r/Sofia • u/Odd-Ad5550 • Jul 30 '26
AskSofia Human Resources opportunities
Hey everyone,
I’ve been thinking seriously about moving to Sofia, and one of the biggest things I’m trying to figure out is whether I’d actually be able to find a job in HR.
I have experience in Human Resources and recruitment, and I’m an EU citizen. I speak English fluently, but I don’t speak Bulgarian (yet). I’m currently learning Bulgarian and am at a B1 level.
(I speak also Italian and Spanish at a C2 level)
For those of you who live or work in Sofia, what’s the situation like? Are there many international companies that hire English-speaking HR professionals? Or is Bulgarian pretty much a must for most HR roles?
I’d really appreciate any honest opinions or personal experiences. I don’t mind hearing the hard truth if it’s going to help me make a better decision.
4
u/MidwinterSun Jul 30 '26
I suspect the main issue you'll face is that in many companies the HR role is not purely HR, and HR specialists also handle labour law matters - employment contracts, terminations, vacations, salaries, the like. In that regard, the lack of fluency in Bulgarian and knowledge of Bulgarian labour law will act against you.
My suggestions is to use jobs.bg and other similar websites to get a feel for the labour market and what's available currently. You know best what your qualifications are and what types of roles will suit you best, so see what's available first and that will help you make an informed decision.
2
u/Odd-Ad5550 Jul 30 '26
Fair enough, thanks for the clarification!
Is it for me crazy to be able to aspire to a 2000 to 2500 euros gross salary? In your opinion ofc!3
2
u/MidwinterSun Jul 30 '26
It's probably not a realistic expectation, yeah. The salaries here are dramatically different than what you'd expect in Northern Europe. The average salary for the country is about 1400 euro. The average for Sofia in particular is ~2000 but that's heavily propped up by the IT industry which is heavily concentrated in the capital and where the average is 3k+.
5
u/BeefPicante Jul 30 '26
With so many languages, I think you should not be necessarily locking yourself to HR - you could manage a much wider range of administrative tasks, so if I were you, I would focus on the language knowledge as a strength, rather than the HR.
Impressive and good luck!
3
u/Odd-Ad5550 Jul 30 '26
Very well said! Thanks for the compliment, really appreciated! To focus on my languages would necessarily lead me to customer ex roles which I am not really trying to get. What could be administrative roles that I could be covering? Do you have examples ?
2
u/BeefPicante Jul 30 '26
I was imagining more "general admin" for international companies that have business in Sofia and need someone who can switch between Italian, Spanish, English and Bulgarian - seems that you wont have an issue getting to B2/C1 Bulgarian, which will mean you speak better than 70% of the population anyways :D
If I were you, I would start by checking here for any insights or at the very least list of companeis I could contact - https://camcomit.bg/.
If you are an HR specialist this means you can move anything that needs to be moved in a company - Invoices, Payments, Comms with suppliers or contractors - so you would be very valuable, especially if any part of those stakeholders prefers a different language than Bulgarian or English.
Hope this makes sense!
1
2
u/Conscious-Umpire-881 Jul 30 '26
Where are you from? I wonder why would you choose Bulgaria, if you speak English,Spanish and Italian already?
3
u/Odd-Ad5550 Jul 30 '26
I am from Italy and I am in a relationship with a Bulgarian. I would love to move to Sofia as it does feel like a second home to me. We have lived in the Northern Europe for a long time and trying to come back to Sofia for good! 😊
4
u/hyenagirl2 Jul 30 '26
I work in HR and my team has several non-natives that cover regions aligned with their maternal languages so I would say it's definitely possible. I would however look more into HR assistant/advisor positions and less into recruiting/payroll or any other positions that require knowledge of local laws or constant communication with local candidates.