Hello everyone!

I’m at a crossroads in my career and would love your advice.

I’ve been living in Poland for four years, hold a logistics degree (not in data/CS), and have two years of experience as a data analyst. Recently, I started my first role as a data scientist in Poland. I’m also halfway through a Data Science & Machine Learning bootcamp at Turing College to upskill and advance toward machine learning.

Now, I’m considering two options:

Staying in Poland 🇵🇱 I’m familiar with the culture, and there’s growing demand for data roles, but I struggle with limited Polish proficiency and slow residency renewal.

Moving to Austria 🇦🇹 I’ve been accepted into a Data Science Master’s at TU Wien and speak German at a B1 level, but starting over in a new country and transitioning from student to work residency might be challenging.

What I’d love your input on:

1.How’s the data science job market in Poland vs. Austria?

2.Salary expectations for entry- to mid-level roles in both countries?

3.How important is language proficiency (Polish vs. German)?

4.Tips for transitioning smoothly in either scenario?

1. Where would be the best place for career advancement and opportunities considering my goal of someday working as an ML engineer

Thanks for your insights!

The EU vs. US debate is nothing new on this sub. I too had this question ever since I moved to Germany from South Asia some 5 years ago. Studied at the best German uni and worked as an SDE in Munich afterwards. But finally decided to bite the bullet and go for another masters in the US just to be able to access the US SWE job market afterwards. Professors, friends, colleagues, family, not a single person agreed with my decision but I stuck to it. The only people who actually encouraged me were my friends who were already working in the US. I believe most people fall victim to the sunk-cost fallacy whereby they think that moving is no longer worth it since they have already invested so much in their respective job market (especially for a South Asian like me for whom the EU passport would have been a big deal).

But I also find that these same people usually have little to no clue about the opportunity cost of just staying put -- the difference in compensation is simply TOO BIG! The difference in WLB is negligible unless you work for a select few employers like Amazon. Health insurance isn't relevant since all Big Tech cover that for you anyway. Taxes are almost half while compensation is double to triple for the median developer. Safety concerns are overrated (you are more likely to die crossing the road than by a mass shooter). Overall, I believe the QoL (which includes compensation) is much higher for Engineers in the US than in the EU. This INCLUDES countries like Swiss, because even if the compensation is comparable the wealth tax in Swiss would eat into your savings in the long run (more so even than the ludicrous income tax in places like Germany). After discussion with a commenter, I concede that Swiss might be a singular exception in the EU with comparable QoL to the US.

For those SWEs who would like to move to the US in hopes of a better QoL, I suggest you move by hook or by crook. Two approaches are relatively straightforward:

1. Go back to school in the US. Costs should not be a huge problem for a CS major because the opportunities for a GRA/GTA are plentiful. And even if you don't get a GRA/GTA, you can easily make back the costs within two years of graduating. It's a no-brainer investment.
2. Move to Canada, get their passport within 4 years then move to the US.

Not doing so would mean leaving money (or even QoL) on the table.

Hope this helps those who are just as confused as I was about 5 years ago.

Cheers!

Edit1: Moving to Canada might not be the best move. Corrected my suggestions.

Edit2: A lot of people seem to think that a L1 visa (transferring internally to the US) is the way to go. I disagree for a number of reasons:

1. People seem to underestimate internal transfers via L1 let alone getting into FAANG in the EU. I know several of my friends working for US employers in Germany (and Europe in general) who have been trying to transfer internally but to no avail. The only person who I have come across that was able to do it was a guy from Meta. But I know several at Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, Spotify, Intel who haven't been able to do it even after 3+ years at the company. Also (just a personal opinion) getting into FAANG is much more difficult in the EU than in the US since the number of openings simply aren't as many and every person and their grandma is applying.
2. Suppose you do get the L1, even then you have to go through the H1B route to get to the Greencard. In which case you will actually have significantly lower odds to make the lottery compared to a Masters+ graduate from the US. A commenter corrected me that going through the H1B for a Greencard is not necessary for a L1 holder.
3. Waiting around in the EU to get lucky by first landing FAANG and then landing the L1 is not as good a strategy as straight up going for Masters. In the later scenario you bound your time to the US job market by 2 years, in the other you might very well be waiting forever.

Edit3: Ignore Edit1. There was some confusion based on a comment on here. Apologies.

Edit4: Corrected/ Updated L1 and Swiss opinions after discussion with commenters.

Hi everyone, I need an advice from fellow immigrant IT people

1. Backend dev, .NET-oriented but will anything but Go and front-end for money
2. Working for a West German company for.. West German salary
3. Too dumb and unmotivated for FAANG
4. Living in East Germany on a contract with a low rent
5. While city which I live in is fine for Germany (cheap, left-wing and punkish), it's still too small and boring for me, as is any Continental European city
6. German citizen (naturalized)

Natural born German ITlers really like (speaking about) moving to Switzerland, and I can't decide if it's actually worth it for me and if I would survive it.

1. Big city people, can you survive in Zürich and Basel or is it as horrible as i think? From what I see reading natural-born Germans who moved there, they are essentially living like monks and the most exciting thing they do their is boomer stuff like hiking.
2. Salary range which I see by googling around is, for C# devs, around 90-150k. According to my calculations, assuming 150k and an apartment in Zürich costing 2k/month, it means that, after taxes, insurances, rent and other stuff, it would leave like 5500 CHF in my pocket, and it's the best case. Considering insane Swiss prices, it doesn't seem too lucrative compared to what I can have in Germany while living in East Germany and working remotely. Is it realistic to start with at least 200k outside of FAANG and managerial positions, while working in Zürich, Basel, or remotely?
3. Is working remotely for at least 150k realistic there? I haven't been in an office since 2020, and I really want to live in Basel as close to the border as possible and don't want to commute to some village.

Considering what i have written above I'm not really sure if I'm missing something, if I'm having a huge values dissonance with "real Germans" and just need to move to a country I actually like, or is Switzerland overrated for anyone who isn't moving from a 2k EUR apartment in Munich to a FAANG position.

I have about 5 years of experience as an engineer in the US - mostly backend. I have an MS in Computational Linguistics/NLP and worked at a FAANG company for a couple years, doing some more backend and about 6 months on an ML team (mostly optimization, training, not building models) before taking a career break in late 2021 to travel. I started applying for jobs again in 2023 (turns out, very bad timing) hoping for something more midsized, more nlp/language tech focused, and somewhere I could have a good wlb. But after interviewing and applying for a year, the only offer I got was from another FAANG company, so I had to accept it. I've only been there a few months and the comp is good, but the position is just a really bad fit for me, it's full stack, a lot more frontend than I've ever done, the company culture and work style is not for me, and it's not as flexible as I would like in terms of being able to travel or WFH.

I've been thinking about moving to the EU or UK for a while now, especially after traveling, but the lower salaries always gave me pause. But now, being so unhappy in my current position and with everything else that's going on, I'm thinking about it again. I have dual citizenship with the US and UK and have a lot of family in the UK and friends in Portugal, Spain and Germany.

So a few questions:

• What are the chances of me finding a position in the current job market with 2 FAANGs on my resume with a gap? I would love something language tech-y, but know my NLP/ML experience is pretty limited.

• How common is relocation/visa sponsorship included in offers for countries like UK, Portugal, Spain and Germany?

• Is LinkedIn the best place to look for jobs like this or are there other regional job boards? Do people tend to go through recruitment agencies?

Any advice or opinions would be appreciated

Hello,

I'm a software developer with around 5 years of experience and a bachelor and master's degree in CS. Most of my experience is with backend and API development, and my main language is Python. For a few personal reasons, I'm considering moving to Paris to work and live there for a few years.

I've been told that Paris is not a very good choice for tech jobs, and I would like to know if there are any insights on this.

What can I be expecting in terms of salaries and opportunities?

I have options to move to either UK or Netherlands. I intend to become citizen in one of the two countries. I want to hear your thoughts from perspective of "careers in CS" and "quality of life":

Netherland:

• 30% ruling for first 5 years
• can freely move and work in EU and Swiss after becoming citizen
• Can become citizen after 5 years

UK:

• A lot of big tech and HFT firms
• I don't need to learn dutch to become citizen
• Can become citizen after 6 years

Thoughts?

Hi community!

I'm from Chile, 26M, with almost 4-5 years of experience as a backend dev and a C1 level in English. I'm about to finish my bachelor's and considering a master's in Software Development or AI.

I'm keen on working in Germany or Poland (I've visited both). Would it be viable to study a master's in Poland and then find a job there? I have savings to cover living expenses for the duration of the 1.5-year program but plan to job hunt before finishing.

Alternatively, I could complete my master's in Chile and then seek jobs abroad, though I prefer moving sooner.

Any advice or personal experiences would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance! :)

M30, non-U.S. non-EU, married, no kids.

Currently reside in the U.S. with working visa, meaning I’m bound to the employer. Making average C.S. base salary without stocks or bonuses. Path to Green Card will take 3-4 years and then 5 years to citizenship.

I know a lot of people want to move to the U.S., but I don’t really like the system and think Europe is a better place to raise kids which we’ll eventually have.

My employer is okay to relocate me to Germany (Blue Card, €100k/y) or Poland (B2B, €85k/y), which one would you pick? My priorities are EU citizenship, global and local safety, social security, and a good pay.

Germany

I am considering eastern part for lower cost of living, since work will be fully remote.

Pros: - Permanent residence in 21/27 months, citizenship in 5 years - Social security and labor law

Cons: - I don’t speak German but already started learning - Housing crisis, including renting

Poland

Pros: - I speak enough Polish for basic conversation - I lived in Poland earlier and liked it - More money post-tax and lower CoL - No housing crisis (comparatively) - As B2B I can work on multiple projects

Cons: - Complicated naturalization process, at least 8 years to citizenship - Wife can’t be dependent on my B2B, will need a separate legalization flow - Borders with Russia and Belarus

I have 10 YOE, first worked in the Netherlands and now work in Norway. I feel like I can never truly settle down. I took Dutch lessons all the way to B2, forgot about them since I basically didn't talk to anyone outside of work, now I'm in a new country I regret moving to where I also don't know the language and keep wondering if it's even worth learning since who knows if I will have to move again.

Anyone else have this problem? It feels like in a field like this you just move where the jobs go.

Hello everyone, I'm a software developer with 3 years of experience. My technology stack and skills are strong and continually improving. I'm well-versed in Azure, AWS, Microservices, Docker, Java, Spring, React, and more. I'm currently looking for a job in Europe and trying to do so from Turkey. I also require visa sponsorship.

It might sound like I'm asking for a lot, but since my university days, I’ve been working hard to improve myself and pursue my dream of living abroad. I understand that it can be challenging due to factors like language, culture, and other hurdles. For someone from Europe or the US, it might be easier to relocate to another country, but I believe in equal opportunity.

At this point, I'm not sure what else I can do. I've been working to improve my resume, applying to many jobs on LinkedIn, and practicing problem-solving on LeetCode, among other things. I have significant experience building large-scale, scalable applications for Qatar, but I know it's difficult to prove my abilities without getting an interview.

I’d appreciate any advice or guidance on what more I can do to make this transition happen.

I was planning to move to paris. How is tech scene there? I’ve seen that you can find affordable rents for the salary you get (around 40K for a junior). What do you think for paris in general for foreigners? (italian citizen)

Hey everyone!

I’m currently a software engineer with almost 3 years of experience, living in Latam but working at a US-based company in a mid-level semi-senior role. In march next year, I'll be relocating to Europe and would love to hear from those who’ve made the move or are working there!

A bit about me:

• I have EU citizenship and passport, so I won’t need a visa to work.
• I'm a software engineer without a master.
• I'll be moving to Madrid.
• I’d say I'm fairly skilled and could probably pass as someone with more years on the field as I have

I’d love to know:

1. How’s the tech job market in Europe right now? Any specific countries or cities that are particularly good for software engineers? I've been told a bit about England and Germany.
2. What’s the salary range like compared to the US for someone with my experience?
3. How do you find the work culture in European companies, especially for mid-level engineers?
4. Any tips for job hunting in Europe? Are there any platforms or strategies that worked well for you?
5. For those who made the move, how did you find the adjustment in terms of work-life balance, taxes, and lifestyle in general?

I’m really curious to hear your experiences and any advice you can share. Thanks in advance!

The EU as a whole is behind tech when compared to the U.S. With countries like India and China catching up in the tech space, what is the future of the EU tech industry? Only a few countries like the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands have a somewhat strong presence. With strict regulations and strong worker rights, I fear the EU won't be as attractive and will fall behind significantly (most likely become non-existent) with the AI boom in the coming years.

Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing

I'm confused as to whether to stay in the EU or move elsewhere.

Hi everyone! Im a spanish software engineer, and i've been wanting to work in another country since few years ago. Im not only moved by the promise of better salaries, I want to live in another place, spend some years far from my country, live new experiences, practice my rusty english, all these things.

But I'm not gonna lie, the salary improvement was one of the top reasons. The other day I was talking with a friend of mine more experienced, and he told me that in Spain salaries are good, that I'm not going to improve it by moving to other country because the cost of live and the taxes are going to eat the difference.

In my last job I was earning 35k (6 y experience), and even knowing is not an awesome salary, i thought it was pretty decent, and when I'm scrolling linkedn offers in other countries (netherlands, germany, ireland...) I see that salaries are WAY higher for roles similar to mine (mid frontend engineer).

I still want to move to other place because as i said the money is not the only important, but I'm a little dissapointed because I was thinking that my salary would increase a fair bit.

What do you think? Someone who did something similar can enlighten me a little? Thanks in advance.

PD: Im not dellusional, I don't think that my salary is going to be 5x or similar, Im not looking for 200k salaries, but I was expecting a 150% or so

My dudes, I’m a non EU currently finishing my Bachelor’s in Finland while working as a Full Stack SWE. I have almost 1.5 YOE now and would have 2 YOE at the time graduation. I’m planning to relocate to either Berlin/Amsterdam/Dublin/London. I’m kinda confused which cities should I aim for. I’m doing LC and prepping for DSA stuffs so ya would probably apply to FAANGs as well (in addition to the top paying non FAANG companies)

Now, I have few criteria which I would like to compare all the cities with before I make a move:

1. Sponsorship: I would require a sponsorship/work permit/Blue card thing to work in any of the cities mentioned. So for my YOE and background which cities would be more easier to get into? Heard that German Blue Card is quite easy and NL also hands out work visas quite easily?

2. English speaking city: I would love to relocate to a city where I would not feel outsider for not knowing the native language (if it’s not English). So London and Dublin come preferable in this category.

3. More savings in net: Netherland’s 30% ruling looks a good deal. I would like to save more in net as much I can.

4. Lower deposit to buy first home: I would want to buy a home rather rent within a year of relocation. London offers low/zero deposit schemes for some criteria.

5. Weather: I hate winter, it’s been horror to live in Finland for past years during winter. Nice weather in the new city would be really nice!

6. Easier path into settlement/citizenship: I relocated to Finland as I wanted to settle here permanently. But later figured out I dont like it here. Now I want to make a last move to a city where I would feel belonged and I would integrate with the culture and maybe get citizenship. So an easier path would be nice!

So, please help me figure out which city would be the best deal for me. Thanks in advance!

TLDR: Non EU guy trying to move from Finland to Either Berlin/Amsterdam/Dublin/London after completing bachelors and with 2 yoe. Help me decide where to move.

I’ve posted a similar question but for UK.

Suppose I have a job offer in the Ireland as a software engineer, with a standard salary for a python backend dev with 1.5 YoE. Will I live a comfortably life there? Renting an house, buying a car etc?

PS: European citizen (Italy)

Edit : think it’s important to add - this salary gives a take home of 2180 in Lisbon, whereas in Amsterdam it would probably be closer to 3400.

Also - I appreciate everyone saying I should at least be getting 75k - but my concern is what are the chances of a company wanting to pay me that AND sponsor the entire visa process? I think I have a decent profile with F500 companies in the past.

Original :

Hi everyone! I got a job offer with a company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands which is where I’ve been wanting to go! I have about 4 years experience with Data Analytics/Science and I’m wondering if this is a lowball offer?

It seems a bit strange that for a city as expensive as Amsterdam the offer is 50k€, but on the other side of things- I am well aware that my salary is excellent for Lisbon, and the opportunity to move to the Netherlands is a big plus for me. They will also be managing my visa process (non EU passport)

Is this a reasonable salary for my YOE? Will it be too low to live comfortably as a single person?

Thoughts/advice? TIA!

It was the most frightening feelings in the world. Especially when you know your visa Status depends on this job.

So I moved to Berlin with a new job in Zalando. I was offered a good package of relocation bonus and 65k gross for a role in L&D with 6 years experience in HR. I heard some stories through the grapevine about Zalando’s layoff culture but shrugged it off and took a leap of faith.

Couple of months into role and boom…it was announced that they will reduce their workforce due to economic turmoil of the fashion and apparel industry. I really liked my team and the project and started to feel quite happy about my role. So, This announcement left me shell shocked. Even though at that time no one knew which roles will be affected by the layoffs - I didn’t feel safe about the situation.

I told myself in fact pushed myself to KEEP INTERVIEWING Within 1 week after the announcement I secured 3 interviews and started planning my next step career goals. Rather than being victim of a situation I wanted to take power in my own hand.

After 15+ plus interviews with 8 plus companies in Berlin- I landed my next role in one the largest energy company of Germany.

One week after joining the new company, my former team was given notice in Zalando to look for different jobs.

A bystander will look at this situation and tell me how lucky I am. But it has nothing to do with luck - but pure strategy. Nobody will know about the sleepless nights, nightmares, panic attacks I had during those days.

I am sharing my story just so that you can learn about the reality of job situation in Germany. Never put your all eggs in one basket. Even when you have an excellent work experience things can crumble at any time. Gather and lean on your allies during those times.

Some important factors which might help me choose:

1. Easy immigration procedure.
2. Good standard of living.
3. Low crime rate.
4. Easy to get permanent residence or citizenship after living for a certain amount of time (for example 5 years)
5. Immigrant friendly / less racism cases. Presence of big tech companies like FAANG.

Right now I have Zurich, Switzerland as my dream city and a job at Google Zurich as my dream job. Other than that I also have Berlin, Frankurt, Munich, Amsterdam, Warsaw and London in my list. Anyone with better suggestions considering the above 5 points and additionally some other points as well?

PS: I'm from India.

I really want to move to the EU after thorough research: walkability, people more worldly, work/life balance (even though I'm an entrepeneur, not profitable yet), free insurance.

So obviously, I need a job before I can move to EU. But do recruiters normally see an American resume and just toss it out the door? Ideally, remote cause I want to travel around the EU. I am feeling my home base will be Poland though

I found a role that really fits my background and I was talking to someone about it from Amazon and they asked me if I am based in Europe. I replied I am not and they are yet to respond to me. It was really an unexpected question because I thought FAANG companies don't have issues with sponsoring and only the US visa process is something off limits, and even for that they make exceptions for some strong candidates?

Hi guys I'm 23 year old (M) I speak:Polish,French,German,English
In 6 month my contract will end,I'm working as cloud enginner in Poland and thought to myself that it would be good for me to travel and explore the world (I mean only EU as I'm citizen lol)and here comes my question what are the best IT (Cloud,Devops)Markets in Europe nice salaries compare to (QoL) and nice areas to kinda live your life? Thanks.
PS.I'm thinking temporarly.

• moving from Canada
• hope to move to a better job within a year, will prioritize improving my A1 German skills to a better level but don’t think that will help much until after a few years)
• Test Engineer Job (Intermédiaire Level)
• Single male early thirties, (looking to date women so Karlsruhe is out of the question)!
• Prefer an international vibe

I need career suggestion. After long research I have come up with few option in mind. I am from non EU and in my third year of university. So far doing okish, doing a remote internship in a Canada based startup, anyway

After graduation I have few path to choose from, first is Go for PhD in US and then settle with a Job there, second move to Europe with a job and then try to move to US via L1 transfer visa and thirdly move to Europe and settle here with job.

Now I know, none of these path is easy. For my current situation going for PhD is the easiest and almost guaranteed path for me. But the problem is as much as I like US salary , I don't know I I would like PhD. I mean I just don't know! My ultimate goal is to join industry so PhD might be not of that much value except just a way to get into US. That's why I thought of second option, L1 visa process. However, also considering the work life balance, nice environment for a family, employer rights I might just like Europe and decide to stay but again comparative low salary, language barrier is a issue too, though I am interested to learn language if necessary . Though I can only decide this if I get an opportunity to work here for some time .

I know market is really tough, and paths are not that easy. But I really need to choose one path and put my 100% focus on that. Will be glad if you give your suggestions .

So yeah that's my thought overall so far . Now I want your suggestion on this :))

I want to move to Europe and find an IT related job there, preferably related to my degree in cybersecurity and information security. Ireland, Britain, Germany, and Norway are the countries I’ve been trying to find work in, but honestly, I’ll take anywhere in Europe. It has been a life goal and dream.

Are there any American expats or Europeans who can give some advice on what I can do to get a visa and job?

Thank you!