Working in Prague as an Expat

Could you give us a general overview of working in Prague the expat recruitment market in the Czech Republic?
In the post-financial-crisis period, there are more opportunities for expats working in Prague. Large international companies are now looking for candidates with international experience, whether they be Czech or foreign, to add a different perspective to their business rather than assuming traditional, outdated Czech business practices, and to meet the new challenges post-crisis. The shared service centre market is still hot, with opportunities for many language speakers working in Prague and Brno. Large international companies are looking for professionals: the days of short-term opportunities for backpackers are over.

Many expats came to Prague in the early 1990s, but this number has declined as Czechs have been trained to fill positions. How does expat recruitment today compare with that of the early 1990s, including with regard to the number of expat positions available?
There appears to be a shift back towards international companies looking to hire expats again to address the challenges after the financial crisis. More senior-level executive positions are becoming available for expats. In the past, the expat was flown over to set up a business in the culture of the mother company/country to ensure compliance with systems and processes. The local was then put in a position of “authority” through his or her title but had little influence on the business strategy and continued to respond to corporate orders from overseas. Unfortunately, such employees were unable to respond to the crisis and are now being replaced by expats.

How strong is the competition for positions in these sectors?
The competition for working in Prague is still a destination of choice within Europe. The standard of living to cost ratio is high, salaries are competitive, and the Czech Republic is accessible from most locations due to the excellent transport infrastructure. For more niche language skills such as Dutch and the Scandinavian languages, there is huge competition from all the shared service centres in the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries.

At what level are HR companies recruiting? Is it mainly executive positions or is it a mix of high-end and less senior posts? Or does it depend on the sector/company?
The recruitment market in the Czech Republic is competitive, and there are many local and large international recruitment firms operating. Job hunters can receive help in finding a job from a temporary position to executive levels, from a large number of recruitment firms. Service levels differ greatly; if job hunters are expats, I would suggest that they use an internationally renowned brand as they have access to the expat and senior level roles. Local agencies generally provide a local service for local people.

Role	Min EUR	Max EUR
IT Administration/ Operations	1400	2200
Technical Support (Team leader)	1800	2500
Development (3-5 years experience)	2000	4000
IT Consulting - ERP consultant	2200	3200

Role	Min EUR	Max EUR
Sales representative (1-3 years experience)	900	1800
Retail - Department Manager	900	1400

Role	Min EUR	Max EUR
Customer Service - Order Entry Clerk with Languages	900	1100
Sales - Inbound Telesales with Languages	900	1600
Technical Support - Level 1	1100	1300
Procurement - Manager	1800	2900
HR - Payroll Practitioner	900	1300
Finance - AP Analyst	900	1000

Role	Min KČ	Max KČ
Project Management - Delivery Manager	75,000	110,000
R&D - Test Engineer	29,000	40,000
Manufacturing - Product Supervisor	23,000	40,000
Purchasing & Logistics - Transport Coordinator	29.000	36,000
Technical Sales - Support	29,000	36,000

Role	Min EUR	Max EUR
Marketing - Online Marketing Specialist	1300	1800

How does the recruitment process in the Czech Republic compare to that, say, of Germany or the UK?
It is definitely longer. Job hunters will encounter passive recruitment companies that have to be chased or that lack the ability to open an opportunity on behalf of applicants. Recruitment in the Czech Republic is seen as “HR” rather than the necessary sales activity that will improve applicants´ chances of getting a job. Internal recruitment divisions within companies are notoriously slow, and HR staff do not have the necessary skills or negotiation powers to persuade internal business partners that a job hunter can do a job for them. Recruitment is seen as the first step into HR, which is a very dangerous presumption as onboarding is the most important part of the employee life-cycle! I suggest that jobhunters carefully select an international company with a pro-active consultant that he or she can work with. Applicants SHOULD NOT send their CVs to every single agency and every company around. If they have a specialism, they should choose an agency with a specialist recruiter.

What areas of growth are you seeing in Prague? What are the reasons behind this?
IT is still strong, and the number of shared service centres, is increasing, so language teaching is an area. Companies are now looking for more creative marketers, PR professionals and designers. The renewable energy and utilities sector is growing. Prague is still seen as a key hub and gateway to the east. We are receiving more vacancies week by week at the moment, and increasingly our clients expect to hire an expat over a local to meet this demand.