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

Getting a job in San Francisco

blog.penso.info

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 104 posts

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#91

Post by dblock »

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 think there's no reason to be afraid of lawsuits and very little evidence to support that you should. If a candidate decides to sue, it's probably because there's actual evidence of discrimination.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#92

Post by ybaumes »

Gepsens wrote: post #84
thibaut_barrere wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been working remotely for the last 3 years, working 100% on interesting, Paris-based projects. Just adding a data point!

You are one of the lucky few then, I'd be interested to hear what those Paris-based projects are as well. Are they paying you more than 40k too ?

Yeah right me too. I live in Paris since 2005. I've learnt to dislike the city. And when I read all what happens in the silicon Valley, it feels more and more the wrong place...

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#93

Post by vonmoltke »

bdcravens wrote: post #74
JoeKM wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to agree, 150k for senior engineer? I would say 100-120k for senior engineer, 75-100k for engineer, 50-60k for intern.

Are you in SF? I'm in Houston, and 100K is closer to the norm for engineers here, but of course, 100K wouldn't go as far in SF. Were I to take a job in SF, I'd probably need a $20K-30K premium.

Damn, sounds like I need to go down there then.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#94

Post by ybaumes »

Gepsens wrote: post #83
cxx wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This. I'm paid almost 50k in Paris, leaving this year to the US to find a job.

I should follow your path. Do you have a visa? Or do you plan to find the firm and request the visa then?

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#95

Post by plopper »

byroot wrote: post #86
hnriot wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention working in Paris is like working part time here. 35 hour weeks!!! Mandated by law too. Of course this might also be why there isn't a vibrant startup culture.

Companies can easily workaround the 35 hours week with the "cadre" status that basically nullify the regulated hours constraint, and they do. I don't know any developer in Paris that do a 35 hours week. Actually it's even the contrary, French managers have a strong culture of evaluating employees performance based on presence. So you see a lot of peoples doing 10-12 hours a day, or coming back to the office on saturd…

This. I don't know any french developer not being on a day rate instead of an hour rate. An awful lot of people on an hour rate have a number of extra hours factored in their salary by default.

It's still better than the US, "cadre" status (but not top management) is officially around 180-190 day of work per year (depending on the unions).

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#97

Post by thibaut_barrere »

Gepsens wrote: post #84
thibaut_barrere wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been working remotely for the last 3 years, working 100% on interesting, Paris-based projects. Just adding a data point!

You are one of the lucky few then, I'd be interested to hear what those Paris-based projects are as well. Are they paying you more than 40k too ?

I'm working as a freelance, my current going rate is 120€/hour (ex VAT); those projects belong to mid-size companies and startups, companies not much seen on TechCrunch or HackerNews.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#98

Post by rdbgtt »

thedjpetersen wrote: post #4

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

Getting a job in Paris is like a getting a job anywhere else - there are stupid aspects of the system and there are meritocratic aspects. If you're looking to hear "why is it so hard for me to find a job in paris?" You will certainly find enough excuses - though I think the same can be said of almost anywhere.

That being said, here are a few things to know:

1) France's unemployment rate is north of 10% (closer to 25% if you're under 25) and it's not for lack of companies. It's because large companies are essentially on a hiring freeze until the economy balances out, because employment comes with a lot of string attached (hard to fire, expensive to fire, high social taxes on top of employees).

2) Startup employees don't work 35 hours a week - I've never once seen this, and I'd be curious to meet teams who did. If you want to work at a public tech company, or Google France, you may work 35hours/week, just like you would at EA or Oracle in the US. The fact is that the 35 hour work week is a law to protect employees, but the 6-month trail period that precedes your 'protection' usually sets the tempo for work life. Those who can't handle working 45-50 hours a week, or at the pace set by the company, are usually kicked out with 24 hour noticed within the first 6 months.

3) Getting a job in Paris is easy, especially for an American. Your CV is "I'm an American" and any startup who's raised 1Million+ will be a fool not to take you. So, if you're looking for a job in Paris, just tweet it, and you'll have a job offer by the end of the day. If you're a little less technical, Law/accountign firms hire international people with VISAs all the time to cover their intl. clients.

More news about French Tech at @RudeBaguette - http://rudebaguette.com

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#99

Post by tonfa »

stevewilhelm wrote: post #39
suman_nandan wrote: post #5

This is a very well written piece with lots of good advice. Thanks a lot for writing this.

> This is a very well written It may contain some interesting points, but it is obviously written by an ESL writer.

That's international English (lingua franca).

I find it fun when native speaker complain about ESL speakers, since in the end it is likely that international English will win.

I live in a non-English speaking country, the common language in the office is international English (there are 60+ nationalities, and less than 20% are native english speaker). It would be fun to track over time if the native speakers start speaking international english :)

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#100

Post by kevintoaster »

jcdavis wrote: post #45
JoeKM wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to agree, 150k for senior engineer? I would say 100-120k for senior engineer, 75-100k for engineer, 50-60k for intern.

For the Bay Area these days, those numbers seem about right. Big companies pay 100k to new grads

Seconded. Engineering salaries have jumped significantly recently. With 2 years experience out of college I've seen people getting offers of 120k - 140k.
Post reply on HN