Our New Expat & Immigration Consultant: I am Fascinated by Foreign Cultures!

Zuzana Ledbova is a curious minded, enthusiast traveler with a natural talent for foreign languages. As being the new Expat & Immigration Consultant at Foreigners Prague office, we have asked her a few questions so you get to know her better!

Hi Zuzana, you work as an Expat & Immigration Consultant here at Foreigners. What does your job consist of?

Yes. That’s my position now and I really like to work along with Dana who is a consultant as well. She’s been working in this position longer than me and I’m learning a lot from her! Regarding my job, when an expat approaches me, my job is to understand what is their current situation as well as future plans in the Czech Republic. There are many various procedures to do, depending on what the client’s needs are (visa, employee card, invitation letter, nostrification, health insurance, etc). There’s no such thing as a “standard solution plan” – every case is unique and things like nationality, age, the purpose of stay and many other things have great importance. So as the first thing, I meet with the client and gather as much information as I can and make sure that they have all the needed documents and we are thus prepared to face the bureaucracy. Once I gather all the information, I come up with a solution and from there on, the main task is to deal with the authorities. I also spend quite a lot of time outside our office, providing assistance at the immigration authorities, arranging verifications or certified translations of the documents and other things.

You started working with us in July 2018 but in a different position, right?

Yes. I started working at Foreigners as an immigration assistant and then provided mainly sales support where my main task was searching for new apartments that we can offer to foreigners coming to Prague, making sure that they’re alright and match our company standard, plus establishing trusted contacts with the landlords. After that advertising time followed, meaning that I did a review of apartments and posted it on our online catalogue. Making a good one involved writing a text with all the important and useful information, taking good pictures, and precision!

It seems that the two positions are really different from each other! What challenges you had to overcome and what gave you and keep giving you the greatest satisfaction?

On the Sales Support position, the most challenging part was finding new apartments, which is challenging on the current real estate market in Prague. It requires a good method, patience, and an open eye. You have to use various channels to reach the real estate offer out there and be creative: looking for ads in local magazines, newspaper/online ads, even ad signs of new buildings around the city. And you have to do all of that with a lot of competing agencies, beating them on the time!
Now, as an Expat & Immigration Consultant, the main challenge is dealing with authorities! Every case is different and precision, as well as accuracy, are essential when dealing with all the paperwork and proper documents, there’s no margin of error!

With both job positions, gratification always come when you know that you helped the client! Previously I was satisfied when my research and work made it possible for the client to find a nice place to stay, now I’m happy when I’m able to cope with an expat’s issues!

What were you doing before working for Foreigners?

I studied International Relations at the Charles University in Prague as I have been very interested in global politics and wanted to better understand wars and conflicts between nations. While studying, I was active in several student organizations including those aiming to allow incoming students from abroad to orient themselves better in the new environment and fully enjoy their new city. Since I really enjoyed doing that, I decided to make work out of it! I knew it was something I would like to do in my future!

That may explain why you decided to work for Foreigners. Where are you from actually? And what are your hobbies?

I was born and raised in Prague and I could not love this city more!
As a hobby, I could say that I like to learn new languages. I speak English and I’ve been also studying French and Turkish. I especially enjoy learning Turkish because I have many friends in Turkey and the language is different from the European ones. It has its own logic.

That leads you to a new perspective about the language and how we process it! I also love exploring new cultures. I wish to travel more around Balkan, the Caucasus, Middle East and hope to go to Latin America one day.
I could also say that my job is my hobby! I’m really curious and working here allows me to meet people from all over the world, interact with them and learn more about their cultures. Doing that, befriend all kind of people is one of my passions. It gives me a different perspective about things as well. Besides that, here at Foreigners, the tasks required are always different so I’m learning a lot of new things every day!

Thank you very much, Zuzana, for your time! And our dear expats, don’t forget to check all the services we can provide you with!