Ask HN: Working as a web developer in SE Asia • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Working as a web developer in SE Asia

#11

Post by protek » Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 12:53 PM UTC

benzesandbetter wrote: post #8

geoarbitrage, my friend. Work for clients in high cost-of-living countries. Spend your time in lower cost-of-living countries. Instant lifestyle upgrade. Aren't you a little old to still be using PHP? ;)

I have heard other people suggest similar, it does sound very attractive - something to work towards maybe.

Re: PHP - I have front-end experience including some of the emergent technologies such as Node.js etc.

Out of interest, what skills / technologies would make me more marketable to employers (overseas or otherwise)?

Re: Ask HN: Working as a web developer in SE Asia

#12

Post by protek » Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 12:55 PM UTC

joewandy wrote: post #4

protek wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, mainly Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia etc. Have now edited the original post.

Is your university anywhere in the list on this page: http://www.mom.gov.sg/foreign-manpower/passes-visas/work-hol... ? If yes, you might qualify for a working holiday visa in Singapore. That would make getting a foot into the country much easier.

I don't have a degree, I have 3-4 years experience but part of me thinks on paper (particularly to Asian employers) this wont look as good as a degree.

Re: Ask HN: Working as a web developer in SE Asia

#13

Post by albahk » Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 2:46 PM UTC

protek wrote: post #7

woutr_be wrote: post #6

I'm currently working in Hong Kong, and to be honest, tech companies here aren't really that good, the startup scene is close to nothing at the moment and finding a decent company that really cares about what they do is very difficult.

That being understood, where would I begin looking for work in Hong Kong - presumably there is a web industry there even though the startup scene may not be as healthy as other cities?

http://www.88-gong.com

http://www.startupshk.com/

http://www.hkcocoon.org/en/index.aspx

http://hkcommons.com

http://jobs.webwednesday.asia

Re: Ask HN: Working as a web developer in SE Asia

#14

Post by benzesandbetter » Wed, Oct 30, 2013, 11:42 PM UTC

protek wrote: post #11

benzesandbetter wrote: post #8

geoarbitrage, my friend. Work for clients in high cost-of-living countries. Spend your time in lower cost-of-living countries. Instant lifestyle upgrade. Aren't you a little old to still be using PHP? ;)

I have heard other people suggest similar, it does sound very attractive - something to work towards maybe. Re: PHP - I have front-end experience including some of the emergent technologies such as Node.js etc. Out of interest, what skills / technologies would make me more marketable to employers (overseas or otherwise)?

In terms of technology skills, PHP is definitely at the low-end in terms of what you can get on an hourly basis... http://tinyurl.com/lxsxp3n

To make you more marketable to potential clients, I'd recommend focusing on some skills that are complimentary to programming. That may include domain-specific knowledge of a particular type of client you want to work with (e.g. bioscience, healthcare, local government) or it may include things like usability, SEO, or lead-generation. Find the profit centers in your clients business and find a way to get as close to those as possible. Learn the language they use to describe their work and make sure you use the same vocabulary when speaking with them.

Re: Ask HN: Working as a web developer in SE Asia

#15

Post by robotys » Sat, Nov 02, 2013, 9:36 AM UTC

Hi, Malaysian dev here (PHP too)

Stick to Kuala Lumpur area, particularly Bangsar for devs jobs. Most sexy startup here is Mind Valley and they are super cool for us local devs.

Me myself based on Cyberjaya, working on ebook backend stuffs. I do not know any openings but i'll ask around. So far i have many luck freelancing with local jobs from Skillpages.com . You can try your luck there.

Glad to help fellow HN!