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Ask HN: How to find a remote entry job? (EU)
23 points by ITJobSeeker on Oct 18, 2022 | hide | past | favorite | 17 comments
Hello HN.

I hope one of you people can help me. I've never had a proper "job". My life has been filled with setbacks and I'm currently in my 20s.

After many wasted years I finally completed an apprenticeship in computer science which is titled "Computer Science Expert" (although I'm far from being an expert). I've moved countries and since been hopelessly looking for work.

I got all basic/surface level skills about programming (primarily python and some c++ and little java), I understand html/css, networking, servers and batch/powershell/bash scripting.

I'm willing to learn new things and can expand my knowledge rather quickly. What I'm ultimately looking for is a 100% remote job (I'm in the EU and an EU citizen) that gives me the opportunity to get started and grow from there. Ideally something that allows me to have flexible work hours as I want to help my wife with the baby whenever it's needed.

To everybody who took the time to read through all of this: thank you and I wish you a nice day :)

Edit: In case anyone wants to contact me via email: "sgp-development@protonmail.com"



I had a big success finding awesome remote jobs in email marketing when I was searching for it a year ago. with a simple trick What you do is just Google a few of the big hiring tools companies usually use: Greenhouse Lever So it would be something like this for me "site:greenhouse.io email marketing remote" Here is how a search would look like for my job now: https://imgur.com/a/lqqNhe8 You'll find fantastic jobs that might not be so well advertised.

P.S. Started a newsletter for remote working parents - https://thursdaydigest.com/ hope this helps on your journey


I'll definately try that out, thank you!


NP. Finding jobs was definitely a strenght for me. I'm working on a resource to share some of that knowledge and process with people searching for jobs.


Why parents specifically?


I'm a parent of two kids and have a lot of colleagues who are in a similar position.

It's a specific set of challenges having kids roaming around and tackling challenging work tasks.

Sometimes you appreciate just knowing there's somebody similar sharing the journey.

Thanks for the question.


I see. So would there still be anything to get from this newsletter for childless remote workers?

Even though I'm not part of the targeted audience, I find it a great initiative. Kudos for launching!


I'm a technical writer in Germany and currently there seem to be about 5 remote job postings in this field (for German software companies). Obviously developers will have more opportunities, but this number is still indicative of how far Germany is behind in remote culture compared to the US. Also generally the remote positions don't seem to be listed as being accessible to all EU citizens, since they are usually looking for someone who speaks German on a native level. So the idea of a supra-national pool of European job postings does not seem to be quite a reality yet, though again it's probably a better situation for developers.


> but this number is still indicative of how far Germany is behind in remote culture

Don't even get me started. The stubbornness on that matter of many business owners in Berlin + the apartment market in Berlin, makes a good script for a shocking documentary.


https://weworkremotely.com and https://workatastartup.com have been great starting spots for finding remote jobs that fit my skill set. Try poking around and send a few applications to get started!


It seams to me that both of those sites are mostly US based remote jobs with some kind of visa od citizenship requirements... Any info for how to find US based jobs but willing to do c2c with EU citizen?


From experience in both EU countries I can give you only that:

* Poland: easy to find remote jobs, almost all offers are B2B, so if you are willing to start a one-person company in your country, you are good to go, money is not the most competitive but you can get experience, most people speak english, examples: https://justjoin.it/ https://bulldogjob.com/ https://nofluffjobs.com/

* Germany: money is better here but you are less likely to get remote offers (most are hybrid), also B2B is less likely to get, so at least you would need a german address (anywhere in Germany would be fine)


It seems there are always lots of web development agencies looking for junior devs. I have no idea how difficult it is to find a remote work as a junior dev, but I know a lot of agencies are working remotely or mostly remotely these days so I wouldn't have thought it would be too much of a problem.

Here in the UK I'd say around 90% of development roles are remote anyway now so I think you just need to put out your CV on a few job boards to be honest... I'm sure you'll find something eventually, especially if you can be flexible in terms of salary and part-remote.


Seems completely at odds with my last job search in September 2021. Most jobs - even then - were hybrid. Only remote ones were with companies not based in the UK.


You should provide a way for people to reach out to you privately eg email. If you have any public profile/CV that helps as well.


Thank you for your comment. I don't have a public CV and don't like the idea of it. I've added an email in the post now.


Do you have any experience with networking though?


> My life has been filled with setbacks and I'm currently in my 20s.

Hey friend. My life has been full of setbacks too, and I'm currently in my 50s... No formal IT training and yet somehow I've managed to keep muddling through and I've been making a reasonable living at this for over half my adult life now. So can you, most likely, as long as you keep plugging away at it.

I'm writing from an EU perspective, have moved countries myself at least a couple of times, and I'm still not fluent in any language other than English - though my German is now reasonably passable.

One thing that's really surprised me, especially post-Covid, is the number of jobs that are not listed as remote-only, but can be nudged that way if you have the skills they want and you insist it is the only option. I've had plenty of conversations with UK recruiters who keep scraping old versions of my CV off job boards, who initially say a role is at least partially office based, but when I tell them I'm very happy in the continental city of my choice and not willing to move for any money, they can magically be willing to at least propose the idea to the client. If it's a salaried position, their biggest fear is getting the tax and legal stuff right, but all that can be easily outsourced across borders these days - sometimes you need to tell them yourself that an "Employer of Record" service is the thing they are looking for, and be willing to accept that they may then offer you around 5-6k EUR lower salary to cover the fees involved. But hey, a job's a job and the cost of living in most European cities is lower than in London.

You could try bootcamps, there are some reputable ones out there depending on where you are, look especially for those who actively help you to find roles at the end of the course and have good reputation/relationships with employers nearby. A friend of mine had been out of work for quite some time, and managed to get the local social security/unemployment office to fund half the tuition fees, with the rest paid in instalments only after starting to earn. Both the course, and some of the available jobs at the end, were available fully remote. She ended up with several job offers at the end of the course - with absolutely zero experience of software development three months prior - and is now working happily in a mostly-remote position.

That's one way to build up a portfolio, if you don't already have one; another is to build a few websites/apps/whatever either cheap or free for whatever "real" clients you can find. Whatever church communities, music societies, sports clubs, political action groups etc you may be interested in, they are usually grateful for anyone to put themselves forward and build something. Likewise anyone you know with a small business but not much money to spend hiring more experienced developers. At one point I built a couple of political websites for a friend of a friend, who had founded his own local "independent" party and ended up running for city mayor. Paid me only a few hundred but it got me recognition in what was then a foreign language and culture, plus added a few personal connections that opened some more doors.

When you're just starting out and don't yet have any professional experience, sure it's going to be tough, especially looking for that full-remote-flexible-hours unicorn job that normally only an experienced freelancer can demand, and still needs to be a good salesman as well as developer. But tough is not the same as impossible. With persistence, determination and chutzpah you have a greater chance of getting to where you want to be. In the short term, that may however require compromise. It may be that the better way to support your wife and child is to prioritise financial stability over your own availability for shared childcare. But only you and your family can decide that together depending on the circumstances.

Edit: also, take a look at the We Are Developers job board [0]. They seem to be quite big in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) but cover at least all of EU. Plenty of remote-only filters available for different countries/regions.

[0] https://www.wearedevelopers.com/




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