Landing IT Work Overseas 194
snydeq writes "US IT workers could find considerable payoff and invaluable experience by taking their IT skills overseas, InfoWorld reports, as foreign, US, and global firms have increased the demand for a wide range of tech talent across the globe, offering positions that clearly move beyond the scut work of heads-down programming. Business fluency, industry-specific skills, and knowledge of American markets is fast becoming an invaluable asset foreign firms will pay a premium for, according to the report, which offers insights into finding IT work in a range of cities and regions abroad."
dream on (Score:1, Informative)
The rest of the world does not let folks in like the us.
The EU is a socialist police state with too many laws protecting their workforce.
If you can't get a job in the US maybe IT is not for you any longer.
I have been to costa rica no booming IT industry there.
Exchange rate info is wrong (Score:5, Informative)
I just checked the info for Paris and they got the exchange rate wrong:
Can the rest of the article been trusted if they cannot get something so fundamental while working abroad right?
Re:Not me! (Score:3, Informative)
If you're Asian, and you're not Japanese - the Japanese workplace can be downright hostile. (Not from personal experience, but from what I've heard from people who've worked there as foreigners).
Now if you're Caucasian - you can get away with working less than your Japanese counterparts and getting paid more than double their salary. Plus the women there worship the average Slashdotter like a rockstar if they happen to be Caucasian.
Taiwan may be less xenophobic than Japan, but they'll work you 26 hours a day just like in Japan.
Re:We don't want you (maybe) (Score:4, Informative)
The vast majority of Spanish speaking immigrants in the U.S. are not here legally. Passing a higher minimum wage or shorter work week would not help them. When I lived in the southwest, and knew many illegal immigrants from Mexico - most had two jobs. Once again I'm unsure how the kind of legislation you've mentioned could help them.
Where I live now, most of my Spanish speaking neighbors are American citizens via Puerto Rico. They are middle class people who drive nice cars, live in homes just like mine (or nicer) and choose not to learn English because they don't have to.
And I don't have a problem with it - maybe I wasn't clear enough about that. They are free to do whatever they want in my eyes. I'm learning Spanish because that is the way things are going and I don't see the trend reversing any time soon. And once again, I'm fine with that. My entire point of jumping into the discussion is that it seems to me that all over the world, many people seem to resent newcomers who don't assimilate - yet most don't seem to receive the negative press (as far as I can see) as Americans who press for immigrants here to learn English. That's all.
The difference for you, I am willing to bet is volume. If you had the number of immigrants come to your country that we have here, and they moved into neighborhoods where they instantly became the majority, owned the businesses, etc. They wouldn't need to learn the local language.
I have a co-worker who has an aunt that is an American citizen, she has lived here for well over 10 years and she has never learned English. She lives in an area primarily populated with Brazilians and does just fine with Portuguese. I've visited the neighborhood and I'm the one that struggles because I don't know Portuguese. That's less common here than Spanish being a majority language - but the same principle is at work.
I am one of those people that truly enjoys diversity and being around people who are different from me. I thrive on this stuff. I love to travel - to try and really experience different places and ways of life.
Now maybe people integrate well in Finland because the government has done a better job - but I'm skeptical that this is the case. I'll bet that it is more complicated than that and the numbers alone are more to do with the situation than anything else. Just my opinion.
Re:Not me! (Score:3, Informative)
The best part about overseas work is the ass. Girls don't wax/shave/trim, so it's like richard stallman in her pants. If that doesn't turn you on, I don't know what will!
Spoken with all the experience of an american slashdotter. Isn't the percentage of "never left the country" pretty close to the "not getting any" one?
Move to NZ and Aus (Score:2, Informative)
Re:dream on (Score:2, Informative)
It's actually quite easy for a US citisen to get into Europe. Many countries such as the UK, Ireland and Germany consider that they have a "special relationship" with the US and will grant working visas to virtually anyone that's coming over to do a job.
There might be some issues in turning that permanent but I know a lot of guys who have managed that with a minimum of fuss.
Land in a smaller state such as Belgium [bbc.co.uk] for example and you can get a passport after 3 years!
Re:Exchange rate info is wrong (Score:3, Informative)
No shit. I thought for a second they meant cost of living, or something like that, but no.
Exchange rate when the article was written (back in June, when it was even worse than today) was 1.00 EUR = 1.5451 USD.
So 75K euros = $115,882.50
So they miscalculated your potential salary by... $67,882.50.
"Whoopsy."
Re:Exchange rate info is wrong (Score:2, Informative)
The information for Costa Rica is pretty far off base as well.
Coke: $1.10 (not 66 cents)
Beer: $1.50 (not 34 cents)
Cell Phone: $200-$600 (not $79)
Shoes: $4 flip flops to $175+ for brand names (not $9.50)
And I live in a rural non-tourist area. Prices will often be double in a tourist beach town or in and around San Jose.
Also anyone taking an upper management position at $2,000 / month is getting screwed. I've had programmers asking for anywhere between $3,000 to $5,000 / month.
Working in India (Score:3, Informative)
Foreigners can work in India. Provided they have a job and apply for a work permit. Many Indian IT companies are looking for experienced programmers who would be willing to work in India for a few years (for a start).I know people from New Zealand, Holland, UK and US who have been working in India for more than 3 years.
Indian Work Permit
In India, work permits, often referred to as employment visas can be issued either to skilled professionals or to people immigrating to India to fill a specific position for a named company.
Working permits in India are less defined than work permits in many other countries in that the Indian immigration structure does not present detailed requirements for obtaining one.
Work permits are a very subjective area of Indian visa services, however in order to live and work in India all candidates must secure one.