I came to Poland five years ago to complete a master&rsquo;s degree in international economics. Initially, I was planning to do my studies in Germany, but then my friends moved to Warsaw and really enjoyed the city&rsquo;s atmosphere. They told me all about life in Warsaw and I soon found plenty of university courses to choose from.

During studies, my friend referred me for a job position at Accenture. My first role was a Junior GL Accountant with German but after three years I wanted to try my hand at something different and switched to digital marketing. Now I am responsible for project management and communication with clients from all over the world: Mexico, the Republic of South Africa, Russia or France.

I always try to take a personal approach with every person &ndash; it is the most challenging but also the most exciting part of my job. Also, I am a leader of programme which helps newcomers feel more at home in our company. I really enjoy working with people from so many different cultures on an everyday basis.

Maria

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

Living in Poland was never part of my plans &ndash; that was a life changing step, full of new adventures and experiences.

A friend of mine started to work for Accenture and told me about a new role in his team. Getting a good job opportunity right after graduation was not that easy back home, so I decided to send my application. A month later I was living in Warsaw, working as a Junior Accountant with Portuguese. Currently, I am the Accounts Payable Team Lead. I am constantly learning in my job &ndash; meeting people from other cultures allows me to see things from new perspectives.

My team has always been very international &ndash; made up of people who decided to move to Poland, just like me. It really helps a lot, when there is someone you can relate to. A constantly changing environment like ours requires you to quickly adapt to new challenges. In my team, we always try to come up with new ideas on how to improve and automate our processes.

The fact that Accenture works with clients from so many different backgrounds allows us to see a bigger picture. Looking back, I am extremely happy that I took this chance, I can now call Poland my home.

Gonçalo

Gonçalo - Finance & Accounting, Accenture Operations Poland. Join us!

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

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

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

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

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

Accenture Operations

Nordea Bank Abp SA Oddział w Polsce

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.

Meet Joonas from Nordea

From footballer to team leader. 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;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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="http://dev.careersinpoland.com/media/file/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;

Marco and his work at Nordea

The Scandinavian way of working - Marco from 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;