As the world continues to adjust to the unique conditions that the pandemic put into place, many professionals were left with no choice but to work in the comforts of their home. As forced participants in the world’s largest remote working experiment, their current condition provided them with the perfect opportunity to seriously think about the advantages and disadvantages of working from home. While some are still hesitant about working entirely remotely, many are convinced that the benefits definitely outweigh the drawbacks and are therefore hopeful that this working arrangement will persist even after the pandemic.

In fact, 54% of surveyed workers say that they would prefer to continue working remotely full time. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since a multitude of studies out there have already proven that flexible work arrangements can effectively lessen work-related anxiety and stress, improve employee satisfaction and happiness, enhance productivity, and even increase annual income. If you are one of those people who don’t want to go back to suffocating and hectic offices ever again, then looking for remote work opportunities as a software engineer in the Netherlands could be a valid career change. If you are not convinced, then here are some more reasons that will surely change your mind:

In-demand software engineers

As the world continues to move into the digital space at breakneck speed, tech jobs will continue to grow more and more in demand in the coming years. In fact, an article by ZDNet cited that even during these trying times, tech jobs will steadily make up about 35% of all vacancies in major European cities. With the ongoing global health crisis pushing businesses to speed up their adoption of various technologies, developers and software engineers will undoubtedly top the list of the most sought-after tech professionals. Although numerous countries will be needing software engineers, job vacancies with relocation to the Netherlands are worth considering since the country has been reported as the nation with the second-highest need for such professionals.

Abundant tourist destinations

According to Vox’s feature about the pros and cons of working from home, one of the greatest perks of working remotely is having a flexible schedule that lets you enjoy your hobbies and your well-deserved breaks. However, regardless of whether you will be working remotely or not, it is still important to check out the places you can see and go to in the country you are relocating to. After all, working in another country will mean living there for long periods of time, so it’s best to pick a country that will make your day-offs and vacation leave fun and exciting. While it may seem like a trivial consideration for working abroad, digital nomad James Gonzales emphasizes the importance of taking time off. He cites how stepping away from work for a few days will not only increase your productivity, focus, and mental clarity but also provide you with a chance to refocus on your goals and look at things from a fresh perspective. Taking the time to look around and go on short trips, will be extremely helpful in maintaining the physical and mental wellbeing of engineers who have to apply dizzying concepts of mathematical analysis and principles of computer science to the development of various software. And the good news is that not only does the Netherlands have many places to visit, you also have Europe on your doorstep.

High wages

Although the US continues to be one of the countries that embrace migrant workers and promises higher wages, a recent study cited by CNBC found that young professionals who moved abroad to search for better job opportunities were able to see their salary increase by more than 35% after relocating. If you are a software engineer planning to work in a country such as the Netherlands, which is in great need of tech professionals, there is a good chance your annual income will be higher than your average income in the US. To get a better estimation of how much you could make internationally, it would be best to use a net pay calculator that considers the current exchange rate, as well as your current tax class.

Whether you’ve finally decided on living and working in the Netherlands or any other country, there are two other things you have to do aside from checking out the demand for your profession, the pay, and the places you can visit. To ensure a seamless relocation to the country of choice, make sure to dedicate a copious amount of time looking through local and international tech job boards and niche websites. It would also be a good idea to look through different relocation tips and consider various factors such as the people you want to relocate with and your educational attainment.

A contribution by Mila Walton

The post Living and Working as a Software Engineer in the Netherlands first appeared on Relocate.me.

Maxwell is an Amsterdam-based company, working on low-code platforms for chatbots and voice assistants. Thanks to their products, one can easily build and implement chatbots without technical knowledge. We’re more than happy that this company leverages Relocate.me to recruit experienced Software Engineers from all over the globe. To find out more about their hiring success, we spoke to Asbjørn Jørgensen, the co-founder of Maxwell.

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Why did Maxwell decide to hire abroad? Did you experience a talent shortage on the local market, or just wanted to diversify your team?

As we focus on hiring the best people for our positions, we don’t limit ourselves to the local candidates’ pools only. It so happened to be that we often find suitable people abroad. Currently, most of our team consists of expats.

Do the Dutch companies often hire from abroad?

Yes. At tech companies, based in large cities like Amsterdam, it’s becoming common that teams consist of people from multiple nationalities. Moreover, the government makes it relatively easy for employers to relocate candidates to the Netherlands, so the process of becoming a sponsor for knowledge migrants is quite streamlined and smooth. That helps us save time in order to focus on helping candidates to relocate.

Tell us about your overall experience with Relocate.me.

We use Relocate.me to attract professionals for engineering roles. The hires who come through the platform usually have 10+ years of hands-on experience in the industry-leading companies. That makes Relocate.me a unique source of experienced candidates for us. As for the timing, we usually find a candidate we’re excited about within 2 months.

How long does it take for you to relocate a candidate to the Netherlands?

The whole process usually takes 4-6 weeks. From the moment of signing the contract until the candidate arrives at work, we usually need at least 4 weeks to get everything prepared for a smooth relocation.

How do you support your candidates during the relocation process?

We provide our candidates with visa sponsorship and help with all the other practical matters of relocating. As soon as our new hire comes to the Netherlands, we help them with the residence permit, accommodation, a bank account, social security number, and everything else they may need. Surely, we discuss the checklist of relocation assistance resources with every candidate individually.

Maxwell team in their office garden

What do you like most about working with Relocate.me?

For Maxwell, it’s all about the quality of candidates. Currently, we’re very happy with the candidates that we found through the website.

What do you think makes Relocate.me different from the other job boards for developers?

Relocate.me has a very specific focus and goal — helping professionals to relocate to another country. As someone whose parents both relocated to the Netherlands, I support this goal with all my heart. It’s a big deal, seriously, and we always take the time to make this step successful for our candidates. We really care about our hires, and I personally take a lot of responsibility in supporting them during the relocation process.

Having gone through the process of hiring from abroad, what advice would you give to those companies who are going to use the same approach?

Try to find a balance between hiring from abroad and hiring from the local market. Expats always want to learn more about the local culture; so it definitely helps to have a few locals in the team.

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Browse jobs at Maxwell and other tech vacancies in the Netherlands here. If you want to move to the Netherlands, read the story of Michele Bertasi — a passionate C++ developer who moved to Amsterdam from Italy.

The post Hire Like Maxwell: How To Relocate Developers With 10+ Years Of Experience first appeared on Relocate.me.

This post was originally published on relocateme.eu.

Short Bio

Michele Bertasi, extremely passionate software engineer with years of C++ development experience, moved from Italy to the Netherlands in May 2016. Initially joined Bright Computing as a Software Developer, Michele is now leading its TPSI team (Third-Party Software Integration).

Could you tell us about your journey back in Italy and why did you consider relocation?

I was a software developer, of course, and I was working in the industrial automation field. I didn’t think about relocating, at first, I was only considering changing my job because I needed a new opportunity for me. Having done a few interviews in Verona and other cities in Italy, I found that there was nothing satisfying — all other jobs were similar to the one I’ve already had or even worse. So, I didn’t find enough opportunities for me. The relocation was a chance to change my field and improve my skills.

How did you find out about opening with relocation?

I had many contacts via Linkedin and Daria from RelocateMe contacted me at the right moment. That was only the reason.

In the beginning, she has encouraged me to read about the country and the company. Daria, basically, convinced me to do an interview and helped me to be focused on it, to try it. I was skeptical in the beginning, but in the end, I thought: ‘Just try and see what will happen’.

Daria has assured me that RelocateMe has many contacts in Amsterdam and that they have successfully relocated other people there, so I thought maybe I could also get some help. Because when you move abroad, you know nothing basically. You haven’t visited the country, you don’t know what the life would be, accommodation, etc. She has brought out people that could help me and answer my questions. So, it was useful.

If you could go back in time 1 year, would you change anything?

I think my experience in Italy was necessary to get my position here. When opportunities come, you have to take them. In the end, I can’t ask for more than that.

If you could give 3 pieces of advice for software developers, who are doubtful about relocation or general career advice?

First of all, think about what do you have on: if you are happy with your job, there is no point in relocating, if not, then think why. Such issues as management or career opportunities can be resolved, as there are much more opportunities for software developers in this kind of countries.

Think about relocation itself and its consequences, you have to start a new life. That’s real, and it’s not a joke: you have to start from scratch again with many other things. My girlfriend couldn’t come, I had to search for a new football team and friends, so my life is a little bit more difficult. However, from the work point of view, everything went smoothly and the relocation was really easy. Especially for me, as I am a European: the only thing I had to think about is about relocating. Also, the sooner you start, the better, cause the later you start, the harder is the process.

What kind of skills and qualities are the companies looking for in software developers, in your opinion?

I think that companies are always looking for people who have done many things, prove to be flexible about their abilities and the way they work. They also need people, who are able to work in a team — this is a very very important skill.

In my case, the best skill I had was that I knew C++ very well and this is not a common skill. So I would advise if you have a very special skill, you have to develop it. Also, I’ve never stopped learning, and it’s very nice to see a person, who always looks to improve herself/himself. This way companies are more comfortable hiring people if the person is going to the company not to ditch, but to learn, even if they are already good… that is a good skill/quality of character to have.

What was the hardest part of the relocation process?

The hardest part was not having family and friends around. In the end, you will get used to that, it’s just that the very first moments that are really bad. Apart from that, everything else was really smooth.

The best part was that I was lucky to find an apartment easily because housing in Amsterdam is really crazy. The guy has helped me with housing, it was really good and it helped me a lot. That’s a mandatory thing to have if you are willing to relocate and you don’t want to end up in a crap apartment or in another city.

How do you find the Netherlands? How did the expectations compare to reality?

I didn’t know much about the Netherlands, apart from people, who came on vacation to Italy. I found it very nice. It’s quite different from Italy, especially from the surfaces point of view and the weather. The weather really sucks, but for the rest, it’s a very beautiful country. Services are nice, people are nice, they’re very open to other people and this is something we miss in Italy. Amsterdam is an international hub. Things have changed for the better.

Another good reason to come to the Netherlands: there are so many conferences, meetups, etc. I had opportunities to go to some of them: Dutch C++ group and Software Circus were especially remarkable. It’s very nice to meet people who do the same as you and to know what’s happening in your field. Also, I went also to other meetups for non-nerds, just to meet new people and have some fun together, what helps very much if you are looking for new friends.

What did you find interesting about the Netherlands?

One interesting thing is that all Dutch people speak good English. So, you may have a hard time learning Dutch, because it’s not mandatory to survive and the Dutch switch to English easily, if you see that you are struggling. So, it’s not that easy to learn Dutch there.

During the summer, when it’s good weather many people go to the public parks to play, listen to music and dance, have barbecues. It’s very busy and nice. You have the feeling that people know how to party here.

How did you find life in the new company? What are the perks of working in the Bright Computing?

Bright Computing is expanding, so I have more opportunities in the company, but the best part is that if my expectations didn’t match, there are plenty of other companies here. I am happy with my company, my colleagues are nice, my boss is nice. So, for now, I am happy with the company.

I love being part of a very international team. We have a company outing twice a year, go out, organize meetups and share various activities sometimes. However, everything depends on the type of the company.

We went on a mountain bike trip to the dunes of Zandvoort a few weeks ago. It rained a lot and some people felt down and had a hard time with the dunes. I couldn’t imagine it would be so hard, but nonetheless, it was so funny and uniting. After the biking, we had a barbecue with a lot of drinks. Everybody was relaxed and even drunk with the atmosphere of freedom and delight. It was not easy to come back home with the bike at the end, but those were such a great moments to share together.

How has Amsterdam affected you? Does it inspire you?

It has expanded my horizons. My path was quite narrow in Italy, and here, I have the opportunity to expand my specialty, my field. Many companies are narrow, except for the biggest but Bright Computing is touching many things, adds lots of variety, lots of things to do in my career.

What kind of periodicals do you read to keep your skills updated? A piece of advice for our followers?

Following news and the right people on Twitter is very important. They can point out interesting stuff, and you will expand your network. The result is not immediate, but noticeable.

Blogs can be useful too. I read C++ blogs (like Herb Sutter and Andrzej Krzemieński) because it’s my specialty and a great variety of others, like Brian Krebs for Software Security, This week in rust for Rust and famous Diary of the Reverse Engineer, I have written an article for.

I also do many courses on Coursera, that are interesting for me. For example, I followed Software and Hardware Security, etc. Stanford Online, Yale online, Coursera are excellent starting points to reach a better understanding of more complicated topics, and they are free.

The things I have pointed out to you are not specific to what I am doing now, I am expanding on it. Even if you’re varying your job, your skills improve, but you can always expand more if you want — that’s my advice. IT moves really, really fast, faster than any field. The more you can learn the better for you. And that’s it. The more, the best. Even if the company develops your skills, it doesn’t matter that you can’t develop it furthermore, if you want. This is the best advice I could give you: develop yourself cause nobody will teach you after school.

The post How To Move To Amsterdam And Expand The Horizons Of Your Dreams? first appeared on Relocate.me.