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

Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 57 posts

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#41

Post by rmnclmnt »

rozenmd wrote: post #36
Jacqued wrote: post #11

I think in Europe there's a bunch of local markets with a lot of companies that do not want to compete for developers, not within the EU and definitely not with the US. They'd rather push talented developers to leave than raise wages (and maybe it makes sense in their business). You need to find the pockets in the market which do compete for talent on an international (at least EU-wide) level. That may be foreign tec…

Don't you then lose social security, benefits, ability to rent/get a mortgage by not being full time/CDI?

Yes and no, and it depends on your requirements:

- Social security: covered by the state through social taxes (URSSAF) like employees - Benefits: you're the boss, you can be wild :) - Renting / getting a mortgage: bankers are more and more inclined to examine your situation, especially if you can provide a good track record of recurrent / constant revenue stream

In any case, I agree completely with the original comment: going solo in France is one way to break the "glass ceiling" in terms of net revenue and career path is you feel entrepreneur.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#43

Post by kome »

dmkirwan wrote: post #26

The only true measure of your market value is what people are willing to pay you. 32k seems a bit low for central Europe but it's difficult to say without a more precise location. There are easier (and less accurate) ways to assess your value. 1: Next time you hear from a recruiter, ask them what a rough range is for the role. If they won't tell you, try to gauge their reaction to your salary expectations. Say, when…

usually "central europe" is how people from post-socialist countries call eastern europe: and i guess 32k is in the high bracket there

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#44

Post by rozenmd »

rmnclmnt wrote: post #41
rozenmd wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't you then lose social security, benefits, ability to rent/get a mortgage by not being full time/CDI?

Yes and no, and it depends on your requirements: - Social security: covered by the state through social taxes (URSSAF) like employees - Benefits: you're the boss, you can be wild :) - Renting / getting a mortgage: bankers are more and more inclined to examine your situation, especially if you can provide a good track record of recurrent / constant revenue stream In any case, I agree completely with the original comme…

Oh cool!

So you can just contract for international companies out of France, pay your taxes as normal, and you still get unemployment if you get fired unexpectedly?

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#45

Post by fergonco »

AdhesiveWombat wrote: post #28
fergonco wrote: post #24

If you are willing to work remotely you can do, at least, twice as that. German market pays best in Europe but you need to speak the language. The culture is also very specific. If you don't have family and don't mind working in other timezones, then US will have the best offer for you. My algorithm: do many applications. Aim high, low and in between. Ask for a high salary and lower little by little.

> German market pays best in Europe but you need to speak the language. The culture is also very specific. Genuine question: do you mean to say the culture is very specific or just not American? I'm curious to know if it is more specific than, let's say, French or Spanish.

With specific I meant strong cultural values (maybe). How Germans understand work is different from how Spanish, French or Italian do. But not only work: friendship, society, conflict, etc. And you need to learn their language in order to understand all that, which is a huge barrier. I just wanted to warn OP about that fact.

It may depend were are you culturally. I'm Spanish and I've lived in Germany, France and Italy.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#46

Post by bluetomcat »

The truth is that a particular person with a particular skillset and culture may have vastly different values to different companies in different parts of the world. The same combination of skills may be a valuable asset in one workplace and less valuable in another. It takes a bit of social aptitude and common sense to approach the right companies and to accentuate at the relevant subset of your skills.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#47

Post by Toutouxc »

kome wrote: post #43
dmkirwan wrote: post #26

The only true measure of your market value is what people are willing to pay you. 32k seems a bit low for central Europe but it's difficult to say without a more precise location. There are easier (and less accurate) ways to assess your value. 1: Next time you hear from a recruiter, ask them what a rough range is for the role. If they won't tell you, try to gauge their reaction to your salary expectations. Say, when…

usually "central europe" is how people from post-socialist countries call eastern europe: and i guess 32k is in the high bracket there

> "central europe" is how people from post-socialist countries call eastern europe

That was my first thought when I read that. We Czechs are especially guilty of [over]using "central", because the country is very much wedged into Germany, which is decidedly western, so I hear it pretty often.

On the other hand, the European part of Russia is so huge that yes, nothing except maybe Ukraine is really on the eastern third.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#48

Post by Toutouxc »

tomp wrote: post #9

Move to Switzerland, or maybe London / Berlin.

Not about you specifically, but most people underestimate how different European countries can be from each other and how "moving a 10-hr drive away" can actually mean "not being able to understand anyone for the next 10 years, eating a completely different cuisine and being totally out of touch with the traditions and culture for some time".

Moving to a different country in Europe might not even be an option for quite a lot people.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#49

Post by Jacqued »

rozenmd wrote: post #44
rmnclmnt wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no, and it depends on your requirements: - Social security: covered by the state through social taxes (URSSAF) like employees - Benefits: you're the boss, you can be wild :) - Renting / getting a mortgage: bankers are more and more inclined to examine your situation, especially if you can provide a good track record of recurrent / constant revenue stream In any case, I agree completely with the original comme…

Oh cool! So you can just contract for international companies out of France, pay your taxes as normal, and you still get unemployment if you get fired unexpectedly?

Unemployment is the one benefit you can't get as a contractor (in France, I don't know about OP's country), but it doesn't work that great for higher income professionals anyway.

When it comes to health insurance or retirement you're generally covered though.

Post reply on HN