Moving to Hungary: Salaries and language?

[roastedwookie]

Hello,
I am thinking of moving to Hungary. Can someone please help me with some information?
For an IT guy with 7 years of experience in IT System Administration: Servers, Software deployment, Windows, mobile devices, how much is the salary?
What cities you think are best for someone with a career in IT? I know Budapest is one, but what others considering that Budapest, being the capital, is quite expensive to live in (I think).
And for this one, please be honest Of course I will need to learn the language, is it that hard?

[Natan_Moura_Leite]

Hello Marius!

I've lived in Budapest for a while and I can assure you it is far from being as expensive as other cities in Western Europe.

It is probably the best place to find work in IT as well. Although Debrecen might also have plenty of opportunities, it will be easier for you to communicate in English in Budapest while you're learning Hungarian.

I didn't try to learn the language while I was there , but I'm sure you should be able to learn as long you make an effort to. It is difficult though, so be persistent!

Hope I could help!

[Burgermeiszter_Livia]

Hello,

If you work in the IT sector, the salaries are higher. As a teacher (new) you can get around 500 dollar.
As a young ingeneer you can bring home 1000 dollar or more.
The living in Budapest is pretty cheap. Rent an apartment in the downtown start at 400 dollar, but if you moving a little bit far from the downtown, but close to the public transportation, you can find a garzon around 2-300 dollar.
The foods are really cheap, a meal is 2-3 dollar in the cheap places, but in the fancier restaurant is around 20 dollar.
The public transportation monthly fee is 30-35 dollar, and its really good, even at the night.
And yes, the hungarian language is hard to study, but not impossible, i know couple of my friend who speak now perfect, and they are from all over the world

[Nora_Endrei]

Hey Marius Budapest is an awesome city and you don't even have to learn our language (which is pretty difficult but definitely not impossible to learn) if you wanna move here. There are many IT jobs with very high salaries (compared to the general Hungarian wages) and you only need to speak English (one more language can be a plus) to work for these multinational companies. Also, you can easily rent a nice place if you get a job in IT here. So I think you have really good chances if you choose Budapest Good luck!

[Jozsef_Gezart]

Hey Marius!
There is always need for more IT experts in the country. The question is what kind of systems you wish to work with. I know for a fact, that IT jobs are available in heavy industry communities in Győr and Debrecen. Depending on where you are coming from, Budapest might even be cheap. As someone who grew up here, I can say, that usually the rent for a small apartment is around 300 Euros a month.
I'm not sure about the average salary but with your experience I would guess you might spot a 1500-2500 Euros a month. This is just a guess.
Language wise, Hungarian is among the hardest languages to learn in Europe, I would start to practice but get ready, that you won't learn it in less than 2-3 years
cheers

[Dedalo_Sousa]

Hi. With that experience you can get a well paid salary and even in a higher position maybe as in management here. That will allow you to live very well. Budapest is not at all an expensive city. Houses can be a bit more expensive but not so much. About the language you can easily survive without learning it. It’s not needed to live here. Have friends for here living more than 10 years that do not speak at all.Everyone speaks at least English or German . And also Hungarian language is not that demon so hard to learn. Maybe needs a bit more of effort than others. Hope it answered to your questions.
Dedalo

[viktornagy]

Hi Marius,

I worked as an IT Manager, and a COO as well for SME tech companies and agencies, so based on my experience you can have a salary between 300-600.000 HUF net per month. This is approximately 1000-2000€ net. It really depends on your knowledge and the sector that you are targeting. At big telco companies or banks, you can get more, but the work is less interesting.

Hungary is a very bubble-headed country. 1,7 million people live in Budapest and only 200 thousand in the second biggest city. So expect much better opportunities in the capital than in the countryside. Bigger cities that you can look after are Szeged, Debrecen, Miskolc, Pécs, Győr.

Regarding your question, if Hungarian is a hard language to learn or not - it is very hard. But I know many foreigners who have learned it and able to speak at a good enough level over a couple of years.

Good luck, and let me know if you have any further question

Viktor

[Sz_Mihaly]

Hello,

I think Budapest is not so expensive, but the renting is. One can rent a quite normal flat from about 500 euros / month. About the language: it is hard. (The grammar is harder than german and you will rarely recognise common words with your/other languages.). But there are good news. For an IT guy, it isn't necessary to know the language. There are multinational companies which you can try to work to. I hope I could help

Misi

[Silvia_Munafo]

Hi!
I don't know the specific details about the IT field but in general I think there are good opportunities, especially if you have experience.
Besides Budapest, I would check maybe Pécs, Debrecen, Szeged, and Győr. These are also bigger cities with universities, therefore with more IT related companies, I guess.
I think, the dailiy living cost in Budapest (food, transportation, entertainment) is quite reasonable in most cases, however the rent is high.
And about the language, I would say it is challenging. But I have a friend who learned it. He needed more time than for english for example, but now he can use it even for work.

[sebesbal]

Budapest is more expensive than smaller cities in Hungary, but the opportunities and the salary are even higher, so I certainly recommend Budapest (and it is a beautiful and very cool place). I can't tell you exact numbers, but the salary/expenditure rate is pretty good (in IT). Of course, you earn less than in the West, but you can live here like a king from your money.

Think twice to start learning Hungarian... If you know some words your colleagues and neighbors will be very happy, but in IT English is enough for work (as a programmer I had a Romanian colleague who spoke only English and everything was OK).

[roastedwookie]

Hi,
I've sent you a friend request on Facebook. Being an experienced IT guy, I would like to keep contact with you.
Thank you in advance.

[roastedwookie]

Hello everyone,
Many thanks for your replies. To answer to some of you, I come from Romania (hope this does not start a race/nationality debate), from the city of Temesvar (Timisoara). I have always like Hungarian food, and the fact that even though you are a few dozen miles from my city, I find it much more developed and civilized.
Regarding the language, it's good that in Budapest I can manage, at least at the beginning, with English/German, but, as I always think, when moving into a country, I find it as a well being habit and respect to try to learn the local language
Can you please point me to some online job seeking websites, I mean some you know are the best? Of course, Google is my friend :)), but it does not tell me with which I should try first.

Thanks again,
Marius

[viktornagy]

Hi,

Let's use LinkedIn for professional networking
https://www.linkedin.com/in/viktornagy1/

Cheers,
Viktor

[viktornagy]

Regarding job seeking, I'd use LinkedIn and profession.hu in English (https://www.profession.hu/en).

--Viktor