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Ask HN: Getting a CS job in a country other than the US

7 points by danejensen ↗ HN
I'm a graduating math major who is pretty proficient at a lot of languages. I want to travel for a while before I decide if I will go to grad school or start a start-up. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about finding CS job in another country.

11 comments

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[dead] gexla
One way to do this is to create your own job. For instance, I'm a web developer living in the Philippines. One of the advantages of a place like the Philippines is that you need just a small fraction of income to get by as opposed to someone doing the same thing in New York City. I can even get a maid to cook and clean while I focus on development for less than $100 / month. The disadvantage is that you are relatively isolated from other developers but since you are looking to travel, that may not be a big problem for you.

Looking for actual employment might remove some options from the table. In the Philippines, you would have a difficult time landing a job which would provide a decent income. You may be able to get a good income by the local standards, but horrible by U.S. standards. With freelance work, you have much more control over your income and where you can live.

Good luck!

intregus
Get a few years of real experience before trying to find work abroad. CS degrees are irrelevant for most of the good jobs.
[dead] banned_man_2_0
I think 28-34 is the best time to go abroad if you're single, because this is the age when you're likely to think about settling down, and the women overseas are of higher average quality. If finding a wife is important to you (rather than something incidental that may or may not happen) you pretty much have to go overseas because, while there are great women here as well, they are few and the competition for them is intense.
ighost
> CS degrees are irrelevant for most of the good jobs.

This is only true if you already have significant experience.

longint
Are you a US Citizen? You could look for US Government jobs that have the work done in field locations.
patio11
I encourage folks to consider the global market for their talents -- that's how I ended up behind a desk in Nagoya. That being said, I have previously found that people who self-describe as "pretty proficient at a lot of languages" are inclined to describe "I can comfortably order a meal and ask directions to the nearest park" as proficiency. They do not always respond so well to being shown a design document and asked to spot the bug.

(God save me from having to interview one more person who thinks "I have watched subbed anime. Booyah!" counts as Japanese proficiency.)

hbien
Damn, I had to re-read this a couple of times. When the OP said "pretty proficient at a lot of languages", I mistakenly thought he meant programming languages =]
medianama
Join a start-up in Bangalore, India.

It'll be a good experience for you. Since everybody speaks/understands English, you'll not feel out of place.

hwijaya
Come to Australia. =) From my experience (before recession & before my startups), it's not hard to find an IT job as long as you know your stuff. Most employers are willing to support you for permanent residency.
david927
Rule out the EU & Switzerland if you have US citizenship. It's nearly impossible to get something in Europe if you're not an EU citizen.

I would say, depending on your finances, travel and look. Find the country/culture that matches your personality best and start asking around there.