[Petereck]

Hi there!
I have completed technical secondary school this year (I'm 20) in Poland. I work as freelance web developer for 4 years (PHP very good, MySQL strong basics, HTML excellent, CSS excellent, JS/AJAX/jQuery basics).

So I don't have academic education yet. I'm planning to start studying computer science this year, but I hit on an idea to emigrate to London (or Dublin/Amsterdam/Madrit/Barcelona maybe?) for one year, then come back to Poland and start studying here. The goal is to improve my English skills, enhance some work exp, get to know how living abroad looks like, meet new people/cultures.

My main fear and problem is English language level. Usually I don't have problems with reading and writing, but speaking and listening is not my strong competence. My English isn't fluent and is not very good currently (I think it's communicative, but in small/middle level).

My experience: > 30 websites (with CMS, etc) [within this few bigger portals], few computer programs. I worked in a advertising agency (half year in 2010); now I cooperate for 1,5 year with another ad agency which gives me websites to create. I will try to get references from most of my clients and from my bosses of that advertising agencies.

What do you think, do I have some chances to get some job as junior web developer / PHP programmer?

Thank you in advance for your help and advices. Regards!!!

[Ryano121]

Your experience should help you out, however the language barrier could prove to be very tricky indeed.

To be honest your guess is as good as mine. You could be lucky and land yourself something, but in my opinion you could struggle. Jobs over here at the moment can be very very competitive - especially around the London area. You see people with masses of qualifications turned away like a flash.

Personally I would hate working with someone who struggles with the language (maybe I'm a douche). But to be honest I don't want the extra hassle of trying to get across my point to someone who doesn't have a firm grip of the language. But hey maybe there are plenty of companies out there who wouldn't mind.

You could try it, but don't get your hopes up. I would say try to improve you speaking as much as you can before even trying in the London area anyway. As I say it gets very competitive at the moment.

Good luck to you.

[Petereck]

Hey, thanks for your opinion.
I will be grateful for answer from other persons as well

[Petereck]

Anyone?
I will be grateful for opinions

[Bluezap]

I think that the Language problem may affect you in the long run as well and as Ryano121 said even i would be a little skeptical about hiring someone who would not understand me well.
But my suggestion to is that if you are really motivated to land a good job you should take a small course in English (nothing major just simple)and improve a bit.
Other than that your experience is commendable and you would look pretty good on your resume.
And since you also do have experience working with others i think that you will be just fine

Good luck to you!

[darek9576]

I think the problem is not the language but landing the job. Employers want you to have a degree. Sometimes, a relevant work experience will do but try to get a job while you are in PL and then move.

[PixelBit]

Communication is one of the most important things in the work place, especially where you will have to constantly seek confirmation of your employer to make sure that the employment is going in the direction that they want it to go. So I think that the whole language barrier thing will be the most major problem.

If you have some good references and a decent portfolio of your work that will help you immensely however, over here experience is key to landing yourself a job at the moment, although qualifications would help...

All you can do is try and do your best right? Worst comes to the worst you can freelance via the internet right? Then it doesn't particularity matter

Good luck,
~Jamal

[Trend-Bgi]

Don't go to Barcelona or Madrid if you want to learn English

I'm speaking of experience

But yes an experience in an English speaking country can only be a "plus".

I can only recommend you the Erasmus academic exchange program. I did it, it's a good way to learn a foreign language without losing a year of studies.

Regards,