Hello, I am experienced software developer working on enterprise software in eastern Europe country. With rising inflation and stagnant local salaries it's getting harder to afford a decent standard of living. I am looking at these jaw dropping US salaries, even 60k/yr would put me among top 3% earners in my county. Browsing US job boards I find many remote contract based and salaried positions but they are all looking for US based employees. Are there any fellow Europe based software engineers who work remotely for US companies and could share advice about landing such jobs?
Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
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Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
#2You're looking for US companies with EU offices, basically.
You get an internationally competitive salary, and because they've got a local office, they also comply with the EU's sane employment laws.
I don't really have tips - I joined Atlassian in Sydney and transferred to Atlassian France. After a while I managed to find another job using my personal network.
At least in France some local companies are starting to realise they need to up their salary to compete with international/remote companies, so it should get better.
Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
#3To get 60k/y you don't even need to work for a US company - it'll be much easier to find something in Germany or UK because of the time zone. Heck, even Polish companies offer this kind of salaries these days (they also post salary ranges most of the time so you can check it) and they're often very remote-friendly
Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
#4The most effective way is to be active in communities for the thing you want to be doing. Get a reputation as one of the people who know what they're doing. Eventually others will start reaching out to you privately when their companies are looking for new hires. If you get your foot in the door this way, your location becomes mostly irrelevant.
Sounds unusual, but I've previously gotten very well paid jobs in multiple startups through this kind of personal networking - you even get to skip most of the interview process. Meanwhile everything I applied to without any connections has been a wash.
Negotiations are much easier if you can deal with working as a US contractor, dropping most of your employment protection laws for more money.
Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
#5You're looking for US companies with EU offices, basically. You get an internationally competitive salary, and because they've got a local office, they also comply with the EU's sane employment laws. I don't really have tips - I joined Atlassian in Sydney and transferred to Atlassian France. After a while I managed to find another job using my personal network. At least in France some local companies are starting to…
99% of US companies with EU offices will NOT pay you anywhere close to the US level of money, IIRC the offer I received from Atlassian in Poland some years ago was not even competitive with the local market.
Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
#6You're looking for US companies with EU offices, basically. You get an internationally competitive salary, and because they've got a local office, they also comply with the EU's sane employment laws. I don't really have tips - I joined Atlassian in Sydney and transferred to Atlassian France. After a while I managed to find another job using my personal network. At least in France some local companies are starting to…
What’s the max someone at Atlassian can make in Australia?
Between them, Canva and MAGMA - it seems like the best paid jobs in APAC is your own consultancy.
Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
#7You're looking for US companies with EU offices, basically. You get an internationally competitive salary, and because they've got a local office, they also comply with the EU's sane employment laws. I don't really have tips - I joined Atlassian in Sydney and transferred to Atlassian France. After a while I managed to find another job using my personal network. At least in France some local companies are starting to…
99% of US companies with EU offices will NOT pay you anywhere close to the US level of money, IIRC the offer I received from Atlassian in Poland some years ago was not even competitive with the local market.
This! These American companies open their offices in order to cut costs. They aren't going to pay the same US salaries except outside of big tech.
Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
#8I don't want to sound negative but with current tax legislation in most EU countries, this is far more complicated than it may sound, at least to do it lawfully. Not impossible but in many cases, it requires a legal entity in your home country to be fully employed (i.e. not freelancer-based).
I investigated a somewhat related scenario: Being employed at a German legal entity with an already-remote contract and relocating to a neighboring EU country for permanent remote work. Turns out to be complicated and quite unattractive for your employer to support this, due to national tax+labor laws, potentially mandatory social insurance, etc.
Would appreciate any hints though.
Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
#9I’ve been living in Europe for 7 years and working remotely for US companies. Here is what I do (please tell me about better ideas!):
1. Apply to US remote jobs on the east coast and mention working from Europe. I’ve had a lot of luck overlapping for half a day. Not so great in a leadership position though.
2. Contact colleagues you like working with at US companies and see if they’re open to working with you. Someone vouching for you on the inside helps a lot.
3. Specialize in something valuable, pitch contract work, and try to convert that to full-time (or part-time or whatever).
Plug: my friend and I made a thing to address this problem because we have it too:
You say how much you want to make, where you work from, etc., and it emails you when a company wants to hire someone like you. If you try it please let me know what you think.
Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
99% of US companies with EU offices will NOT pay you anywhere close to the US level of money, IIRC the offer I received from Atlassian in Poland some years ago was not even competitive with the local market.
This! These American companies open their offices in order to cut costs. They aren't going to pay the same US salaries except outside of big tech.
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