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> happening here Does that mean you're living there? I'm curious what the prospects are like there. There's been more discussion lately about us Americans loo

by dvdhnt 10y ago

> happening here Does that mean you're living there? I'm curious what the prospects are like there. There's been more discussion lately about us Americans looking for work abroad. My wife is finally on board with making a move out of the US as a family, so I'm glad it's being discussed more.

pjc50 10y ago
I love living in Edinburgh, but I will admit that its startup scene is kind of tiny. There's a decent number of IT multinationals about though. However, your biggest difficulty will be being an immigrant to the EU. These days it's a pretty damn arduous process.
paulsutter 10y ago
Prospects are good generally for technology talent. I'm in Tokyo now. Take a big chunk of vacation and visit several places that you have considered moving. Once you've visited and met other expats, you'll know what it's really like. The biggest barrier is your own decision.
- tluyben2 10y ago
  I did that a few times; talking to expats really gives a skewed (and to my taste usually ugly) view of a place. I rather befriend locals first and then go to meet them which we do now. Then you also get a nice perspective on expats from them which indeed usually is consistent with my views of them. This is a generalisation and obviously there are plenty exceptions, but it is rather unpleasant to sit with yet another someone who says "ye,yeyyeyeye,ye,ye,ye,ye" to all you say and then starts talking about their own enormously important company and/or life in a way too loud tone. Which is basically what I see the average expat do everywhere (besides the not listening to others, I was like that too). Again matter of taste and exceptions, just saying I do not find talking to expats giving you much or any info about a what a place 'is really like'.
  - mikhailfranco 10y ago
    It's true that expatriation seems to preferentially select arrogant self-obsessed alpha assholes, who are horribly smug about their allegedly adventurous success in crossing a line on a map, and can't stop bragging about it. It is often such a deliberate display, you can't help thinking they are secretly anxious, insecure and lonely. And frequently racist too.
brad0 10y ago
There's some okay tech here - nothing like Seattle or San Francisco. The biggest difference is the market. Expect to get paid 1/3 to 1/2 of the US. --- EDIT that being said, contracting can pay well if you have the right skills and don't mind who you work for.
- pjc50 10y ago
  .. and pay considerably less for housing. Admittedly Brexit-related exchange rate changes make it look a lot less favourable now.
cmdkeen 10y ago
On the more corporate end of the market in Edinburgh there is a definite shortage of tech talent. Pay isn't at American levels but Edinburgh is the best city in the UK in terms of average disposable income - an average £800 per month compared to London's £300. Job security is also pretty rock solid. It's also a World Heritage site, has pretty good transport links to the rest of Europe and you can easily spend weekends in the country/Highlands. It's not London but then a developer up here should have no problem owning a house, raising a family and having a decent quality of life. All while working a 35 hour week so you actually have time to enjoy living here.
- mdekkers 10y ago
  Edinburgh is hands-down one of my favorite places on Earth. If it wasn't for the really shitty weather, I'd be living there.
pidg 10y ago
The quality of life in Edinburgh is very high.[1] It's a really fantastic place to live. I think the tech scene is quite strong and growing - as well as the multinationals and start-ups, there are a lot of well-established small/medium tech companies based here, too. [1] https://www.uswitch.com/media-centre/2015/10/edinburgh-best-place-to-live-in-uk-according-to-quality-of-life-index/ https://www.uswitch.com/media-centre/2015/10/edinburgh-best-...
mabbo 10y ago
Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities in the world. Spent a year of University there, and visited it on vacation a couple months ago. There's a pretty cool tech scene, much of it spinning off the University of Edinburgh (great school for AI). Also, a friend gave me a tour of the Amazon Edinburgh office while I was visiting- it's 11 years old (first non-US office), still growing and seems to be doing some neat stuff. Real estate is different from America. People live in much smaller spaces and generally don't have yards if you live in a city. You'd have to accept that, or commute into the city. That said, Edinburgh is a beautiful city architecturally (the New Town especially). I also found the food to be pretty fantastic.
m-i-l 10y ago
As much as I love Edinburgh, and hope the technology sector and economy there (and in Scotland as a whole) thrives, it has to be said that the technology job market is currently very small in comparison to London. Some stats to put this in perspective: There are 328,000 "digital tech jobs" in London[0], the entire population of Edinburgh is 464,990[1], and Edinburgh is the 11th biggest technology cluster in the UK with 21,000 "digital tech jobs"[0]. And if you're thinking of relocating your family from the US, there are 5 American schools in and around London[2], whereas I believe the only one in Scotland is in Aberdeen[3]. [0] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37380696 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37380696 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_School_in_England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_School_in_England [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_School_of_Aberdeen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_School_of_Aberde...
aaronbasssett 10y ago
There is an estimated 5k more developer jobs per year in central Scotland than there are developers to fill them, so it is a pretty good time to be a developer here. Especially if you're senior level or above as you'd be in high demand. Salary is not going to be as high as Silicon Valley, but living expenses are much lower[1]. A senior developer can expect to earn around £40k I actually live in Glasgow and work in Edinburgh, and both cities are fantastic. Glasgow has more vibrant nightlife and music scene; while Edinburgh is so historic with beautiful architecture. Also our politicians are not as bat shit crazy as the rest of the UK which is nice. [1]: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=United+Kingdom&city1=San+Francisco%2C+CA&city2=Edinburgh https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...
- Marazan 10y ago
  A senior dev in Skyscanner would be earning more than £40k

by dvdhnt 10y ago

pjc50 10y ago

I love living in Edinburgh, but I will admit that its startup scene is kind of tiny. There's a decent number of IT multinationals about though. However, your biggest difficulty will be being an immigrant to the EU. These days it's a pretty damn arduous process.

paulsutter 10y ago

Prospects are good generally for technology talent. I'm in Tokyo now. Take a big chunk of vacation and visit several places that you have considered moving. Once you've visited and met other expats, you'll know what it's really like. The biggest barrier is your own decision.

tluyben2 10y ago
I did that a few times; talking to expats really gives a skewed (and to my taste usually ugly) view of a place. I rather befriend locals first and then go to meet them which we do now. Then you also get a nice perspective on expats from them which indeed usually is consistent with my views of them. This is a generalisation and obviously there are plenty exceptions, but it is rather unpleasant to sit with yet another someone who says "ye,yeyyeyeye,ye,ye,ye,ye" to all you say and then starts talking about their own enormously important company and/or life in a way too loud tone. Which is basically what I see the average expat do everywhere (besides the not listening to others, I was like that too). Again matter of taste and exceptions, just saying I do not find talking to expats giving you much or any info about a what a place 'is really like'.
- mikhailfranco 10y ago
  It's true that expatriation seems to preferentially select arrogant self-obsessed alpha assholes, who are horribly smug about their allegedly adventurous success in crossing a line on a map, and can't stop bragging about it. It is often such a deliberate display, you can't help thinking they are secretly anxious, insecure and lonely. And frequently racist too.

brad0 10y ago

There's some okay tech here - nothing like Seattle or San Francisco. The biggest difference is the market. Expect to get paid 1/3 to 1/2 of the US. --- EDIT that being said, contracting can pay well if you have the right skills and don't mind who you work for.

pjc50 10y ago
.. and pay considerably less for housing. Admittedly Brexit-related exchange rate changes make it look a lot less favourable now.

cmdkeen 10y ago

On the more corporate end of the market in Edinburgh there is a definite shortage of tech talent. Pay isn't at American levels but Edinburgh is the best city in the UK in terms of average disposable income - an average £800 per month compared to London's £300. Job security is also pretty rock solid. It's also a World Heritage site, has pretty good transport links to the rest of Europe and you can easily spend weekends in the country/Highlands. It's not London but then a developer up here should have no problem owning a house, raising a family and having a decent quality of life. All while working a 35 hour week so you actually have time to enjoy living here.

mdekkers 10y ago
Edinburgh is hands-down one of my favorite places on Earth. If it wasn't for the really shitty weather, I'd be living there.

pidg 10y ago

The quality of life in Edinburgh is very high.[1] It's a really fantastic place to live. I think the tech scene is quite strong and growing - as well as the multinationals and start-ups, there are a lot of well-established small/medium tech companies based here, too. [1] https://www.uswitch.com/media-centre/2015/10/edinburgh-best-place-to-live-in-uk-according-to-quality-of-life-index/ https://www.uswitch.com/media-centre/2015/10/edinburgh-best-...

mabbo 10y ago

Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities in the world. Spent a year of University there, and visited it on vacation a couple months ago. There's a pretty cool tech scene, much of it spinning off the University of Edinburgh (great school for AI). Also, a friend gave me a tour of the Amazon Edinburgh office while I was visiting- it's 11 years old (first non-US office), still growing and seems to be doing some neat stuff. Real estate is different from America. People live in much smaller spaces and generally don't have yards if you live in a city. You'd have to accept that, or commute into the city. That said, Edinburgh is a beautiful city architecturally (the New Town especially). I also found the food to be pretty fantastic.

m-i-l 10y ago

As much as I love Edinburgh, and hope the technology sector and economy there (and in Scotland as a whole) thrives, it has to be said that the technology job market is currently very small in comparison to London. Some stats to put this in perspective: There are 328,000 "digital tech jobs" in London[0], the entire population of Edinburgh is 464,990[1], and Edinburgh is the 11th biggest technology cluster in the UK with 21,000 "digital tech jobs"[0]. And if you're thinking of relocating your family from the US, there are 5 American schools in and around London[2], whereas I believe the only one in Scotland is in Aberdeen[3]. [0] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37380696 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37380696 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_School_in_England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_School_in_England [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_School_of_Aberdeen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_School_of_Aberde...

aaronbasssett 10y ago

There is an estimated 5k more developer jobs per year in central Scotland than there are developers to fill them, so it is a pretty good time to be a developer here. Especially if you're senior level or above as you'd be in high demand. Salary is not going to be as high as Silicon Valley, but living expenses are much lower[1]. A senior developer can expect to earn around £40k I actually live in Glasgow and work in Edinburgh, and both cities are fantastic. Glasgow has more vibrant nightlife and music scene; while Edinburgh is so historic with beautiful architecture. Also our politicians are not as bat shit crazy as the rest of the UK which is nice. [1]: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=United+Kingdom&city1=San+Francisco%2C+CA&city2=Edinburgh https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...

Marazan 10y ago
A senior dev in Skyscanner would be earning more than £40k