Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 69 posts

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#41

Post by radiothom »

maryrosecook wrote: post #22

Ableton, the company I work for, are based in Berlin and are looking for Python devs: http://www.ableton.com/jobs It's a really nice place to work, and the pay is OK for Berlin. Great summary of cost of living and tech scene from maxklein. You can live very cheaply here, if you work at it. Some bars serve a half-litre of beer for 1€, some reasonable apartments can be got for 120€ a month if you can live with coal-fir…

Yep, SoundCloud is great (so is Ableton!). While we are ruby-based at SoundCloud, we are definitely expanding and open to various backgrounds! So definitely visit the jobs page if you're interested: soundcloud.com/jobs.

Agree with Mary - Berlin is a fantastic place to live and very affordable in many areas. Great city with a growing start-up scene!

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#42

Post by poet »

kablamo wrote: post #13
shanked wrote: post #4

Somewhat related... As opposed to Berlin specifically, how should an American software engineer get a job in a different country? I'd like to experience different cultures and I'd like to move to another country (after finding a job) but I'm not sure how I should go about doing it. Initially, I think western Europe is the most ideal place since I do not know any other languages, some place where many people spoke Eng…

Singapore. English speaking. Modern clean safe beautiful city. Mostly banking and finance here. Something like 2% unemployment, 15% economic growth this year. Lots of Westerners (and Indians, Chinese, Malay, Phillipinos, Indonesians, etc hugely diverse). Little India, Chinatown. Very easy to get a work visa. Low taxes. Tropical island. Can be as cheap as $50 to fly to Bali and a weekend of surfing. All of Southeast A…

Singapore is also a police state, if you care about such things. Some choice quotes from the US Department of State:

Singapore has a mandatory death penalty for many narcotics offenses.

Singapore police have the authority to compel both residents and non-residents to submit to random drug analysis.

There are no jury trials in Singapore. Judges hear cases and decide sentencing.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1017.html#c...

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#44

Post by strayer »

maxklein wrote: post #6

There are a lot of jobs in tech, but they mostly seem to be small companies trying to pay little. So to get by at 15€ a hour, you'll probably find a lot of offers. Accommodation is cheap, I pay 400€ for 50sqm, a friend of mine pays 550 for 70sqm with 3 rooms. That's in a central part of town. In general, between 320 - 600 you can find a pretty reasonable place for a person to live alone. Döner costs €2.50, a chinese…

For the Airbus style of jobs perhaps you should consider Hamburg (similar costs, much smaller) because there you could find... Airbus. Not so international atmosphere, though, although the harbour is major local industry.

An added bonus is the local beach over the Elba :-)

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#45

Post by sudont »

Uchikoma wrote: post #12
ig1 wrote: post #2

Berlin is fairly cheap, cheaper than any other major city in western europe at least. Accommodation prices can vary widely, they can go from as little as 200 euros/months for a studio on the outskirts. I was paying 800 euros/month for a large one-bed flat in fairly central east berlin (P-Berg). Lots of startups, probably some doing Python, not sure who off the top of my head. Most recruitment in Berlin seems to be do…

"Most recruitment in Berlin seems to be done via social networks rather than via job boards." Most hiring I've done in Berlin is via job boards.

Do you hire mainly in Germany? I'm curious about working abroad for a while (Australian work holiday, mainly) and am interested in the the opinions on hiring a US citizen.

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#46

Post by rdouble »

radiothom wrote: post #41
maryrosecook wrote: post #22

Ableton, the company I work for, are based in Berlin and are looking for Python devs: http://www.ableton.com/jobs It's a really nice place to work, and the pay is OK for Berlin. Great summary of cost of living and tech scene from maxklein. You can live very cheaply here, if you work at it. Some bars serve a half-litre of beer for 1€, some reasonable apartments can be got for 120€ a month if you can live with coal-fir…

Yep, SoundCloud is great (so is Ableton!). While we are ruby-based at SoundCloud, we are definitely expanding and open to various backgrounds! So definitely visit the jobs page if you're interested: soundcloud.com/jobs. Agree with Mary - Berlin is a fantastic place to live and very affordable in many areas. Great city with a growing start-up scene!

How many vacation days? I have relevant experience for SoundCloud (and also use and like Ableton) but I've recently decided I should probably try to visit my family more often.

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#47

Post by lenni »

deets wrote: post #31
fylox wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cubase user here cough Anyway I'd imagine that working for Ableton is fairly cool. Although I am not qualified enough for such a position I am curious what requirements they have. I check your link and they ask for at least 2 years of experience. Is that "all" ? As a CS drop out I can't even provide bachelor's degree. The point I am trying to make is: As far as I know here in Germany employees always ask for degrees.…

I'm the chap responsible for the Python developer hiring at Ableton. To sum it up: I don't give a rats ass for any degrees. I don't even have one myself. We send applicants a programming test. I get these tests, and I assess them without even skimming the CV. Because it would otherwise just skew my observations. If the test convinced me that you can code, you will have a job-interview, via phone or in person dependin…

Hi, I have read the job descriptions and they sound really great. I have 2 questions:

1. I have left university 13 months ago and have worked for an online shopping company in Berlin ever since. I have done freelance development as a student, so is the 2 years experience an absolute must?

2. The hiring page is in English but would you like a German-style application (photo, lots and lots of certificates and grades) or the much shorter Anglicized version (3 pages max).

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#48

Post by deets »

lenni wrote: post #47
deets wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm the chap responsible for the Python developer hiring at Ableton. To sum it up: I don't give a rats ass for any degrees. I don't even have one myself. We send applicants a programming test. I get these tests, and I assess them without even skimming the CV. Because it would otherwise just skew my observations. If the test convinced me that you can code, you will have a job-interview, via phone or in person dependin…

Hi, I have read the job descriptions and they sound really great. I have 2 questions: 1. I have left university 13 months ago and have worked for an online shopping company in Berlin ever since. I have done freelance development as a student, so is the 2 years experience an absolute must? 2. The hiring page is in English but would you like a German-style application (photo, lots and lots of certificates and grades) o…

The 2 years are no strict requirement. If you apply for a job + I like your programming test, you are interviewed.

Regarding the CV: give us whatever you have. I personally won't read it, eventually somebody in HR might - but it's not used to filter applications.

The other day we even looked at a 20-year old highschool student, because he looked promising. Neither CV nor experience. We didn't take him for a bunch of reasons, but that's another story.

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#49

Post by zalew »

maxklein wrote: post #6

There are a lot of jobs in tech, but they mostly seem to be small companies trying to pay little. So to get by at 15€ a hour, you'll probably find a lot of offers. Accommodation is cheap, I pay 400€ for 50sqm, a friend of mine pays 550 for 70sqm with 3 rooms. That's in a central part of town. In general, between 320 - 600 you can find a pretty reasonable place for a person to live alone. Döner costs €2.50, a chinese…

tx

I'd apply for 10-20 jobs from Warsaw, then come over, stay a week...

that's exactly what I'm going to do

so I don't think the Airbus style jobs are really available here

what is an 'airbus style job'? :)

Re: Ask HN: Berlin - costs of living, python jobs?

#50

Post by deets »

rdouble wrote: post #46
radiothom wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, SoundCloud is great (so is Ableton!). While we are ruby-based at SoundCloud, we are definitely expanding and open to various backgrounds! So definitely visit the jobs page if you're interested: soundcloud.com/jobs. Agree with Mary - Berlin is a fantastic place to live and very affordable in many areas. Great city with a growing start-up scene!

How many vacation days? I have relevant experience for SoundCloud (and also use and like Ableton) but I've recently decided I should probably try to visit my family more often.

Around 25, which is common in Germany.
Post reply on HN