Getting a job in San Francisco • Hacker News Board

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#21

Post by jtarrio » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:23 PM UTC

drpancake wrote: post #13

Interesting read. Does anyone have recent experience in obtaining a Green Card? I'd be interested to know how long it takes on average, transitioning from an H1-B visa. > Mecca for Software Engineers, the only place in the World where the guy in front at Starbucks has big chance to be Software developer. I'm a iOS developer and I love software, but this was one of my main reasons for leaving SF.

Depending on your educational background and working experience, you go into one or another category. Most people here will fit in EB-3, EB-2 and EB-1. If you are in EB-1 you can get it in about a year; in EB-2 you can get it in two years unless you're from China or India; in EB-3 you can probably get it in seven years, unless you're from India.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#22

Post by nraynaud » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:23 PM UTC

zerr wrote: post #8

swampthing wrote: post #2

Although this is written for French developers looking to come to the US, I found it interesting as a window into what things are like in France. Thanks for writing it!

AFAIK salaries are rather low there, but cost of living is quite expensive.

As far I as know, here in France CS engineers are never hungry, but they don't have nice cars. I'd say middle class. There is a difference in value here, marketing and sales people are paid more than engineers, and they generally rule the show. Startups are often created or ruled by people out of a business school. F.Penso is an exception I think because he's the original French startup guy, tinkerer and hipster (I mean this guy has a soviet era photo camera) since the first wave of startup hype. I'm slightly disappointed he didn't strike it rich because he's been active in the field for quite some time (and he built what was one of the biggest french websites at the time).

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#23

Post by nraynaud » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:24 PM UTC

zerr wrote: post #20

jmduke wrote: post #15

To be honest, this makes me want to get a job in Paris. The way Fabien describes SF as a Mecca evokes the sense of wonder Woody Allen had about the City of Love: You know, I sometimes think, how is anyone ever gonna come up with a book, or a painting, or a symphony, or a sculpture that can compete with a great city. You can't. Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and…

... in a 18 sq.m. "apartment".

I was sharing a 60sqm apartment with a couple there. (13th)

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#24

Post by fabienpenso » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:24 PM UTC

rm999 wrote: post #17

tzz wrote: post #11

I am not from SF and hard for me to believe that a company like Twitter cares about your look more than your technical expertise. I will add than Twitter had a specific atmosphere compared to other so called startups. The employees seem to be hired on more than skills, everyone at their office is very much hipster like, beautiful looking, feeling super confident and ready to kick it. Walking around Twitter sometimes…

>cares about your look more than your technical expertise. In all fairness that's not what he said. Some companies - like google - have a very objective hiring process based almost entirely on technical skill. But many other companies include "fit" as a part of the hiring decision. I haven't interviewed at twitter but I could believe they are like that. I've thumbed down candidates who did well on the technical part…

Thank you, that's exactly what I meant. I probably should improve that part of the article, and it could probably actually be removed. It was some sarcastic humor but in end, I never felt that visiting other companies.

You do feel sometimes technical isn't enough, but at Twitter you could definitely feel you had to look good. And you could also feel how current employees were proud to be part of the adventure. Proud as being part of the topnotch Silicon Valley companies.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#25

Post by alloftheabove » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:29 PM UTC

Where do these salary numbers come from?

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#26

Post by fabienpenso » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:34 PM UTC

thedjpetersen wrote: post #4

Would love to also see a follow-up piece about getting a job in Paris

Well there is a huge difference. As a Software Engineer you want to work in San Francisco because it's where your job happens.

In Paris, nothing happens on that level. If you do want to come to Paris it's because of the amazing food, lifestyle, public transportation system, and certainly not because of the amazing startups we should have.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#27

Post by fabienpenso » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:39 PM UTC

jmduke wrote: post #15

To be honest, this makes me want to get a job in Paris. The way Fabien describes SF as a Mecca evokes the sense of wonder Woody Allen had about the City of Love: You know, I sometimes think, how is anyone ever gonna come up with a book, or a painting, or a symphony, or a sculpture that can compete with a great city. You can't. Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and…

I do love the lifestyle we have in Paris, I think anyone being able to spend a year there should feel very fortunate. Of course French might not agree, but traveling months per year the recents years, I'm always happy to come back.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#28

Post by cxx » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:47 PM UTC

zerr wrote: post #8

swampthing wrote: post #2

Although this is written for French developers looking to come to the US, I found it interesting as a window into what things are like in France. Thanks for writing it!

AFAIK salaries are rather low there, but cost of living is quite expensive.

That is not only in France, it's in all Europe. Salaries in Germany, The Netherlands, UK and so on are much much lower than in SF or NY. Developer jobs that pay more than 60k euro are few and far between. A 50k+ job is already above average and upgrading is not going to be easy.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#29

Post by reeses » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:49 PM UTC

arkem wrote: post #19

reeses wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on the E status you can get. If you get sponsored for an E3, forget about it. With an E1 (say, you are the world expert in your field), you can have a green card very quickly. E2 can take a year or two. The other course, depending on your country of citizenship, is asylum, which enables you to skip the queue and apply for your green card after a year. However, fraud is a big issue and you will eventually g…

I think you mean EB status not E status, which refers to the priority level of the green card application. I was really confused because an E3 is a visa very similar to a H1-B for Australians and an E1 is a visa for traders from countries that the US has a free trade agreement with.

YES! Early morning brain fart? :-) Thanks for clarifying that.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#30

Post by fabienpenso » Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:51 PM UTC

guylhem wrote: post #3

>When rejecting candidates for my own company I wanted to tell them why I rejected them, and how to improve, but I have been told not to do it, for legal reason. When the laws prevent you from giving actionable feedback to the person you didn't hire, you know it has gone too far. The government should have no business in your selection or rejection of new hires, and the firing of them if needed. >I believe the US way…

>>I believe the US way to be better

> I don't.

I was speaking about the technical interview instead of a more relaxing one we have in France.

I think rejecting candidate with a single formal sentence isn't what it should be, of course. Companies should be able to say what went wrong, but noone will for the legal issues raised in the comments below. Why should they take risks?