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Have you considered going to any country where the employment situation is better than in the US? Germany for example will be searching many skilled employees d

by maigret 16y ago

Have you considered going to any country where the employment situation is better than in the US? Germany for example will be searching many skilled employees due to an aging workforce. Plus you get state-financed retirement, 6 weeks of holidays per year, that you can even extend by doing overtime the rest of the time. Don't know how hard it is to get a work visa though for US citizens.

mkr-hn 16y ago
It costs money to get there, and money to stay while looking for work. And this economy is so bad that even highly qualified people are out of work, so it's not likely I could get a company to fly me over there for an interview. I've been looking everywhere for work in the year since graduation with nothing more than an interview at Target (the other candidates had retail experience, so I didn't get it), so starting my own cheap to run web business is starting to seem like the only way I can build a resume.
- maigret 16y ago
  Well Germany right now has no big unemployment problem. The statistics now are better than in 2005. I understand it's costly, and even more it's a hard step, but don't think everything is harder elsewhere. I think Americans in Europe can be pretty successful, I have seen a few ones making their way here. In every case good luck in your job search or startup creation!
arghnoname 16y ago
Generally, probably harder than getting a job domestically. With rare exceptions, this is probably doubly true if you don't speak the native tongue. Many counties have fluency add 'points' for visa applications, some don't, and some merely require enrolling in language classes once there. A lot of technology companies in various European countries are filled with people capable of speaking English (for obvious reasons) and some with many international hires (like Opera of Norway) claim to operate their business in English full time. Still, some language capability would make it a lot easier to make sense of what the regulations are on immigration, read the job ads, etc, and higher education (like a masters degree) is helpful. Many of the programs in wealthier Europe require a demonstration that the skills sought are not easily found domestically. More education is not a perfect proxy, but is one thing which is often used (especially for the less experienced).
- maigret 16y ago
  Right, european businesses may be requiring degrees for most IT jobs. This is also a good point that education is less expensive on the other side of the Atlantic, so that could be a possibility. There are many state-financed languages courses out there by the way - and they're really not expensive as they are designed also from people coming from poorer countries than the US. Also, it's Hacker News here, for advanced web companies using English is absolutely no problem (well probably less in Holland than in Spain, but you get my point...). Finally I understand that going to a far country is not an easy step, so at the end your choice. I just wanted to show the possibility :)
- c1sc0 16y ago
  "Many of the programs in wealthier Europe require a demonstration that the skills sought are not easily found domestically". Said 'demonstration' is a joke. If you're good, you'll have no problem to get in if the company knows how to use the loopholes.
c1sc0 16y ago
"you get state-financed retirement" ... how old are you? will that still be around when your turn comes to cash in? Retirement is a lie.

by maigret 16y ago

mkr-hn 16y ago

It costs money to get there, and money to stay while looking for work. And this economy is so bad that even highly qualified people are out of work, so it's not likely I could get a company to fly me over there for an interview. I've been looking everywhere for work in the year since graduation with nothing more than an interview at Target (the other candidates had retail experience, so I didn't get it), so starting my own cheap to run web business is starting to seem like the only way I can build a resume.

maigret 16y ago
Well Germany right now has no big unemployment problem. The statistics now are better than in 2005. I understand it's costly, and even more it's a hard step, but don't think everything is harder elsewhere. I think Americans in Europe can be pretty successful, I have seen a few ones making their way here. In every case good luck in your job search or startup creation!

arghnoname 16y ago

Generally, probably harder than getting a job domestically. With rare exceptions, this is probably doubly true if you don't speak the native tongue. Many counties have fluency add 'points' for visa applications, some don't, and some merely require enrolling in language classes once there. A lot of technology companies in various European countries are filled with people capable of speaking English (for obvious reasons) and some with many international hires (like Opera of Norway) claim to operate their business in English full time. Still, some language capability would make it a lot easier to make sense of what the regulations are on immigration, read the job ads, etc, and higher education (like a masters degree) is helpful. Many of the programs in wealthier Europe require a demonstration that the skills sought are not easily found domestically. More education is not a perfect proxy, but is one thing which is often used (especially for the less experienced).

maigret 16y ago
Right, european businesses may be requiring degrees for most IT jobs. This is also a good point that education is less expensive on the other side of the Atlantic, so that could be a possibility. There are many state-financed languages courses out there by the way - and they're really not expensive as they are designed also from people coming from poorer countries than the US. Also, it's Hacker News here, for advanced web companies using English is absolutely no problem (well probably less in Holland than in Spain, but you get my point...). Finally I understand that going to a far country is not an easy step, so at the end your choice. I just wanted to show the possibility :)
c1sc0 16y ago
"Many of the programs in wealthier Europe require a demonstration that the skills sought are not easily found domestically". Said 'demonstration' is a joke. If you're good, you'll have no problem to get in if the company knows how to use the loopholes.

c1sc0 16y ago

"you get state-financed retirement" ... how old are you? will that still be around when your turn comes to cash in? Retirement is a lie.