4 ms·

Thanks for the reply! Sounds like family background (for Irish and hence EU citizenship) and timing (before more restrictive Czech laws) worked out well in you

Thanks for the reply! Sounds like family background (for Irish and hence EU citizenship) and timing (before more restrictive Czech laws) worked out well in your case. Also sounds like it's harder today. But maybe with dedication, and by working with an agency (as you suggest) it's still possible. And as the first job you mentioned (in Brno) demonstrates, personal networks are also very important. The TEFL idea is also interesting as a "retirement job", even if in the end you found other opportunities. All food for thought.

lproven 3y ago
Of course it is much harder for Brits today, because of Brexit. But I met people working in Czechia from all over the world, from far outside the EU. It is still perfectly doable. There are companies and free services which will help you. Brits looking to go abroad, I suspect, look (or looked) first at Western Europe. It's close, it's familiar from holidays and so on. There is a perception that Eastern Europe is poor and deprived and there's nothing to go there for. (Sorry to my many Czech friends: to the rest of the world, Czechoslovakia is Eastern, even though it's west of Austria. Czechs like it to be called Central Europe.) This is not true. It is a land of opportunity at present, with lots of foreigners there for work. There are lots of jobs and a need for workers with foreign languages, and far less ageism than in the West. BUT salaries are low. It doesn't look appealing on paper. It should be, because the cost of living is very low in most ways, so a small paycheque goes a long way, but a salary in Brno of 1/2 to 1/3 of Berlin looks bad... but the cost of living is 1/3 to 1/4 so in fact it's a good deal. This is equally true of and for Americans. And they'll get healthcare and people don't have guns.

4 ms·

Thanks for the reply! Sounds like family background (for Irish and hence EU citizenship) and timing (before more restrictive Czech laws) worked out well in you

by FooBarBizBazz 3y ago

lproven 3y ago
Of course it is much harder for Brits today, because of Brexit. But I met people working in Czechia from all over the world, from far outside the EU. It is still perfectly doable. There are companies and free services which will help you. Brits looking to go abroad, I suspect, look (or looked) first at Western Europe. It's close, it's familiar from holidays and so on. There is a perception that Eastern Europe is poor and deprived and there's nothing to go there for. (Sorry to my many Czech friends: to the rest of the world, Czechoslovakia is Eastern, even though it's west of Austria. Czechs like it to be called Central Europe.) This is not true. It is a land of opportunity at present, with lots of foreigners there for work. There are lots of jobs and a need for workers with foreign languages, and far less ageism than in the West. BUT salaries are low. It doesn't look appealing on paper. It should be, because the cost of living is very low in most ways, so a small paycheque goes a long way, but a salary in Brno of 1/2 to 1/3 of Berlin looks bad... but the cost of living is 1/3 to 1/4 so in fact it's a good deal. This is equally true of and for Americans. And they'll get healthcare and people don't have guns.