New members of the Romania forum, introduce yourself here – 3rd quarter of 2015

Aloha from Hawaii!  My name is Chris, I am seeking to re-locate to Bucharest as soon as possible.  I've done a lot of research already about cost-of-living, economy, visas/work permits, etc.

I've got 20+ years as a Software Developer/Manager, and by all accounts Romania has a shortage of IT talent, what with Romania being such an outsourcing hotspot for western Europe and the Romanian youngsters moving elsewhere for higher salaries.

I understand from my Romanian friend (she has a PhD in Human Resources and works at a multi-national company) that foreign IT people sometimes get 'insultingly high' salaries.  I am not interested in this level of salary.

I have done the research on payscales that Romanian developers with equivalent experience tend to receive, and have set my requirements accordingly.

For a few weeks I have had CVs posted on bestjobs.ro and ejobs.ro (thanks to thread a found on this site!), and to date I received one phone call to come in for an interview the next day, and a few views of my CV.  I get much better responses from companies here in the U.S., but I don't want to work here!

Is there perhaps some cultural subtlety that I am missing?  Or is it simply that Romanian companies do not wish to hire non-Romanians?  I've seen a few hints of that in the forums.

Thanks in advance for any feedback on this.

Chris

Hi Chris and welcome,

There could be a few reasons.

Firstly, more companies will post jobs and then just view the CVs of people who apply. Fewer company actively search for the people they need. Secondly, there could be the perception that you'll ask for a ridiculously high salary so they don't even bother reading your CV (where perhaps you've mentioned your more reasonable salary expectations). Thirdly, if you have listed your current location as Hawaii, you could be getting filtered out by recruiters searching for people for jobs in Bucharest. Fourthly, they might prefer someone with Romanian language skills (I'm assuming you're not fluent in Romanian). Lastly, they might be put off by the fact that as a US citizen: they'd have to jump through a lot of hoops to secure you a work permit, whereas they can employ Romanians, or indeed any EU citizens, with no extra effort whatsoever.

Wow, Maykal, thanks for such a speedy and helpful, if somewhat disheartening reply!

I  wonder if it would help any if I was already in Bucharest, on my 90-day tourist stay?

I would think to get someone with a lot of useful experience at a decent price might be worth it to some enterprising IT company there.

Thank again, you've given me some important things to consider.

Chris

bitmonki wrote:

I  wonder if it would help any if I was already in Bucharest, on my 90-day tourist stay?

I would think to get someone with a lot of useful experience at a decent price might be worth it to some enterprising IT company there.

Hi Chris,

Unfortunately, I think it would not be likely to help if you were here on the tourist visa....but hey, you can try.

Yeah, you'd think it would be worth it....but don't count on that logic working here   There's a lot of multinational IT companies in Bucharest, Iasi and Cluj now...and there big reason is, skilled (or semi-skilled as I often see) labor at bargain basement prices.  If they can pay a Romanian Jr developer 400-500 Euro a month to code their rear off 5-6 days a week, why pay a foreigner more?  Do you really want to come here and possibly work for peanuts (compared to what you might be used to)? It's hard for many people to go from making say 80K+ a year and come here and be offered a fraction of that.  Also, as Maykal mentioned, in many cases you need to know Romanian well (and often yet another language like Italian or German, etc), especially if you want to get into management.

Recently a friend of mine was living over here, a Radiology tech with 20+ years experience, managed radiology clinics in large hospitals in the D.C area, very well qualified, except....he was learning Romanian, but he learned to Romanian terminology related to his job, and some basic conversational stuff.  Anyway he jumped through all the hoops he could, but he couldn't get his credentials recognized here, other clinics didn't understand that he was married to a Romanian and already had the right to work here, and most wanted to pay him of course a standard Romanian's wage.  Anyway, a year later, he's back in D.C now where he can easily work, for good money.

Good luck
Romaniac

Sorry to jump in but I've been job searching like a mad woman. My skills with Romanian are intermediate but I expect to be pretty close to fluent by the time I get to Romania in October. I've never made much money, as I'm from South Carolina and the cost of living is not much higher than Bucharest here. I have no expectations of salary whatsoever!

hi. everyone. im Charmaine. im currently employed  as data entry operator in a Business Process Outsourcing company. but i would like to look for a job im Romania.

Aloha! Actually, I don't know the answer as to why you've found it difficult to get an interview, but we're always looking for talented people in our Bucharest office. Not sure if it's ok to have you send a resume through DM here, check the forum rules and if so, I'll make sure you get an interview.

Hey Expats, good to be here. I'm from Utah, working in Bucharest for a technology company. I'm involved in the marketing side of the business and spend 1 to 2 weeks in Romania every 6 weeks or so. Not regular enough to call myself a true Expat, but regular enough to have an apartment, a Vespa, and some favorite places!  Looking forward to meeting more of "us" to call on when the language and cultural gap starts to get to me (actually, I love the Romanian people and pretty much everything about Romania, but would still be cool to know who else is here and doesn't QUITE fit in.

Hello guys~~ I'm Monica and currently am living in Bucharest as an University student. I discovered this forum searching for South Korean expats in Romania and while I did not found any here,am interest to help you learn Romanian language. So if you live in the capital and need some help with it and/or a friend and in exchange you can also help me strengthen my English skills,give me a sign and we'll see how things go:)

Have a good night everyone~
Monica

PS: I moved the thread here from general messages,sorry for the previous mistake

1nman wrote:

Hey Expats, good to be here. I'm from Utah, working in Bucharest for a technology company. I'm involved in the marketing side of the business and spend 1 to 2 weeks in Romania every 6 weeks or so. Not regular enough to call myself a true Expat, but regular enough to have an apartment, a Vespa, and some favorite places!  Looking forward to meeting more of "us" to call on when the language and cultural gap starts to get to me (actually, I love the Romanian people and pretty much everything about Romania, but would still be cool to know who else is here and doesn't QUITE fit in.

Welcome!

I used to live in SLC, it was probably the best place I've lived in, in the US

When you are free we can hangout in Bucharest..
Have a nice day

hello! I am talida and i'm living in buchrest i can help you with romanian language and you wil help me with english. I am 28 years old and i am economist.

Have a nice day !

TALIDA wrote:

hello! I am talida and i'm living in buchrest i can help you with romanian language and you wil help me with english. I am 28 years old and i am economist.

Have a nice day !

Please post language exchange requests in other threads, like the one you already started "i'm looking for English speakers"

Also, please do not post personal contact information in the public forum, this is for your own security.  I kindly ask that you review the Romania Forum Code of Conduct, so that you may understand the rules of Expat.com and to have a better experience here.

Thank you Talida!

Romaniac
Romania Expat Advisor

Hello I am John(Indian citizen)...I am getting married to a Romanian girl....I have browsed through  some important information  on expat,  however would request help from any Indians who have got married to a Romanian and living in Romania....any help in this matter is highly appreciated....

Hello everyone, im kinda new here and new in Romania, im going there in 2 days, with my 4 month baby boy,curious if there are  anyone living in Iasi? and what about jobs in Romania, is it hard to get one if you dont know the language? P.S im from Lithuania.

Hello, I'm a woman, 32, Haitian-French, married to a Romanian, we've just relocated to Snagov in Ilfov, near Bucharest. I am/we are seeking to meet interesting people, expats or locals alike. We've traveled a lot, all over the world, we speak fluent French, Spanish, English and Romanian. We're quite dynamic and enjoy a LOT of things: arts, culture, travel, cinema, animals, nature, hiking, scuba, sailing, dining, latin dance, clubbing, and more.

MargaritaLTU wrote:

Hello everyone, im kinda new here and new in Romania, im going there in 2 days, with my 4 month baby boy,curious if there are  anyone living in Iasi? and what about jobs in Romania, is it hard to get one if you dont know the language? P.S im from Lithuania.

Welcome Margarita,

I'm in Iasi, feel free to message me or start a topic in the forum if you have any questions about the city or Romania in general that are not addressed   To answer your question though, yes it can be quite difficult if not impossible to get a job without knowing Romanian.

Romaniac
Romania Expat Advisor

Good Day / Buna Ziua!

I'm Mike from Victoria Canada, an aspiring future expat in Romania.  I love Romania! I'm a musician and I study and specialize in Romanian folk and lautari music.  Studying the language too, it's coming along.  I will be arriving in fall 2015 and hope to find a place to rent (modest preferably) for October-November-December.  Hopefully can stay longer, will work at it.  Nice to meet you all, thanks for reading my introduction.  Ciao,  Mike Wells

I am living currently in india.i am looking any kind of job in Romania. So plz tell me more info how can I get job there with work permit?

Kawyans wrote:

I am living currently in india.i am looking any kind of job in Romania. So plz tell me more info how can I get job there with work permit?

You've already asked this question in another thread, and I've answered you about it.  Please refer to the appropriate topic.  Thanks

Romaniac

Hello!

My name is Ingrid and I just moved to Bucharest (and Mangalia) from the United States with my fiancé. We have a property in Mangalia and an apartment in Bucharest. We are beginning an artist residency in Mangalia. I have ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching experience, as well as a background in arts administration, painting, art history, etc. I run a boutique copyediting and arts services business bonnieonline.com that focuses on building artists' websites, copyediting art writing, translation services, providing artist PR, etc.

My fiancé is a mechanic with a specific interest in rebuilding mopeds.

If you know of anyone who would like private English tutoring (or German tutoring, as I have German teaching experience as well) please direct them to me. I have a Masters degree in Critical Theory as well, and experience teaching theory of contemporary art, studio art courses, etc. at the college level. I am hoping to pursue my PhD in Europe, as well as land a university teaching position. We do not know many people in Romania (besides my family) and we would love to make some new friends. Please PM us if you would like to meet up as we would love to explore the city further.

Pleased to meet you!

Hi!
I'm miejoong from south korea, interested in a visit to romania and other countries nearby, hopefully for a lengthy period.
i've lived in the u.s. for for a while, and visited a few other countries, all of which i enjoyed a lot.
i'm a translator (english-korean) and mostly work online.
based on my research, romania seems to have nice combination of great internet speed and access, affordable living expenses, and a sizable native population that speaks english, which are requirements for me.
i haven't looked around much in this forum yet, and i'm hoping to dive in and learn more about living in romania!
just looking through the posts on this thread is giving me some ideas about what it would be like living there. thanks!

Hello I am Jonathan living in Romania Bucharest a Liberian

Hi I'm Louise. I began my ESL career in Bucharest back in 2007 and had a good time but no money. Since then I have lived in Russia, Japan, Italy, Australia and last year in Saudi Arabia (Where I had money but not a good time).
I've moved to Iasi where I will be working at the British council.

Hoping to make some friends and to explore the country, get some hiking in and improving my fuarte rau Romanian skills.

Hi Everyone,

I'm Cameron and from London. I'm going to be starting an internship with Sustainalytics in Bucharest in a couple of weeks. I've heard good things about Romania and am looking forward to exploring and meeting new people If anyone fancies a drink or a coffee at the end of September get in touch with me and lets see if we have any shared interests.

Cheers,
Cameron

Hi my name is Stephanie. I'm from Pennsylvania in the US and I'm moving to Constanta this winter for work.  I'm trying to get some information on the local area and culture. Specifically I'm trying to figure the housing availability because my dog is moving with me. I'm also hoping to connect with some other expats in the area so I'll know someone! I'm working hard on learning Romanian and I'm doing okay with the basics and I still have a few months. If anyone is around the Constanta area or can fill me in on housing differences between the US and Romania I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

Hi... This is Ricardo expat... writing from Mexico City... fluent in Spanish and English... Some German, Italian and current studying Romana... I a have worked for many years in the telecommunications industry. I took a long sabbatical but am ready to start anew in Romania... Many questions already answer by other job/seekers relocators to Romania... Am a true Angelino... from well.. none other that LA... The county with the largest parking structure known to mankind.... Yes.. Freeways...

LUV from
Mexico
Guadalajara...

CHEERS

Hi, I'm Chris. Just started living in Bucharest(Universitate area) for at least the next 3 months. I'm an American from near Detroit. Just found the blog online. Hi!

Welcome newcomers, hope to see you interact on some topics in the forum soon

Romaniac
Romania Expat Advisor
Expat-Blog

Buna Sera Romania !

JoelMoraes wrote:

Buna Sera Romania !

Hello,

That's not an introduction.  Try again please with some meaningful content. Tell us a bit about yourself, what are you doing in Romania?  Also, please remember to use ENGLISH, as this is the language of the forum. Thanks

Romaniac

Moving to arad in october! Any students moving for university aswell?

Hi all,
I am planning to study Medicine in Romania in the university of Costanza. Like to know if there are also Nigerian students...Or students that speak english very well amd foreignars that can give me more helpful Informations about the place.Contact me

Hi, I'm Freddy, and I'm an alcoholic. Well, really I'm a chauffeur in San Francisco using Google maps to try to find an interesting small town within a couple of hours of Bucharest. I lived in a small town next Prague for the better part of a decade and am ready to skip America again in June 2016. Any suggestions?

I signed up and lurked around for a while.  Time to introduce myself and get this ball rolling.  My wife, son, dog, and I are working on a move to Brasov.  Hope to be there in a couple months 

Hi keith.sounds like you have a plan. just make sure you want to move here. itslike apples and oranges compared to the USA or canada for sure.im still going thriugh culture shock after almost 1 year of bieng here.lots to absorbe.sometimes the language barrier bothers me but i just nod and smile and say da(yes) lol i am a chef and i was so lucky to find work in a all engkish speaking restaurant so i am pretty happy about that.although i was all set to retire but im much to young. keep whatching videos on you tube on romania. type in americans living in romania you willsee how they adjusted. patrick

Hi, I'm Gregor Zebec. Next month i start to work in Bucharest, so i need an apartment. if somebody knows nice apartment with good price please let me know.

Thanks.

A reminder to all please that the topic here is introduction of new members to the forum.  Let's please stick to that, and ask questions or discuss other topics in appropriate threads.

Thanks for cooperating, and welcome.

Romaniac
Romania Expat Advisor
Expat-Blog