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I live in Canada, but I'm being sponsored to work in the US, so I will more than likely be working on the US side in the next month or 2.

However, if you wish to work in Canada or the UK, you can try these job boards.

http://www.jobshark.ca/caeng/index.cfm
http://www.jobserve.com/

Now as for balancing pleasure with business, gee, I could always make a joke about working in a country where the "siesta" is mandatory :P but the truth is, I don't know. All I know is that in Canada, you could always challenge yourself to learn French. For me, being bilingual it obviously works well. But the truth is, if you had to learn a new language, I would suspect the following languages would be beneficial: spanish, mandarin, japanese, russian, german.

Java doesn't seem to be all that popular

Depends which line of business you enter. Goto http://jobserve.com/ (the biggest UK IT job board) and search for C++, then search for Java. I'm making it nearly a third more jobs in Java.

Now do a search for 'C++ and SOA', then for 'Java and SOA'. 20 C++ jobs, 106 Java ones. Heard of SOA? Understand it inside out? That's where the money is now.

Nothing to do with games programming of course, of no interest to people writing desktop applications, wont help kernel hackers or (most) smartphone developers. 100k Indian CS graduates a year aren't in those fields though; draw your own conclusions.

Quite simply, you give the impression of being arrogant, and of not trying to learn new things. That frustrates me, I hate to see anybody artificially limit their horizons, especially through ignorance. There is a world out there beyond your limited skillset. Refusing to embrace it is fine if you can be comfortable in your own small sphere. Refusing to acknowledge it is entirely foolishly.

what on earth are you on about?

1369 Solaris jobs in the UK alone today on jobserve.

http://www.jobserve.com/searchresults.aspx?jobType =*&d=7&page=1&q=solaris&x=0&y=0&order=Rank&all=on& cbAllCountries=on&cb01=1&cid=0

If you can't get a decent-paying solaris admin job then perhaps it's *you* that's the problem.

Us european (and aussie ) freelancers use http://www.jobserve.com/ to
the exclusion of almost everything else.

The site is well layed out, easy to search and has thousands of jobs.

Plus they sponser West Ham United so are obviously diamond geezers.

When was the last time you saw lots of jobs for mainframe techs? The jobs that are out there are filled.

There's plenty.

Jobserve, for the UK & Ireland are good places to start.

Even a brief trawl searching for C++/Sybase shows one offering £700/day which equates to about £170000 before tax (around $200000 US) Admittedly you need some experience, but not much.

Jobserve seems to disagree with you:

search for ".net", any job type - 1629

search for "c", any job type - 1499

search for "java", any job type - 3009

search for "c++", any job type - 2300

Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 15.6). Guess I'd better explain then that jobserve.com is a major UK-based jobs web site, catering to a large number of industries. While the jobs advertised are mainly in the UK, they also cover parts of Europe, and have a site dedicated to jobs in Australia. How's that slashcode, better?

Jobserve seems to disagree with you:

search for ".net", any job type - 1629

search for "c", any job type - 1499

search for "java", any job type - 3009

search for "c++", any job type - 2300

Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 15.6). Guess I'd better explain then that jobserve.com is a major UK-based jobs web site, catering to a large number of industries. While the jobs advertised are mainly in the UK, they also cover parts of Europe, and have a site dedicated to jobs in Australia. How's that slashcode, better?

Jobserve seems to disagree with you:

search for ".net", any job type - 1629

search for "c", any job type - 1499

search for "java", any job type - 3009

search for "c++", any job type - 2300

Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 15.6). Guess I'd better explain then that jobserve.com is a major UK-based jobs web site, catering to a large number of industries. While the jobs advertised are mainly in the UK, they also cover parts of Europe, and have a site dedicated to jobs in Australia. How's that slashcode, better?

Jobserve seems to disagree with you:

search for ".net", any job type - 1629

search for "c", any job type - 1499

search for "java", any job type - 3009

search for "c++", any job type - 2300

Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 15.6). Guess I'd better explain then that jobserve.com is a major UK-based jobs web site, catering to a large number of industries. While the jobs advertised are mainly in the UK, they also cover parts of Europe, and have a site dedicated to jobs in Australia. How's that slashcode, better?

Ahm ..
I think its jobserve that you want
This place is riddled with fascist nerds but hardly sane employers.

Lots of IT work in London at the moment. If anything there is a shortage. I certainly get a stream of responses for my cv (resume). Also there is a lot of money to be made in Dubai currently, especially in IT - like with Dubai Internet City". Zero tax, massive ecomonic growth, people from all over the world there, safe friendly environment for all westerners, and the best of everything - they are currently building the world's tallest building in Dubai too.

A good European observatory is Jobserve where I have been able to consider the falling then re-growing number of job offer during the last 3 years.

Move

Why would anyone want to write a serious "enterprise" application in Java vs. say C++??

Pass

But you could always try asking some of the plethora of the massive global banks (i.e. MSDW, CSFB, UBS, HSBC, Lehmanns, Barcleys, RBOS, HBoS, LloydsTSB, DKW, DB, etc...) who use it for many things including real-time global trading systems

Or go onto any jobsite (i.e. Jobserve) and search under "C++" and then "Java" and see the numbers (when i did 29th/03/03 at 11am uk time the numbers were 1201 [java] and 1251 [c++])

Or troll on comp.lang.Java.* (or /.) with a "Java sucks C++ is better" and see what happens

:-)

A quick search on jobserve turns up 19 current job listings requiring Fortran. Not bad for a 30+ year old language. Several satellite, stress engineering and meteorology jobs.

Working code just doesn't stop working because some new language has come out. Imagine having the job of converting 5 million lines of fortran code into visual C++ dotNet code. By the end of the week. With no errors. And no overtime... It just doesn't happen, working code doesn't need to be replaced, and thus it isn't.

I'm still surprised when recruiters ask me about my fortran and cobol skills. I don't list them as skills, because I haven't touched them in more than a decade. But the skillPimps can see I'm an old fart, and the older ones know I started my career with the old languages, because perl and C++ didn't exist in 1972. Hell, Larry Wall was still in diapers when I first touched a computer.

This goes back to the discussion, here and other places, about the difference between coders and computer scientists. Coders insist the only language they know is the only one for the job, because they are too uneducated to understand a language is just a tool. CompSci gurus will just pick up the best tool for the job, whether something ancient like fortran, or something like a procedural language or even assembler.

the AC

You only need 1 job site in the UK, JobServe, as everyone advertises there. Be warned, though, the downturn has made for lean pickings.

You can find the regulations for joining significant others at the Home Office, friends have done it and it does take time. You have to apply from outside the country. You can only join your partner and work if you are legally married, if you are unmarried but there is a legal reason you can't marry (i.e. previous marriage and not yet divorced), or if you are engaged to be married within 6 months (but then you can't work until you are). After 2 years together, you can apply for permanent status.

Of course, if you happen to be qualified as a teacher or a nurse, they will pay for you to go there... The down side being the schools and health system are the scummy pits of hell, far, far worse than any call-centre or help desk you've ever been enslaved by.

Java is absolutely huge. In the finance sector pretty much every single large institution uses it as a strategic language.
Go to JobServe and see how many jobs are requesting Java. Go to JobStats and see how much demand there is for Java. Admittedly the demand is down from a year ago, but that's across the board. Note that these are UK sites, but I don't see a geographical dependency.
Pretty much every IT consultant I know is concentrating on Java, and most of all in the J2EE and XML sectors. That's where the development work is here.

Company personnel departments can subscribe to salary surveys that are a slightly more accurate version of what I can find on Jobserve. Same problem.

From the point of view of the company, the value of an employee is the money they will earn if they hire him/er minus the money they will make if they don't, and also minus the costs of employing that person (about 50% of which is the salary, and the other 50% is desk, office space, electricity bills, computer, 10% of the cost of a manager, etc).

Any sum involving a big approximate number minus another big approximate number is going to have a huge error bar on the answer. For a software engineer the error bar probably exceeds the salary.

So managers, who perforce must make decisions regardless of the absence of evidence, fall back on rules of thumb. The first rule is, pay the going rate for that job title, hence those salary surveys. The second rule of thumb is that staff turnover is expensive. Every time you hire someone you commit money to teaching them the ropes until they become productive (whenever that is, see above), and also take a risk that this investment will be written off if they turn out to be bozos, or just up and leave in six months.

So, are you worth another 50% to your current employer? Possibly. Your management guesses so, but they might be wrong.

Paul.

In the UK (and Europe) you want to look at Jobserve. Lots of/All agencies advertise their jobs there, and after the first contact things are done through them (such as suggesting other positions).

It's where I found my current job, and where most people I know who have used the net to find work found theirs.

I moved to Holland a year ago (from another EU country) and it was really easy.

Although i'm not currently looking for any new job, i keep getting work proposals (and this in a downturn/recession in IT) so i guess there is no lack of work in IT around here.

There are at least 3 americans working in my company currently (which will remain nameless), out of about 80 people, and this is a Dutch company.

Strangely enough it's easier to find IT positions in Holland by using international placement agencies/web sites than it is by using the local ones (maybe because the local ones are all in Dutch). I would recommend:

• Jobserve
• Planet Recruit

Try searching with the keywords "Amsterdam" and "Web".

As for the "medicinal stuff" ... well, as long as you don't go around "medicating yourself" while at work, nobody really cares about what you do!!!

At least two trips. Count the first two as expensive vacations, where you are sightseeing the inside of HR offices, studying the local language, looking for a cheap apartment, meeting other ex-pats, and just getting ready for work. Don't bother waiting for some company to hire you just to pay your re-location expenses, they probably already have dozens of qualified people with years of experience who would love a perk transfer like that. Get yourself to where you want to be, and then start looking for work.

There are a ton of IT jobs here in Europe, sign up with jobserve email and filter on your favorite keywords. Contact a few of the agencies, and find out which ones will help you arrange a work permit if you were already living near the work site.

Come on over and pretend you are on vacation for a few months, its absolutely critical you tell imigration you are just here for vacation otherwise you may find yourself banned from the country for quite a while. *cough*Britian*cough* is one of the worst for tossing anyone who might try to find a precious job. Make sure you have savings to fall back on during this time. You'll have to chose a city, then find yourself a small cheap apartment to make a base out of. That can be difficult in some countries with heavy bureaucracies, but there's always a landlord who will take cash. Then take some language courses, if necessary, and get out and learn the local culture. Find the bars where ex-pats drink, make friends, and ask how they made themselves legal. Yes, going to bars is a form of job huntings, at least here it is :-)

Once you seem settled, start contacting companies about IT work. Explain how you will be returning from the US soon, and you will need to be sponsored. Just by being physically present shows you have already made a big committment to making a career over here. If you have experience in the US, that used to be a big plus, but since the bubble burst, it slightly less so. Play it up, its something few locals can brag about.

Once you have a job lined up, return to the US and apply for whatever visas are needed, and get the paperwork over there. It will make your life much easier. When you have the papers, buy another round trip ticket and come over and start working.

After you have worked for a few months, you can then head home one last time to bring back all the things you are missing, like CD collections, copies of important papers, etc. I've found that almost every ex-pat here has to go home 1-2 times per year for dealing with bills, taxes, weddings, loans, Christmas. So just start budgeting for occasional trips back and forth. Remember, over here, we all have great benefits, like 5-7 weeks of vacation per year, use them up.

the AC

You might have just asked a lawyer, who will always tell you, "It depends" :-)

It sounds like a foreign company is hoping to get some american talent for cheap. It depends on where the job is, and what the living and working environments are.

There are a bunch of factors to look at, start with taxes.

Americans have to pay taxes (or at least file a return) even if they pay taxes while working in another country. The U.S. is the only country in the world not to have signed the UN treaty on double taxation (ok, count Somalia, Bhutan and a few tiny, recently created countries as exceptions). What this means is if you earn more than about US$60,000 while working overseas in any 12 month period, the US wants your taxes, even though you have to also pay taxes in the country you were living in. The US$60,000 exemption only counts if you have absolutely no income in the US during any calendar year while away overseas, and that includes interest on savings accounts or gains on stock even if you didn't sell and realise a profit. Factor this in. Americans overseas need to charge a lot more to cover the eventual double taxation.

The cost of living varies from country to country. A LOT! Even in Europe. There are websites with indexes for many of the various costs, such as local taxes, rent, meals, food, transportation, etc. The money I earn in Belgium wouldn't carry me very far if I lived in London, but would be great for Poland, Portugal or Tunisia.

The quality of living varies enormously as well. Dublin has a great nightlife, but it closes down way too early. London has great curry but the suckiest and most expensive transportation system. Paris is, well, full of Parisiens, but Americans love it. Roma is full of Italian women. But if you get stuck in Tangiers, Izmir, Kiev, Kinshasa or Ulan Bator, no huge amount of salary will make up for a year or two of hellish or dangerous living.

In Europe, a good freelance hardware consultant, willing to work as a complete independent, pulls in between US$800 and US$1500 per day. (Note, nobody uses hourly rates when contracting, just daily). Independent means just that, the company expects you to show up and work in return for money, and doesn't want to hear about work permits, housing problems, kids, taxes, health insurance, or anything else. So you have to more than double a normal salary to include health insurance, local social charges, your own accountant, rent, car hire, and transportation to the area. Take out 25%-75% income taxes, and you may be left with very little actual income. $50/hour is only $400/day, which is tiny for anyone with a degree and some experience. Check jobserve.com for some going prices around Europe, mostly in England.

If you have any experience as a freelance consultant, you start to think in these terms: There are 20 to 22 work days in a month. Half of all days are eaten up in taxes, social security and an accountant. Subtract a day or three for each flight home. Rent or hotel should not be more than 3 days pay for each month. Local hire car, 2 days pay. At the end each month, you will have 3-7 days pay as your profit. Would you only want to earn US$2,800 for a month of work as a highly paid professional? At least triple your rate.

If the employer wants to make you a regular employee, find out from ex-pats in that country what the working conditions are like. How stable are jobs? If you quit, how much can your employer hold you for? What is typical rent in the area? Are ex-pats regularly cheated by not speaking the local language fluently? Can you be arrested at the airport without a letter from your employer allowing you to leave the country (i.e. Oman, Saudi, Malaysia, Indonesia, Tunisia). Will your passport be siezed by your employer until the successful end of your contract? Can you legally take your salary out of the country?

Anything the company is offering up front is loaded in their favor and against you. Know exactly what you want, and tell them every condition before even drawing up a contract. And make sure everything is clearly in writing, especially what you have to deliver to ensure a clean end to the contract.

So many questions. At least slashdotters are filling up the forum with lots of things for you to think about. I could go on for hours, but the Guiness is wearing off and bed calls. Give this forum a few days, and then make up a large list of additional research you need to do. Working overseas, especially if you are earning an obscene amount of money, can be very rewarding, and not just financially. Once you start traveling and having fun in many new places, you can never really go back and settle down.

the AC

It all depends on experience and location. A good hardware designer with some software experience can get between UKP35 and UKP55 per hour (USD55 and USD90) in Cambridge after the agent commission. Remember to factor about 20% employment tax (employer and employee National Insurance NI) and a sliding scale going up to 40% income tax on top of the NI.

You can get more in London but the living costs can be higher.

I think the biggest recruitment site in the UK is http://www.jobserve.com/. Put in your keywords and take a look at the results. Many of them include the rate.

Don't forget the EU has restrictions on who can work so check before applying for a job.

Andy

The contract market is doing well, but more so in Europe. Here is a link JobServer. And the rates are good.

You could do worse than checking out the recently launched Industry Standard Europe or Business 2.0 UK - both have bucket loads of articles about the tech scene in Europe (from a business point of view, primarily, but it's good to know the financial health of where you're planning on moving to, right?).

You would be suprised on the number of people on continental Europe who speak english, although the French are particularly full-on about maintaining french as the primary language within their country (see earlier /. stories about the French govt. banning english-esque net-related words), so it might be harder to get in without half-decent French.

When I was in Berlin, I don't recall meeting one person who couldn't speak english... The homeless beggers even spoke english. Multi-lingual beggers. I was impressed.

As someone else mentioned, the UK has a massive shortage of tech people with half a clue. Providing you play by the immigration rules, you should have no trouble getting sponsored, assuming you find someone who wants your particular skills. Central London is only 4 hours from Central Paris (including customs, check-in, etc., on the Eurostar train), so you may want to consider coming here and use it as a stepping stone in to Europe.

If so, check out JobServe, which is considered (more or less) to be the definitive way to find a tech job in the UK. If you don't get at least 3 interviews in a fortnight, you might as well give up (actually, maybe not. I guess if you're still in the States and trying to get a job in the UK, you'll get less bites. Point is, it's easy to get a tech job in London).

HTH,
...j

For jobs, check out Jobserve.com

The UK lifestyle is not nearly as good as that in Australia, particularly in London. Very high living costs, poor weather and a big dirty city. But there is a lot of culture, a lot to see and the rest of Europe isn't far away.

For more on my experiences see my e-book

Many JobServe addicts might have been hunted by Microsoft HR forces during the last summer. I remember being interviewed in june 1999 in a luxurious Hotel in Paris and this was about developping this product.

If we consider the lack of Green Cards that prevented them to actually get their newest recruits before October, then we could be sure that the product might not even be in a suitable alpha stage.

In the meantime, I can just telnet any server in the world, export its DISPLAY to my machine and just have the same thing done.

Finally, Bill Gates abandonned his place to Steve Balmer during the Winter and was then supposed to lead this product.

--

France is not the same thing as Europe.

Check out jobserve and see for yourself just how many tech jobs there are in Europe. And those are just the ones being advertised.