and encouraged me to go. I&rsquo;ve already been visited by a couple of friends and my family, and I&rsquo;ve been back home a couple of times. The flight prices are quite low, it&rsquo;s very easy to get to the airport, and my manager is also quite flexible when it comes to scheduling my days off to take an extended weekend when I go home to Denmark. But of course, I miss them. It&rsquo;s never easy moving so far away, but I feel like I&rsquo;ve already gotten so many new friends here, that I hang out with every day, so it&rsquo;s not something that affects me too much.

Do you like living in Ł&oacute;dź? Is it different from your hometown? Have you been to any other Polish cities?

J.S:&nbsp;Yes, of course Ł&oacute;dź is very different from my hometown. It&rsquo;s a city in development, but it&rsquo;s quite big and there are plenty of opportunities here. The prices are very low, so you can afford to live very well. There are a lot of shopping malls and different caf&eacute;s with all kinds of food. I have already fallen in love with the Polish food and the beer here is excellent! There are a lot of bars and local breweries with beer for every taste. This is my absolute favorite thing about the city.

The public transportation also functions very well and is very easy to use for foreigners. It costs less than 1 euro to take the tram around the city, and it&rsquo;s cheaper to take a taxi here than it is to buy a bus ticket in Denmark, so it&rsquo;s quite easy to get anywhere in the city within minutes.

Polish people are always very helpful if you&rsquo;re lost and the culture is quite polite and respectful. People greet me everywhere and are keen to share their culture and history with me. Although it can be a little difficult to communicate with the older people here, most young people speak English very well and are very curious and well-educated, so I think the country is developing and getting friendlier towards internationals.

Another thing that I like about Ł&oacute;dź&nbsp;is that it&rsquo;s right in the center of Poland. You can go everywhere within a few hours. I&rsquo;ve visited Warsaw and Auschwitz and I&rsquo;m planning on going to Cracow next month on a weekend trip with a few colleagues. The country is full of history and nature, so there are plenty of things to discover.

Do you know any Polish words? Would you like to learn some more?

J.S:&nbsp;&ldquo;Dwa piwa, poproszę&rdquo; - &quot;Two beers, please&rdquo; (laughs).&nbsp;

I know some basic Polish words and sentences, but I would definitely like to learn some more. It&rsquo;s quite useful to know the language here because there are some people that don&rsquo;t speak English very well, but luckily my team is quite helpful teaching me some Polish words every day. We have a &ldquo;Polish word of the day&rdquo; at every morning meeting, so I learn a new word every day, and I teach others one Danish word every day. Listening to Polish on a&nbsp;daily basis makes it a little easier for me to pick up the language and understand some of the most common words in a conversation.&nbsp;

Would you like to join us at Nordea? Browse job offers of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/jobs/city/lodz/employer/nordea-bank-ab" target="_blank">Nordea</a>&nbsp;Ł&oacute;dź.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Julie

Julie and her international experience at Nordea

How long have you been living in Poland? When did you come and why Poland?

I&rsquo;ve been living in Poland since December 2016, so next December I&rsquo;m completing 2 years in Poland. After we got married, we first tried to settle in Salvador, Brazil. At that time, the economic situation in Brazil was not good, and Salvador&rsquo;s job market is not as hot as in S&atilde;o Paulo, for example. So we could not find job positions that could suit Dagmara&rsquo;s experience and we decided to move to Europe. I had already been to Poland a couple of times before and I really liked the country. Dagmara applied to a couple of positions in Poland and Germany, after analyzing the possibilities, we decided to move to Poland. It is closer to her family, it&rsquo;s her country, so it&rsquo;s easier for us to handle everything, and Poland&rsquo;s economy seemed to be in good shape.

How did you cope with all the legal requirements for non-EU citizens (visa, residence card etc.)? What is your residency status at the moment?

I have received this year my second temporary residence based on my marriage. I confess that this is not an easy thing to solve. First, because people at the Office of Foreigners do not speak English. Second, because the process can take a very long time. My wife was the one helping me out with the process since my level of Polish wasn&rsquo;t enough to handle everything. In my second visa application, the company I work for helped me with the process, and that was very helpful. The first time, it took 4 months and a half to receive the visa. In my second application, it took 5 months and a half. Currently, I have a temporary residence card that is valid until April 2020.

I have actually written a post on our blog regarding the <a href="https://partnersontheroad.com/2018/01/13/apply-visa-poland-based-on-marriage/" target="_blank" title="Visa application in Poland">experience I had with the visa application</a>.

Do you learn Polish? If so, does it help you in everyday life?

Yes, I&rsquo;ve been learning it since I moved to Poland. Even though I&rsquo;m doing well with the language, I have to say that it&rsquo;s not easy to learn. In general, I like learning new languages, so learning Polish has been pleasurable. But I confess that sometimes I get annoyed because I cannot put everything inside my head at once, hahaha. At work, I don&rsquo;t need to speak Polish and I work only in English. In my everyday life in Warsaw, if I wanted I could get by only speaking English, but I prefer to handle everything in Polish instead. I have decided to learn Polish for a couple of different reasons. First, because I wanted to be able to talk to my wife&rsquo;s family, and most of them do not speak English. Besides that, I know that when you know the local language, you experience the culture in a different way, you interact better with locals, and you become more independent to sort out things by yourself.&nbsp;

You work in IT &ndash; is Poland a good place to pursue a career in this business? What does Poland provide you with that you do not get in other countries career-wise?

For sure it is! Currently, the job market in Poland for IT professionals is quite hot. I see people posting many job offers every day. In my view, the IT area in Poland is quite broad, covering different skills. This is good because no matter which expertise you have in IT, it can possibly be useful for some role in the job market in Poland. The IT market is currently booming in Poland, I read recently that the market is currently lacking 50k programmers here in Poland. Besides that, even though the salaries in Poland are still lower than in Western Europe, they have been growing consistently year after year.

On our blog, I have written recently a post on <a href="https://partnersontheroad.com/2018/07/15/how-to-get-an-it-job-in-poland/" target="_blank" title="How to find IT job in Poland">how to find an IT job in Poland</a>. I added interesting statistics about the IT job market in Poland.

Do you see your professional future in Poland?

Yes. I think that Poland is already a very good country to live and work. Besides that, it has a bright future ahead. The salaries here have been constantly growing and, in my opinion, it&rsquo;s just a matter of time until the purchasing power here matches those of western countries.

<div class="buttons intertext">
<a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/jobs/category/it" target="_blank" title="IT jobs in Poland">Jobs for IT professionals in Poland</a>.
</div>

How did you meet and why did you decide to settle in Poland? What do you like about living here?

Funnily enough, we&rsquo;ve met here in Warsaw. Four years ago both of us were living in Germany and we came to Poland during the Christmas period. I was visiting some old Polish friends that I had met during my interchange period in Spain, and Dagmara was visiting her family. One of these friends of mine, Agata, has a sister which is one of Dagmara&rsquo;s best friends. So one day all of us went out partying and then we met. As a Brazilian, I can say that the thing I like the most in Poland is the safety, which is a big issue in my country. Other than that, I find the city well-organized, it has a good public transportation system. In general, I find the living standards in Warsaw quite good.&nbsp;

What are some ups and downs of being an international couple? Are you different in terms of temper/attitude?

I see many ups for being an international couple. First, I find that our relationship is very interesting because we come from different cultures, so we always have cool things and stories to tell each other. Polish and Brazilian cultures are so rich! Also, as usually happens with international couples, we&rsquo;re open-minded, and that means that we&rsquo;re interested in experiencing new things and not afraid of change. We&rsquo;re currently living and working in Poland, but if we think that we can have a better life somewhere, we wouldn&rsquo;t be afraid to make the move. Regarding temper and attitude, I often joke that, in our case, Dagmara is the heart and I am the brain. She is very expressive and communicative and, even though I&rsquo;m also an open person, I consider myself calmer and I definitely have less energy than her. But Dagmara is not only heart, she&rsquo;s also very smart, and that&rsquo;s one of the things I admire the most about her. She speaks four languages fluently, and it took her only 6 months to get to a conversational level of Portuguese. In general, I&rsquo;m more rational and focused, while Dagmara is more emotional and expressive.

<div class="buttons intertext">
Do you also speak this language? 
Check out jobs for <a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/jobs/language/portuguese" target="_blank" title="Portuguese jobs Poland">Portuguese speakers in Poland</a>.
</div>

Is Brazilian lifestyle different to what we have in Poland?

I would say so. I can start by mentioning again safety. Since Brazil is not a safe country, whoever can afford to buy a car, will not use public transportation because it can be dangerous. On the other hand, even though many people have cars in Warsaw, I know that many just take the public transportation to go to work (me included). Second point: climate. I used to live in Salvador, which is a city in the north-eastern part of Brazil. That means that we have only two seasons along the year: hot and extremely hot. There&rsquo;s no such thing as spring, autumn or winter. So that means I was able to go to the beach pretty much all year. That was really cool! But I have to admit that I also like to have a climate with four different seasons. I like to see the changes in nature. The only thing I can&rsquo;t stand is constant cloudy weather, which for me is really depressing.

Rafael, what do you miss about your country? Do you visit often &amp; is it easy to travel half the globe to see friends &amp; family?

I miss many things, like family, old friends, the climate and, of course, some Brazilian foods. I plan to go only once a year to Brazil because it&rsquo;s far away and quite expensive. This year, unfortunately, we were not able to make it because we had extra expenses&nbsp;with a new apartment. I hope we can travel to Brazil sometime next year.

Do you have many expat friends or are most of them Poles by now?

Majority of my friends here in Poland are expats. There is an active community of expats living in Warsaw and I also know many Brazilians living here. I have some Polish friends, but mainly because of Dagmara. Unfortunately, my Polish level is still far from being as good as my English, so it&rsquo;s still hard for me to engage in Polish conversations when there are many people talking.

&nbsp;

Rafael

Partners on the road - Brazilian guy in Poland

Partners on the road... in Poland

How long have you been living in Poland? Can you tell us more about the transition process of moving from India to such a remote country in Europe?

I have been living in Poland for five&nbsp;years now and I remember the day I arrived like it was yesterday. I came in the last week of May 2012, not knowing anyone except a Polish colleague from work. It was my dream to live and work abroad and when I was offered a job in Krakow I said yes, without even thinking twice. I had never been to Poland before and to be honest even when I had the telephonic interview, I was asked what I know about Poland and at that point all I knew was the Pope, John Paul II.

I got a relocation assignment from work, with only a job in hand and a work permit from the company. I had to take care of everything else myself, the flights and a place to stay. The flights part was easy, it was the staying part that got me worried. Luckily for me, I knew a few colleagues from Krak&oacute;w and one such friend offered me her home to stay till I was able to find a place of my own.

I never thought as much about being a single Indian woman, traveling alone to live abroad. But I later realised that my friends&nbsp;considered me a role model, a person who had a lot of courage to make the move. The first few days of work I was on my own, as my friend was away on business trips. I learnt quickly by observing and making note of the times of the bus and managed to start going to the office and to the city centre on weekends, to explore this city.

What made you pursue a career in Poland? What do you think of this decision from a longer time perspective?

To be honest, it never crossed my mind to work or live in Poland. But sometimes life has its ways. When I was younger I dreamed of traveling the world and even living abroad. So, when I was offered a chance to apply for a position in Krak&oacute;w, even not knowing the challenges that lay ahead, I said a big yes! This was by far the best decision I have made. I have been living here now for five&nbsp;years, and I have grown to love this country so much. As far as careers go, I have been working in the same company for many years now, so the transition from India to Poland for work was easy. It is the same company values and culture. The people I work with all these years have been just&nbsp;amazing.

Do you feel that the Polish labour market is attractive for foreigners?

Yes, I believe that Poland has a lot of job opportunities for foreigners. The labour market is diversified. I read somewhere that Krak&oacute;w, for example, is ranked the 8th in the World for Outsourcing and Warsaw is the 23rd on the list. When I first came here, I was one of the only foreigners in my team, that too from outside the EU. These days it&rsquo;s common to find many foreigners within the team.

Is it easy to relocate to Poland for a non-EU citizen?&nbsp;

From my experience and talking to other friends who are not from the EU or Europe for that matter, it is not so easy. There are two scenarios for this to happen. First you need to find a job and a company willing to hire you and also willing to make your work permit. The other option would be to find an agency who can help assist in this matter, as they are specialised in dealing with paperwork and all legal issues. I feel it is easier with option two for non-EU and those living outside of Europe. From India for example, such agencies usually only have offers to countries like Canada, the UK, the USA or Australia. On your own it may&nbsp;not be possible to find a job and relocate to the EU.

You live in Krak&oacute;w. Would you choose it again if you were faced with the same decision as a few years ago?

Yes, I love this city and I look forward to spending many more years here. I believe home is where the heart is. So, for me Krak&oacute;w is one of my homes now.

How is your Polish? Can you share your learning history and progress?

OK,&nbsp;this is embarrassing.&nbsp;I know a little Polish and studied it on and off initially. As the years passed and when many foreigners joined the team, it became increasingly comfortable to talk in English. I am at a stage where I understand 60 to 70 per cent&nbsp;of the Polish conversations, except I have to really focus and pay attention. I struggle to form complete sentences and even sometimes forget the words. When I am outside in shops and markets, I try to speak Polish and get by with the basics and I can see people appreciate my attempts.

Has living in Poland developed you in any way, e.g. has it influenced you as a person, your hobbies, your way of living?

Yes, I believe so. I consider myself an independent person and moving here made me even more so. I have changed my lifestyle habits and go to the gym more frequently, something which I never did back in India. When I first arrived, I used to party a lot, to go out and meet new people, but now I rarely go out and even if I do I like to get back home early. I enjoy spending quality time with friends and people I care about. Also living here has encouraged me to start blogging and to share my experiences online.

Do you see yourself settling in Poland for good or would you like to live in other countries as well?

When I was younger my dream was to move to Australia, even though I have never been there. It still sits with me at the back of my mind and I would at least love to visit the place. I have thought about acquiring a Polish citizenship and that would require me to live here for a minimum of ten&nbsp;years. I am only half way there and would like to see where life leads me.&nbsp;

Thank you, Doreen, and good luck with the citizenship!

Doreen

Have courage to make the move – Indian Girl in Poland

Indian girl in Poland

You come from Romania, which is part of the European Union, just like Poland. Was it hard for you as an EU citizen to relocate to another EU country? 

The shift was not hard and I had a lot of help from my colleagues here in Poland. Although I was working inside the same corporation, they are seen as two distinct entities, so I had to quit my job in Romania and do another contract in Poland. Thankfully the corporation took care of all the paperwork and I did not have to think about that side. I did not have a relocation package, so that means I had to rely on my friends&rsquo; help with getting a host. The first month was a bit hard... but I learned as I went.

What has your career path looked like so far in Poland? 

In Romania I was Customer Service Advisor - first line. Since I moved to Poland, I switched inside the help desk division to become Incident Manager. Now I work as Business Analyst in a different corporation. I am satisfied with the path so far - but continuously looking for new windows of opportunity for development.

You mentioned that you decided to switch jobs while in Poland; what was the reason behind this decision?

I decided to switch jobs because I simply needed a challenge. The new position was in Krak&oacute;w and I had previously visited the city and fell in love with it.

What are the biggest advantages of working for big international companies located in Poland? Do you get to use your native language at work?

You have a lot of room for development inside the company but also of moving abroad.&nbsp;As for my native language &ndash; unfortunately I do not. I was hired for my English language skills and I speak Romanian with my friends and my little one.&nbsp;

<div class="buttons intertext">
Do you speak Romanian? 
Check out these <a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/jobs/language/romanian" target="_blank" title="Romanian jobs in Poland">jobs for native speakers of Romanian</a>.
</div>

We can learn from your blog that you are married to a Pole &ndash; was if difficult in terms of formalities? 

Thankfully enough my husband deals with all the formalities and the bureaucracy. I understand Polish well enough and speak it on a low to middle level... so the technical terms are not my forte. He&#39;s an immense help and he understands the law better.&nbsp;

Can you call Poland your second home now? Would you call yourself a true European?

I do call Poland my home constantly. I found Krak&oacute;w to be the place where I can truly feel I can be myself without having any questions asked or weird comments received. Being a true European... well... that I am not quite sure. I have not (yet) visited all the countries of Europe and saying that I am would generalise too much.

Any advice for your fellow countrymen from Romania or other expats who are thinking about living in Poland for a while?

Do it! Don&#39;t think about it! Just jump! Take a leap of faith - you will not regret it. You will learn a lot of things about yourself and your family and friends. You will learn to stand on your own two feet and even though you might be depressed at times as you will not be close to the ones you love, you will still have an overall positive experience. You will also have more stories to tell your children! 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Anda

From Romania to Poland - just do it!

Romania to Poland - personal story

What is it like to relocate from sunny Florence in Italy to Warsaw, Poland? What has your&nbsp;journey looked so far?

I actually relocated from &ldquo;cloudy Amsterdam&rdquo;, so the weather wasn&rsquo;t really a problem. I have been away from Florence for about 7 years now! I obviously miss it, but I am addicted to the thrill of experiencing new places and cultures. I initially came to Poland to follow Anna, my Varsovian girlfriend. Moving to Poland was exciting and shocking at the same time, as it&rsquo;s so different from the countries where I previously lived.&nbsp; The language is the most challenging aspect of living here, but I&rsquo;m studying it every day and I learned to appreciate it.

How do you feel about&nbsp;having&nbsp;a career while moving around so much?

I don&rsquo;t think that my career is that much different from anybody else&rsquo;s. I abandoned the idea of getting inside one good corporation and grow within. I prefer flexibility. I haven&rsquo;t had a job in the same place for longer than one year and a half. It keeps me focused and excited about what I do. In the past few months I decided to start OddUrbanThings. It&rsquo;s been an exciting journey so far and I am learning a lot. I hope that someday I will be able to live off it.

Was the fact that both Italy and Poland are part of the EU of any significance in making your decision to move?

I&rsquo;m a big EU supporter and being able to move and work freely has made my life much easier. I have to say though that I would have moved here nevertheless.

Why did you decide to start blogging about living in Warsaw?

The main reason is that I fell in love with Warsaw. It&rsquo;s one of the most underrated cities I&rsquo;ve ever visited and its dynamism and culture took me by storm.

The second reason is that tourism in Warsaw is growing really fast, like 20% increase from 2015 to 2016. I can only see that number increasing. Warsaw is cheaper, more authentic and cooler than most (western) european cities. With the blog I want to show the most interesting side of Warsaw, while at the same time provide useful information for tourists and expats.

<div class="buttons intertext">
Is Warsaw on your list? 
Find out more about the <a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/article/living-in-poland/the-cost-of-living-warsaw-is-one-of-the-cheapest-cities-for-expatriates" target="_blank" title="Cost of living Warsaw Poland">cost of living in Warsaw</a>.
</div>

Have you had a chance to show someone from abroad around the Polish capital? Did they enjoy it?

My friends are really worried about the weather. I think that most of them will visit in summer. I can&rsquo;t wait!

What cultural differences do you see in Poles (if any)? Is there a language barrier?

I think that Poles and Italians get along really well. We have similar cultures and we believe in similar values: we are proud countries, family is significant and traditions are very important.

The language is a bit of a problem when I have to buy bread and the 60 years old lady at the cash desk&nbsp; doesn&rsquo;t speak English. The rest of the time, I don&rsquo;t have much trouble. Younger Poles speak perfect English. Once, I was in a supermarket and a kid asked me something in Polish. I couldn&rsquo;t understand so I told him so. He replied to me with: &ldquo;Ow, hm. Alright. Could you please tell me where I could get a trolley?&rdquo;. I was utterly impressed, he sounded like a little Brit lord. Moreover, Anna&rsquo;s nephew, who is just 13, speaks perfect English. I&rsquo;m really impressed.&nbsp;

Thanks for sharing your story!

&nbsp;

Federico

Blogging about Warsaw - Italian expat in Poland

Italian expat in Poland experience

What made you move to Poland? Was it a difficult process?

I initially came to Poland to do a volunteer teaching program with WorldTeach, an organization that sends volunteers all over the world to teach English. That lasted about 2 months. While I was there, I started dating someone and decided to move to Poland to see what would happen. Moving here was of course difficult due to the fact that I moved here in winter (I&rsquo;m from Florida where winter doesn&rsquo;t exist). But the real hard part was getting permission to live in Poland.

What part of getting your temporary residence card was the hardest?

Oh gosh. Well, firstly the office workers don&rsquo;t speak English, which makes it very hard for the foreigner to be involved. So essentially you have to bring someone with you who speaks Polish so you can understand what documents you need. Then that person also has to go with you to get those documents in various places. So it&rsquo;s a big time commitment and it often takes 2-3 months to sort everything out. They definitely don&rsquo;t make it easy and they don&rsquo;t make you feel at ease either.

You are now married to a Polish citizen &ndash; has this been helpful in any way when it comes to formalities in Poland?

It&rsquo;s only helpful in the way that he can call the office if I need some clarification or go with me if it&rsquo;s very important. Otherwise, it doesn&rsquo;t make the formalities go away, unfortunately. You need to be married for 3 years, then you have to prove that your marriage is a true one before getting permanent residence. So, sadly, marriage to a Pole does not make things much easier, but rather you have to go through quite a number of time-consuming and frustrating formalities to even get married, making your life even harder. But it&rsquo;s worth it, of course.

<div class="buttons intertext">
Want to learn more about international marriages in Poland? 
Go <a href="http://www.careersinpoland.com/article/legal-taxes/can-you-hear-the-wedding-bells-marrying-a-polish-citizen" target="_blank" title="International marriages in Poland">here</a>.
</div>

As an owner of your own business &ndash; you run a language school &ndash; what advice would you give to foreigners willing to open their own companies in Poland?

I would tell people that it&rsquo;s definitely the way to go in terms of work in Poland. When you run your own company, you can choose your own schedule, your own clients, and of course the earnings are much higher as there is no middle-man. Of course there are some difficulties along the way and it helps tremendously to speak Polish, but overall it&rsquo;s the best way to go. Just be sure to get a good accountant, preferably one who speaks English (mine doesn&rsquo;t).

You are also an employer who has hired other foreigners in your business &ndash; what is your perspective on that?

There are a lot of people who&rsquo;d like to teach English in Poland and a lot of people who want to learn English so it seemed like an obvious thing to me that I should somehow make the two possible for other people. Also, it&rsquo;s very difficult to know the rules and how everything works in Poland unless you&rsquo;re A. very enterprising and B. have lived here for a long time, so I think other foreigners appreciate the ease of having an employer who both knows the formalities and is also a foreigner like they are.

You have been a resident in Poland for a few years now, but some of your family still live in the USA. Is the process of visiting family members in Poland difficult for American citizens?

I think it depends on the kind of person you are. If you&rsquo;re a good traveller and willing to accept some differences in terms of culture, food, and language, then travelling in Poland and visiting family is no big deal for Americans. The thing is that you have to go a little outside your comfort zone. I don&rsquo;t live in a big city like Warsaw or Krak&oacute;w so my family is a little dependent on me when they come as they don&rsquo;t know where things are, don&rsquo;t speak the language, and don&rsquo;t drive a stick-shift. That can be hard for them as they&rsquo;re a little trapped but overall they enjoy the country, the old buildings, and especially the bakeries!

Our last question has to be about the Polish language &ndash; is it necessary to speak it in order to live in Poland? Can you get by with just English on everyday basis? And how is your Polish after living here for a few years?

I lived in Poland for 3 years without speaking Polish so it&rsquo;s definitely possible. So if you&rsquo;re planning on living in Poland for a short time, then it&rsquo;s not an issue. Most young people speak English and even would like to speak English with you (free lesson!) so you can manage well without it. However, if someone plans to live in Poland for a longer period or indefinitely like me, then you really need it. Otherwise, you&rsquo;re constantly relying on other people to do things for you in public offices, at the doctor&rsquo;s, at parties, etc. If you speak Polish, you&rsquo;ll feel more comfortable and less left out. Trust me!

About my Polish, I&rsquo;d say it&rsquo;s at a conversational level. For sure I make a lot of mistakes and there&rsquo;s a lot I can&rsquo;t express, but I do my best to make conversation and if there&rsquo;s something I can&rsquo;t understand then there&rsquo;s always my husband, a friend, or Google translate :)

Thank you Leah for sharing with us!&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Leah

From Florida to Poland - American expat's experience

Florida to Poland - personal story

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I come from tropical Colombia and moved here with my Polish husband whom I met while running a project in South America.

At the beginning, we lived in Białystok, where I worked as a Spanish teacher and attended Polish classes. One of my classmates told me about Accenture and I decided to give it a go &ndash; a month later I was here in Warsaw, working as a Data Reviewer.

Today I am managing several very talented teams. I was glad to find myself in a Spanish-speaking team at the beginning, which really helped me to adjust to the new environment. At the same time, I was given the opportunity to continue with my Polish classes in our company. The language is very rich and complex, but still worth a try! Working at Accenture is all about cross-cultural relationships, sharing different perspectives and making sure everyone&rsquo;s input is valid.

To me, providing valuable feedback and maintaining effective communication with my teams is the key to further development. I also like to get involved in animal volunteer projects, which help me gain a new perspective and bring additional meaning to my daily work life.

Alejandra – Internet Services, Accenture Operations Poland. Join us!

I moved to Poland for love and I think it was my best decision. I have always been interested in the business world and knew Accenture long before I joined the company.

My first role here was as a Junior Web Data Analyst with Italian, but recently I have been promoted to the Junior Team Leader position. In my opinion, the company offers limitless growth opportunities &ndash; for example, through numerous training courses which help enhance your skills and competence. I myself joined a dedicated programme for aspiring leaders of Accenture, which helped me gain more confidence in my new role as the Team Leader.

We also have a lot of initiatives and spend time together outside of work. It feels like being part of a big, international family. I appreciate the fact that the company embraces diversity and all employees here are treated equally and respected. Also, applying from abroad is not a problem &ndash; I could participate in the online recruitment process while still being in Italy!

Pier – Internet Services, Accenture Operations Poland. Join us!

It has been eight years since I moved here with my Polish husband. We used to travel a lot, but I wanted to raise my children in Poland. Warsaw reminds me of my home because I was brought up in a big city (Mexico City) and now, I have my own family here.

I joined Accenture two years ago as Collections Team Leader. At first, I was not sure if I was the right fit but after a few months I was loving it. Today I am managing several collections teams in the Finance and Accounting department and I help my colleagues to grow their careers. I do my best trying to balance my professional and family responsibilities. It means a lot to me that my work at Accenture allows me to provide stability to my loved ones.

I believe that if you are responsible and like to engage in different activities, then anything is possible, opportunities will come your way. If I could send a message to &ldquo;new&rdquo; expats, I would say &ndash; some things might seem difficult at first, but you will get there eventually.

Sandra – Finance & Accounting, Accenture Operations Poland. Join us!

I have previously lived in a few foreign countries: Ireland, the Netherlands, USA and Germany. Honestly, I did not know anything about Poland, but I wanted to try something completely different in a new place.

I majored in Political Communication and finding a job with my degree could have been difficult in Denmark. I managed to land a job at Accenture and moved here a month after finishing my master&rsquo;s degree. As part of the Digital Marketing team, I work on brand campaigns, analyse traffic, create banners and landing pages. Working with Danish clients gives me an opportunity to use my native language

&nbsp;Accenture offers you a lot of freedom to be creative and do things your own way. I really appreciate it because when I am working on a project, I prefer to know what needs to be done, not how to do it. It feels good knowing that the company believes in you. I find it important that our workplace is so welcoming and eco-friendly. We commit to reducing our environmental impact, both at Accenture and in the communities where we work and live.

Frederik – Digital Marketing, Accenture Operations Poland. Join us!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your family?

I come from a small town in South East Finland. I just turned 31 and I am soon to be an uncle of a little girl, so very excited. My entire family lives in Finland, but I always wanted to travel and explore new cultures. I am positive, outgoing and not afraid to try new things and go out of my comfort zone. I am very committed to my work, but I think that there should always be room for smiles and laughs. I am known for my bad jokes among my friends.

What made you change your life and come to Poland?

I have been working in Nordea for seven years and I spent the last year in Luxembourg, being part of the winding down process at Nordea International Private Banking. After the project I decided that I would like to continue working internationally. The position in Poland offered me a&nbsp;chance to do so, to learn something new and also, to use my previous experience of working directly with clients in Finland. I also had a chance to meet many Polish people before and thanks to the Polish hospitality, it was not hard to convince me to come here.

Was it difficult to move to Poland?

My previous experiences of moving to another country were more difficult than this one. I would say that thanks to the lessons learnt in the past, helpful friends and good people in Nordea, I didn&rsquo;t encounter many difficulties. Sometimes the language causes minor challenges, but so far I have been able to manage pretty dobrze.

What differences can you see between Finland and Poland when it comes to the work environment?

I think that the Polish working style is bit more structured and the rules, which mostly come from the law, are sometimes different compared to Finland and Luxembourg.

A clear structure is definitely a good thing, it helps us to do our job,&nbsp;to&nbsp;deliver&nbsp;the services&nbsp;to our customers and make them happy. I also think that there need to be rules,&nbsp;but mostly I hope they are set for a good reason within the team. When it comes to our company&rsquo;s values, I think there is no difference, at least for now.

I have to say the people here in Nordea Poland are truly committed to our common cause&nbsp;-&nbsp;serving&nbsp;our customers.&nbsp;I am very happy and proud to work with so many dedicated colleagues who take pride in their work. It has been very easy to join the group!

Have you had a chance to explore the city yet?

Yeah! I have been exploring the city. I went to a couple of events (English stand-up comedy for example), also tried local food and travelled to neighbouring cities.

Do you like Ł&oacute;dź so far?

Yes, I do like the city. It is the second biggest city I have lived in (Singapore being the largest).&nbsp;Especially now, in the spring time, it is very vibrant and there are lots of activities here.

Can you tell us about your dreams and hobbies?

When I was a kid my dream was to be a professional football player and because of that, I practiced my signature a lot. I guess I should have trained some other skills a bit more. I still love football and sports in general. I like to be active and keep in shape. I also love travelling and getting to know different cultures.&nbsp;My dream is to have a family and a job where I can make a difference and that I can be passionate about.

Where do you see yourself in a few years?

These kind of questions are always hard because a couple of years ago I probably wouldn&rsquo;t see myself here in Poland, but luckily life takes you places if you give it a chance. I really enjoy my job as a team leader and I would definitely like to continue developing myself and being a bit better every day. In the future I would definitely like to help other leaders grow professionally.

&nbsp;

Would you like to join us at Nordea? Browse job offers of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/jobs/city/lodz/employer/nordea-bank-ab" target="_blank">Nordea</a>&nbsp;Ł&oacute;dź.

From footballer to team leader. Meet Joonas from Nordea

Meet Joonas from Nordea

You&rsquo;re a Swedish and English speaking Italian, what kind of work experience do you have?

Marco Mazzinghi:&nbsp;I started my career&nbsp;in&nbsp;music when I was 17. I studied it&nbsp;until&nbsp;I was 25&nbsp;and continued to&nbsp;work as&nbsp;a musician.&nbsp;However, after some time I realized that I wanted something more stable and that it was quite stressful for me to be on the stage.&nbsp;So, at the age of 27 I started studying radiography. I was the guy who did the X-rays.&nbsp;I worked&nbsp;in many&nbsp;hospitals&nbsp;but&nbsp;since&nbsp;there was not much work in Italy and I always wanted&nbsp;to move somewhere,&nbsp;I decided to go to Sweden.&nbsp;After 2,5 years there I realized that perhaps it&rsquo;s not the right place for me. I thought I could work in a bank, because I always wanted to work in an economic field, but I didn&rsquo;t have any relevant university background.&nbsp;I knew it would be hard for me to get that job. It was something I always wanted to do but didn&rsquo;t have the prerequisites&nbsp;for.

What made you change your life and come to Poland?

M.M:&nbsp;When I saw Nordea&rsquo;s job advertisement, I thought about it much.&nbsp;By coincidence,&nbsp;I had bought an apartment in Poland in the same city where I would eventually find a job,&nbsp;so I thought I could live in my apartment and have a nice job at the same time.&nbsp;I took&nbsp;this&nbsp;opportunity to settle down because&nbsp;I&nbsp;am 34&nbsp;now. I chose Poland because it&rsquo;s&nbsp;an&nbsp;economically and politically&nbsp;stable country.&nbsp;Moreover, working for Nordea&nbsp;among young people and in good conditions seemed like a good choice. So, I decided to give it a try and now it&rsquo;s been 3 weeks since I moved to Ł&oacute;dź.

Why&nbsp;did you choose&nbsp;to work&nbsp;for&nbsp;Nordea in Ł&oacute;dź instead of living in the capital city of Warsaw?

M.M:&nbsp;Generally speaking,&nbsp;I don&rsquo;t like capital cities, because they&rsquo;re more expensive,&nbsp;there is a lot of stress and competition. So, everything is a little bit harder if you live in a capital city. The second factor was that I had my own apartment in Ł&oacute;dź and an opportunity to live here. I am not interested in changing cities right now.&nbsp;<img alt="" src="/media/IMG-20190210-WA0004%20(4).jpg" style="width: 274px; height: 352px; margin: 15px 20px; float: right;" />

Do you find it difficult to accommodate yourself to the Polish conditions?

M. M: I have travelled a lot in my life but here it is especially hard because&nbsp;a lot of people don&#39;t speak&nbsp;English and it&rsquo;s a big drawback.&nbsp;But I walk around with Google Translate and even if it can be&nbsp;quite stressful, I manage it quite well. I also have some friends who can help me.&nbsp;&nbsp;

What major differences can you observe between&nbsp;the&nbsp;Polish and&nbsp;the&nbsp;Swedish&nbsp;or&nbsp;Italian way of&nbsp;working? What do you like the most?

M.M:&nbsp;There are many differences but the&nbsp;work here in Nordea&nbsp;is more similar to the one in Sweden or in Finland rather than in Poland. I know that people in Poland work really hard and don&rsquo;t receive a lot of money but here, the work is not too hard and the conditions are really good.&nbsp;Nordea&nbsp;follows the Scandinavian way of working&nbsp;and this is what I like.&nbsp;

Is there anything other nations could learn from the Polish people?

M.M:&nbsp;Polish people are quite traditional, which I like.&nbsp;They help each other and have strong values, care about family and religion.&nbsp;They really appreciate the value of nation, they are proud to be Polish. I&nbsp;appreciate that much.&nbsp;Certainly, there is much more other countries&nbsp;can&nbsp;learn from Poland. I think you are the only nation in Europe that is economically growing.&nbsp;I know that economy does not always reflect peoples&rsquo; feelings but since I came to Poland,&nbsp;people here have been optimistic, hard working to make the city more beautiful and&nbsp;to improve the working conditions.&nbsp;I&nbsp;think it will be better and better here.

What is the&nbsp;one&nbsp;thing&nbsp;that&nbsp;you like the most about Poland&nbsp;or&nbsp;Ł&oacute;dź?

M.M:&nbsp;I think that people are happy here even though they are not as&nbsp;wealthy&nbsp;as people in Sweden. That was the first thing I noticed.

Have you already tried any Polish specialities? If so, what are your favourite ones?

M.M:&nbsp;Yes, pierogi,&nbsp;pampuchy&nbsp;with marmolade. Even some soup called&nbsp;żurek. I like&nbsp;sernik&nbsp;when it comes to sweets.

What are your hobbies and how do you pursue them in Ł&oacute;dź?

M.M:&nbsp;I began training box, I would like to play an instrument but I haven&rsquo;t found the time yet. I want to play tennis as well. But soon I will start a&nbsp;process training in Gothenburg. And I will spend 2 months there, so I need to put my plans aside for some time.

Have you already made&nbsp;any&nbsp;friends here?

M.M:&nbsp;I made some friends at work, but for me,&nbsp;friendship takes time and common interests. Time will tell.

Why is it worth coming here, give top 3 reasons?

M.M: The first reason for me is that everything is relatively cheap, the second one is a&nbsp;possibility to meet new people both at work and outside. If you go to Piotrkowska Street, there are people all day long. Finally, the third reason is the possibility to work in a bank because I would never have this opportunity neither in Italy nor in Sweden.

Would you recommend&nbsp;a job&nbsp;in&nbsp;Nordea to your friends?

M.M:&nbsp;Yes, I would recommend it. At least give it a try. I think Nordea gives a good opportunity to have a good life.

&nbsp;

Would you like to join our team? Browse job offers of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/jobs/city/lodz/employer/nordea-bank-ab" target="_blank">Nordea</a>&nbsp;Ł&oacute;dź.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The Scandinavian way of working - Marco from Nordea

Marco and his work at Nordea

When did you decide to come to Poland and how did you come up with this idea?

I used to work in transport as a freight forwarder. After I finished my studies (Bachelor of Business Logistics), I decided to try something different. I&nbsp;was looking for work in Finland, but besides a few interviews, nothing came from it. So, I also started to look for work abroad. I found this opportunity to come to work in Poland for a Finnish company, with no previous experience required. So, after Christmas I applied for this position, and in January [2018] I got accepted and agreed to start in the beginning of February.

In the end everything happened quite fast. However, I always had an ambition to work abroad, so that played a major part in my decision. Also, I&nbsp;have a good friend from Poland with whom I used to work in transport, and he also recommended Poland a lot. So that made my decision even easier.

Did you know much about the country before you moved here? Is there anything that surprised you - any cultural differences between Finland and Poland?

To be honest, my knowledge about Poland was quite limited. I knew about the biggest cities and important historical events, but that was basically all. However, I used to work with Polish people in my previous job, and always thought they were nice and polite. So that gave me a positive impression about the country, even though I had never visited it before.

About cultural differences &ndash; I feel Poland is similar to Finland, I didn&rsquo;t have a culture shock or anything. I feel Polish people might be more direct saying what they think, though. But I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a bad thing!

Where do you live in Poland? Do you have any favourite places in the area?

I live in Katowice, in the (Upper) Silesian region. A region with an industrial background, but there are lots of nice places to enjoy outdoor activities. Probably my favourite place here in Katowice is Park Kościuszki, a very nice park for a walk and not too crowded.

Can you tell us a bit about your job here? Do you think Poland is a good place to build a career in your field?

At first, I used to work as a Service Desk Agent, acting as a first line support for IT problems. Nowadays I work as a Service Coordinator, responsible for receiving service requests and coordinating installation schedule with customer and our installation resources. The work is mostly done in Finnish, but sometimes English is also required.

I think in Poland you have many job opportunities, if you can speak Finnish. Also, other foreign languages such as Swedish and Norwegian, seem to be in high demand.

Did you experience any problems with the relocation process?

Relocation was quite simple, because my company arranged a flat for the first few months and helped a lot with all the administrative stuff, opening a bank account etc. I guess the only problem was that there was a huge snow storm in Finland on the night before my flight, leading to a&nbsp;delay at the airport. Because of that, I missed my connecting flight from Stockholm and arrived in Poland one day later than planned.

Do you speak any Polish or do you get by with English in your everyday life?

I started my A1 level Polish course back in October, so I can speak and understand some Polish, but only when talking about basic things. Luckily my friends are supportive to my learning, so I have lots of opportunities to practice.

What do you miss most about Finland?

I have lived almost my whole life next to the sea, so living in Katowice is a bit different, with no sea in sight. But like Finland, Poland has very beautiful nature and landscapes, so I don&rsquo;t feel homesick in that regard.

Have you made any Polish friends already? Do you socialise with other foreigners?

I have met lots of nice people during my time in Poland and made some good friends, who have helped me a lot settling in Poland. In Katowice we have lots of different language meetings, so participating in them has been a great opportunity to meet new people, both local and foreigners.

Have you had a chance to visit other places in the country as well? If so, is there anything you would recommend to other foreign visitors?

I have been visiting some places in Poland, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. Hopefully this summer I can fix this. One of the most memorable trips was to Stołowe Mountains (G&oacute;ry Stołowe). Amazing views!

&nbsp;

Thanks for sharing your story, Henri!

&nbsp;

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