Lady Zelda

Anica,

Were you born in Hungary? As per what your are writing, that your parents live in Fonyod, I assume that you did grow up in this country, therefore you do not need a lot of advice from all those who moved here recently. You must know better than us how the Hungarian system works, and where you can seek better job opportunities for an Emglish speaker man.

I think you should give us advice on how these things work here. However, luckily we do not need to work here ever!

You probably know how employers here interview people for a job, then give the job either to their family members or to their close friends and their friends first, and only then you can stand for a second chance.
I myself have some experience of this bizzare system because I lived here for 4 years in the 90s. Moving back to Hungary last year it seems that not much has been changed since I left this country in 1996. Here, I do not mean the development of the country, but the mentality and the way people interract with one another.

Maybe I live in a wealthier area near Gyor, but I can see on daily basis what is going on, as my daughter and her partner tell us the stories. My daughter's partner has a Masters in Electronics, has a very good job, but he still does not feel secure at his work place, as the boss has the power to make anybody redundant as he pleases. They tell you no reason for why, when they do it, no explanation, no warning, nothing. They have got the right to do so...it is simple as that and nobody questions them....it is not right, but everybody is desperate for a job so people keep their heads down. That is the reality in the workforce area. You better be aware of this when your husband will seek employment here. Is he qualified at a degree level? That may help him to get a job quicker, just like everywhere else these days. Certainly you do not want him to work for minimum wages in Hu. Think twice before you move.

Well, you have to make your research and good luck for it! At least you know where the big cities and the better work opportunities can be found.

I know less than you about this country, I am pretty certain, but advice is always welcome and it is free, isn't it?

All the best with your new baby and achieving your dreams! Believe in it and you will be alright.


LZ x

Peter_in_Hungary

We came here to farm, following a career change opportunity (redundancy) the UK was too expensive and as I married a Hungarian and the political system was / had changed Hungary seemed a good idea at the time. We are still here 20 years later and all things considered we are glad we made the move. We came with 2 kids, 5 and 9 and both have / will have technical Masters Degrees. The education system IMO is better than the UK. The country is safer and the bureaucracy is worse than the UK.

As has been said above a lot of the Brits move here for the summers, lifestyle and cheaper cost of living. But the cost of living is only cheaper IMO if you are on an English pension, or have UK rented property income or UK salary. As was said above wages / salarys are about 1/3 of the UK (IMO or less) but day to day items are not correspondingly 1/3 to 1/4 cheaper. Housing is cheaper, a decent house in a town, perhaps 60,000 Pounds and in a village about 40,000 Pounds (area dependent), but fuel at Ł1.12p per liter is considerably more than the UK if the wages are 1/3 to 1/4. My local garage charges 10 pounds / hour by way of an example.

IMO employment will be a bit difficult if you have no Hungarian. When we started my wife had work as a translator / interpreter (mostly legal) and I was building up the farm, so we both worked at home and I did not need much (any) Hungarian. My son has a job that uses English as the company language (and to the customers) but Hungarian is still the language of the office. Time spent doing an intensive course in Hungarian before you come will pay dividends.

Apart from those mentioned above who work for a UK company from home and home happens to be in Hungary, I know of others who have done similar. This might offer the best solution.

By the way we are on the north side of the Balaton in the Tapolca area and we are very pleased to have found it 20 years ago!

anicarlteddy

Good evening all

Thank you for the many responses. One option we are considering would be to live near the border and commute to Austria. Any suggestions of cities or towns that have work in Austria?

Thanks

Rural Hungary

Hi, best looking through the links that were given and seeing where has the most vacancies fitting your requirements.

anicarlteddy

I left Hungary in my early twenties and only had summer jobs in between schools/uni so have no experience in how the system works :-)

Hubby keeps looking and will continue to do so until he finds something. But as many of you are saying, it is not easy to find a well paid job in Hungary. That is why we decided to be near Austria.

It is really nice to hear success stories! We will be traveling home again this summer and will most definitely go to a britexpats gettogether :-)

Please keep the suggestions coming and if you hear about any big companies near the border.

Thank you

Peter_in_Hungary

Does your husband speak German? If not then the comments regarding getting a job in Hungary without Hungarian I would expect to equally apply to Austria without German. Also in my experience houses and services tend to be a bit more expensive in the commuter towns near the Austrian boarder.