Jobs in Dnepropetrovsk

[Christopher]

   I have met a girl in Denpr and was thinking about looking for a job there so I could spend a long period of time with her and her daughter.  I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to go about finding a job there.  I work as a computer system administrator.  We run Debian on the server and also some of the machines along with a few windows boxes.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[dat5150]

Do a search on 'TEFL' = teaching english as a foreign language.  There are opportunities all over the world to teach english outside the US and GB and you don't have to speak the language of the country you are teaching.

[Christopher]

I have looked through the TEFL stuff before and did not really find anything.  I was hoping that someone may know of a contact there to get in touch with.  Thanks for trying though.

[ronin308]

Christopher, I doubt you're going to get a sysadmin job there unless you speak Russian fairly well.  TEFL jobs are about the only good shot.

A better thing to do is either get a good high speed line or hook up with an internet cafe and try for remote admin jobs.  http://www.guru.com has been a good source for this, I thought of doing this while staying with my fiance in Ukraine. 

Remember you don't need as much money to live there, especially if you're with a local.  You could probably get by with as little as 10 hours a month of consulting work.

[Christopher]

Thanks for the link ronin.  I was in Dnepr over Christmas and it was cheap exept for renting an apartment through the agency.  Remote admin has a lot of potential.  I have started to learn Russian using the Pimsleur course and thought that finding a job there would move things along.  Dealing with poeple 8+ hours a day would force me to memorize the Russian better and would also reinforce what I have learned.

[ronin308]

The problem is that you will need a lot more than the Pimsleur just to be able to get a job in the first place.  Think of it this way, would your current company hire someone to replace you with someone who could only speak a few words in english?  Unless you consider jobs with menial labor which aren't going to pay a living wage. (It's one reason why you find several generations living under one roof)

You are right that immersing yourself is a good bet to learn the language, everytime I come back from Ukraine I get a little better but still not enough to consider looking for a professional job there. 

As to the apartment, I'd have your gf look for you, you'd be surpised how much cheaper the apartments will be but you might have to live with certain "defects"

 

[Christopher]

You would be shocked at some of the people with poor English speaking skills that I have met here in the states who are programmers.  I asked my gf about helping me find an apartment but I think the agency is encouraging her not to help me.

[ronin308]

I work in the SF bay area so I know about programmers with poor english skills, but the demand for them is high enough that they will get hired in spite of their english. 

The question they will be facing is why hire someone with trouble with the language over someone who has the same knowledge of the job but is fluent in Russian? 

I'm not trying to discourage you but the fact is unless you're really good with languages it's going to take you 3 months at 4 hours a day to get to the point you can even go for an interview and expect to pass it at a "professional" level job.  Remember that the "professional" level job is still only going to pay around $500 a month.

The other option is to check with some of the ex-pat websites to see if any American companies are looking to send people overseas.  This is tough though because most companies simply take their overseas staff from within.

I'm not sure what you found for TEFL jobs but it's not a bad option for you to do something with low stress and puts you in an environment to learn russian while at the same time allows a good amount of time to spend with the GF.  Yes, it's not high pay, but then again most jobs in russia aren't either.

[Ronnie]

Hello Christopher,

My wife Iryna is from Dnipropetrov'sk.  We'll be married two years in June.  Defore bringing Iriyna and her son Dima to the US on a K-1/2 visa, (my 3rd) I lived in Dnepr for the better part of a year and conducted my travel business over the telephone using a callback service) and email. 

It sounds, however like you are employed and not running your own business.  You've said only that you "met" a woman but didn't elaborate on how much time you've spent together or the present state of your relationship.  You will never be able to make enough money working in Ukraine to support your minimal US-based expenses so you'd need to sell or store everying before you go. 

As to learning the language, this can only happen with extended time there.. I've spoken Russian every day for the past 3 years and still wouldn't feel competent to compete for a technology job in Ukraine.  Even if I could, why would I work for a whole month just to earn what takes a day or two to earn in the states?  Better to save money and vacation time and go to Ukraine several times a year for about 3-4 weeks at a time. 

By the way, most relationships take weeks or months (not days) to develop and often they develop into a "no go" situation.  My wife was relationship number 12 or 13 so stay flexible if you want a good result.

Ronnie

 

 

[Christopher]

Out of curiosity you wouldn' t happen to have any contact information with a local for getting an apartment would you?