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Front-end developer here. I use exclusively AngelList and HN's "Who is hiring?" (my last 3 jobs came from those places), but that's because of my particular cas

by soneca 4y ago

Front-end developer here. I use exclusively AngelList and HN's "Who is hiring?" (my last 3 jobs came from those places), but that's because of my particular case. I am Brazilian, no intention to relocate, but I want to find a job at an American company because they pay way better (even more considering the exchange rate of the Brazilian Real vs US Dollar in the last couple of years). So I need to find US companies that hire globally remote. That's a niche. It got larger with the pandemic, but still a niche. This niche is almost all times small, VC-funded startups. From 5 to 20 employees usually, definitely not more than 100 employees. Larger companies, when they hire remote, they hire remote US only, or where they have offices. And VC-funded pays better than non-VC-funded (like bootstrapped companies or agencies). I find these companies on AngelList and HN's Who is hiring. Definitely not on LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, etc. Even when they do announce a job post on those places, they are among thousands and thousands of job posts of places that would never hire me (or pay what I want). No point in looking for jobs in those places. Also, I don't have that big of a network in IT. I changed careers five years ago. The few developers with whom I have some connection still all work here in Brazil. So it's always a cold start.

Kaze404 4y ago
Exact same situation here :)
- tanganian 4y ago
  Do you mind sharing your story and how you did it in more details? So I can copy and do the same later.
- swah 4y ago
  I wonder how many brazilians are checking this exchange :) I'm almost 40 and have a kind-of-comfortable-job in a brazilian hardware engineering company, but I'm not able to fully pay my bills (wife, kid..) right now and looking for something in USD for the same reason. And from what I read on twitter, even juniors are making 50% more than I am, even working for brazilian companies. So I would have to make this jump so I can get ahead of inflation for a few years...
  - soneca 4y ago
    Start applying to jobs on American companies, that hire globally remote, that match your skills. Be upfront that you live in Brazil and don’t want to relocate, always mention that in the first email, it saves a lot of time for both parts. AngelList, HN’s Who is Hiring, and YC’s www.workatastartup.com are great places to look. See if you get an offer.
tanganian 4y ago
Hey, can we chat about this in more details? I'm in a situation where I'm looking for a job from a US or EU company, would be really helpful to have your input as you already did it.
- soneca 4y ago
  Sure. I don’t mind keeping it async and public in this thread. But if you prefer to do it privately, let me know and I ping you on the email you have on your profile.
  - tanganian 4y ago
    Fine by me. My first question is about salary. I don't know if you OK talking about that publicly or even privately, and if not can you give a ballpark compared to a US dev living in the us for example? My expectation are low, if any company would want to hire me for $27.000 I would sign without any hesitation given I'm qualified enough. Second one was about Jrs but I saw you answered that already. Lastly, any tips on getting that first job and be more marketable? What stacks hires the most? What are the exceptions towards a junior dev these days?
    - soneca 4y ago
      About salary. I earned $12k/year on my first dev job in a big startup in Brazil (it was a decent salary in 2017 for a junior dev in Brazil). Then I moved to the US and earned $67k/year working onsite on a small startup in LA as a junior with 1.5 year of experience. Then, still a junior position, but now with 2.5 yoe, I earned $115k/year working remote for a medium-sized company (but with a small engineering team). I was still living in the US, and I know being there and having work permit helped get the job. During that job I moved back to Brazil. Then, they started planning for IPO and fired me because they didn’t want international contractors working fulltime anymore. Then, living in Brazil, I got a job at an American startup, but fully globally remote from the start (team in US, Netherlands, Russia) as a mid-level software engineer earning $120k/year. All of this total compensation without any benefits (as I am a contractor). $120k a year without any benefits is stellar salary in Brazil. I am top 1% income here. But I think those FAANG jobs paying $200k+ are out of reach for me. About first job. First job as a junior I would actually recommend getting a local, ideally onsite, job on a company with several senior engineers and a culture of good mentoring for junior people. Well worth the investment of two years for the knowledge. Then go remote and global. If you can find such a company that’s remote and paying in a strong currency from the start, great too. About stacks. If frontend, definitely React (but strong fundamentals in CSS and JavaScript are more important than React). Backend I would say Rails, Python or Node. For being more marketable, create a portfolio of projects that you 1) created yourself, not just copied from a tutorial; you thought yourself and built it and 2) deployed. Websites or webapps that are actually deployed in a domain and are functional. It could be anything, but go all the way with them. Then apply to A LOT of positions and learn along the way how to improve yourself, your portfolio, your communication, your interview skills, etc. I applied to ~250 positions to get my first dev job (keep in mind that all of them were for junior frontend developers, which I was).
Lechonk 4y ago
Hey thank you for the info. I'm a Front-end developer from Argentina and still looking for a job. I would like to know how do you use AngelList to search for those niche companies. And do you think those companies have opportunities for Jr devs?
- soneca 4y ago
  It's harder for junior devs. When I started, the remote junior was seemingly impossible. So my first job was at a local startup. But that was pre-pandemic, so there might be a chance now. Still, there is a ton to learn as a junior developer in a nice team, with kind senior developers present in the same room. So my advice would be to work for a couple of years in a company in your town with good senior developers, and only then try to find something remote. As for the AngelList search, no big secrets. I would look for job posts explicitly mentioning "frontend", not mentioning "senior", not mentioning "remote US" (although a lot of those that just say "remote" are actually "remote US"). I would search for new job posts every single day. Spent a couple of hours finding new job posts and applying. As a junior, expect to apply to hundreds of jobs.

by soneca 4y ago

Kaze404 4y ago

Exact same situation here :)

tanganian 4y ago
Do you mind sharing your story and how you did it in more details? So I can copy and do the same later.
swah 4y ago
I wonder how many brazilians are checking this exchange :) I'm almost 40 and have a kind-of-comfortable-job in a brazilian hardware engineering company, but I'm not able to fully pay my bills (wife, kid..) right now and looking for something in USD for the same reason. And from what I read on twitter, even juniors are making 50% more than I am, even working for brazilian companies. So I would have to make this jump so I can get ahead of inflation for a few years...
- soneca 4y ago
  Start applying to jobs on American companies, that hire globally remote, that match your skills. Be upfront that you live in Brazil and don’t want to relocate, always mention that in the first email, it saves a lot of time for both parts. AngelList, HN’s Who is Hiring, and YC’s www.workatastartup.com are great places to look. See if you get an offer.

tanganian 4y ago

Hey, can we chat about this in more details? I'm in a situation where I'm looking for a job from a US or EU company, would be really helpful to have your input as you already did it.

soneca 4y ago
Sure. I don’t mind keeping it async and public in this thread. But if you prefer to do it privately, let me know and I ping you on the email you have on your profile.
- tanganian 4y ago
  Fine by me. My first question is about salary. I don't know if you OK talking about that publicly or even privately, and if not can you give a ballpark compared to a US dev living in the us for example? My expectation are low, if any company would want to hire me for $27.000 I would sign without any hesitation given I'm qualified enough. Second one was about Jrs but I saw you answered that already. Lastly, any tips on getting that first job and be more marketable? What stacks hires the most? What are the exceptions towards a junior dev these days?
  - soneca 4y ago
    About salary. I earned $12k/year on my first dev job in a big startup in Brazil (it was a decent salary in 2017 for a junior dev in Brazil). Then I moved to the US and earned $67k/year working onsite on a small startup in LA as a junior with 1.5 year of experience. Then, still a junior position, but now with 2.5 yoe, I earned $115k/year working remote for a medium-sized company (but with a small engineering team). I was still living in the US, and I know being there and having work permit helped get the job. During that job I moved back to Brazil. Then, they started planning for IPO and fired me because they didn’t want international contractors working fulltime anymore. Then, living in Brazil, I got a job at an American startup, but fully globally remote from the start (team in US, Netherlands, Russia) as a mid-level software engineer earning $120k/year. All of this total compensation without any benefits (as I am a contractor). $120k a year without any benefits is stellar salary in Brazil. I am top 1% income here. But I think those FAANG jobs paying $200k+ are out of reach for me. About first job. First job as a junior I would actually recommend getting a local, ideally onsite, job on a company with several senior engineers and a culture of good mentoring for junior people. Well worth the investment of two years for the knowledge. Then go remote and global. If you can find such a company that’s remote and paying in a strong currency from the start, great too. About stacks. If frontend, definitely React (but strong fundamentals in CSS and JavaScript are more important than React). Backend I would say Rails, Python or Node. For being more marketable, create a portfolio of projects that you 1) created yourself, not just copied from a tutorial; you thought yourself and built it and 2) deployed. Websites or webapps that are actually deployed in a domain and are functional. It could be anything, but go all the way with them. Then apply to A LOT of positions and learn along the way how to improve yourself, your portfolio, your communication, your interview skills, etc. I applied to ~250 positions to get my first dev job (keep in mind that all of them were for junior frontend developers, which I was).

Lechonk 4y ago

Hey thank you for the info. I'm a Front-end developer from Argentina and still looking for a job. I would like to know how do you use AngelList to search for those niche companies. And do you think those companies have opportunities for Jr devs?

soneca 4y ago
It's harder for junior devs. When I started, the remote junior was seemingly impossible. So my first job was at a local startup. But that was pre-pandemic, so there might be a chance now. Still, there is a ton to learn as a junior developer in a nice team, with kind senior developers present in the same room. So my advice would be to work for a couple of years in a company in your town with good senior developers, and only then try to find something remote. As for the AngelList search, no big secrets. I would look for job posts explicitly mentioning "frontend", not mentioning "senior", not mentioning "remote US" (although a lot of those that just say "remote" are actually "remote US"). I would search for new job posts every single day. Spent a couple of hours finding new job posts and applying. As a junior, expect to apply to hundreds of jobs.