Looking to move to Romania
Aug 5th 2013, 3:51 am
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1
Looking to move to Romania
Hi guys,
first time poster here.
im looking for anyone with any experience in Romania to lend a little advice,
im 26 years old and have gotten sick of the UK, i have no degree and no trade skills, but i've done all the basic jobs, barman, labourer, farm hand, office worker, call centre operative, even spent time as a trainer and facilitator and over seeing a new internet project at my last job.
basically im looking for as much information as possible about trying to find a job, and tips on learning the language how people are treated being a brit in Romania.
im looking at mainly Bucharest also is it possible to rent a place for say 3 months at time, so i can try a trial run over there looking for basic work while i learn the language ?
any and all advice welcome
Rowe
first time poster here.
im looking for anyone with any experience in Romania to lend a little advice,
im 26 years old and have gotten sick of the UK, i have no degree and no trade skills, but i've done all the basic jobs, barman, labourer, farm hand, office worker, call centre operative, even spent time as a trainer and facilitator and over seeing a new internet project at my last job.
basically im looking for as much information as possible about trying to find a job, and tips on learning the language how people are treated being a brit in Romania.
im looking at mainly Bucharest also is it possible to rent a place for say 3 months at time, so i can try a trial run over there looking for basic work while i learn the language ?
any and all advice welcome
Rowe
Aug 5th 2013, 5:05 am
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2009
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Posts: 209
Re: Looking to move to Romania
Hi Rowe,
I think you've posted on another forum (GTS?) so you've already received some feedback from people there about the scarcity of work in Romania if you don't has specific or relevant skills, qualifications and language skills. Unskilled work pays very little and is often cash-in-hand. In the sticks, a farmworker or unskilled labourer gets about a tenner a day or less.
Rented for just three months is a possibility. If you have a Romanian friend over there (maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I assume you have some specific reason for choosing Romania) she could probably contact people who have apartments for rent and see if they would be willing to rent it for three months rather than signing the more usual yearly contract. You would probably have to pay the three months in advance, and maybe pay a little more than the usual yearly rent, but I'm sure there'll be landlords who'll go for that.
Of course, you could just rent a place for a year and take the hit if you leave early and break the contract - usually that'd be losing your deposit, typically a month's rent.
There are also places which rent out apartments by the month, but they're typically on the more expensive end of the scale and probably not what you're looking for.
As for learning the language, the only way is to throw yourself into it. I bought a copy of 'Teach Yourself Romanian' before I moved to Romania, and it helped a bit, but I learnt a lot more a lot more quickly by just going shopping on my own in markets and stuff (rather than supermarkets, where you don't need to speak Romanian particularly) or sorting things out on my own rather than getting a Romanian friend to translate all the time for me.
The other question you ask is how Brit are perceived/treated by Romanians. This is slightly changing due to recent circumstances in the UK. On the positive side, most Romanians have (or had) the idea that Brits are educated and civilized. You could be the most low-browed grunting illiterate bar crawling chav and they'd still automatically assume you've got a degree, speak perfect English, and would never do anything vulgar in public.
Recently Romanians have been going more and more on foreign package holidays and have frequently encountered the lager lout brigade, and various stag party goers, and then there is all the hideous racial shyte emanating from UKIP and their supporters, a lot of it confusing Romanians with Roma. A lot of this has lowered the average Romanian's opinion of the UK as a nation, although it won't necessarily have an impact on how they treat any Brit as an individual.
On the whole, a Brit will get treated quite well over here. If you're coming over as a single guy, being a Brit will make it easier to meet ladies (for the reasons outlined above mainly, that they assume you're more civilized, serious, marriage-minded, financially sensible, and so on) . For similar reasons, you'll often make a lot of 'friends' who think having foreign friends makes them in turn look more sophisticated, or that better opportunities might arise from having connections with the expat community, so you should expat a few 'groupies' of both sexes.
On the negative side, Romania, like many eastern countries, is one where price is often connected to the vendors perception of the buyer's ability to pay. You'll be perceived to be in a financially better position than the average Romanian, because they assume that in the west everyone has a great salary, savings, and so on (hence the wholesale immigration to western countries, many of which, like Spain, are probably in economically more depressed situations than Romania). Even if you plead poverty, point out you have no job and no savings, you're still likely to be overcharged as soon as they know you're a foreigner. Of course, most shops and stuff have fixed prices, so for your day-to-day shopping and bills you're fine, but that's why it's a good idea to get a Romanian friend to ring around asking for prices for things like rent.
Good luck
I think you've posted on another forum (GTS?) so you've already received some feedback from people there about the scarcity of work in Romania if you don't has specific or relevant skills, qualifications and language skills. Unskilled work pays very little and is often cash-in-hand. In the sticks, a farmworker or unskilled labourer gets about a tenner a day or less.
Rented for just three months is a possibility. If you have a Romanian friend over there (maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I assume you have some specific reason for choosing Romania) she could probably contact people who have apartments for rent and see if they would be willing to rent it for three months rather than signing the more usual yearly contract. You would probably have to pay the three months in advance, and maybe pay a little more than the usual yearly rent, but I'm sure there'll be landlords who'll go for that.
Of course, you could just rent a place for a year and take the hit if you leave early and break the contract - usually that'd be losing your deposit, typically a month's rent.
There are also places which rent out apartments by the month, but they're typically on the more expensive end of the scale and probably not what you're looking for.
As for learning the language, the only way is to throw yourself into it. I bought a copy of 'Teach Yourself Romanian' before I moved to Romania, and it helped a bit, but I learnt a lot more a lot more quickly by just going shopping on my own in markets and stuff (rather than supermarkets, where you don't need to speak Romanian particularly) or sorting things out on my own rather than getting a Romanian friend to translate all the time for me.
The other question you ask is how Brit are perceived/treated by Romanians. This is slightly changing due to recent circumstances in the UK. On the positive side, most Romanians have (or had) the idea that Brits are educated and civilized. You could be the most low-browed grunting illiterate bar crawling chav and they'd still automatically assume you've got a degree, speak perfect English, and would never do anything vulgar in public.
Recently Romanians have been going more and more on foreign package holidays and have frequently encountered the lager lout brigade, and various stag party goers, and then there is all the hideous racial shyte emanating from UKIP and their supporters, a lot of it confusing Romanians with Roma. A lot of this has lowered the average Romanian's opinion of the UK as a nation, although it won't necessarily have an impact on how they treat any Brit as an individual.
On the whole, a Brit will get treated quite well over here. If you're coming over as a single guy, being a Brit will make it easier to meet ladies (for the reasons outlined above mainly, that they assume you're more civilized, serious, marriage-minded, financially sensible, and so on) . For similar reasons, you'll often make a lot of 'friends' who think having foreign friends makes them in turn look more sophisticated, or that better opportunities might arise from having connections with the expat community, so you should expat a few 'groupies' of both sexes.
On the negative side, Romania, like many eastern countries, is one where price is often connected to the vendors perception of the buyer's ability to pay. You'll be perceived to be in a financially better position than the average Romanian, because they assume that in the west everyone has a great salary, savings, and so on (hence the wholesale immigration to western countries, many of which, like Spain, are probably in economically more depressed situations than Romania). Even if you plead poverty, point out you have no job and no savings, you're still likely to be overcharged as soon as they know you're a foreigner. Of course, most shops and stuff have fixed prices, so for your day-to-day shopping and bills you're fine, but that's why it's a good idea to get a Romanian friend to ring around asking for prices for things like rent.
Good luck
Apr 2nd 2014, 2:50 am
#3
Just Joined
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 1
Re: Looking to move to Romania
I am a 26 year old as well, with no degree, but I was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania. I know the forum is for British expats so this would probably be my only post.
I was looking for experiences from foreign visitors to my country that matched my experience for writing a book. You, sir, have just recreated the exact emotion I needed for creative purposes and I thank you.
@Rowe - I wanted to go and work in another country too, but the idea faded when faced with the reality that I love Romania too much to leave.
From experience I can tell you that if you don't have at least some specific skills the chances of getting a pretty good paid job (meaning about 1000E here) are pretty low. Try to do something that you like and get better and better at it (like programming - if you are good at it, nobody will ask for a degree) and you can live anywhere you want to. By the way, a lot of well paid jobs here are in programming / IT related domains.
I was looking for experiences from foreign visitors to my country that matched my experience for writing a book. You, sir, have just recreated the exact emotion I needed for creative purposes and I thank you. @Rowe - I wanted to go and work in another country too, but the idea faded when faced with the reality that I love Romania too much to leave.
From experience I can tell you that if you don't have at least some specific skills the chances of getting a pretty good paid job (meaning about 1000E here) are pretty low. Try to do something that you like and get better and better at it (like programming - if you are good at it, nobody will ask for a degree) and you can live anywhere you want to. By the way, a lot of well paid jobs here are in programming / IT related domains.
Apr 8th 2014, 7:56 pm
#4
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 2
Re: Looking to move to Romania
Hi Rowe
I live in Timisoara and studying in the Uni. This is my 2nd bachelor and did degrees in the UK and worked in big companies. Cutting the story short, like to say that Romania is better than UK in weather, friendly people and lots of opportunity to explore.
There are chances to be conned by the shops but the amount is so little compare to the UK. Romania is many times cheaper than the UK in many cases. If you can make some friends which is really east to make and start learning the language its lovely place to live. Excellent weather and very tasty food and even very fresh organic foods will give you a bewildering experience.
Romanian people are hard in outside but soft inside. The rules are look like so hard and fast but there are ways to consider and you feel the world is not bad. There is no economic punishment system like UK or Germany.
I heard that there is only problem to do business is a group of mafia who controls the businesses and corruption by government officials. You have to know the local musclemen and important people.
However, the growth of the businesses are well observed everywhere.
Its better to think about business than job as job prospect is so thin for any one if you are not highly qualified and coming in Romania as your job transfer.
Have a visit and enjoy the place- after all seeing is the believing.
I live in Timisoara and studying in the Uni. This is my 2nd bachelor and did degrees in the UK and worked in big companies. Cutting the story short, like to say that Romania is better than UK in weather, friendly people and lots of opportunity to explore.
There are chances to be conned by the shops but the amount is so little compare to the UK. Romania is many times cheaper than the UK in many cases. If you can make some friends which is really east to make and start learning the language its lovely place to live. Excellent weather and very tasty food and even very fresh organic foods will give you a bewildering experience.
Romanian people are hard in outside but soft inside. The rules are look like so hard and fast but there are ways to consider and you feel the world is not bad. There is no economic punishment system like UK or Germany.
I heard that there is only problem to do business is a group of mafia who controls the businesses and corruption by government officials. You have to know the local musclemen and important people.
However, the growth of the businesses are well observed everywhere.
Its better to think about business than job as job prospect is so thin for any one if you are not highly qualified and coming in Romania as your job transfer.
Have a visit and enjoy the place- after all seeing is the believing.
