It seems that IT engineers have an easy life. They make good money and move freely between employers and countries. But it's not just that. “Typical IT specialist” red-eyes at the computer from school, and then at the university, graduate school, graduate school ... Then work, work, work, years of production, and only then moving. And then work again.
Of course, from the outside it may seem that you just got lucky. But, apart from the time and labor for training, upgrading skills and running up the career ladder, the move itself is a guarantee of silver stripes on the head and genocide of nerve cells.
Moving to another city, country, continent or planet is not so easy. A different mentality, culture, rules, laws, prices, medicine, and you also need to find where to move, an offer, housing, get a visa ... thousands of nuances. How not to get a nervous tick, but only the maximum benefit and pleasure from the process, will tell Denis Neklyudov ().
For what reasons do people leave, what awaits them there and how to choose where to move? How to navigate the labor market, find a job, prepare for an interview and choose the most profitable offer. Using the example of Denis's moves to Phuket, Singapore, San Francisco and the experience of many other expats, let's prepare for new adventures. Denis's story is a roadmap or checklist that will be useful to anyone who is thinking about moving.
Disclaimer. The earth is round and rotates. Someday we will return to where we started. Denis's move does not provoke you to leave your homeland forever. Do not take the topic of moving aggressively, but only as a way to broaden your horizons. The article is based solely on the experience of ordinary developers without a touch of the luxurious life of crypto-millionaires and the hard fate of migrants without a profession.
Denis Neklyudov - Google Developer Expert Android, Pay and IoT. He worked at several startups in Russia, Asia and Europe, now at Lyft in California. No article will convey the energy that Denis radiated when he shared his experience, valuable advice and stories about acquaintances on - watch this .
Employment
As you already understood, we will talk about SWE - Software Engineer. We, as IT engineers, live easier, and move easier. But this is because we have invested a lot of time and effort since school. Only after hard work there is a chance to move.
life illustration (there are many more ironic pictures).
It's not that easy. The first part of this journey is employment and job search.
Labor market and job search
Job search starts with friends, acquaintances and referrals.
Everyone you know is your main resource for finding an interesting offer, in addition to your basic programming skills.
If you did not find referrals and friends, write to recruiters and employees. Before that, transfer to Linkedin profile for that countrywhere you are going to move. Without it, you won't even be considered.
An interesting option that you don’t think about right away - local forums. These are Facebook groups and other communities where people who receive referral bonuses live. They know that even if they bring someone they don't know, but they accept him, they will be given a bonus. Therefore, they publish vacancies on their own behalf and say: “Yes, of course, I will refer you with pleasure,” and at the same time they will make a prescreen by looking at your CV.
But the best option is meetups and conferences. Look for people from companies that you are interested in and ask for referrals. The first option is a meetup in your own country, where we are looking for contacts for moving. The second option is a meetup in the places where you want to move. If you want to go to Berlin, find a meetup there and move.
A couple of CV recommendations.
Check your CV with a native speaker of the country you want to move to.
Most likely, it will not even contain grammatical errors, but constructions of phrases and sentences that show that this language is not native. This should be a native speaker, not a Skyeng teacher.
Practice English with native speakers.
By the way, on Skyeng and italki you can study with native speakers. When you spend 10 hours and 10 rubles communicating with a native speaker, it will increase your confidence. You will be calm and will not be dumb when the recruiter calls.
Where can I find good CV examples? The first way - Linkedin profiles of famous developers. Most likely, there is no avatar in their profiles, the last place of work was Google 15 years ago, and that’s all. Guys like that don't bother much. But those who are at an early stage of their careers, who have not yet landed their dream jobs, write beautiful CVs. Look at them.
The second way is resumes of acquaintances who have successfully got a job. If you know of any, ask for help writing a resume. A separate article is needed on compiling a selling resume, so we will not dwell on it.
Interview
The larger the company, the more common questions.
In a small startup, you will be asked about Android or iOS. Companies like FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) do not need an Android or iOS developer. They need Software Engineer - a generalist that can be sent to Android, iOS, to the third specialty, or let you grow in a different career branch altogether.
Corporations know better where to send you, but first they need to test your basic skills, adequacy, engineering thinking. Therefore, there will be manywhiteboarding"- when you are at the blackboard solving problems and not using a computer.
How to prepare? Solve puzzles and are not afraid of either Google or Facebook.
The book ""is the foundation of the foundations. It lists all the main data structures and task categories that are asked on whiteboarding. If you've never prepared for an interview like this, this is a great book. Then from it it is already possible to go deeper into fundamental books about algorithms.
Websites Hackerrank.com, Leetcode.com. My favorite is Leetcode.com because it can solve problems that leaked from Google and Amazon interviews. With a paid account, you can even select tasks only from Google, for example.
The more tasks you solve, the more likely you are to succeed.
This can be seen in the graph of success versus the number of solved problems on HackerRank.
Whether 75% of success is due to the fact that a person solved 70-80 tasks, or to the fact that he prepared for a long time - I don’t know. But there is a dependence - the more tasks you solve, the more confidence.
Keep an application template handy.
If you are interviewing in small companies, from time to time you will be asked the same thing: “Write an application!”. When you already have an application template, just update it before starting to prepare abroad again. Throw in the architecture that you like, implement a simple design, but so that it does not look like “I already have a bag of solutions ready”. Reuse the template and don't write from scratch every time.
Don't screw up in front of the manager.
This is also understandable, but someone still manages to do it. The most important thing is that when you come to SpaceX and CAM will interview you, remember that he asks not so much about development, but about general soft skills.
All big companies have a technical developer interview and a manager interview. It checks how you will join the team, whether you are culturally suitable. At the interview, put yourself in the place of a manager and think before answering - would you yourself like to hear from the candidate what you answer? This will help.
The simplest advice on how to succeed in an interview is not to be a fool if you are not a fool.
Feel free to use this rule, and you will succeed. I guarantee it. Maybe not the first time, but definitely the second. If you pretend to be something strange, the guarantee will fly off.
Offer
Suppose everything is fine: you passed the interview, the feedback is positive, the recruiter called you back and says: “Let's bargain!”.
For the company, even after all the interviews, you are a black box, especially when you move to another country. They don't want to overpay.
Startup No. 37 and, in general, any foreign company will not call Yandex, Avito or Kaspersky to find out something about you. In the Valley they call each other and get to know each other, but not in Russia. You are a pig in a poke for them, and they try not to overestimate you.
Therefore, they will trade down. But you want everything to be paid to you and your family at the highest level: from a private jet to packing a cat so that he won’t even notice, and when he runs across American soil, he immediately meows in English.
In Russia, it is not customary to pay sign-up bonuses, so many engineers do not know about them. But, as an engineer, you have a duty to demand them.
People get paid just for accepting an offer, can you imagine?
When they tell you that they will help with the move, this is one thing. But you have to say:
- Yes, that's right, you help me with the move, because I'm not a local. But I accept the offer of your company, not the neighboring one, and let's pay me for it!
It's true! On Facebook at one time it was even called "Tesla Bonus". Its size was about $ 75 thousand, the tax took away half, but it was still enough for Model 3, instead of Model S.
Did I receive a Model S? No, I didn't get the bonus :( Don't make my mistakes.
Trade until the last RSU.
Robert Kiyosaki knows how to work with money.
RSU - restricted stock units or stocks. This is your right to hold shares for free in the future. You are told that as soon as they have shares, you can get them for free and sell them. You will also have to pay tax for this.
Options - a more favorable condition, but they are given only in the early stages. It is the right to buy shares of a company at a fixed price when they become available.
This culture is not developed in Russia. In Russian law, the issuance of RSUs and options has only recently appeared. Therefore, many guys are not yet qualified in this matter and think that only some unrealistic CTO positions receive options. No, just ask:
- Give me RSU or immediately an option if you are a small startup. If you are a public company, how many shares will I receive per year, how often does vesting take place?
But remember that taxes will also need to be paid on the salary? and from bonuses.
Ideally, you will be inundated with planes, drains and cookies. But before you settle for this fabulous place, go to and other sites with reviews. You can find such reviews: “The most terrible culture and management! I worked full-time for this company."
“Great place to learn bad management,” writes an anonymous employee from Singapore…
Before interviewing at your dream company, keep a few tricks up your sleeve from smaller companies. If you already have an offer to another company in the same region, you are in chocolate. You can bargain for a better position. I read how one developer traded with Airbnb and with Google, he started with 180k a year, and went up to 300k.
When you have several offers, do not rush to agree. They will take you anyway, even if you break the high price - then they will lower it, of course. But rest your horns, ask for sign-up bonuses and stocks.
I feel like after the article the real estate market in San Francisco will warm up and burst :)
Abroad
You were about to leave. Look how many migrants have left everywhere. You are not alone.
Telegram channels about emigration for May 2019.
Before you go set a clear goal for the move.
- More money.
- Be in the center of the coolest companies.
- I go for the best medicine, education, weather, air, delivery from Amazon.
- For residence permit, citizenship, passport.
- For the future of children.
- For the sake of the career of the second spouse.
- Look at the world.
If you are young, you do not lose anything - you can always return. You can always go back, buy an apartment, renovate it, buy an apartment for your children, renovate it, buy a car and repair it, but you won’t have time to look at the world.
For questions about remote work, do not contact me. Artur Badretdinov writes excellent and reports on how to live and travel remotely. There is also Podlodka podcast with Sergey Ryabov about Digital Nomads.
Career. Questions to the recruiter
Let's ask the right questions to the recruiter, what kind of galley is there.
How creative is the company's contribution to the development of the planet. Perhaps now I have a too distorted worldview on the company, but you can ask this question. I used to work in startups where it was not clear how their work would affect the planet. But when you feel like you worked on the weekend today and the Earth is a little cleaner, you have a double impact.
How interesting are the tasks of your future team. You may be promised millions of money, but for boring tasks. For example, finishing a financial application that is a million years old. You won’t even be able to improve it, because your task is just to write unnecessary features for anyone.
How fast can you grow in your career. Are there career paths in the company, do they understand how developers grow, or will you be the first experimental developer in the company.
Will the company help with a residence permit. Many are faced with the fact that the company only transports them, helping with obtaining a work visa, but in order to become independent and obtain a residence permit, you will need your own money.
Career. Questions for those who have moved
When you are about to move, find those who have moved. I am often asked to tell about Singapore and about America. Find one and ask.
How many companies with suitable vacancies in this city or region. Is there a jump option? It will be a shame when you sell everything, move with a dog, children, wife or husband, and on the spot it turns out that this is the only company around, because you came to a village in northern Norway, where there is no one else. If it's Berlin or London, there are 100 more companies that will tear you off with their paws.
Openness to foreigners. I was told (but I didn't check) that Switzerland has a bad attitude. In Asian countries, for example, in Singapore, there are legends that when you move there, they look at you like this: “Oh, the white man has arrived! Now he will teach us and go home.”
The main language in communication within companies and at meetups. I have a cool story. An English-speaking developer lives and works somewhere in Scandinavia. One day, he was the only person who didn't speak the local language at the meetup and everyone switched to English. Until the end of the meetup, only it was spoken - the society is so tolerant to foreigners. Is it possible to imagine that at the mitap we will all switch from Russian to English?
How prestigious is your profession in the public mind?. My feeling is that in California there is no question of prestige, but in Bali it is prestigious to be a hotel manager. In Singapore, few of the young guys want to be a developer, despite the fact that they pay a lot. They want to become managers who will manage developers - why be a laborer when you can manage them right away?
Resident status
Moving without higher education. There is a higher education - no problem. But if it's not there, please clarify. In many countries without higher education there are no options.
When my mother told me to go to magistracy, I asked: “Why, I already work full time and get normal money, did I buy a car?” I did not think that a master's degree would greatly simplify everything when I get a visa to Singapore and America. In many countries, the attitude towards undergraduate studies is: “What, couldn’t you go to the magistracy?”, And to the magistracy: “Oh! You were in graduate school! Come!".
Visa. Visas are different: some make you a slave of the company, others oblige your wife not to work, others give you complete freedom. Check all conditions.
Visa processing time - in different countries they have their own. Lyft promised me that I would move to the US in 7 days, but the H1B visa has been in preparation for a year and a half. At the same time, it turned out that my visa to the USA took 5 months, to Singapore 2 months, and to Germany you can get a visa in 4 months.
Opportunity to earn on the side. For me, this is an important issue, it is not enough for me to work in one company and not have third-party income. I am upset that in the USA I cannot open my company on a current visa and earn at the same time.
In England, Ireland and many other European countries, you can apply for an individual entrepreneur, work in parallel and pay tax on additional earnings. My US visa does not allow this.
Social security. This issue also needs to be dealt with before moving. How people live there, how the state takes care of its citizens.
Confidence in the future. Perhaps this is important. Every spring in California begins: “That’s it, my grandmother, who is at Bloomberg / CIA / World Bank, whispered to me that this fall is definitely Khan - this bubble will burst!” But he doesn't burst.
Residence permit and citizenship, is it allowed to double. Italy, Greece, Canada, and the US definitely allow dual citizenship. But there are few such countries. In others, you will have to choose whether you want to become a citizen of Germany or Singapore and renounce the citizenship of your country. If it's important, remember this point.
Picture outside the window
I also advise you to pay attention to the picture outside the window - do you want to see the beach or mountains, fogs, rains, greenery or concrete.
This is what a typical expat home in Singapore looks like.
Don't believe photos and movies. Below on the left is a typical photo of San Francisco, on the right is the reality of those who live there.
People enjoy the blue sky and the sun by smoking legally.
The right picture is even embellished - there is too much greenery and nothing is lying on the pavement.
Health
Climate and ecology. Some people like the rain. In Singapore, my suffering friends from St. Petersburg and Siberian cities hate the heat.
Medicine and insurance. Everywhere, except for the North European countries, they whine that medicine is bad, expensive, and only plantain is among the medicines. I don't know where to go to enjoy medicine.
There are public insurances and there are private ones. Find out who pays for them and what they cover. In some countries medicine is free. But in Britain they say: “We have free medicine – it’s great, but it sucks, it’s better to pay. But you can’t pay, because the paid one also sucks.”
In the USA, without insurance, you are a corpse - you hurt your finger and got a round sum if he did not pass.
Unpleasant surprises
I didn't think about it when I was preparing to move. But I advise you.
Solar radiation. In Australia and New Zealand, it can peel off the skin. I knew that New Zealand had terrible statistics on skin cancer and other skin diseases due to the ozone hole, but that in Australia, too, life did not prepare me. The radiation is so strong that it even "reaches" Singapore.
Also, get ready for poisonous insects, flying cockroaches, infections. For example, denge. Throughout Southeast Asia, mosquitoes bite, from which, at best, for a week you will simply get down with a temperature and a fever. If a mosquito with the same strain bites a second time, then perhaps the immune system will not survive and “it was nice to meet you!”
When in Australia decided to take a bath.
Accomodation
Housing is completely different. It is divided by type of ownership, bonuses and types.
- Types: apartments/houses/condos/bungalows.
- Extras: balcony/backyard/parking/garage/pool/bbq/gym.
- Ownership: lease/purchase.
In Singapore, people live in condos: a swimming pool, an enclosed courtyard, a gym, a barbecue, no dirty, clogged parking lots - everything is beautiful and pleasant. But Americans say: “How terrible it is to live in Singapore! I can’t afford my own house, I have to live in the same house with other people!” Everyone has their own criteria.
Find out what is in this country with housing.
The best way to understand the market will be those who have already lived there for several years.
The view from what we read on forums and in books is always different from what we see when we visit new friends. Then you can see exactly what and for what money you can afford.
Money
Expectation: "In America they will pay 200 thousand dollars!"
Reality: “Taxes, more and more taxes, prices are higher, and what, in general, is there nothing left?”
What to pay attention to.
Relativity of income to world currency, taxes and prices. You can be paid cosmic money, but in the countries of the first world they will be left with a charred first stage, that is, nothing. First, look at the taxes in the country, and then look at the aggregator sites, where the prices of each product of basic needs are listed relative to the salary. You will understand? how much is your diet worth at the prices of milk, mangoes, potatoes, cigarettes, beer and seeds.
Services, unexpected expenses: parking, insurance, internet. I did not expect that in the US you have to pay for parking at home separately. In the country of motorists, I have to pay 300 dollars for parking, not counting 3 for a one-room apartment?! In Canada, car insurance can cost up to $000 per month.
In many countries, the Internet is very expensive. In the USA, I pay $120 for 2 lines for mobile communications, and in Russia I can use this money for a year with unlimited access.
Prices for garden, school, nannies, locksmith, pool cleaner. Children are a separate issue. Kindergarten can cost a pretty penny. There are few countries where it is free or heavily subsidized, but schools in many countries are free.
Other services can also be very expensive. It is a common tradition in Singapore to keep a house assistant. Pool cleaners make good money in countries where indoor pools are common.
Домашние животные. You cannot bring a cat or a dog from Russia to Australia - this is prohibited. But there is a life hack - to transport a cat to Singapore, he will receive citizenship of Singapore in 3 months, and then you will take him to Australia! There are many nuances here. My colleague, moving to Singapore, paid more for a cat than for his children, because the cat-horse ate up to 8 kg. During acclimatization and stay at the hotel, he paid another $ 20 per day for a cat.
Local tourism and leisure. In some countries everything is private. Going out into the field or walking along the shore of the lake is a rarity, you have to pay for the entrance everywhere. This also includes the price of cultural life: cinema, theater, diversity, community, pubs.
Also consider the cost of flights home. Sometimes you will have to go back or transport your parents.
Nezhdanchik
You have moved, everything is fine, you think: “High! Now I'll pull over!" And then you realize that everyday life everywhere. Yes, you've moved to Thailand and are enjoying yourself now. But you have to go to work, sit under the air conditioner, because you can’t see anything on the beach under the sun, it’s uncomfortable, and even a snake can get into shorts.
Depression comes very easily.
No friends or family around - they stayed somewhere far away: in Skype, in Telegram, but not nearby. You won't be able to find fellowship easily - the cultural code of the environment is completely different, there is little native language and "chemistry" understandable from birth. You will miss the "cultural code" that you have absorbed since birth - no one will understand you with your jokes or familiar movie quotes. Except for Cyprus or Brighton, everyone speaks Russian there. Or if you are a child of migrants who have changed 7 countries, then everything is fine too.
No conventional anchors. You woke up today, started the car, warmed up, drove off, drove to your favorite cafe, drank coffee, had a fight at the post office while waiting for the package - everything is as usual. It's not there - build everything anew.
Little flaws cause big rejection. Every little thing is just annoying. The laptop is broken - you don't know where to fix it, you get angry, throw it out the window and drive back.
Any problem: illness, visa difficulties, fear of a new one, can unsettle
Great quotes
The body and things move in a couple of days. Soul and mind adapt much longer. This is serious: you will move yourself, but you will still remain where you came from for a long time to come. Not all, but on average it works.
After moving, people try to find a “second Moscow”, “second St. Petersburg” and, not finding it, lose heart. Someone leaves with hatred and then it is easier to adapt. But if you are just going to look and want to stay there, you will still look for something familiar and lose heart when you do not find it.
The main idea of the move is to find something new that was not there before: a new culture, food, rules, clothes, holidays and lifestyle. You need to explain this to yourself, because you forget.
Don't look for the familiar, look for the new! This was written by a woman on one of the migrant forums in America, when they once again differed about how “everything is bad in this Valley, I want to go back to my St. Petersburg.”
Disadvantages are everywhere, it would be for the sake of what to put up with them. Therefore, dear, pack your bags, we are already on our way from here.
my wise wife
Sources of additional information
Maximum information about any country on . Here our compatriots by language (not necessarily from Russia) write about how they moved to another country. Each week a new member writes details about the country they have moved to. For example, Lekha moved to Singapore, hangs out with friends and his wife, goes to work, drinks with local Singaporean grandfathers, learns their attitude to politics and about a bunch of insiders - very cool information!
Read more T-F: . Comparison of expectations and reality when moving and the experience of those who moved.
famous blogger who about team leadership, moved from Moscow to Berlin, then to Dublin and London, and wrote a comparative review.
The very juice. A story about how he moved to Berlin. alarm! The post is replete with swear words, super-beautiful funny phrases, and postmodernism. Get ready for it.
Podlodka's podcast -m and th issue discusses relocation.
Bottom line: the stages of moving
make up your mind. You think that the main thing is to decide and move, but no. I went to this for a long time, but everything happened quickly. “How am I going somewhere?!” And I'm in Thailand. Then there was no going back. You play a computer game - time! - I wrote my own, and I no longer want to play, I want to write. Here also.
Get an offer: "That's it, now it's definitely left to pack and move the suitcase."
Run over: "Well, that's it, now just settle down!"
settle down: "Well, now definitely no problem!"
integrate. This is the most difficult thing - not to be a guest worker, but to become your own in a new culture and new environment.
But, as we remember, you can always roll back to the previous step, where you feel more comfortable. Don't forget about it. In general, do not leave your relatives and friends away, always visit them or take them with you on trips.
bonus
If you do not want to move anywhere, take advantage of the unique position of yourself - such a sought-after one that everyone in all countries wants to have as a specialist (in a good way). You can do a little ugly business (but you can afford a little!) - HR tourism. They send you an invitation for an interview in London, San Francisco or Singapore, and you say: “Yes, I’ll fly to the interview, but can I stay a couple of days more?” and ride at the expense of companies in different countries and look at them.
To be continued! October 22 at Saint AppsConf in St. Petersburg Denis read more about popular moving destinations: from New Zealand to Kalach in the Voronezh region.
Total in the program 35 coolest talks and 12 live meetups on iOS and Android technologies, architecture, processes, cross-platform and professional and personal development issues. And this is all in less than two weeks - have time to turn on.
Source: habr.com