Jozsef Valyon eShopWorld
József Valyon, developer, eShopWorld. Image: Connor McKenna

‘In Ireland, there’s a calm, optimistic and welcoming environment’

6 Mar 2018

Coming to a foreign country to work can be a big change, especially if you’re moving with a family. A good support network is key.

There are many reasons why someone will want to move to a new country for work. It might have always been the dream to move to a particular place. There might be better opportunities for career progression elsewhere. Or, one particular opportunity might just come at the right time.

Whatever the reason, moving away from your home country can be a big change, especially if you’re moving with a family.

József Valyon is a developer with eShopWorld. Here, he speaks about his experience making the move from Hungary to Ireland in April last year.

Where are you from?

I’m from Budapest. As the capital of Hungary, Budapest is quite a large, historic city that provides exceptional opportunities for both work and personal interests.

Not counting a couple of years spent abroad, I was born there, studied at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and worked there for about 16 years.

Although there is a huge selection of IT jobs in Budapest – ranging from local to international companies – I thought that it would be a valuable experience to go abroad after a long period of working as a technical adviser at the same firm.

How long have you been in Ireland?

I moved to Dublin with my family in April 2017. Although it’s been less than a year, we are settled in and it already feels as if we have spent a long time here.

What prompted your decision to move here?

For me, it was a mix of a several things:

  • A career move – to get familiar with methods and work culture of a foreign environment
  • Personal adventure – to live in and explore Ireland
  • A family benefit – my children get a great chance of learning the language
What’s your role in eShopWorld?

I am an application developer, working as the lead developer of a back-end service.

How would you describe your working environment?

At eShopWorld, we are applying cutting-edge technologies to solve hard, real-life, day-to-day business requirements in a fast-paced online business environment. The company values technical enhancements, positive changes and quality as well as delivery speed.

This provides an inspiring and motivating workplace, where we get all the support and all assets needed for good work. I work in a friendly, cooperative, helpful team where the different strengths and personalities are used well to form a dynamic and creative environment.

What do you like most about your job?

I get to work with a really great team of professionals, mostly senior people, where I get the chance to address challenging issues and apply advanced technologies while I learn and expand my knowledge.

With well-defined goals and requirements that are regularly applied to a live and widely used online service, there is a feeling of accomplishing something great.

Although we are working in a well-managed structure and apply a set of company standards, I also get a lot of freedom to incorporate my ideas as well.

Was it difficult to adjust to living and working in Ireland?

Having a family – especially three children of different ages – we were facing several obstacles, such as finding a proper home within reach of both my workplace, and schools. With a little luck and a lot of help, we could tackle all the problems quite well. I would say that everybody here was very friendly and helpful, thus the whole transition process was a positive experience.

What surprised you about moving to Ireland?

The first thing that comes to mind is the weather, which looks good on paper (in Hungary, the winter is usually much colder) but at first it feels extremely cold.

It really requires an adjustment period to get acclimatised. Although it seemed scary at first, it is not that hard to get used to.

How does your working life help to make you feel at home here?

There isn’t a huge difference for me regarding the work culture or the applied methodologies and technologies. All my colleagues are friendly and very helpful, thus I felt welcomed and part of the team from the very first day.

What do you like most about your adopted home?

Living in a foreign country helps to focus more on the important aspects of everyday life, by forcing us to put energy into things that can really be changed. It’s easy in Ireland, where there’s an overall calm, optimistic and welcoming environment.

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