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Relocated: from Ukraine to Austria
Current employer: BWIN International Ltd.
Position: Developer
Date started: 16 Jun 2008
- Why did you decide to work abroad? Were you looking for a vacancy in any specific country?
I’ve always wanted to gain experience working in a company(-ies) abroad, and I was always opened to any opportunity for building a successful career. So I’d say my decision was made while studying at the university – but there were no real good chances. List of possible countries to relocate to and work was limited in my case to small amount of countries with high standards of living.
- Did you have any doubts in the successful outcome of your application with Ciklum Relocation for a chosen vacancy?
Ciklum Relocation was the first program of this kind I participated in. Sure, there were doubts, but fortunately everything worked out fine.
- Why did you accept the job offer from your current employer? What do you enjoy most about working at BWIN International Ltd.?
I was satisfied with work proposal, relocation conditions and support from my company’s side. The most enjoying features of working at BWIN for me are probably the possibilities to work in a friendly environment within a team of people who like their jobs, and gaining new professional experience and skills.
- Did you relocate alone or with your family?
My wife is going to join me here in Vienna soon, she’s still in Ukraine now.
- What was your best moment during your first working days at the new place?
In terms of the city, of course it’s 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, the final of which was held at the end of June in Vienna – atmosphere in the city was really special.
In terms of workplace, there were many bright moments (another people, another language, another methods of work). But the most surprising thing for me was amount of Russian/Ukrainian-speaking people working in a company and my new team – I have been preparing myself to work in German/English-speaking environment only.
- What new experience did you gain at your current position? Do you have possibility to learn or vice versa – do you share knowledge with others?
Strict binding to appropriate development methodology (SCRUM), and a new way of project life-cycle planning were the most admittable things in the new working environment in comparison to my previous places of work.
- What new experience did you gain at your current position? Do you have a chance to learn or you only share your knowledge with others?
New experience is being gained every day – programming skills, people management, time planning, extending domain knowledge – it’s hard to list everything. Possibilities to learn something new and share your knowledge among interested persons rise all the time.
- Are you a part of an international team at your current place of employment? Is there a language barrier between your team-mates?
BWIN is really an international company and I guess there is no team with heterogeneous compound in terms of nationality and language. My team is not the exception. The official work language is English, everybody should know it, and so there are no problems such as language barriers. For those who would like to learn German, or improve language skills, special courses exist. For those who would like to communicate in Russian – “special” people exist :) .
- How long did the process of adaptation to the new environment take place for you? In terms of everything being new: the country, company, team, and even your flat.
Adaptation to the new environment went in my case surprisingly fast and well. Vienna is an international city with many nationalities’ representatives, so you don’t really feel here that you’re alone just because you came from another country. Of course, as a precondition to a successful adaptation one should learn official country language – with my English skills and basics in German I felt here very calm and comfortable.
Luckily, my company proposed me a very friendly environment for work, and people I work with behave very professional. And as I worked previously with English speaking customers – I’d say there was almost no need in adaptation to the new work environment.
As for the apartment question – well, it’s the most actual topic here, as well as in any other country. It’s hard to find something good and cheap, and even if you find something suitable, you should have about 2000 euro at the start to move in. For half a year I lived in kind of youth hostel, and it was great time I spent there, met interesting people and improved my German a little bit :). Then I’ve found a flat, where at the moment I live and wait for my wife to arrive here in Vienna.
- Do you have an opportunity to keep in touch with your family and friends? Do they visit you?
Sure I have a possibility to keep in touch with my friends and family. Long live the Internet, and God bless inventors of Google and Skype!
Unfortunately, the most problematic milestones for my family and friends on their way here to visit me in Vienna are getting an entry visa, and the financial question – as a financial crisis always hits heavily on persons’ wallets.
- Did you have a chance to travel around Austria or to any neighbor-countries?
Yes I did. I’ve been able to catch some special proposals from the national railway companies and low-cost airlines. I visited a couple of neighbor-countries and Austrian cities. Hope to visit many more places in the future.
- Is there anything else you would like to add?
I would like to thank Ciklum for assistance in my relocation (special thanks to my relocation manager – Alexandra Yakimchuk :) ). Due to support I had, my relocation process went very well.
Oh, and happy head-hunting in the future, of course!
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