Today I'll tell you about, perhaps, the most burning question for students - about work.
The money question for students has always been acute, and recently especially - after the ruble's fall even I thought about seriously cutting expenses.
Too lazy to read? There's a video version:
Preface
When I was leaving, I didn't plan to look for work so early - by calculations, money was enough for long. But money in Russia devalued strongly, so for safety I decided to find something.
Back in summer in Poděbrady I started doing freelance (translations) from boredom, but it didn't bring much money. In autumn the ruble finally slid, and I made the decision to look for work already in Czech firms. I'll say right away, searches went with varying success, but, in general, I'm satisfied - there were very many interesting vacancies.
Further I'll immediately free myself from responsibility: everything described below is the result of only my personal experience, for another individual person everything can be completely different. The article is written, rather, for general acquaintance and to spark interest among those who already thought about work, but for some reason didn't go further :)
When to start looking for work?
First, you still need to learn the language. As I already once wrote, you shouldn't think that because our languages are similar, you won't have problems with communication. Calmly pass language exams, enter institute and only then can you start looking for something.
I advise in summer to start composing a resume - think about who you'd like to work as. Try responding to vacancies even knowing in advance they won't take you - at least you'll see the real state of things, your real possibilities.
Then study the first semester, pass exams. If you feel there's a lot of free time - you can boldly move on to more active actions.
For me, for example, thanks to convenient schedule I got 2.5 free days a week, which I wanted to occupy with something.
I repeat - if there's no free time, if you can't handle studies - you shouldn't look for work. Calmly study, in the future studies will pay off.
First steps
What do you need to do if you confidently decided to find yourself work in Czech Republic?
First, you need to know that if you're a student - you have no work restrictions, you have so-called free entry to the Czech labor market ("Volný vstup na trh práce"). Many myths circulate on the internet, but the truth is much simpler - you can work as much as needed. Accordingly, monitor your residence permit status, don't create problems for yourself at university.
Then work on your resume. Of course, it needs to be in Czech language. I advise translating to English too.
Scan confirmation of studies, documents, certificates - over time, this may be useful (during registration this is constantly required).
Where to look for work?
So, you prepared mentally and physically. So where to start searching?
Personally I definitely advise first to look through bulletin boards at the department and faculty websites. I found my first job exactly this way, on the philosophy faculty page.
Then, it's worth looking on sites prace.cz and jobs.cz. Essentially, this is the same thing, you should look only for so-called "brigády" (part-time work).
You shouldn't ignore social networks either - so in Czech Republic Facebook is very popular - join job search groups, vacancies are added daily to them. It's worth noting that most often they look for unskilled workers there, but perhaps this is exactly what you're looking for.
Also I advise registering on LinkedIn - very helpful. I found the best exactly here.
Which vacancies to respond to?
I advise responding only to vacancies that suit exactly you. Don't grab at everything. Try to make work help your studies, not vice versa.
Also I advise avoiding unskilled labor: you shouldn't go into guides, distribute papers on the street - they pay pennies, no point.
I especially fervently advise ignoring vacancies with sales. Try to make the collective Czech - you shouldn't go work in a purely Russian environment, this could have been done at home. On the other hand, use knowledge of Russian language beneficially.
Cover letter
When you send a resume, don't forget to write cover letters too. I advise briefly noting that you're a foreign student, and you don't require any work permit. You shouldn't exaggerate your skills, in 100% of cases at interviews they asked me questions based on what I myself wrote.
Long wait
It's worth saying about one unpleasant feature for me - they respond here quite slowly. It happens that you'll have to wait for a response from two weeks to a month. So, for example, I found work, but not ideal, and the response to a better vacancy came too late - I had to let down the one who responded faster :)
Interviews
Suppose you were lucky, and they invited you to an interview. I say "lucky", because, by my observations, it's very difficult to say when they'll answer you, and when - not. Still it seems to me that quite often foreigners will still be ignored. Hold on :)
At interviews, in principle, nothing supernatural happens - in most cases you'll need to show your skills and that you're not an idiot. By my observations, if they invited me to an interview, success was 90% assured. Main thing - don't fall into a trap, show your knowledge of Czech language, communication skills.
How much money to ask for?
This question worries everyone looking for work. Aim for such rates - for unskilled work (waiters, builders, ad distributors at metro) they pay 60-90 crowns per hour, for more or less skilled (translations, reception) - 90-130, for technical and highly skilled - 130-200. We're talking, of course, only about part-time student work. In general, it's better to ask for more - in extreme case, they'll correct you, but the request should be adequate.
PS this data is accurate only at the time of writing the article
Registration for work, contracts.
Suppose they took you for work. Most likely, you'll have to sign a contract. In general, if work is one-time - you can get payment "in hand", but they can deceive you.
Most likely, they'll sign one of two types of contracts with you - DPP or DPČ.
DPP differs in that it allows you to work no more than 300 hours at one employer per year (accordingly, work turns out quite short-term)
DPČ allows you to work no more than 20 hours per week, without restrictions per year
You can also work as an individual entrepreneur, but I don't have experience in this yet.
Taxes, discounts, prohlášení poplatníka.
Unfortunately (or, fortunately?), you'll have to pay taxes. To calculate how much money you'll receive after tax deductions, you should use a calculator.
The only unknown item for you will be "prohlášení" aka "pink paper". For some reason in the Russian segment of the internet this paper isn't very well known. But it's definitely worth talking about it.
If you sign this paper when entering work, they'll give you a tax discount of more than 2000 crowns per month. Not bad, right? So what's the catch?
And the fact that you can sign it only at one employer. That is, for example, if you found work and signed this paper, and then found something better and now work at two jobs, at the second employer you can't sign it anymore. You'll have to first cancel it at the first. In general, quite tedious, but you'll understand as soon as you face this.
Salary is paid in 99% of cases by bank transfer, so definitely get a Czech bank card.
To sum up - a good employer will definitely sign a contract with you, remind him about "prohlášení"! Ignore dishonest employers, don't work under the table!
Work process
I hope that if you get to this point - it means everything is already good for you :) Actually, work in a new country is always fascinating and will definitely benefit you.