Will Americans Have Trouble Finding IT Jobs, Overseas?

pmancini asks: "I am a skilled senior engineer. Currently there are lots of choices for me to work just about anywhere in the United States. However, I do have an interest in living and working outside of the U.S. for a while, in particular France (though I am also considering Rome). Is it hard to get a job overseas? How is the market over there for jobs? What about the language barrier? My French is awful, but I do want to learn the language. I can get by in Italian and I am sure I would be fluent within 2 months. Any help would be greatly appreciated."

Comments

Re:Paying for someone else's socialism

[srussell]

This may be true about France. I lived in Germany for a couple of years, and I discovered that I didn't resent the higher taxes as much as I resent taxes in America. Firstly, the taxes weren't much higher -- I think that at my salary, I was paying an additional 2 to 5% in Germany, and property taxes were negligable. Secondly, I felt like I was actually getting something for my taxes in Germany. Good public transportation, basic health care, and a superb social infrastructure that evinced itself in little ways -- like recycling bins on every other corner. Here in the states, what do I get? A bloated beaurocracy.

No, I'm not blind to what we're paying for in the states. We have a fabulous military, vast national forests (which require a lot of resources to manage), and so on. I am amazed at what that extra 5% gets the Germans. I suspect that it is because they use the taxes more effectively, and that less of the tax money goes into politician's pockets, or to giving tax breaks to people who need them the least.

Translation:

[Wolfier]

I would not suggest that you come to Rome. The Pope does not allow that we have computers. Perhaps you could obtain a job that explained to other Americans as Italy really is not similar
to a loading of the system. Much people forget that we have had a dictator and fought you in
world war two but they do not preoccupy themselves because there are many gangsters in your cities like New York and Chicago. I cannot believe that you have preoccupied yourselves
translate this of new to English.

Damn. I seem to be just another victim.

Not me, but my sister

[hrieke]

Works in France, formerly in Germany for Siemens. I can say that she is quite well payed for her work, enjoys her job, and loves the time away from the office (holidays!).
A few things to consider: If you earn over $75,000 USD you will have to pay American Taxes as well as the taxes of the country that you are living in.
Visas: You will need a sponser anywhere in the EU, and the paperwork will take upto a month to process.
Payment: Is the job payed in EU, Franc, Pounds, or in dollars? Currencies change value, so watch out.
Housing: Did you know that quite a few apartments do not come with a kitchen? Renting can be quite the adventure!
Family: Relocating your family can be quite hard to do, and cause all kinds of stress. Also, what if there is a fmaily emergency back on this side of the Atlantic?
In all, please write back if you do make the jump and let us know how it's going!

Paying for someone else's socialism

[Ars-Fartsica]

I think you should reconsider moving to either Italy or France. As a high-wage earner, your taxes will be excessive - much higher than you are used to in the US. Since you are not a citizen, you will find that you are unable to access many of the services you are paying for.

This is not a critique of the European system - just a heads up for potential expats who will invariably find themselves paying for services they cannot use.

Re:Paying for someone else's socialism

[Apotsy]

Here in the states, what do I get? A bloated beaurocracy.

No, what you get in the USA is corporate welfare.

Sports arenas, zero-property-tax factories and offices, corporate tax breaks, enforcement of monopoly power, etc. All paid for by the individual taxpayer.

Oh, and let's not forget the "war on drugs". Aside from the military, it's got to be the single biggest drain on public budgets out there.

I agree with you, it would be nice to live in a place where you actually get something for your tax money, instead of other people getting something for it.

Overseas

[spliff]

As far as I know, Europe is starving for tech help. Problems occur mostly in the EU, where regulations aren't favorable for Americans, as they prefer to use EU citizens where possible. This means that anywhere outside of Western Europe should be wide open.

Try http://www.escapeartist.com and head to the overseas jobs area. Plenty of links.

Re:Yup

[H310iSe]

Most of Japan is very ... rural and a bit old-fashioned, you can go to towns where you are the first (blonde/redhead/italian/etc.) they have ever seen and they'll treat you a bit special as a result but you can also get the opposite reaction for the same reason. Tokyo, however, is utterly different. US firms are pretty desparate for people who understand the details of making Japanese and English software play nicely together. Either working for a US firm or as a consultant (Japan has very reasonable laws regarding foreign workers) you'll get top dollar - I was recently offered $US150/h and I barely know how to use a mouse (ok exageration but I am not uber-programmer-geek). HOWEVER you must, simply must, learn some basic japanese - you can learn the writing so long as you avoid the chinese-based character system without much problem and the spoken language is really rather easy so long as you don't have to count (different words for one, two, three depending on what you're counting, there are dozens of ways to say one, it's scary). Housing is not bad, there is a foriegner's ghetto (by Japanese standards) to get a place in and if you're single (male or female) you'll find the dating scene is unbelievably tilted in your favor - it seems people from Tokyo really don't want to date eachother, foreigners are highly prized. If you're blonde, forget it, virtual mob scenes can be expected if you're reasonably good looking. Just my 2 cents.

Re:have you ever been there?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, I agree. I am a tech worker in the United States. My day begins by getting up, taking a cold shower using leftover dishwater from the previous night, then eating some stale toast my neighbor threw out last week. I then get dressed in my cockroach infested clothes I got from the Salvation Army and get on my 25 year old bicycle that I am forced to ride since my crappy American car broke down and go to work. Once at work I am strapped in to a cubicle while leeches begin to suck the life out of me and birds peck out my eyes. After I am done working my 20 hour day I peddle back home, get stopped by the police for being suspicious looking and get beaten for 20 to 30 minutes, hauled into the station house and hosed down. Then I'm returned to the street, absent my bicycle which they said was stolen from a junkyard. I walk home reluctantly to find my apartment complex has been condemned and my belongings are on the street and are being carted off by hoodlums and homeless people. Finally, I end up breaking into my neighbor's house and hold them hostage with one of the many guns that I as an American citizen own and I force the police to relinquish the bicycle. I then snort some cocaine and take some exctasy and fall into a drug induced stupor until I fall asleep only to awake hours later to start the whole damn process over again. This is my nightmare. This is my life as a citizen of the United States of America. God help me!

Online resources

[jbrw]

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

Sar� troll o divertente moderato?

[cheezus]

Non suggerirei che venite a Roma. Il papa non permette che noi abbiamo calcolatori. Forse potreste ottenere un lavoro che spiegate ad altri Americani come l' Italia realmente non assomiglia ad un caricamento del sistema. Molta gente si dimentica che abbiamo avuti un dictator e combattuti voi nella guerra mondiale due ma non si preoccupano perché ci sono tanti gangsters nelle vostre città come New York e Chicago. Non posso credere che vi siate preoccupati di tradurre questo di nuovo all' inglese.

---