Work and Travel in Poland

VOLUNTEER AND PAID WORK OPPORTUNITIES IN POLAND FOR TRAVELLERS

Do you want to make your European backpacking trip that little bit more memorable?

Then think about work and travel in Poland. There are more volunteering opportunities in Poland than ever before. With great food, interesting people, and a colourful history this is the place to come if you want to see a different side of Europe. From little villages to sprawling cities, Poland has everything you could ever want on a Eurotrip

Let’s take a look at the volunteering projects the travel guides for Poland won’t tell you about.

1. Teach English in the Karkonosze Mountains

Teaching English in Poland has become something of a staple of volunteering in this part of the world. Organisations have sprung up throughout the country. One of the most exciting venues for teaching English in Poland is in the Karkonosze Mountains.

In the south-west of the country, you’ll go away for one or two weeks to a resort high in the mountains. You’ll be teaching children how to speak English. There’s no need for any formal qualifications just as long as you’re a native English speaker.

And there are lots of venues all over the country you can do this in.

2. Work in Hostels in Poland

Poland is now officially on the main backpacking trail in Europe. That’s led to hostels both rural and urban popping up. Due to its position in Europe, there’s potential for picking up hostel jobs at any time of the year.

Most of these jobs aren’t too strenuous and only require a few hours a day of your time to complete basic tasks. They’ll always offer free accommodation and some of them may even offer cooked meals.

It’s a great way to extend your stay as you travel in Poland.

3. Farming in the Polish Countryside

Rural communities often struggle to recruit workers during their busy periods because people are all moving into the major cities. That’s why some farmers have started taking in people who want to work in Poland. As you work and travel in Poland you can move through various farms and ranches.

You could be looking after horses or just helping out with the harvest. Sometimes you may be helping with construction projects. It all depends on your skills.

This is an excellent way to get a taste of the real Poland!

VOLUNTEER WORK VISA / PERMIT REQUIREMENTS FOR POLAND

Poland is part of the Schengen area, which gives all EU citizens the right to work and travel in Poland for as long as they like. You don’t need to fill in any paperwork and there won’t even be a border check as you cross into the country. Prior to Brexit occurring in 2019, this also applies to UK citizens.

Citizens of the United States and Canada must get a Schengen visa on arrival, which entitles them to 90 days in the entire Schengen zone. But this doesn’t give them the right to take on paid work in Poland.

The same principle applies to citizens of New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and Japan.

South African citizens and people from Russia must apply for a formal Schengen visa at an embassy. Again, this doesn’t entitle the person to work in the Schengen zone.

SEASONAL BACKPACKER SKILLS NEEDED IN POLAND

SPRING WORK

Spring time in Poland can still be extremely cold, but temperatures quickly begin to rise. The spring time is a fantastic time to start working in the rural areas as this is when farmers tend to be extremely busy. They often need extra hands to help them out.

You should apply for this sort of work in winter so as to be sure of a place. However, farmers are often in such desperate need of volunteers that you can apply at short notice and find work.

SUMMER JOBS

Summer time in Poland is when temperatures are high and there’s a big rush of tourists coming into the country. This is when English teaching programmes are at their most active. You can apply to these just a few weeks in advance and be almost certain of a place on your desired programme.

It’s also a good time to head to big cities like Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk, and Wroclaw to find work in hostels. They tend to have a big need for volunteers at this time of year.

AUTUMN

The only real seasonal work in autumn is within farming communities. The reason for this is that autumn is the harvest season. Farmers often need help harvesting their crops that they’ve been growing for the whole year thus far. You may also be asked to help look after the animals as they prepare to put them inside for the winter season.

Other than that, there are no real seasonal skills needed in Poland throughout this season.

WINTER

Winter in Poland brings a lot of snow and bitterly cold temperatures. If you can brave them, you should take a look into ski resorts and other winter camps for kids. The main ski resorts tend to be in the southern, more mountainous areas. Many winter camps for kids are also present here.

There’s even a trend of combining English teaching camps with winter sports. So throughout the day you might be teaching English and showing the children how to ski at the same time.

It’s even possible to find paid work on the ski slopes, if you have all your papers in order.

ATTITUDE TO FOREIGNERS WORKING OR VOLUNTEERING IN POLAND

Poland has become an integral part of the European community in the past few years. It has opened its doors and a lot of foreigners now live in the urban area. For most people, they’re not going to experience any problems with the locals as they work and travel in Poland.

However, Poland does have a difficult problem with racism. There are few people of colour within the country and it’s rare for most Poles to ever see a person who isn’t white. That can bring outright hostility in many areas of Poland if you do happen to be a person of colour.

You should be aware of that before you start to work in Poland as other travellers of colour have experienced problems in the past.

Do you want to work and travel in Poland?