Where To Start?

Most countries are quite different from one another (even those located within the EU). They have diverse requirements, attitudes, etc., so you should start by picking both the country and the city where you want to live.

Test the waters, study other expats’ feedback. Your best bet may be saving up some money, researching the country you enjoy, then going there to see what is around and what the people are like.

The more you know about the country and city you want to move to, the less stressful your relocation will be. Once you have your target city narrowed down, you can start searching for a tech job in your soon-to-be home.

 

Cost Of Living In Your New Locale

When moving to another state or out of your home country, figure out the cost of living in your new locale first — it can vary dramatically from location to location. There are tons of websites available (e.g. Numbeo or Teleport) that you can use to get an idea of your estimated expenses.

If you’ve already received a specific job offer, assure that the salary you’re offered will be sufficient. Remember, each country is unique, so bear in mind the varied costs of living.

For example, while living in San Francisco, one can currently expect to make $100–120K. In Portugal, on the other hand, a more realistic salary might be €20–24K (depending on the specific job). The good news is that you can live comfortably with €2000 per month in Portugal, as food and housing are very cheap. An engineer that might bring in $150k in Chicago or Seattle would net about €50–55K in Berlin. In Spain, developer salaries are not so high either, but compared to what? Developers will rarely make more than €1500–2000 per month, but that salary is considered substantial in Spain and you will be able to live comfortably — all your personal needs will be met. If you want to relocate from the UK to Switzerland, yes your salary will rise significantly, but it won’t make you better off, because you will be spending more. Thankfully, though, most European countries don’t have a huge income wage gap for software engineers.

Depending on where you go, it’s quite possible that a lower gross salary could end up being quite reasonable because expenses are lower, apartments are cheaper, you might not need a car, etc. Remember to take other factors into consideration as well, such as quality of life, benefits, tax advantages, advancement opportunities, etc.

 

Make Sure You Know Exactly What Your Relocation Package Entails

Another thing you should pay close attention to is what your future employer will and won’t offer in terms of relocation support. The offers you receive might differ to some degree. Some companies hiring international talent can only cover basic expenses such as visa/paperwork and flight tickets, while others can offer their potential employees much more advanced relocation assistance. This is generally dependent on the size and age of the company in question. Learn more here.

 

Is English Enough To Live And Work Abroad?

Language is also something to be taken into account, as it varies greatly from country to country (both the languages spoken and how common multilingualism is). In most cases, there’s no need to worry about the local language. You will be able to get a great tech job in many countries by being fluent in English only. However, there are exceptions, and how easily you can get a job and carry on daily life will be affected as a result.

Let’s say, for example, you’re thinking about joining a new project either in Berlin or Copenhagen.

You can get many jobs in both Denmark and Germany speaking only English, but in Denmark you can also do almost everything else in English (all government agencies speak English, most forms are bilingual, banks and doctors’ offices all do English, etc.). In Germany, on the other hand, the civil service and even doctors generally expect you to interact with them in German. Not that you shouldn’t also learn some Danish in Denmark, but how critical it is to quickly become proficient in the national language(s) varies a lot between countries.

So, with that in mind, it’s a good idea to check the EF English Proficiency Index before choosing your next work destination abroad.

Either way, if you want to fully integrate into your new country, you’ll need to learn the language (though, many haven’t and manage to do just fine).

Bonus tip: Do learn some of the native language of your target country before you apply. Having that on your resume and being able to handle small talk during the interview demonstrates that you are serious about staying in your new country.

 

Visa

While each country is a little different when it comes to visas, generally speaking, being sponsored by a company is all you need to acquire one. So, your first step should be to find an employer that is willing to sponsor your application for a work permit.

 

What If You Don’t Have Formal IT/CS Education?

Of course things like a university degree and work experience in your field will make your job hunt easier. In some situations, it will be very hard, nearly impossible, to secure a job with relocation without a combination of prerequisite education and on-the-job experience. However, there are also a number of overseas companies which don’t consider the lack of a formal degree as an obstacle to hiring, and they would sponsor a work visa. For example, in the Netherlands, it isn’t essential for a “highly skilled migrant” visa to have a formal education in IT. This is also the case in places like Denmark, Ireland, etc.

The hardest part about landing a tech job abroad is finding one that won’t low ball you because you might lack formal schooling.

Note: If you are passionate about technology and programming, don’t stop at university. It will be tough to compete with other candidates if you rest on your laurels. Do your own side projects, get a GitHub account to display your skills, work internships, attend meetups, and network to gain an advantage.

 

And last, but not least, ensure your significant others are on board with your decision to move before you start the relocation process. You should try making use of services like Relocate.me to help organize all the information you’ll need to know about relocating, then make a convincing case to your family and friends that your decision is the right one.

 

This Makes Sense

The times when one could land a job by solely being equipped with the right set of technical skills are long gone. More and more often, being actively involved in the recruiting field, we see refusals occur because of a lack of “soft skills.” A lot of developers fail here, but there are ways to improve your abilities in this area.

Here are a few tips from our Relocate.me team on how to “sell yourself” on a (remote) job interview:

First, always do your homework well before the interview. Peruse info about the company (e.g. CrunchBase, TechCrunch, VentureBeat) and its team, look through the company blog, and make sure you have complete knowledge about the role.

Another good idea is to search for “typical” interview questions your target company might ask and practice answering as many as possible. Also, try to glean information from any contacts you might have that are currently working for this particular company. It could be a great opportunity to learn more about the company’s interview process, its focuses, and that kind of questions you should be prepared for.

Try to positively impress an interviewer at the beginning of your conversation. Talk about the weather or something abstract. You can also mention that you’re going to visit the city where the team is based (you may be invited for an on-site interview) or that you know a few developers from the team, etc.

Treat your interviewer as if he/she was sitting across from you. Don’t forget about eye contact.

Another important factor is finding a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed during your call (no cats walking across your Mac, noise in the background, etc.). If, during the interview, the internet connection becomes weak, ask your interviewer to recall a few minutes later so that you can fix the problem or switch to Skype.

If you’re considering job relocation and English is expected to be your working language, spare no effort in improving it. Mastery of the language is essential for getting hired by prestigious product companies abroad.

Talk about the business component of your product (at least in a few sentences), point out what problems it solves and what your audience is.

Try to secure an interview at a few world’s top technology companies such as Facebook, Skype, Amazon. You will gain invaluable interviewing experience and boost your confidence.

Prepare interesting questions to ask about the company. For instance:

 

1. Are you an Agile-based company?
2. What problems has your team encountered while integrating Agile?

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1. Do you plan to build an Android app?
2. How many clients visit your website using a mobile app? What is your strategy for mobile development?

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1. Do you write Unit Tests?
2. What restrictions does your business put on the code creation process? How are your Unit Tests going?

 

Practice giving a brief summary of the jobs you’ve held. Tell only about relevant experience that you gained at each. You should also be able to describe your weaknesses (acknowledge them beforehand).

It’s paramount to be prepared for varied interview questions. Here are 7 most common ones you should be ready for:

1. Tell us about yourself. (It’s a good idea to start from the beginning and tell interviewers how you fell for programming, what University you graduated from, where you worked first, what technologies you’ve learned and practiced, and what you liked most about your job. However, don’t go deep into details on any one facet — keep it simple).
2. What interesting tasks have you worked on at previous jobs?
3. What problems have you encountered on your past projects?
4. How did you solve these problems?
5. Tell us about your dream company.
6. What do you do to grow professionally?
7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of your main programming language?

And last, but not the least, avoid political, religious and any other delicate topics during the interview.

 

Passion For Programming

Companies are looking for “passionate” candidates to join their teams. Thankfully, proving your credentials as a passionate programming enthusiast is relatively easy nowadays, and I’d single out several markers that will show you’re on the level:

• An active GitHub profile either with your own project or contributions to open-source projects.
• A StackOverflow account with questions asked and answers provided.
• Home projects that somehow facilitate people’s lives or show off new technologies that haven’t been introduced yet.
• Participation in local/global communities (e.g. Python Geeks, Rails Girls, JS Enthusiasts).
• Taking online courses (Coursera, Standford online courses, Codeschool.com, etc.).
• Your own technical blog (preferably in English).

These indicators show recruiters and hiring managers that you’re truly keen on programming.

 

Be Yourself

Very often, good candidates are refused for the following reasons: “too reserved”, “didn’t reveal himself/herself”, etc. You’ve probably come across company descriptions like “informal culture” or “we don’t wear jackets, we boldly share our opinions and focus more on ‘personality’ rather than qualification.”

Don’t be intimidated by such descriptions. Just be yourself — this is the best recommendation to successfully pass an interview at any company.

 

Passion For Product

You’ll never get hired by Google if you say nothing about their product and don’t offer your own ideas for its enhancement. For some reason, most potential hires neglect this recommendation. Naturally, it is only fair that leading companies hire those candidates who have taken the time to learn about their products and proven to be experienced specialists.

You don’t have to be delighted with the product, but, there are still a few steps you should never neglect:

• Download their app(s), and install them on your phone/tablet.
• Read an engineering blog.
• Offer a few technical improvements.
• Share your thoughts in regards to modifying the product’s UI/UX.
• Understand the monetization mechanism of product in question.
• Analyze the competition and ask your interviewers what makes their company different from the rest. On the flip side, you should be ready for an employer to ask you that very same question.
• Tell your interviewers that you’d like to gain new experience and work exactly with this product, collaborate with their entire development team, and make the product better (it’s important to say it all sincerely).

 

General Programming

A lot of product companies actively use the tasks on General Programming — algorithms, data structure, etc. And yet, most candidates don’t expect to get a task with algorithms. After the interview, they often regret that they lack even a day or two to get properly prepared. However, what’s done is done, and the time to get ready has come and gone.

That’s why it’s always best to ask about all technical tasks beforehand — ask your recruiters, visit Glassdoor, etc. Get as much information as you can beforehand!

In addition, there are thousands of books available that are exceedingly helpful (Cracking the Coding Interview, for example).

 

Thanks for reading this far. You’re welcome to share your thoughts on this topic in the comments.

Good luck!

 

1. Your resume should be stunning

On average, you have 5 to 15 seconds from a recruiter or a hiring manager to catch their eye. Invest your time in the resume that you can be proud of. 

Do NOT use old-fashioned resume templates. Do NOT create an extra-long resume. Some people turn in resumes that are 7 pages long. You need to condense down to a 1-2 page resume at most. Only include your most relevant experiences and skills. The rest is fluff. Bullet points should also be clear and concise, with keywords/achievements in bold, as they are going to skim.

A stunning resume is what’s going to help you land a job!

 

2. Prepare well for the interview

There is a lot of information out there about preparing for both HR and technical interviews on the internet. You will be surprised how similar the questions are that you will be asked during interviews. Preparing ahead of time will enable you to stand out from other candidates.

 

3. One more chance to be heard is a cover letter

Make sure to keep your cover letter focused and short. You should generally be crafting a new cover letter for each position. A lot of it will transfer from one to the other, but when a company reads your cover letter, the idea is that they get the sense that you are truly perfect for the specific position at hand.

Recycling your cover letter is possible, but that generally means it is too vague if it can apply to every single company/position you are applying for. Each company and position are unique, so you should edit your cover letter a bit to be perfectly suited to each.

 

4. Combine tourism and interviews

You are more likely to get an interview if you are already near the office of your future employer. You can inform them that you live abroad but that you will be in the area between date and date to encourage them to call you in.

Go ahead and explore the area you are hoping to relocate too, it can give you a huge headstart in the relocation process by helping you pick a neighborhood and what not.

 

5. References work

Use LinkedIn to find your old friends and connections around the area you are looking to relocate to and ask if it’s possible that you can be referred to their company.

Instead of saying “I’m looking for a job abroad,” you can say: “I might be a good fit for your open positions X and Y that I’ve seen on your website. Can you consider me as your reference?”

 

6. Stop using “I’m looking for a job with visa sponsorship”

Employers are always looking for talented people, so demonstrate your skills first, not the fact that you are in need of a sponsor. This should be mentioned but why are you going to waste valuable word count and space at the top of the page to say it? It can be placed elsewhere.

Remember, you only have 15 seconds at best to grab the recruiter’s attention. Chances are, they are going to read the first couple sentences very briefly and then skim your bullet points and other bold print. They want to quickly get a sense that you’re the right candidate. You can give them that sense by focusing on your skills.

 

7. Fish in the right pond

Use specialized platforms/job boards where companies are looking for new employees internationally in the first place. Don’t go looking for opportunities where they scarcely are found. Relocate.me is a great place to look for your next job because all the companies here are ready to sponsor you and bring you into a brand new place. Our team also created a Telegram channel where we regularly share the hottest tech job offerings with relocation assistance. Everyone is welcome to join!

Bonus tip: If you really want to move to any location, you can try to change your LinkedIn location to your desired place of residence. It might help you to get more attention from recruiters in this area or, who knows, start the process of visualizing your goal of moving to the new country  

For more advice and hacks, check out the Learning Center.