Experience SAP consultant in Austria or where IT staff live well
Thanks to the immigration program for highly qualified specialists in Austria, which opened in July 2011, I was able to try my chance and change my life for the better.
What did usual SAP consultant used to see every day? Processing, nerves of the boss or the client, constantly dissatisfied users. The consultant has to come home late if you don’t live in a hotel of a far-off northern city. A SAP consultant in St. Petersburg once remarked: “Normally, this is when you wake up at night on the train and you no longer remember where you are going — to St. Petersburg or to Moscow.” Yes, well paid for all this, as non-SAP consultants say. But no more than a professional developer, with the only difference that you can come to SAP from business, or, for example, by working as a secretary somewhere in the office, where SAP was implemented at the next door. Although there are good companies in Russia, where a healthy team, well and comfortably, is fed, and they leave home after 18. But they are few, and more often they are foreign.
And this last thought pushed me to try myself abroad, especially since foreign HR agencies attacked me with their Russian-speaking agents for a long time.
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Through them, I could not find a job, because these agencies don’t know how to get a work visa, but instead ask the person on duty: “Do you need Sponsorship?” Yes, I do. I need the support of the employer in the form of a formal proposal that will create the basis for obtaining a work visa. I don't need any money. But these employers, as soon as they see the word “Sponsorship” on the resume, immediately postpone such candidates, even if they are “seven spans in the forehead”. Because employers do not know how simple it really is to get this work visa. Another type of agency - “bodyshop”, offers at first a fictitious contract with them, and then they sell you themselves or don't sell them at all - you are looking for a job yourself. I didn’t want to go there right away for obvious reasons.
In the end, I found one company that does a visa and helps to find a job, and prices are moderate. Directed, prompted, advised.
So, I'm in Austria. I work as internal consultants. It looks like ours. But the company has a beautiful office that meets the requirements of ergonomics. The office is strictly 4 people, in Russia in a similar-sized office at least 8 people would accommodate. So that everyone suffocated from the smells of soaked bodies and boiling brains. Further, each table has a length of at least 1.5-2 meters. At least two people can stay. But here strictly -1 person. On the table you can put 1 computer with a large monitor with anti-reflective coating. And next to a laptop connected to the monitor. And a lot of things on the table can be accommodated - there would be a desire. Above the table are fluorescent lamps with automatic adjustment that reacts to movement and to the level of external light. There is a lot of external light, as the walls in the room are glass. In winter, not cold. And of course, comfortable, renovated chairs. They say that it is not so in all companies, but in large companies - labor safety is strictly observed. And I noticed the effect right away, since I almost never saw my red sore-eyed eyes in the mirror anymore.
Another important point is the work week, which lasts 38.5 hours. This means that every day you can work for 8 hours and 15 minutes, and on Friday - a short day. Work can be started from 6.30 to 9.00. To whom it is convenient. But after 8 hours and 15 minutes, be kind - go home, or explain what kind of processing you have.
Maybe you want to work more for 1 hour every day, and take a day off on Friday? Well, or maybe make a day for a holiday, great. Neither is a production necessity? Payment in double. By the way, at the expense of vacation - in Austria, vacation is 5 weeks, usually beaten for 3 weeks in the summer and one week each in the fall and spring. Some foreigners take 2-3 weeks home-office and go home to work. This is possible in consultation with the authorities. In my company without a hospital on trust, you can be ill for 3 days. Then you need a sick leave. If an employee lives for more than an hour from the place of work, then a year after being employed may take Friday as a “home-office”. By the way, the road to work is compensated.
Sometimes you think not work, but just rest. Already at 4-5 o'clock you can be at home, and the whole evening is yours, if you want, go to the mountains, go for a jog or a concert, visit friends or family. Probably, there are minuses, of course, and not in all the teams “boss-cutie”. Perhaps we were lucky, I do not know. But to each his own.
In Austria, by the way a strong union. It is necessary to deduct small contributions from wages, but he fights for the interests of the working people. Now, for example, they are lobbying salary tax cuts. By the way a sensitive issue about taxes. Austria has a progressive tax system. Salary up to 11,000 euros per year is not taxed. A beginner SAP consultant, without much experience, can count on a salary of about 2,000 euros per month. A consultant in external consulting is a professional. IT professional in Austria receives from 50 thousand euros per year. What on hand will be about 3,000 euros per month. Another important point is 14 salary. Addition to Christmas and summer holidays. The cost of living in Austria is about 400 euros, plus a minimum of 450 for rent. The difference is palpable.
In addition, the government of the land or city often offers various integration programs for immigrants, within which you can get compensation for learning German. Yes, by the way, for work as an IT specialist in Austria, knowledge of only English is enough, but surely.
There are also various co-payments for children besides maternity leave. Subsidies if you have a child and one spouse who earns less than 6,000 euros a year, and so on. An interesting thing for IT professionals is tax refunds. So, you can include in the tax return the purchase of a computer or other device for your home, which you supposedly need because of your professional activities. The state can compensate up to 400 euros. As well as maintaining a dual economy, when a part of your family remained, for example, live in Russia, and you are here and, therefore, forced to pay two apartments and all other utility costs are doubly. There are a lot of such moments in legislation, the main thing is to learn to understand them. With seemingly lower wages than in Moscow, you can live much better.
Now a little about life itself in Austria. Of course, Vienna is the cultural capital of Austria and for art lovers there is a lot of everything, for the Russian-speaking population there is a big social circle.
In other lands, for example, in Tyrol, a healthy lifestyle is highly respected, even overly obsessed with it. After all, nature has - mountains, skiing, hiking, bicycles, swimming in the lakes. Products made in Austria are strictly controlled, as well as imported. Keep track of GMOs and quality. Delicious bread and buns are served fresh and warm every morning, since bakers are already open from 5 am. The main thing is a feeling of calm and comfort. In Austria, foreigners, especially the educated, including Russians, are treated well. For those who are ready to smile, say hello and talk in the street with a neighbor, there is always a cheerful company and a positive attitude. Yes, most contacts in Austria are done this way: just on the street or in the subway. Sometimes the same immigrants from nearby countries can tongue wry while sitting at the cash register of a grocery store. But it does not frighten us, all the same, the mood in Austria is good.
SAP Life - Consultant in Russia
What did usual SAP consultant used to see every day? Processing, nerves of the boss or the client, constantly dissatisfied users. The consultant has to come home late if you don’t live in a hotel of a far-off northern city. A SAP consultant in St. Petersburg once remarked: “Normally, this is when you wake up at night on the train and you no longer remember where you are going — to St. Petersburg or to Moscow.” Yes, well paid for all this, as non-SAP consultants say. But no more than a professional developer, with the only difference that you can come to SAP from business, or, for example, by working as a secretary somewhere in the office, where SAP was implemented at the next door. Although there are good companies in Russia, where a healthy team, well and comfortably, is fed, and they leave home after 18. But they are few, and more often they are foreign.
As I was looking for ways to move
And this last thought pushed me to try myself abroad, especially since foreign HR agencies attacked me with their Russian-speaking agents for a long time.
')
Through them, I could not find a job, because these agencies don’t know how to get a work visa, but instead ask the person on duty: “Do you need Sponsorship?” Yes, I do. I need the support of the employer in the form of a formal proposal that will create the basis for obtaining a work visa. I don't need any money. But these employers, as soon as they see the word “Sponsorship” on the resume, immediately postpone such candidates, even if they are “seven spans in the forehead”. Because employers do not know how simple it really is to get this work visa. Another type of agency - “bodyshop”, offers at first a fictitious contract with them, and then they sell you themselves or don't sell them at all - you are looking for a job yourself. I didn’t want to go there right away for obvious reasons.
In the end, I found one company that does a visa and helps to find a job, and prices are moderate. Directed, prompted, advised.
Organization of labor and office in Austria
So, I'm in Austria. I work as internal consultants. It looks like ours. But the company has a beautiful office that meets the requirements of ergonomics. The office is strictly 4 people, in Russia in a similar-sized office at least 8 people would accommodate. So that everyone suffocated from the smells of soaked bodies and boiling brains. Further, each table has a length of at least 1.5-2 meters. At least two people can stay. But here strictly -1 person. On the table you can put 1 computer with a large monitor with anti-reflective coating. And next to a laptop connected to the monitor. And a lot of things on the table can be accommodated - there would be a desire. Above the table are fluorescent lamps with automatic adjustment that reacts to movement and to the level of external light. There is a lot of external light, as the walls in the room are glass. In winter, not cold. And of course, comfortable, renovated chairs. They say that it is not so in all companies, but in large companies - labor safety is strictly observed. And I noticed the effect right away, since I almost never saw my red sore-eyed eyes in the mirror anymore.
Opening hours in Austria
Another important point is the work week, which lasts 38.5 hours. This means that every day you can work for 8 hours and 15 minutes, and on Friday - a short day. Work can be started from 6.30 to 9.00. To whom it is convenient. But after 8 hours and 15 minutes, be kind - go home, or explain what kind of processing you have.
Maybe you want to work more for 1 hour every day, and take a day off on Friday? Well, or maybe make a day for a holiday, great. Neither is a production necessity? Payment in double. By the way, at the expense of vacation - in Austria, vacation is 5 weeks, usually beaten for 3 weeks in the summer and one week each in the fall and spring. Some foreigners take 2-3 weeks home-office and go home to work. This is possible in consultation with the authorities. In my company without a hospital on trust, you can be ill for 3 days. Then you need a sick leave. If an employee lives for more than an hour from the place of work, then a year after being employed may take Friday as a “home-office”. By the way, the road to work is compensated.
Sometimes you think not work, but just rest. Already at 4-5 o'clock you can be at home, and the whole evening is yours, if you want, go to the mountains, go for a jog or a concert, visit friends or family. Probably, there are minuses, of course, and not in all the teams “boss-cutie”. Perhaps we were lucky, I do not know. But to each his own.
Workers ’interests, trade union, wages and taxes in Austria
In Austria, by the way a strong union. It is necessary to deduct small contributions from wages, but he fights for the interests of the working people. Now, for example, they are lobbying salary tax cuts. By the way a sensitive issue about taxes. Austria has a progressive tax system. Salary up to 11,000 euros per year is not taxed. A beginner SAP consultant, without much experience, can count on a salary of about 2,000 euros per month. A consultant in external consulting is a professional. IT professional in Austria receives from 50 thousand euros per year. What on hand will be about 3,000 euros per month. Another important point is 14 salary. Addition to Christmas and summer holidays. The cost of living in Austria is about 400 euros, plus a minimum of 450 for rent. The difference is palpable.
Compensation and surcharges in Austria
In addition, the government of the land or city often offers various integration programs for immigrants, within which you can get compensation for learning German. Yes, by the way, for work as an IT specialist in Austria, knowledge of only English is enough, but surely.
There are also various co-payments for children besides maternity leave. Subsidies if you have a child and one spouse who earns less than 6,000 euros a year, and so on. An interesting thing for IT professionals is tax refunds. So, you can include in the tax return the purchase of a computer or other device for your home, which you supposedly need because of your professional activities. The state can compensate up to 400 euros. As well as maintaining a dual economy, when a part of your family remained, for example, live in Russia, and you are here and, therefore, forced to pay two apartments and all other utility costs are doubly. There are a lot of such moments in legislation, the main thing is to learn to understand them. With seemingly lower wages than in Moscow, you can live much better.
Free time and rest in Austria
Now a little about life itself in Austria. Of course, Vienna is the cultural capital of Austria and for art lovers there is a lot of everything, for the Russian-speaking population there is a big social circle.
In other lands, for example, in Tyrol, a healthy lifestyle is highly respected, even overly obsessed with it. After all, nature has - mountains, skiing, hiking, bicycles, swimming in the lakes. Products made in Austria are strictly controlled, as well as imported. Keep track of GMOs and quality. Delicious bread and buns are served fresh and warm every morning, since bakers are already open from 5 am. The main thing is a feeling of calm and comfort. In Austria, foreigners, especially the educated, including Russians, are treated well. For those who are ready to smile, say hello and talk in the street with a neighbor, there is always a cheerful company and a positive attitude. Yes, most contacts in Austria are done this way: just on the street or in the subway. Sometimes the same immigrants from nearby countries can tongue wry while sitting at the cash register of a grocery store. But it does not frighten us, all the same, the mood in Austria is good.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/239495/
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