Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job • Hacker News Board

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#31

Post by Cshelton » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 12:45 AM UTC

jupiter90000 wrote: post #18

Does the Dallas story (low demand for devs, high availability of devs) line up with the experience of those here familiar with the market? Based on just looking at job postings, it didn't seem like there was a lack of demand for devs in that area, but I know that postings don't necessarily equate to high demand. Also if that's true, do alot of the Dallas devs in need of work go to Austin? Or is that not done for some…

Dallas guy here, also a very senior SW engineer. My last two hires were about 5 months or so ago, but high availability? hah! I can't necessarily speak for the demand, other than it must be high, because it is hard to find available devs. Also from working with recruiters in the past couple of years, good candidates are snatched up very fast. If you have good experience (and are not a contractor that jumps companies every 3 months), you should find a position within two weeks in Dallas.

As far as Austin, no. Only reason people go to Austin is more a lifestyle choice. More people come from Austin to Dallas simply because the number of available jobs. Last time I checked, Dallas has around twice as many developers as Austin as well.

Right now, people in Texas cities other than Austin are staying away too. Austin's infrastructure has not kept up with the growth and it is nuts. Dallas and Houston have done a much better job when planning ahead for the growth of the entire job market, whereas Austin took somewhat of a Boulder, Co stance and decided they really don't need to work on infrastructure to aid growing the population. That's a whole other story though.

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#32

Post by jdhn » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 12:46 AM UTC

tropo wrote: post #27

bittermang wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I was in Detroit the roads were the worst I'd ever seen. You couldn't even call them pot holes, they were just scars in the earth. For a place nicknamed The Motor City, it was a sad state of affairs. And that's the crux of it. It's not just the money, in fact it's never the money for me. It's a total quality of life scenario. Being across a bridge from Windsor Canada is cool, the Detroit museum is a great p…

Suppose that The Motor City wanted to help the local car industry. Would they build roads that favor keeping a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry for 20 years, or would they build roads that require yearly purchase of a huge SUV or a full-size AWD pickup truck?

Trust me, when it comes to road infrastructure, there is no conspiracy to help the Big 3. The amount of broken down vehicles that I see on the sides of the roads due to tire issues spans domestic & foreign brands. If there's a conspiracy, it's a conspiracy to benefit body shops and tire/rim manufacturers.

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#33

Post by pm90 » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 12:51 AM UTC

enraged_camel wrote: post #24

I have lived in Austin for 3 years now and I work in tech. It's a fantastic city. Great weather throughout the year (very hot though - not everyone's cup of tea!), lots of gorgeous outdoor environments within very close proximity to the city center, and plenty of nice people, many of whom are newly-arrived transplants and are optimistic about life and looking to make new friends. I'm the organizer of a bouldering mee…

Hey, didn't know you were in Austin! Definitely will check out the meetup. I'm an occasional climber.

Besides what you already mentioned: the food is one major factor that I like Austin. From BBQ (Franklin, Salt Lick etc.) to Tacos (Torchy's, Taco Deli) to ethnic Indian, Korean etc. this city has it all and new restaurants are opening all the time.

If you like beer and breweries, Austin has many of them too. Oscar Blues, ABGB, 512, Adelberts, Jester King etc. are just a few that come to mind. There are lot of brewpubs as well and new ones are opening all the times.

If you're young and into the nightlife scene, Austin has a lively scene and you can literally go out any night of the week and find something interesting. From live music to famous bands, to music festivals, there's ALWAYS something to do, which is really fucking amazing.

Generally I don't like to say too many nice things since I like to keep this amazing city all to myself. But maybe HN crowd is ok :).

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#34

Post by Cshelton » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 12:51 AM UTC

pm90 wrote: post #30

jupiter90000 wrote: post #18

Does the Dallas story (low demand for devs, high availability of devs) line up with the experience of those here familiar with the market? Based on just looking at job postings, it didn't seem like there was a lack of demand for devs in that area, but I know that postings don't necessarily equate to high demand. Also if that's true, do alot of the Dallas devs in need of work go to Austin? Or is that not done for some…

Speaking purely from anecdotal evidence: Dallas certainly does have a lot of good jobs, but its not a liberal enclave like Austin. In some ways its more representative of Texas than Austin, which is definitely more like SF (except maybe the rents, which are definitely far more reasonable). But Dallas has its own charms for sure. You can get really huge houses close to work for pretty cheap, the school systems are pre…

Dallas as a whole is for sure not a liberal enclave like Austin, however, the downtown/uptown/deep ellum bubbles of Dallas most certainly are. If you are coming from SF/CA, Colorado, Austin even, and you are in that part of Dallas, you will feel at home. The "Texas" stereotypes you have for sure heard about are pretty absent here.

For affordable housing, you can definitely get it, but if you want something close to downtown/uptown, it's a good step up. Also, the housing market here is ridiculous, one of the fastest growing markets in the nation. You will be paying above ask in a bidding war for anything you find. And you better be ready to put your money down, no contingency, sometimes before you get to even walk in the front door to see the house. It's that insane.

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#35

Post by oceanghost » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 12:53 AM UTC

jdhn wrote: post #28

padobson wrote: post #2

Detroit engineer here. There may be a lot of openings around here as Detroit industry continues to modernize and the startup scene matures, but salaries are still lagging. Some of the large companies (autos, insurance, etc) will occasionally offer higher-paying gigs, but competition is fierce and interviewing (like everywhere) is a crap shoot. I'm currently contracting remotely with a company in the Los Angeles area,…

Same goes for UX designers. Very few direct hire positions, and almost everything is a 6 to 12 month "contract to hire" that magically never turns into an actual position. Plus, I'd say that for every job that a company advertises, there's at least 5 or 6 recruiters who will post ads for that same exact job. Anecdotal story: I interviewed at a well known ad company here in the Metro Detroit area, and the recruiter le…

The balls on some of the C2H people are amazing.

I had been at a position for 10 years-- some CEO calls me and says my skillset would be PERFECT for his company, would I be interested in talking.

We get into details, its C2H, I decline. He was absolutely incensed, he says, "well, its just to make sure you're a good culture fit!" To which I reply, "I'm not going to leave a stable job for what is essentially contract work." He was beyond pissed, I guess he was acclimated to dealing with idiots.

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#36

Post by kdot » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 12:54 AM UTC

jdhn wrote: post #32

tropo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Suppose that The Motor City wanted to help the local car industry. Would they build roads that favor keeping a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry for 20 years, or would they build roads that require yearly purchase of a huge SUV or a full-size AWD pickup truck?

Trust me, when it comes to road infrastructure, there is no conspiracy to help the Big 3. The amount of broken down vehicles that I see on the sides of the roads due to tire issues spans domestic & foreign brands. If there's a conspiracy, it's a conspiracy to benefit body shops and tire/rim manufacturers.

Michigan is have a somewhat state of emergency due to the poor road conditions, pot holes everywhere.

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#37

Post by pm90 » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 12:55 AM UTC

Cshelton wrote: post #31

jupiter90000 wrote: post #18

Does the Dallas story (low demand for devs, high availability of devs) line up with the experience of those here familiar with the market? Based on just looking at job postings, it didn't seem like there was a lack of demand for devs in that area, but I know that postings don't necessarily equate to high demand. Also if that's true, do alot of the Dallas devs in need of work go to Austin? Or is that not done for some…

Dallas guy here, also a very senior SW engineer. My last two hires were about 5 months or so ago, but high availability? hah! I can't necessarily speak for the demand, other than it must be high, because it is hard to find available devs. Also from working with recruiters in the past couple of years, good candidates are snatched up very fast. If you have good experience (and are not a contractor that jumps companies…

> Austin's infrastructure has not kept up with the growth and it is nuts. Dallas and Houston have done a much better job when planning ahead for the growth of the entire job market, whereas Austin took somewhat of a Boulder, Co stance and decided they really don't need to work on infrastructure to aid growing the population. That's a whole other story though.

That's sadly very true but its not from a lack of trying. The city tried a couple of years ago to float a light rail proposal that was put up to a vote but shot down by citizens. Most of the infrastructure is still very road-focused. Although I'm hoping that the many downtown approach will easy the traffic somewhat (Domain, Mueller etc.)

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#38

Post by pm90 » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 1:01 AM UTC

throwaway_woxx7 wrote: post #29

I've lived in Austin for about 5 years. Grad school, not work. My programmer friends seem to have no problem getting jobs, and I have no shortage of male friends, but the gender ratio of singles is pretty heavily skewed towards men for introverted nerds. I'm a single male who doesn't have a lot of free time, so I gave up on dating in Austin. The city doesn't seem to attract many people I'd like to date. Particularly…

I haven't found that experience at all. In fact one of the reasons I refuse to move to Man Jose or SF is because I've heard of the famously skewed sex ratio. There is a lot more diversity in Austin, and as a single guy in his late 20's I've had a very healthy dating experience.

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#39

Post by jupiter90000 » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 1:03 AM UTC

Cshelton wrote: post #31

jupiter90000 wrote: post #18

Does the Dallas story (low demand for devs, high availability of devs) line up with the experience of those here familiar with the market? Based on just looking at job postings, it didn't seem like there was a lack of demand for devs in that area, but I know that postings don't necessarily equate to high demand. Also if that's true, do alot of the Dallas devs in need of work go to Austin? Or is that not done for some…

Dallas guy here, also a very senior SW engineer. My last two hires were about 5 months or so ago, but high availability? hah! I can't necessarily speak for the demand, other than it must be high, because it is hard to find available devs. Also from working with recruiters in the past couple of years, good candidates are snatched up very fast. If you have good experience (and are not a contractor that jumps companies…

Upvoted but want to thank you specifically for such great insider info. Much appreciated.

Re: Austin, Denver, Detroit: Good Places to Be a Software Engineer Looking for a Job

#40

Post by starwind0 » Thu, Feb 22, 2018, 1:04 AM UTC

markcerqueira wrote: post #23

matwood wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Android devs. We can find iOS easily. No one wants to do Android. Seems weird given that android is OS. Having done both, Android development is a pain and just not fun. The simulator/emulator situation has improved a lot which helps, but it used to be a terrible development experience.

When did you last do Android? I've done both for about eight years and while the development tools at first on Android were total trash I cannot stand Xcode and the iOS development ecosystem these days. Throw in Swift and things get worse. On the other side, Java/Kotlin interoperability in Android Studio is great and the tooling keeps improving.

I still do Android. A lot better since we went to studio, but it's still far far from where it needs to be.