4 ms·

It might go either way to be honest. I'm currently living and working Spain as a SWE (immigrant) for a US company and the amount of useless meetings there is in

It might go either way to be honest. I'm currently living and working Spain as a SWE (immigrant) for a US company and the amount of useless meetings there is insane. That makes it quite hard to work on-the-go as half of the day is spent in meetings (most of them with camera turned on).

spaniard89277 5y ago
We rearely do that. We just type the stuff we need in teams and the occasional formative talk once a month or so. Meetings are about twice a year, and they appear in my teams calendar so I can plan ahead. When I feel we need a serious discussion I write a long ass text, and people usually follows without needing a call. It's like forums, so that's something I'm used to. But again, my job is very jump in, jump out. I don't really need too much focus, it's pretty much helpdesk with some admin, so I can get distracted without problem, and I don't really need to keep any code model in my head. My only worry if I find a job in SW will be that, the need to keep my mind focused, not being able to be pretty much anywhere. I hope the pay offsets this fact.
- showsover 5y ago
  That sounds like a dream to be honest. I wish I could work without having meetings where nobody likes to say anything and it just drags on. Wrt the SW job, it might be more difficult in the beginning as it takes some focus to understand the system and how your work fits into the bigger whole. After a time it becomes easier to understand and to jump in, jump out. Of course this completely depends on the company and job type. My job is very non-demanding and I can easily coast by on just 3-4 hours of work a day. Other people are in a different situation.
  - spaniard89277 5y ago
    It's not a dream job because it barely pays above minimum wage. I have a hard time saving. And that's cos I live in a cheapish city. I hope jumping into software makes this better and can finally be financially confy.
aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago
>most of them with camera turned on Just record a loop of yourself and use OBS as a virtual camera.
DoingIsLearning 5y ago
Can I ask how are you dealing with taxes, working for a US company in Spain? Are you contracting your SWE services and billing them? Or are you an employee of the US company?
- showsover 5y ago
  I'm an employee of the Spanish office, but the company itself is a US one.
- spaniard89277 5y ago
  Check remote.com or similar solutions. They have a few competitors, but for 200$ you become a full employee in your country of residence.
  - higeorge13 5y ago
    In some countries working as full time employee via remote.com etc. gets you less money than having a company and dealing with the taxes.
    - spaniard89277 5y ago
      Yes, that's common for sure, but you also don't have to deal with the amount of BS that comes with being a contractor in some countries. It's the case of Spain, where the Tax Agency and Social Security are very aggressive and gives lot of headaches depending on what you do. Some employees even have premiums for putting their hand in your pocket. So yea, it may be more expensive but the peace of mind that gives you for offloading all of that to someone else is priceless.

spaniard89277 5y ago

We rearely do that. We just type the stuff we need in teams and the occasional formative talk once a month or so. Meetings are about twice a year, and they appear in my teams calendar so I can plan ahead. When I feel we need a serious discussion I write a long ass text, and people usually follows without needing a call. It's like forums, so that's something I'm used to. But again, my job is very jump in, jump out. I don't really need too much focus, it's pretty much helpdesk with some admin, so I can get distracted without problem, and I don't really need to keep any code model in my head. My only worry if I find a job in SW will be that, the need to keep my mind focused, not being able to be pretty much anywhere. I hope the pay offsets this fact.

showsover 5y ago
That sounds like a dream to be honest. I wish I could work without having meetings where nobody likes to say anything and it just drags on. Wrt the SW job, it might be more difficult in the beginning as it takes some focus to understand the system and how your work fits into the bigger whole. After a time it becomes easier to understand and to jump in, jump out. Of course this completely depends on the company and job type. My job is very non-demanding and I can easily coast by on just 3-4 hours of work a day. Other people are in a different situation.
- spaniard89277 5y ago
  It's not a dream job because it barely pays above minimum wage. I have a hard time saving. And that's cos I live in a cheapish city. I hope jumping into software makes this better and can finally be financially confy.

aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago

>most of them with camera turned on Just record a loop of yourself and use OBS as a virtual camera.

DoingIsLearning 5y ago

Can I ask how are you dealing with taxes, working for a US company in Spain? Are you contracting your SWE services and billing them? Or are you an employee of the US company?

showsover 5y ago
I'm an employee of the Spanish office, but the company itself is a US one.
spaniard89277 5y ago
Check remote.com or similar solutions. They have a few competitors, but for 200$ you become a full employee in your country of residence.
- higeorge13 5y ago
  In some countries working as full time employee via remote.com etc. gets you less money than having a company and dealing with the taxes.
  - spaniard89277 5y ago
    Yes, that's common for sure, but you also don't have to deal with the amount of BS that comes with being a contractor in some countries. It's the case of Spain, where the Tax Agency and Social Security are very aggressive and gives lot of headaches depending on what you do. Some employees even have premiums for putting their hand in your pocket. So yea, it may be more expensive but the peace of mind that gives you for offloading all of that to someone else is priceless.