Foreigners who are citizens of non-EU member states can search for employment in the Czech Republic using the database of vacant jobs at http://portal.mpsv.cz/sz/zahr_zam/prociz/vmciz . This database utilises information from all employment offices in the CZ. The search function on this site is set so that it automatically selects jobs suitable for foreigners, i.e. vacant jobs in which the employer is also willing to employ foreigners.
Internet
The internet is one of the most frequently utilised and most effective media when looking for a job. Look through job portals, for example
www.prace.cz
www.jobs.czwww.dobraprace.cz
www.dzob.cz
www.monster.cz
www.profesia.czwww.jobdnes.cz
Of course there are many more job portals, but it is a good idea to choose from the better and more reputable ones. You can select jobs on these portals by profession, region, company name or by key words. A so-called “agent”, which is a search filter, will also make searching for a job easier. Enter your requirements and launch the “agent”, which will find offers corresponding to your search criteria. These portals will also provide other valuable information, for instance how to write a curriculum vitae, what a motivational letter should contain, how to prepare for an interview and more.
However, you can also look elsewhere on the internet when seeking a job. Chiefly on the websites of companies, state offices and other institutions, in sections called Vacant Jobs or Career. There is also a third method of using the internet when looking for a job opportunity; you can publish an inquiry on specialised servers.
Personnel Agency
Another method, which is frequently used today, is job brokering through personnel agencies. Agency employees also usually speak English, or another global language, therefore this the best way for a foreigner to find or select a job. There are numerous agencies, so devote enough time to selecting one. The first phase of selection should be acquaintance with the agencies by reading their websites. You can select those who are of interest according to the professions and types of offered jobs. When you have short-listed some agencies examine their websites in more detail, examine their method of presentation. You can narrow your choice down again in this phase.
Major personnel agencies:
www.monster.cz
www.adecco.czwww.syn.cz0
www.hays.cz1
www.stimul.cz2
www.roberthalf.cz3
X14 www.axial.xz
You can acquire more information by calling selected agencies. Ask what professions the agency specialises in, the positions they occupy most frequently, what the precise procedure is for applicants looking for a job or how selection tenders take place. Choose the agencies that will advance to the “final round” depending on their answers and, in general, depending on how the people from the agency speak to you. It is worth visiting these agencies personally; you should only establish closer contact with those agencies which can really help you. Make sure you ask for references from the agency you have chosen.
Printed Media
Another source you can use when looking for work is adverts in the press. You can find the most adverts in dailies in sections titled Career, Employment and similar, for instance in MF Dnes. Hospodářské noviny, Právo etc. Sometimes adverts are also printed in English or German. Narrowly specialised positions in specific fields are usually advertised in professional magazines. Purely advertising magazines are on the opposite pole, as these tend to offer less qualified jobs. So choose only those media which you can assume will present job offers that will be of interest to you and purchase those regularly.
A lot of the printed press currently also provides an overview of job offers on their websites, for instance:
5 www.kariera.ihned.cz X15
www.jobdnes.idnes.cz/pracewww.novinky.cz/karieraOther Options
You can also go the opposite route – send inquiries to companies that you would be interested in working for. However you must know precisely what you would like to do in such a company and support your statements by your reasoning.
Some companies support such direct job applications themselves in the form of open days. They provide information about open days on their websites, or in the press and the internet. If you decide to visit an event like this, prepare yourself as if you were going to an interview. In other words, choose suitable clothing, take your curriculum vitae with you and prepare answers to questions that are usually asked at job interviews. Personnel managers and frequently also the company management will all be present at the open day.
You can also visit the job opportunity trade fair Jobdays8, which always takes place in spring in Prague. Everyone, Czech or foreigner, can use the aforementioned opportunities.
Employment Offices and Foreigners
It is a different matter to seek a job opportunity through the employment office. Only Czechs and those foreigners who have the same statutory standing as a CZ citizen can use this option. You can find detailed information about this form of job brokering on the website of the Ministry of Employment and Social Matters9 and on the
integrated portal of the Ministry of Employment and Social Matters.
This consequently means that a foreigner has the same standing as a CZ citizen, if he/she has a CZ permanent residence permit or is a citizen of the EU or has been given asylum, or this standing is guaranteed by an international treaty, which applies to citizens of the Slovak Republic for example. Other foreigners must have a work permit and a residence permit for the Czech Republic.
Foreigners, who have the same standing as a CZ citizen and file an application for seeking a job, must also submit a document to verify identity, state citizenship and their place of permanent (announced) residence. They must also submit a document of termination of employment, independent gainful activities, qualification documents (final school leaving examination certificates, vocational certificates, diplomas etc.); individuals caring for children fifteen years and under also submit their children’s birth certificates, individuals with medical restrictions submit a medical assessment issued by their attending physician, handicapped individuals submit a decision by the social security body concerning acknowledgment of partial or full invalidity or a decision acknowledging an individual to be medically disadvantaged.
If a job applicant is entered in the register of applicants, the state pays their health insurance and social security throughout the whole period they are entered in these records.