zkom Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Well, I've been thinking about living abroad for a while and I've been considering options. I'm (mainly) a SW engineer so I could get a job wherever those kind of jobs are available. I don't think that's much of a problem in big cities in Northern, Western and Central Europe at least. Also I would not probably stay there permanently. My list of possible cities currently is Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. London could be nice otherwise but it's damn expensive and the commuting seems like a horror. I think Berlin would be really nice considering the music scene. I don't speak any of the native languages for Germany, Denmark or Netherlands, but I guess I could manage with English first and then try to learn whatever I need.. My friend in southern Sweden has been trying to get me to move over there also. Also I could switch my job easily to Beijing, but I'm not sure if I really want to work in China.. and if I went to China I'd rather go to Hong Kong. So, where would you like to live and work for a while if you were able to choose anywhere on the planet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psn Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Berlin, Tokyo, San Francisco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Npoess Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Well, I've been thinking about living abroad for a while and I've been considering options. I'm (mainly) a SW engineer so I could get a job wherever those kind of jobs are available. I don't think that's much of a problem in big cities in Northern, Western and Central Europe at least. Also I would not probably stay there permanently. My list of possible cities currently is Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam. London could be nice otherwise but it's damn expensive and the commuting seems like a horror. I think Berlin would be really nice considering the music scene. I don't speak any of the native languages for Germany, Denmark or Netherlands, but I guess I could manage with English first and then try to learn whatever I need.. My friend in southern Sweden has been trying to get me to move over there also. Also I could switch my job easily to Beijing, but I'm not sure if I really want to work in China.. and if I went to China I'd rather go to Hong Kong. So, where would you like to live and work for a while if you were able to choose anywhere on the planet? I would pick Berlin if where you. Been there twice, love that city. A good thing about Copenhagen (or any other Scandinavian larger city) is that almost everybody speaks english. Personally I've always dreamed of living in London. It's always been kind of a 'utopia' in my head. I'm going there next year, so it's going to be exciting to see if it lives up to my expectation (probably not). Or maybe New York. Maybe it's because I live in a very small town, I've always dreamed of living in a very large city. But I also think I would grow tired of it really quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest A/D Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 My top two. Never been to Berlin though, this is purely on loads of hearsay. Berlin and Amsterdam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rambo Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 On a beautiful rainbow. Is that cheesy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perunamuusi Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Berlin, Helsinki, Oaxaca, Tokyo, Barcelona, Prague, Anywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlisuite Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Here's some things I know, mokz. It is relatively easy for SW engineers to get a job, but my friend just moved to London to seek a job there (and a hopefully a better life). He's a capable SW engineer with high education, but he was turned down many times at programmer job vacancies, even at companies who don't do more than web/facebook apps. The main thing that surprised him was the thoroughness of job interviews. Even for the most mundane of job openings he was tested and questioned like you'd have it on a final exam. And it's not only about programming. There were questions about arithmetics, algorithms from pure mathematician point of view. After talking about it, we could not tell if it was because of the fact that he was an economical immigrant or because they look for cadres with real understanding of underlying principles of programming. It was probably both, if you ask me. And the competition is harsh. Bear in mind that they have a lot of potential candidates who are natives of their country, and they have the obvious advantage there. So, unless you're at the forefront of the most high-tech knowledge there is, looking for a good job in London can be a daunting task. I don't wish to discourage you in any way, but I've been in contact with many of my peers who emigrated to Berlin, London, Vienna, Copenhagen, etc. Some of them were talented and promising students who, because of good college references, got a job or internship pretty easy. Others, weren't so lucky. But that is to be taken into account... you can't get a best job you dream of. You'll have to work your way up. Which is a fair thing. Berlin, Vienna and Copenhagen can be problematic if you don't spek their language. One friend of mine got a job in Copenhagen, and he doesn't speak Danish. They hired him because of his REALLY exceptional skills (he worked on some laser technology mechanics/automation). So there's always a compromise. Still, I think it will be easier for you to start in Berlin, but mind other cities as well. It's not always about capital cities you know:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zkom Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 Berlin, Helsinki, Oaxaca, Tokyo, Barcelona, Prague, Anywhere Yes, Barcelona could be worth considering. I've been there twice and my sister lived there. It's a really nice place. To me Helsinki is a little bit depressing place, in winter at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest isaki Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 i'd like to visit the czech republic and possibly iceland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squee Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Cape Town or San Francisco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Npoess Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I've never understood all the Prague hype. Sure it's beautiful (some places). But I wasn't too impressed when I was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest isaki Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I've never understood all the Prague hype. Sure it's beautiful (some places). But I wasn't too impressed when I was there. don't know much about Prague but the Czech 'countryside' is definitely gorgeous (which is massive) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zkom Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 Here's some things I know, mokz. It is relatively easy for SW engineers to get a job, but my friend just moved to London to seek a job there (and a hopefully a better life). He's a capable SW engineer with high education, but he was turned down many times at programmer job vacancies, even at companies who don't do more than web/facebook apps. The main thing that surprised him was the thoroughness of job interviews. Even for the most mundane of job openings he was tested and questioned like you'd have it on a final exam. And it's not only about programming. There were questions about arithmetics, algorithms from pure mathematician point of view. After talking about it, we could not tell if it was because of the fact that he was an economical immigrant or because they look for cadres with real understanding of underlying principles of programming. It was probably both, if you ask me. And the competition is harsh. Bear in mind that they have a lot of potential candidates who are natives of their country, and they have the obvious advantage there. So, unless you're at the forefront of the most high-tech knowledge there is, looking for a good job in London can be a daunting task. I don't wish to discourage you in any way, but I've been in contact with many of my peers who emigrated to Berlin, London, Vienna, Copenhagen, etc. Some of them were talented and promising students who, because of good college references, got a job or internship pretty easy. Others, weren't so lucky. But that is to be taken into account... you can't get a best job you dream of. You'll have to work your way up. Which is a fair thing. Berlin, Vienna and Copenhagen can be problematic if you don't spek their language. One friend of mine got a job in Copenhagen, and he doesn't speak Danish. They hired him because of his REALLY exceptional skills (he worked on some laser technology mechanics/automation). So there's always a compromise. Still, I think it will be easier for you to start in Berlin, but mind other cities as well. It's not always about capital cities you know:) Yeah, London is probably not my choice. My plan was to seek out the job first and then move in. I've been in contact with Danish and German SW engineers and they have pretty basic education. I don't know if they are stricter when you are an immigrant. Basically what I was counting on a little bit was that I would work for some multinational company so that their main language would be English. So not knowing local languages would not be such a problem in getting the job. I'm not specifically looking for capitals but I'm looking for cities big enough to keep me entertained. I've been to Berlin twice and I really liked it. Also my cousin lives there so she could maybe help if some problems come along. Also I've been to Copenhagen and Amsterdam, liked both obviously. I've also been to Vienna but I felt the people were a bit anti-social or something over there. I don't know how to put it really. Like everybody was really rude. Nice city otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Npoess Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I've never understood all the Prague hype. Sure it's beautiful (some places). But I wasn't too impressed when I was there. don't know much about Prague but the Czech 'countryside' is definitely gorgeous (which is massive) In Prague there seemed to be loads of 'ghetto' looking area's. Almost everything you could buy seemed to be rip-offs. I think I was offered buying drugs 3 times the week I was there (sure some of you would probably have loved that, lol). And people where generally pretty rude. There where Racists, prostitues and thief's.. I could go on. I know all sorts of filth is going on in big cities. But it just seemed a bit much in Prague. I'm not generalizing Czechs. I saw some of those things, in just the one week I was there. Or heard about it from my classmates who saw it. Despite all that, it was fun to visit Prague. And everything was very cheap. But I just wouldn't want to live there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Iain C Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 London. Lucky me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuatxuk Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Some cabin in the mountains of NM in the summer and some small house in the Caribbean in the winter. Retirement pipedream really. When I was young I lived in Okinawa and it's the one place I wished I lived at when I was older. I'm very content in Austin. I don't think I could live anywhere bigger, though I'd like to visit Berlin, I've heard so many great things about that city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJW Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 In a beautiful place out in the country ....naturally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theSun Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audioblysk Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 The Southwest Irish coast would be loverly to have a shack on. I am also quite in love with a town called Yelapa in Mexico. I want a place where I can grow my food, be away from people, but still be able to get to a city in a reasonable amount of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
data Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luke viia Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capsaicin Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Iceland, and maybe go for a stint doing research (or helping out research) in Antarctica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squee Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Cape Town or San Francisco My boss just asked me if I wanted to go to Cape Town next year. Perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Adam Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 From all the places I've been to (most of the europe and australia) I'd personally go to Australia, Melbourne or Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keltoi Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Cape Town or San Francisco My boss just asked me if I wanted to go to Cape Town next year. Perfect. what appeals to you about cape town? i know nothing about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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