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How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

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141–150 of 316 posts

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#141
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 60k is more for senior developers. Junior get less. It's always shocking to me how low European SWE compensation is. Is it similar for other skilled professionals? What do accountants, lawyers, civil engineers, pilots, physical therapists, etc. make? I understand the demand side. I think the European tech industry is much less successful than its American counterpart, and therefore has less money to pay. But I don'…

> Why would anyone with the intelligence and drive needed to become a software engineer pursue that field? Instead of... what? It's not like you can make 2x the salary easily by instead becoming something else. Salaries are pretty flat, if you want to make money you should invest in somethig or have your own company. Also: I'm not sure it's' a good idea to pick jobs based on salaries. It's good to not worry about mon…

> In a welfare state I don't have that priority

I just don't believe that's true. Many, many more Germans immigrate to Switzerland, the UK or even America than vice versa. That's primarily because professional salaries in the latter are higher. That strongly suggests that at least some non-negligible proportion of German professionals care about compensation.

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but even 450k Euros for a house is very cheap for the current crazy market in Germany. At that price don't expect to be in a nice area or be close to any major city or good facilities.

Totally depends on the region..and public transport such as local trains tend to be good and most cities small enough for cycling to work or commuting in. Even hlHamburg or Munich is not like London or New York.

Recently, near my grandmother's, public transport got a new train stop in the outskirts of Frankfurt. House prices in the adjacent villages have more than doubled. And they weren't cheap to begin with, considering it is commute distance to Frankfurt.

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#143
post #6

Leaving in Germany for 6 years. Moved from France. What I'll say only concern Berlin. The interview process in startup can be more draining than that. Currently, it's more like 4 / 5 steps with (sometimes) 6+ hours homework. Yik. 60k is more for senior developers. Junior get less. Other than that the cost of living in Germany is quite low (lower in Berlin than in the South) and it's a very nice and stable country.

I just got a 6 figure non-senior position in Berlin. Sent out close to 100 applications and went into interview processes at around 30 places. 80-90k is definitely doable if you are good and take your time (I was looking for 3-4 months). You need to filter beforehand for salary. Most places expect to pay around 60-70k max. But getting the higher salary is more a matter of finding the company willing to pay it than ju…

If you don't mind sharing. What's the position title that you got/were searching for?.

I live in Berlin and I've never seen even a 6 figure senior software engineer position.

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#144
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. In Portland where I lived we didn’t make enough to live in the nicer parts of town so we lived in the north east near Gresham and crime was a problem out there. Lots of gang violence. My comment was a bit flippant. But it was something I thought about from time to time. Here not at all.

Well, for some additional anecdata: I've been mugged/attacked twice as much in Berlin (where I live) than I was in Detroit (where I grew up). I think perhaps the perception of risk in the US is blown way out of proportion due to the media frenzy around shootings, which are still pretty rare overall in the US. If you consume mass media, you will generally overestimate the risk by several orders of magnitude. (This is,…

I could hear the sirens and the shots in the backyard of my house. :/ though my perception of their frequency could be biased.

I’m sorry to hear you were mugged and twice, too! That’s crazy. Not crazy that crime happens just that it blows away my thesis that I’m more or less free from having to think about it living here in Berlin.

I did have a fancy road bike I bought in Hamburg stolen. But I think that’s more or less me being stupid.

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#145
post #135
post #123

The salaries seem really low. The absolute highest paying job listed on their site is a 110,000 euro salary, but you can get more than that with zero experience in California. I wonder if it would be better for software engineers in Germany to simply get remote working jobs for US companies.

That's how I do it. Works well.

How does that work tax wise? Does the California company have an office in germany? If so, do they still pay the same salary as in california?

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#146
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just got a 6 figure non-senior position in Berlin. Sent out close to 100 applications and went into interview processes at around 30 places. 80-90k is definitely doable if you are good and take your time (I was looking for 3-4 months). You need to filter beforehand for salary. Most places expect to pay around 60-70k max. But getting the higher salary is more a matter of finding the company willing to pay it than ju…

Do you just select companies competing to hire against global companies ? I can't see a mid-size startup / domestic company needing to pay 100k to get the devs they need, at least from my experience in Europe.

> mid-size startup / domestic company

Actually, mid-size startups (the ones that are more tech-focused than usual) that have just closed a funding round, and AI divisions of automotive startups (so domestic companies) are the two biggest groups I receive 6 figure offers from (based in Berlin).

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#147

Any time these guides come up they are simply shocking. I love Europe, I grew up there. I don't understand why anyone would stay as a developer in the EU. Software is simply not valued. Dev salaries are astounding. Senior engineers in the EU make less than entry level undergrads in the US or Canada. 60k Euros is 70k USD. People out of bootcamps with zero experience make more than that in the US. I don't have a single…

The only problem with your comparison (and I'm not saying devs don't make less money in EU) is that you can't just convert one currency to the other. You have to compare purchasing power and quality of life.

The same salary in US could be viewed as 'you are rich' or 'you can't pay rent' depending on with city you live in. Now, you are talking about different continents.

I would compare the possible lifestyles and quality of life: how long does it take to buy a house/apartment? Can you afford to travel on vacation? Can you save money for your kids' college (or do you even need to do that)?

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#148
post #96

My 2 cents: Just finished my first month in Munich as a Web Dev after moving from Australia. Company is great and colleagues are lovely. German bureaucracy sucks but apart from that it has been an experience of ‘the more things change the more they stay the same’ when it comes to the job and culture. Honestly linkedin has had the best results for jobs, that and using a template for CVS and cover letters. There’s plen…

What's the tech interview process like in Germany? Do they ask you to do LeetCode style problems on whiteboard or Google Doc?

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#149

Any time these guides come up they are simply shocking. I love Europe, I grew up there. I don't understand why anyone would stay as a developer in the EU. Software is simply not valued. Dev salaries are astounding. Senior engineers in the EU make less than entry level undergrads in the US or Canada. 60k Euros is 70k USD. People out of bootcamps with zero experience make more than that in the US. I don't have a single…

And even those 60k Euro is for western Europe. In central-eastern Europe it's around half of it.

Re: How to find a job as Software Developer in Germany

#150

All in this article looked standard up to the point where I discoved that: "This is assuming that you are single and not a church member, because there is an extra tax (around 9% of your income tax) if you belong to one." Wtf germany? I have found more info: https://www.nomadenberlin.com/blog2/german-church-tax-kirche... it is a complete non-sense to me, if ever you wanted to give, why you are not allowed to decide t…

Yes the connection of state and church in germany is really creepy to me too. Even if you are not part of a church it is backwards for the state to collect church fees at all and accordingly forces you to check the checkboxes on nearly all official forms what church you belong to. In addition we have to remember that Chancellor Merkels party which is one of the big two parties is called the "christian democrats" it is also totally common for the main news programs of public service broadcaster networks to report on the pope and bishops as if they were relevant political figures and also broadcast church service programs on sundays. The church bells will ring at incredible volume on sundays and other days without any mercy and everything has to be shut down on sundays, not even grocery shopping is possible.
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