61–70 of 96 posts
Are you in Iraq? If so, understand the legalities involved - most companies simply won't hire someone or do business with someone in Iraq because "can't be bothered to figure the sanction situation out". So - solve it for them. Figure out all the answers, set up all the stuff that will make it easier for a prospective employer and have it all at the ready.
Have you thought about starting a company? It’s never been easier to start a company for engineers. Granted you need to have a problem to solve but those can be found.
I thought about that, and still do! Unfortunately, I can't find a problem to solve, and believe me, I tried! Everything I come up with has been solved already with a better set of features.
“What we are taught is that if you want to start a business, you need to come up with something new, something that hasn't been done before. But the reality is that the world will very easily accept three of the same thing, or five of the same thing. And usually it is an advantage to look at something that already exists and say, can another one of those exist? Or can I take what's there and tweak it a little bit? If you are a great cloner, you will be 90% ahead of the rest of humanity.”
2. Assuming that it is still to do with computers. A software business does not have to be about building products and selling them. I imagine in Iraq (or where ever you are) there are many small businesses and non-technical people who need their computers maintained and repaired (example, this guy has posted on HN and has a small business that does this : https://www.scottrlarson.com/services/computer/repair/ .. I am not affiliated in any way with him). You might need to hit the street, ignore the fear / embarrassment / rejection, and cold call or cold visit businesses. If only 1% of the people are going to turn into customers, get the other 99% out of the way, faster the better.
3. Teaching positions may not pay well but may pay the bills while you work to build a career or business.
You country was devastated by an illegal war. Rebuilding will take a lot of time and courage. Wish you all the best.
Living in Iraq, and unable to move somewhere that has the jobs you're looking for? That's a tough one. If you can't get a remote-only gig to work out, I'd be trying to start my own thing that I could do entirely over the Internet. The biggest problem, of course, is the coding is one job, and running a business is entirely different. Maybe you don't want that.
If one had a trustworthy business-minded friend who was willing to work with you at starting something that might be the way to go. However, as OP directly experienced (as have I) most startups will fail. That's the normal result. Employment is almost always safer, even if ultimately less rewarding. So try to do an honest assessment of your risk tolerance. If you only have yourself to worry about, you can live on bea…
I was taught by my very first real "boss" (way back when dinosaurs roamed the streets) to never put more into your startup idea than you can afford to lose and still manage to survive afterwards. You can always rebuild (a totally new idea or a variation of the old, after learning from your mistakes) from that point as long as you can manage to survive your mistakes. On the other hand, he also said that if you're really serious about your idea you should absolutely invest in it as much as you're realistically able to (finances, time, and effort) without putting yourself in an un-survivable bind.
this is to say, don't give up.
from my personal experience, tech networking is the only thing that worked for me. not just networking through jobs (that didn't do anything for me) but participating in tech communities. online and offline. HN, various discord groups for programmers, skool.com also has lot's of tech groups, maybe even linkedin. (i use linkedin mainly to connect to people i meet elsewhere, so i can't tell how well it works by itself). others i don't know. i'd also look for expats from your country in other countries. maybe you can make some connections there to help you get remote jobs you would not otherwise find.
Are you in Iraq? If so, understand the legalities involved - most companies simply won't hire someone or do business with someone in Iraq because "can't be bothered to figure the sanction situation out". So - solve it for them. Figure out all the answers, set up all the stuff that will make it easier for a prospective employer and have it all at the ready.
I think you are thinking of Iran? Iraq is an ally of the US.
It looks like you're in Iraq. The first thing that comes to mind is, if I wanted to hire you remotely, how would I pay you? I don't know whether it's a common question you have from prospective employers, but if I'm running a business (FWIW, I'm not), I'd be worried that regularly sending money to Iraq might trigger some alarms (anti-money laundering, sanctions, etc.), and this probably trumps any other consideration…
Iraq is an ally and not currently sanctioned.
First is to stop the bleeding. Any work that puts food on the table is “honest” work. In the meantime, keep coding, think of something your local or regional society needs and build it. One lesson I had to learn the hard way, no one is coming to save you. Build your own future. Make your own path. Finding something that people would pay for is easy. Finding something that a lot of people will pay for is hard. Just fi…
Can you clarify how you mean that?
There's an extreme interpretation that I'm guessing you don't mean.
First is to stop the bleeding. Any work that puts food on the table is “honest” work. In the meantime, keep coding, think of something your local or regional society needs and build it. One lesson I had to learn the hard way, no one is coming to save you. Build your own future. Make your own path. Finding something that people would pay for is easy. Finding something that a lot of people will pay for is hard. Just fi…
> Any work that puts food on the table is “honest” work. Can you clarify how you mean that? There's an extreme interpretation that I'm guessing you don't mean.
It looks like you're in Iraq. The first thing that comes to mind is, if I wanted to hire you remotely, how would I pay you? I don't know whether it's a common question you have from prospective employers, but if I'm running a business (FWIW, I'm not), I'd be worried that regularly sending money to Iraq might trigger some alarms (anti-money laundering, sanctions, etc.), and this probably trumps any other consideration…
Iraq is an ally and not currently sanctioned.