Emer, could you tell us a little bit about your work experience?&nbsp;

I joined the Brown Brothers Harriman Dublin Talent Acquisition team in May 2011 after completing a summer college internship. I was thrilled to be offered a position when I finished my studies. Less than a year later, I permanently transferred to the newly opened BBH Krak&oacute;w office to support our recruitment efforts. As I inch closer to my tenth anniversary with the Firm, I look back on that as one of the best decisions I ever made &mdash; professionally and personally.

How has your job changed since you&nbsp;moved to Krak&oacute;w?&nbsp;

I stayed in the same role I had in Dublin when I moved to Krak&oacute;w. My primary focus shifted to recruiting local roles, as we were just beginning to establish our presence in Krakow. At the time, I was very grateful to have the same role. With so many things changing, it was helpful for me to know that I would be doing something familiar. Or so I thought! I quickly learned that I would need to be able to &lsquo;step outside my role&rsquo; to keep things moving. Because it was a new office and our on-site facilities manager had not started yet, I helped the facilities managers in Dublin and London to order stationary for Krak&oacute;w. Not knowing any Polish, I became very adept very quickly at talking with my hands!

What has your career path at BBH Krak&oacute;w looked like so far?

The experience opening the Krak&oacute;w office helped me to get to know other areas of our business, and ultimately develop into new roles. I began on a path of projects that led me to step into roles which included&nbsp;leading the User Acceptance Testing function and working in the Business Transformation group. Now, I lead the Finance Technology Management group in Krak&oacute;w, supporting the Global Controllers, Treasury and Network and Counterparty Management areas of the Firm with their development investments. It is a fascinating and exciting role, with a wonderfully supportive group, which I would not have had the chance to join if I had not moved to Krak&oacute;w.

How did you find your relocation process?

Relocating was not easy overall, especially in those first few months, but looking back now I would not change it for the world. The support I received from BBH made all the difference. In addition to covering the expenses associated with my physical move, BBH also provided me with an allowance for language lessons, tax assistance for the first tax year, temporary housing for the first month while they helped me to find my own place. Dealing with bureaucracy in any country can be a challenge, especially when it is in another language. I realized that while I could do a lot of things myself, it was incredibly valuable to have help and support along the way.

What skills are necessary to make a successful move abroad?

While some aspects of my experience moving may be unique, I do think there are a few core competencies and skills that are critical for anyone considering an expat assignment or local move to another location; Flexibility, adaptability, and strong communication. You need a combination of all three to survive inside and outside of work. Things don&rsquo;t always go according to plan, and when something inevitably goes wrong, it is critical to be able to adapt and move forward. I encourage you to lean into your curiosity to learn because if you really have a desire to do something, you can learn anything needed to do your job well.

What have you learned while living in Poland?

My relocation has provided the&nbsp;chance to travel to new places, meet new people, make lifelong friends and build a home and a life in this beautiful city. I discovered a love of hiking, learned to drive, adopted a cat and bought an apartment. Being here taught me how to stand on my&nbsp;own two feet, but at the same time when it is OK to ask for help. I am, and will always be, incredibly grateful to my friends and colleagues for stepping in when I was lost and confused! I can&rsquo;t say for sure where I would be now if I chose another path in 2012 and stayed in Ireland. What I can say with certainty is I am incredibly happy and thankful for the turns my life has taken since.

Emer

Emer - Irish woman puts down roots in Kraków

Emer - Irish woman working for BBH puts down roots in Kraków

Emer - Irish woman working for Brown Brothers Harriman puts down roots in Kraków

How long have you been living in Poland? When did you come and why Poland?

I first came to Poland just after finishing my studies because I wanted to discover Europe. I worked in Gdańsk for three years &nbsp;and met my future wife there. We went back to France for six years and four years ago we decided to move to Warsaw, mostly to help my wife develop her career.

Had you heard something about Poland before you came here? Did it turn out to be true or false?

I knew almost nothing about Poland before I came here. My vision of the country was inspired mostly by the &ldquo;Marzi&rdquo; comic book which tells the story of a little girl living in Poland during the communist time. I did not know what to expect and what impressed me the most back then was this mix of the communist past (that you can see in some shops and restaurants like &quot;Bar mleczny&quot;) and hyper-capitalism (for example brand new malls).

How did you find your relocation process?

Relocation process was very easy for me. It took me just a few days to find a place to rent andI could always count on my friends or colleagues to help me with some administrative formalities.

Could you tell us a little bit about your work experience? What has your career path looked like so far?

I started off as a web developer in a web agency in Gdańsk, working mostly for French eCommerce websites. Then I joined different companies as a senior developer or tech lead, mostly in the area of web development, but I also have experience working with an IoT (Internet of Things) company.

I joined Westwing a year and a half ago as Tech Lead for one of their teams dealing with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools.

What is most satisfying about your job now? What are you looking forward to?

The most satisfying part of my job is the team and the fact that there is a generally good team spirit between all employees at Westwing. You really feel that people here genuinely care about you and are always ready to support you, if you need it. What I also like about my job is the opportunity to face technological challenges. We create systems that are meant to handle a lot of requests and at the same time we always try to keep them up to date with the latest best practices in the industry.

What is the role of your team in the company? What are the biggest challenges facing your team at the moment?

My team is responsible for CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools and especially managing communication with our customers through emails, newsletters, notifications. Our task is to ensure that information about our customers&#39; newsletter subscriptions are synchronized with all Westwing applications.

What helped you most in the process of adjusting to work in this new environment?

My wife who is Polish helped me the most, especially when it comes to dealing with all administrative formalities. Westwing&rsquo;s HR department has also been super helpful whenever I&rsquo;ve had any questions regarding Polish labour law.

What do you like most and least about Poland? 

I really love how green this country is. Even in Warsaw you have huge parks and trees everywhere which is really nice for kids. If you go to the countryside, you will see really nice big green forests.

For me the long winter nights are the biggest drawback. I&rsquo;ve never got used to how early the sun sets in winter and I always count down the days until summer at this time of the year.

How is your Polish??

My Polish is quite bad. I can understand some conversations but cannot make grammatically correct sentences.

What is your favourite Polish word?

I love this swear word used by children: &ldquo;Motyla noga&rdquo;, I find it so cute. And when I want to show a difficult word to pronounce to my family or French friends I usually choose the word &quot;Wrzeszcz&quot; (a part of Gdańsk).

Do you have a favourite place in Poland?

I love the University of Warsaw Library, especially its roof garden. It is a very relaxing place with a nice view of the Vistula.

What advice would you give to your friends who consider working in Poland?

Be curious, there are lot of nice things to discover in Poland.

<hr />
If you&#39;re looking for a job, check out <a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/jobs/keyword/westwing" target="_blank" title="Job offers at Westwing">current&nbsp;opportunities at Westwing</a>

<a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/employer/westwing" target="_blank" title="Westwing - job profile">Read more about Westwing</a> as an employer

&nbsp;

Laurent

Fall in love with Poland – the story of Laurent from France 

How long have you been living in Poland? When did you come and why Poland?

I&rsquo;ve lived here for eight years. I come from a little town in Czech Republic, around 40 km west of Prague, which means I had never come into contact with the Polish language before the relocation. Why Poland? My answer won&rsquo;t surprise anyone. Love, obviously! I met a Pole during studies and he came back home with me after Erasmus :)

How did you find your relocation process?

In hindsight, I think it went well. Of course there were some difficulties, but I was prepared for them. I approached everything with a smile, humbleness and a dictionary :). People in the city offices were always trying to help. You need to be patient, accept the differences and stand up for yourself. First and foremost, you can&rsquo;t give up. During relocation you get to know yourself better - I think moving here made me realize I was truly an adult. I&rsquo;ve always been grateful to my boyfriend&rsquo;s family and my colleagues for their support.

What was your first impression of the country?

I was positively surprised by almost everything. I know it sounds funny now, but I liked the fact that ham was made of meat, that strawberries cost 5 zlotys per kilogram and tomatoes smelled like tomatoes. The streets of Warsaw were clean. There were security guards at underground stations. I soon found out that Poland looks different from what I was told in Czechia.&nbsp;

Could you tell us a little bit about your work experience? What has your career path looked like so far?

When I was moving to Poland, I took a chance on love. I didn&rsquo;t speak any Polish, didn&rsquo;t write or understand anything. I&rsquo;d been teaching my boyfriend Czech because I&rsquo;d thought we would live in Czechia. I was wrong. I realized that I was beginning a new life in Poland and that probably I would have to give up on my dreams, no matter what degree I held. Before I came to Poland I worked as a receptionist in student halls of residence and had little real work experience.&nbsp;

I&rsquo;m really glad that in 2014 I applied for the position of Czech translator at Westwing. I was given a huge opportunity to help develop the Czech market. I still work for the same company today and manage an operational team creating campaigns in three countries on two platforms. It&rsquo;s amazing how far I&rsquo;ve come. I feel fulfilled. I repaid the trust that was placed in me at the start of my career path. I&rsquo;m glad I could get to know the ins and outs of the e-commerce industry. Obviously it was not always easy. Behind my success are hours of hard work and a lot of tears, but it was worth it.&nbsp;

What is most satisfying about your job now?

I&rsquo;ve never encountered any barriers in my job, as they say, &ldquo;the sky&rsquo;s the limit&rdquo; - I&rsquo;ve worked in different roles, supporting and developing the business. My dream was to have a job that would also be my hobby and it came true. I like combining creative work with coordination, project planning, process optimization and team management.&nbsp;

What is the role of your team in the company? What are the biggest challenges facing your team at the moment?

We upload data to the system and translate thousands of products every day to provide our customers with a daily dose of home &amp; living inspiration. Our biggest challenge is finding passionate, engaged people who are interested in the ecommerce industry. When it comes to the Czech-Slovakian team, relocating candidates to Warsaw is also quite challenging.

What kind of candidates is your company most interested in at the moment?

Currently I&rsquo;m looking for two Team Leaders to join the Czech-Slovakian team. One of them will be responsible for product content, the other for creative content. Since we are continuously growing, we are also looking for Junior/E-commerce Specialists with Czech and Slovak.

Are there many foreigners currently working for your company?

Yes, of course. Over the last decade we have created several teams that hire foreigners in our Warsaw office. Sometimes it feels like the tower of Babel: we speak Polish, English, German, French, Czech, Slovak, Dutch, Spanish and Italian. I love this international atmosphere and the company&rsquo;s openness.

What helped you most in the process of adjusting to work in a new place like Poland?

Understanding that if I want to live in Poland, I need to be at one with Polish people, not against them or the country. Searching for things I miss or making comparisons won&rsquo;t help. Once I understood that, I became open to Poland. You need to figure out why you want to live in a different country, what your motivation is. It is very important to be determined, patient, open to people and prepared that if you fall, you need to get up and keep going. If you work for it, success will come eventually.

How is your Polish? Can you share your learning history and progress?

My approach is rather unusual. I&rsquo;ve never attended any courses, I&rsquo;m self-taught. All I did was watch tv shows, read magazines with a dictionary in my hand and jot down words used by my colleagues. I don&rsquo;t even remember when exactly I started speaking. I&rsquo;ve always felt accepted in our company, no one has ever told me that they don&rsquo;t get what I&rsquo;m saying. I really appreciate that. It has given me more courage and helped become more open. I am very grateful that no one has ever laughed at my accent or typos in emails.

What advice would you give to your friends who consider working in Poland?

That everything starts with the first step. It is natural to be scared, not knowing what to expect. Luck favours the prepared.

Thank you.&nbsp;

<hr />
If you&#39;re looking for a job, check out <a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/jobs/keyword/westwing" target="_blank" title="Job offers at Westwing">current&nbsp;opportunities at Westwing</a>

<a href="https://www.careersinpoland.com/employer/westwing" target="_blank" title="Westwing - job profile">Read more about Westwing</a> as an employer

Monika

The sky’s the limit – the story of Monika from Czech Republic

Why Poland? What made you move here?

I get asked this question a lot! Well, I&rsquo;m from Argentina, and when I decided I wanted to live abroad, I started searching for opportunities in Europe. I soon found out that in Poland there are a lot of options in my career field and the cost of living here is lower than in Spain or the UK, for example. For the price of a one bedroom flat here, I would have to share a flat in Spain. In Argentina I had my own apartment, so I wanted to maintain this lifestyle and I felt that Poland was a better fit for me.

What did you know about Poland before you came here? Did it turn out to be true or false?

I knew very little about Poland and only started to learn some details when I decided to come and live here. Of course I knew the history of Poland during the Second World War, but not much about everyday life. I did expect the weather to be different than in Argentina, I was especially worried about winter and the cold. It turned out to be not that bad, since everything is prepared for the cold, but I had to get used to the fact that in winter it&rsquo;s night-time at 4:30 p.m.! I was also surprised by Polish people because some say they are distant and reserved but personally I found them really helpful and kind. I&rsquo;d also heard that Krak&oacute;w is a beautiful city and I found that to be completely true!

And what about PepsiCo? Does it meet your expectations?

Yes, it does - I&rsquo;m really happy to work for the company. I&rsquo;m in finance and I perform mostly accounting tasks related to Control &amp; Reporting for the Portugal market. I feel that here you have the opportunity to learn and grow. And that&rsquo;s really exciting. So far I&rsquo;ve learnt that PepsiCo has a great company culture, I really enjoy the way the company works. The focus on collaboration, critical thinking and agility. Diversity and inclusion play a really big role in the company and I really appreciate that. And what we see in the PepsiCo product ads can be experienced at work and that is a cool, dynamic and vivid culture.

You work in a very multicultural company. Does it make a difference to you?

Yes, it really does because I know there are other people like me and I feel supported. PepsiCo makes things a bit easier for expats by organizing courses or sharing some useful tips about life in Poland. Also you get to meet people from all around the world here and that&rsquo;s always great! At Krakow Business Services we have 23 nationalities which is quite amazing!

Is using Polish necessary in your everyday work? How about after hours?

In my job it is not necessary, because I work only with Spanish or English speaking countries. However, I do think that it&rsquo;s important to learn the basics of the language and that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m currently doing. Not because I need it to buy groceries or that sort of thing but it&rsquo;s good to know at least a little bit about the country you live in.

Do you stay connected with your team despite the pandemic and the hybrid work model?

Due to COVID-19 we are implementing new ways of staying connected with other team members. We have a video call once a week and take part in different team building activities to get to know each other better both in and outside of work. We&rsquo;ve created this space where we can have office-like conversations, e.g. during coffee breaks, which I think helps us a lot too. PepsiCo is a highly relationship-focused company, so regardless of the communication format, the connection and conversation continues. People make an effort to stay connected and technology helps a lot!&nbsp;

What advice would you give to your friends who consider working in Poland?

I would tell them that it&rsquo;s a great place to live and an amazing experience, so they should try it! As for advice, I would say that it&rsquo;s good to know what documents and paperwork you need before you arrive here. Do your research to avoid any surprises and it will make the transition a little easier.

Magali

A good fit - Maggie from PepsiCo talks about her move to Poland

How long have you been living in Poland? When did you come and why Poland?

I relocated to Poland at the end of August 2021, so it has been seven months. When it comes to why, Poland is one of the hot spots right now for PepsiCo, with our new Global Business Services Center and new manufacturing plant initiatives. I had been in Poland three times before, mostly on business trips, so I knew what to expect, more or less. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to take part in this new journey, and decided to relocate to Poland.

What was your first impression of the country?

I first visited Warsaw in 2016. I was there for a couple of days, but I really enjoyed the vibe of the city and everyone I met was very helpful and friendly. English is also widely spoken, so I didn&rsquo;t have any trouble communicating with people. I even still remember the conversation that I had with an Uber driver, it was very fun and interesting.

Did the company help you with relocation? What helped you most in the process of adjusting to work in this new environment?

Yes, my company helped me with paperwork (work permits etc.), the trip to Krak&oacute;w, and also provided me with temporary accommodation for a month, so I could search for a permanent place to stay without worrying. And I believe it helped me the most because I could just continue to do my job and try to settle in the city from day one.

Could you tell us a little bit about your work experience? What has your career path looked like so far? 

I started my career back in 2013 in Turkey, in the telecommunications sector. I was responsible for project management for almost 3 years, which allowed me to learn the Agile philosophy, enhance my communication skills, manage different stakeholders and be involved in IT and Finance planning activities. After this experience, I craved more business exposure and came across a Finance Analyst role at PepsiCo, so in 2016 my journey with the company started. I have held various roles under Supply Chain Finance organization, from Productivity Analyst to Capex Analyst, then Finance Business Partnering and finally, Team Lead in the Global Procurement Finance department. I have worked in the Sector as well as in a Business Unit. Honestly, I never imagined myself working this long for the same company, but I found a lot of growth and learning opportunities here, which made me look at my career from a different angle. That is why I have stayed here longer than I anticipated.

How would you describe the work environment in your company? 

The FMCG sector is a really fast-paced, agile, and customer-focused area. Experiences may differ depending on the department, but in Finance I closely follow relevant macroeconomic trends and news, I try to understand the implications and adjust our plans with stakeholders accordingly. I have worked in different finance teams in my company but in general, people are always friendly and ready to help and support their colleagues, especially new joiners. It may sound a bit clich&eacute; but it is true. We also feel like we are in school, where we learn something new every day.

Our culture really speaks to the employees and after a couple of months here everyone gets embraced by it. We also have a purpose-driven culture and PepsiCo Planet Positive agenda which is &ldquo;a fundamental transformation of what we do and how we do it, to create growth and shared value with sustainability and human capital at the centre&rdquo; as our CEO, Ramon Laguarta, described it. All employees have a chance to get involved in these projects and work with different teams, to reach our mid- and long-term environmental goals, which I believe is really valuable and something that the whole world needs.

Do you enjoy working in Poland? If so, what do you like about it?

Compared to Istanbul, where I lived for years, working in Krak&oacute;w is obviously much different. First of all, anyone can feel the &lsquo;young&rsquo; vibe of the city, which is filled with university students and graduates. Krak&oacute;w is also known as one of the main hubs for global service centres in Poland, so graduates have many opportunities to choose from, and it brings great competitiveness.

What I also enjoy about living here is that Poland lies in the centre of Europe, making it really easy to travel to other countries. The country itself has lots of pleasant placesfor weekend trips, but I haven&rsquo;t had a chance to visit them all yet. When it comes to Krak&oacute;w, there are wonderful restaurants with different cuisines and many cosy cafes, where people can enjoy their spare time, even in chilly weather!

What major differences can you observe between the Polish and the Turkish way of working? What is similar?

I try to avoid generalization, especially when talking about two different cultures, but the main thing would be the attitude towards work-life balance. I can see that it is more valued and regulated here than in Turkey and employee well-being is more prioritized, which is really nice.. Turkey has a more volatile macroeconomics environment, and it makes a big difference even in day-to-day business operations whereas Poland is more stable and foreseeable, meaning more tranquil. On the other hand, the ways of working at PepsiCo, are generally similar across different offices because we share the same processes and procedures, no matter where we work.

Do you like living in Krak&oacute;w? Is it different from your hometown? 

My first reaction was pure awe at all the authenticity, since in Istanbul, modern architecture took over most of the city, and it has become difficult to sense the history. Here it is quite the opposite. Apart from that, after living in Istanbul, I understood that I really needed to be in a less crowded city, to take a break from the hustle and bustle. Krak&oacute;w is also quite compact &ndash; easy to navigate even with public transportation or on foot.. Last but not least, since we have a lot of foreigners working here, I&rsquo;ve had a chance to meet people from all over the world.

What advice would you give to your friends who consider working in Poland? 

I would definitely recommend Poland to my friends. I am trying my best to learn Polish but many locals speak English very well so you can easily communicate with them. Also, Krak&oacute;w is a very multinational and cosmopolitan city, where you can learn about and experience different cultures. Additionally, the old capital city of Poland is more affordable compared to some other European countries, so it is a very reasonable choice for new expats.

Hakan

From Istanbul to Kraków – Hakan on his life and career at PepsiCo

Accenture  

Nordea Bank Abp SA Oddział w Polsce

Brown Brothers Harriman

Westwing

PepsiCo Global Business Services

Czech Republic

Germany

India

Ukraine

Brazil

Portugal

Italy

United States

Romania

France

Turkey

Argentina

Finland

Mexico

Denmark

Ireland

Colombia

Norway

Sweden

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

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;

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Julie and her international experience at 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.

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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;

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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!

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