Will Americans Have Trouble Finding IT Jobs, Overseas? 476
pmancini asks: "I am a skilled senior engineer. Currently there are lots of choices for me to work just about anywhere in the United States. However, I do have an interest in living and working outside of the U.S. for a while, in particular France (though I am also considering Rome). Is it hard to get a job overseas? How is the market over there for jobs? What about the language barrier? My French is awful, but I do want to learn the language. I can get by in Italian and I am sure I would be fluent within 2 months. Any help would be greatly appreciated."
I did it: its great (Score:2)
Well, I figure I should respond, since I moved from the USA to Paris three months ago today.
I got a job offer from a multinational French startup company who didn't seem to mind that I don't speak a word of French. They were going to get me a visa and everything. The only problem is that software engineers get paid dismally in France compared to the US (I would have had to take a 40% pay cut).
So I told my current company: "OK, I have a job offer in France. I'd rather stay with you, though. Wanna let me work from France?" And, to my astonishment, they said OK. So I found an apartment online, set up DSL, and moved over. Frankly, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I didn't bother with a visa: I get paid into my bank account in dollars, and just withdraw money from ATMs. Of course, I might get busted, but what does it mean to really be "working in France". I just avoid getting in trouble with the police.
Of course, I got extraordinarily lucky with how smoothly everything went. But you might want to check with your current employer to see if they value you enough to do this (hint: I've found in that past that "Can I move to France?" type questions guarantee a "NO", but "I am moving to France. Want to keep me as an employee?" questions often have a decent chance).
If I'd learnt one thing from travelling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. Don't talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a visa, pack a bag, and it just happens. -The Beach, Alex Garland
HERE IS YOUR ANSWER (Score:2)
Re:You're all missing the point (Score:2)
Re:Online resources (Score:2)
Had a job within 24 hours of first sending out my CV. That was a few years back.
I did have the advantage of having a valid work visa (due to ancestry). Plenty of places will go through the process of sponsoring you to get in to the country. The larger companies do it as a matter of course.
There's such a shortage of people over here that most places aren't too bothered about education - it's more about what you can do now. Also keep in mind a lot of places completely over-spec their requirements.
...j
Re:EU is a "closed job market" (Score:2)
A friend of mine worked in France for a while. He speaks French fluently (he grew up speaking French in the Cajun part of Louisiana, and while the dialect is rather quaint, it did not take long for him to pick up modern French). He reported that it was extremely hard to get a work permit in France for Americans, and that permenant jobs were almost impossible to obtain, due to French employment rules that make it very difficult to fire permenant workers. He also reports that work conditions in France are much different than in tech jobs in the United States -- while they are much saner, from a standpoint of hours worked and vacation time (lots), they are also much more formal and bureaucratic. None of this wanted to make me work in France.
For most Americans, it probably would be better to look at an English-speaking country anyhow, because we are so poor at foreign languages. Canada in particular will almost instantly grant a work visa to a computer guy with a degree and/or experience.
-E
Re:have you ever been there? (Score:2)
-Paul Komarek
Depends (Score:2)
Getting a work permits can be a problem, but I'll assume you can deal with that.
The French have earned a reputation of being snotty to americans. This is partially america, and partially not speaking french. So while waiting for paper work do everything you can to learn their language.
That said, you will just have to learn to deal with it. There are bigiots in the US that are just as bad as those in France. Depending on what you have going against you (and everyone as something that someone will find fault with. Even though I'm a white male living in the US, there are people who don't like me based on that. Not many, but I have come across one) Deal with it, avoid them if you can, be polite otherwise. Treat them as they should treat you not as they do.
I have never been to France, but several friends have. They report a large number of nice people there. They report loving it, and all would seriously consider moving there. (they also love their home though, so it would be hard) There are also plenty of people there who don't like them.
In other words, the people are like people anywhere else in the world. Some are nice, some are not. Some will give you the shirt off their back, some are dowwright dirty rotten crooks. If you can't deal with anyone who didn't belong to your frat/click/team/religion/ethnics, then stay where you are. If you can't deal with those who hate you for what you are (not WHO) then stay home.
I say go for it. Don't give up your citicianship until you are sure you want to live there forever. However it is well worth your while to live in other countries. You will love it, and remember it forever.
Do it! (Score:2)
The view of a place you get by living there is so different than that which you get as a tourist.
It is my understanding that gettting a VISA to an EU country is not that hard. I never had to do it I'm a citizen of the UK.
The Cure of the ills of Democracy is more Democracy.
Re:EU is a "closed job market" (Score:2)
And the Channel Tunnel fire (which melted over 100 yards of track & tunnel) was positively tracked to French farmers on the French side of the tunnel. (Had it been on the English side, it would have been the second of the two sections that would have been damaged.)
(The average French strike by farmers tends to be a bit of a vicious affair, anyway. Ports and roads get blocked, and the Gaelic spirit tends to get a trifle overheated at times. Especially with le Pommes.)
Vichy France is unquestionably one of the most racist parts of Europe, and actually assisted the Nazi's during the war in their invasion of France. No, the British tend not to forget things like that.
Then there's this little matter of Brittany, which is officially part of France but in which it is illegal to write anything "official" in their native language (an old dialect of Welsh).
Greenpeace might also have a word to say, too. Bombing other nation's ports outside of wartime is an international offence. When New Zealand prosecuted the agents, France imposed sanctions and awarded the agents medals for their valour. (As if murdering photographers was a valiant deed.)
Talking of Greenpace, and nuclear protests, sending out Foreign Legion troops to clean up the radioactive waste after the underground tests (minus any protective gear, geiger counters, etc) might be considered by some as less than sweet & innocent.
Last, but by no means least, you might want to ask the opinion of any Slashdot Albanians on the tolerence of the French towards others. I believe Albanians are reported to have a higher mortality rate, especially when politically active, than the average French citizen.
So, yes, I distrust the French. That does NOT mean I distrust any individual French person, but rather the culture & attitude tend to be ones which this world could do well without.
Re:bzzzzzzzzt! wrong. (Score:2)
Well, regardless of the astonishing shittiness of the website, Sophia Antipolis is at the top of the French list. It even manages to be mentioned on the European TOP-80 list, along with about two other French sites, and this says quite a lot about how far behind the French are in the technology field.
If I was moving from the US to Europe, and looking for a hi-tech job, I would probably not choose France. Scandinavia, the Netherlands and even Germany are much better options.
--Bud
No problems (Score:2)
The French version of Silicon Valley is called Sophia Antipolis [saem-sophia-antipolis.fr].
--Bud
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:2)
And this is also apply to the H1's going to the US?
Re:Quebec/Ontario, Canada? (Score:2)
Fly up to Montreal and take a holiday in the area. Travel around and see some of the local culture. Pick up trade mags, etc for hints on jobs. Get a feel for the place to see if you like it. The next few months are going to be cold... I quite like winter, do you?
Canada is crying out for IT workers, I presume you can use a similar job search approach that you would use if you wanted to move to the other coast of the US.
I work as an independent consultant for a company in San Jose. I'm a Brit on a visitor visa in Canada. Canadian Immigration are very happy for me to be here. My situation makes it hard to visit the US though. I was lucky, and found a company that has quite a few remote workers. The cost of living in southwest Ontario (London) is very low.
Re:UK Visa easy for college students/recent grads (Score:2)
Re:Quebec/Ontario, Canada? (Score:2)
Besides, nobody stays at their first job for long these days! Take a position or two in the US for two years and get some cracking experience. With the money that you save, the move will be easier!
Re:We're British now, anyway. (Score:2)
I'd have to say based on my experience with British autos and by their reputation, that the British autos are the worst built in the industrialized world. I believe even the (South) Koreans and Americans make better cars!
Sure they were easy to work on, but that was because there was nothing to them at all, one of my cars had cracked its engine block - on an unmodified car under light use!
Then you have the Jags which were "sporty" at best and had handling equivalent to a balistic missile sub and had a crappy service record before Ford cleaned house. I haven't heard much about the post-Ford Jags, if it's because there aren't any, it's definitely an improvement.
Re:France? What the f ... (Score:2)
I spent a couple of weeks in France.. in Paris, and down in the Dordogne, Bordeux and the like. I found the people there to be almost uniformly friendly, even though in many cases I was left wishing they would stop speaking in english to me.. I was there to practice *their* language.. ;-)
The culture is different, however, and if the french decide to be rude, they can do it every bit as well as New Yorkers can. The low point of my trip was being chewed out by the lady working the gift shop at the Bordeux train station.. I was surfing the magazines, trying to figure out what to buy and she blew up in my face about spending too much time at it, and kicked me out of the store when I tried to explain and/or pay.
Generally speaking, if you have studied the language and have an interest in working at it, even the Parisians can be quite engaging.
Re:Yes, you'll have problems (Score:2)
Besides, if you speak fluent german, why would you have a hard time ? Maybe you only speak fluent german in america (hint hint) ?
Going to another country is an experience. Some people go abroad and bitch about how everything is not quite like at home. And some of us accept (and maybe even enjoy) that things are different, and that you get the opportunity to vastly improve that foreign language of yours. I know that I have. And I may not like every bit about the states, but I'm enjoying my time here. Try not being so damn ignorant, then things may just lighten up and even look bright to you
Re:We're British now, anyway. (Score:2)
Re:Some tips (Score:2)
you'll have to tell them you're moving on months in advance instead of not returning from lunch
Bwahahaha, that's just the law that protects the individual from the company, (They have to pay you 100% for 3 months if they sac you (and even that is extremely difficult for any company))
In reality you hand them you letter of resignation and tell them when you are leaving. And, yes, it can be "tomorrow". We have this thing here in europe called the "human rights", ands it states that you can't force anybody to work. Everybody knows this so they let you go when you want instead of having to pay you 3 months for doing absolutely nothing..
--
Why pay for drugs when you can get Linux for free ?
I did it 3 years ago .. (Score:2)
In september 1997 I landed in Paris, without a job, with no knowledge of the French language, and with a promise for an "appartment" for just 3 months.
The French were just beginning to grasp this Internet thing by then. This "Overgrown American version of 'Minitel'". Oh, my gosh, many things have changed since then. Generally I find this country much nicer and more andvanced (more "serious") than my own, the healtservice is better (*and* cheaper), the food and wine is .. ahh, well you all know .. ;-)
You get 5 weeks in wacation each year. And they have those weird 35 hour work-weeks in *law*, that can mean extra 4 weeks of wacation a year (it does for me ;-)
The only downside is the people is Paris, known in all of France at "Les Parisiens", but that is just 99.99% if them, the 0.01% you will know personally are just fine and a lot of fun to know ;)
My advice is: Just do it !!!
Remember: the worst things to regret are those that you didn's do.
Mail me, and I will find you a job in a week.
--
Why pay for drugs when you can get Linux for free ?
Re:Overseas (Score:2)
There is a special program by the German government for green cards. They are time limited (I think 3-5 years) - but maybe that's exactly what you're looking for: working a couple of years in a foreign country and then coming back home (or work in another country).
Take care of the legalities first. (Score:2)
If I was you I would not assume that I can just land somewhere and get a job.
Also there are little things like VISAS. If you don't have the proper visa, you may find yourself frog-marched to the border and flipped into a neighboring country or the nearest ocean.
Hey Bozo. Got a visa? You cant' work without it. (Score:2)
Re:Amsterdam / The Netherlands (Score:2)
For practical reasons, to better beg those American tourists for money.
> Age-discrimination is forbidden by law, but it does occur, just like in Silicon Valley.
That's interesting, and encouraging. Is Germany just a bad apple in that respect, or is it illegal there, too (just tolerated)? The funny thing is, I'm German by descent and nationality, but have lived more outside Germany than inside, so I'm mostly unfamiliar with a lot of practical things like that. Maybe I make too many assumptions from simple observations when there.
Re:Shouldn't really (Score:2)
Shouldn't really (Score:2)
Another thing I noticed in Europe (at least in Germany) is ageism, or age discrimination. I've seen a lot of job offers with maximum ages listed, something that would be highly illegal in the US (even if it can be and is accomplished through other means).
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:2)
Apparently you're just a bunch of yaks. Or maybe even vegans.
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:2)
Besides, "excessive" is hardly an objective word. Maybe he'll find France's tax rate just fine. Or maybe he has other concerns in life than maximizing take home pay...especially if he's only planning on working abroad for a few years.
Re:IT jobs galore in the UK (Score:2)
I am a duel Australian Citizen (Score:2)
-Ben
Australia (Score:2)
So, Australia, at the least, is doing the same back to the US. Other country's citizens will have no problem getting a working visa. If you're American, you will simply not get a working visa, period, without company sponsorship.
Re:IT jobs galore in the UK (Score:2)
Re:Maybe this bad if you are Italian.. (Score:2)
A friend of mine moved there a while ago to work, France being in the EU, she *theoretically* didn't have to do pretty much anything in terms of beureocracy to be able to work. The reality was instead that she was treated like an immigrant from outside the EU everywhere, it took her a long time to find an apartment, and every basic thing (like hooking up a phone line) was a major hassle.
Also don't forget that if you don't speak French with a perfect accent you are going to be looked down upon all the time, which is really sad.
Japan is fairly bad for this type of nationalism as well, an acquaintance of mine stayed there for like 10 years, and even at the end of the 10 years when she was able to speak Japanese fairly fluently, people everywhere (on the bus etc.) where rude to her because of her accent with comments like 'You must be really stupid, my 6 years old has a better accent than you' etc. etc. she eventually left out of desperation.
Italians are very good in this regard, no matter what strange accent you have, you are going to be treated nicely (unless you come from North Africa, which is a different story due to the high number of beggars etc. that come from there).
One thing I don't think anybody mentioned: due to historical reasons, Italians absolutely adore and worship the US, they think that the US and Americans are the best thing in the world, so you'll probably won't have many problems making, uh, 'friends' if you know what I mean
Re:Read this also (Score:2)
A lot of other friends of mine, who took arts degrees etc., are not so lucky, and they have to choose between staying at home or working 'in black' (i.e. not officially working, paid in cash and with no job security) something like 500$/month.
The more south you go in Italy, the worse it is regarding unemployment, in the North at least, if you don't mind doing menial jobs, you should be able to find something to do, but in the South, with like 20% unemployment rate, it would be really hard.
How do people survive on those salaries ? They live with their parents, and depend on them to give some money every now and then. To start a family, both the man and the woman *must* be working, they probably will have to work 5-6 years before even starting to *think* to have kids, and after that they will always have to be really careful.
Italy is the type of country where unless you win a lottery or something, you will die in the same social class you were born in, if your parents, like mine, were a blue collar worker and a homemaker, odds are you'll end up always renting an apartment your whole life, and never having enough money to enjoy things a little bit.
Here in Canada at least I have a chance of improving my social standing, and to be able to offer my future children a safer future than if I remained in Italy.
Read this also (Score:2)
My friends are making about 820$/mo
Mega dump apartment cost is about 300$/mo
Heating is about 80$/mo
Phone is 25-200$ where 25$ means 'almost no usage'
everything else is correct (I already corrected it, but I forgot the above). Note that the US$ in respect to the Italian lira (ITL) has gone up from about 1500lira = 1$ to 2200 lira = 1$ in a year or so due to the Euro going down the drain.
Re:You're quite wrong! (Score:2)
I have an MS in Electronic Engineering/CS, and here in Canada, after 2 years of employment I was already making twice what you are making while paying all the taxes that need to be paid (for whomever doesn't know, in Italy if you are a consultant or an independent worker, and you have a good financial consultant, you can end up paying little or no taxes by using all sorts of loopholes). In Italy, to make this kind of money, I would have probably have had to wait for 10 years at *least*, and probably even then I wouldn't have been able to do it, unless I 'knew' some 'friends' if you get my drift.
Food is excellent, no question about that, problem is that given the amount of money it costs, it better be !
Cell phone contracts might be free, but you have to *buy your own cellphone*, I got my cellphone for free with my plan, a cellphone that in Italy costs about 600$, and I am paying only 15$/mo for a 150 anytime minutes contract. After those 150 minutes, I am charged about 20c/min, but if I used it that much, I would go with a different plan.
When I left Italy, three years ago, there were flat fee Internet contracts, yes, but you still had to pay the telephone company per-minute charges to use it ! Here in Canada local calls are free, so I could stay online as much as I wanted for 20$/mo or less. BTW I have had ADSL for more than a year, which is just becoming available in Italy and costs a lot of money (as everything else).
Things might change quickly in Italy, that's true, but as you can see from my rebuttal, the bottom line is that it's still a rip compared to here
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:2)
No bed of roses (Score:2)
However, moving overseas and getting set up is not an easy task. Taxes (especially VAT's) are IMHO higher in Europe than in the US, housing can be difficult to find. If you don't speak the language, it limits the places where you can work. The best advice I can give you is to get as much of the paperwork as possible done before you fly over. Also, be sure to take a certified copy of your birth certificate with you - if you lose your passport you may need it, and many foreign offices require it for various permits.
---
Re:This year you can exclude $76,000 (Score:2)
Re:Not me, but my sister (Score:2)
And useful stuff too! Some non-trad advice (Score:2)
Most of this advice deals with France, but some of it applies to Italy as well. It also applies to benelux, germany, ireland and the nordic countries, but all bets are off for the UK and Switzerland, who have truly twisted requirements.
Many of the posts lower down tell you about the impossibility of obtaining forms once you are in the country, and other "official" ways of legally working in france. This is the very hard way of doing things. If you read some of the sanctioned books like "How to live and work in France", they rattle on about doing things so as not to piss of the officials, and they repeat many of the bogus claims made by minor bureaucrats for all the forms they require. Read those books for all the interesting tidbits which might be helpful, then ignore most of their bloat-advice.
Let me recount some of my adventures in French bureaucracy. I've had minor functionaries give me large lists of documents to be produced before they will allow me to have a stamp of approval, or the required document. I figured out which ones were really relevant, and produced those a few days later. Voila! The petty funcs had forgotten their ridiculous list, and proceeded to give me what I needed. Knowing how to navigate the bureaucracy is an art form, and it will take you some time to learn it. It is a skill which will serve you well for the rest of your life, no matter where you end up living.
As for the "legal" advice of not searching for work before getting a work permit and visa, that is a catch-22 situation. France is full of shit like that, learn to ignore one side of it in order to proceed. There is nothing to really prevent you from taking a 3 month vacation to Paris and Rome just to see the sites. The sites you just happen to want to see are the insides of hiring managers offices, rather than museums and stupid old towers.
So count on at least one trip back home, possibly two. Consider them vacations. Schedule them for around Christmas or other holidays. Allow for some time to deal with notoriously slow consulates. These trips will allow you to bring home lots of souvenirs for your friends and family, and return with lots of stuff you need for your apartment and life in general.
The first things you want to do on your first trip is secure accommodation, a place where you can receive mail for at least 6 months. Renting a room from sympathetic roomies is your best bet (email me). You wont be able to rent an apartment on your own until you have a job and a bank account. Get your name on the mailbox, so the mail can come straight to you. This should also give you a phone number where you can be reached.
[I'll put in here you need a local bank account soon after you get an address. Ask other ex-pats where they bank, and find a friendly account manager. You will have to provide details of some other bank account in your name (to prevent money laundering), plus proof of your local address and phone number. This is where your salary will go. They shouldn't need a local social security number, not at this point]
Once you have a permanent address, you can start testing the job market (its getting better and better, go play on www.jobserve.com). Forget the advice to mail out CVs to hundreds of companies, start by targeting some interesting sounding, but ultimately throw-away, jobs for practice. Go to a few interviews just to see what kind of questions you get asked, make notes afterwards. Rework your CV until it looks very european.
When you do start interviewing for the jobs you want, be "honest" with the managers. Let them know you will be moving permanently in about 3 to 5 months, and can't start work before then. To americans, this sounds bad, but it is standard practice in Europe to have 3-12 months between a final interview and the start of work. I've been in one interview where they wanted someone to start in no less than 6 months, and no longer than 18 months out. Let the company know you will need their signature on some work permit documents, and you will provide them once you have a work contract. Most clued-in computer companies will understand, and be so desperate for someone with american experience they will help you out. Officially they can't give you a contract until you produce a visa and work permit, but you can't get those until you have a contract. Get the contract, even if they give you an addendum cancelling the contract right away. And get your salary figures in an addendum as well, otherwise the contract will be forwarded to the tax people. Dont show addendums, just the main contract.
Once you have a contract in hand, then go out and collect as many forms as you can to get yourself a social security number, a residency permit, health card, and anything else you can find. If your ex-pat friends can't show you everything they've filled out, spend some money to talk to an immigration lawyer (approx USD$200/hour) for advice on which forms to obtain and where and how to get them. In France and Italy, many forms can only be obtained after resolving an unbeatable catch-22 situation, but a lawyer acting on your behalf tends to cower insignificant bureaucrats.
Now is the time to go back to the states and approach the consulate once again. Just go in and ask for the forms, dont bother to explain too much in detail how you happened to get the contract, even if they ask. Since you are physically outside of France or Italy, they should take your word for doing things the legal way and hand you the forms. Have some fun with your friends and family, show around photos, and start to pack up what you really want to take to europe.
Once you get your work visa stamp in your passport, head back to europe and restart the paperwork process. Be tenaceous, in France it can take you weeks and weeks to get a few things done correctly. Allow for slow idiots taking longer than you though possible. Eventually it will all come together.
When you get through this process, you will have:
- a work visa in your passport
- a residency card with work permit option
- a taxpayer ID number
- a social security number for health care and retirement
- a health care card
- a permanent address
- a bank account for your salary to be deposited
- a checkbook and credit/debit card tied to the account
- eventually you will get an apartment in your own name, with phone/electricity/gas/water/taxes in your name as well.
----
As for learning french, if you want to live in Paris it will be necessary to have fluent french, about 6 months of intensive lessons and some time in france forcing yourself to speak only french and listening to the Parisiennes before you can tackle the administration.
For Italy, about the same thing holds true, but the bureaucrats tend to be a little more forgiving to foreigners and might actually try out their limited inglesi on you.
I highly recommend pillow lessons. You tend to concentrate more
----
In Italy, many people work in the black, dodging taxes is the national pasttime. Especially contractors, especially english speaking contractors, and extra-especially computer contractors. The problem is so bad there is a special "tax police" to combat the problem. I know a lot of english speaking ex-pats with funny stories of working in the black, getting paid either in cash or into UK or Irish bank accounts. I've heard several similar stories of being raided by the tax police, who surround the buildings and then run around inside the building checking everyones tax numbers and status. The illegals all grab any identifying stuff from their desks, and jump out windows or form up into a rugby-style scrum for a charge out the back door. When there are hundreds of people running from a building in a large group, a few dozen carbinieri can only arrest a few of them, the rest get away to meet in local bars until the raid is over.
If your italian is up to the effort, and you don't mind being a clandestino, you could probably have a nice life in one of the big cities in Italy, never pay taxes, earn 30%-70% of your american income, and never bother with bureaucracy. Many employers tend to abuse "black" workers, and every contractor I know has at least one horror story of not getting paid, and being unable to fight back in court, so be wary. Its only if you want to get married or buy a house or do something major with your money that you will have to become legit. But for two or three years, it could be a blast.
At some point in your life you will be audited for taxes, either by the americans, or some government in europe. At that point, you will have to show you have paid taxes, or at least filed proper tax returns, for every year of your existence. If you just ignore taxes for a couple of years, it looks bad and someone will want you to pay based on your income levels on either side of the gap. It is better to declare you are "writing a book" or some other such nonsense, than to leave a gap in your taxes.
the AC, independent in Europe and loving it
Dr. William Minor, and J.R.R. Tolkien (Score:2)
I highly recommend the book entitled, The Professor and The Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and The Oxford English Dictionary. Dr. Minor was truly wacko, and it makes fascinating reading.
Also don't forget that J.R.R. Tolkien was one of those who worked in the Scriptorium, editing the Mother Of All Dictionaries together. (No, Tolkien is not the Professor referred to in the title.)
As the Onion knows... (Score:2)
Specific help (Score:2)
In the interest of pseudononymity I've removed the email & web addresses, though if you want them you may contact me privately.
I visited Amsterdam a year or so ago and saw a lot of places (e.g. Manpower) posting job listings for tech work. The thing is, the listing would be in the language of the job (i.e. Dutch) and a whole lot of them (way over half) were in English, implying to me that an [North] American would probably be okay finding work there.
My friend in Paris makes it sound like a great place to live for a few years -- if my girlfriend could come with me without endangering her US citizenship application, I'd be over there myself right now. I say you should go for it...
Re:The Japanese were partially to blame. (Score:2)
1932-1945 which was done by a famouse left
wing japanese historian. It goes into some great insight about the military, the Emperor and how
the Japanese went into the war. It was also one
of the first books to discuss (in vivid description) Unit 731. These were the equivalant
of The SS Doctors who did all of those experiments.
A lot of the history books about WWII the Japanese
schools use don't really go into much detail about the involvement. (in fact some them rewrite the history) This book pull a powerful punch.
On a side note: The authorwrote this book and fought the Right wing Japanese so that this book could could be used in Japanese schools and this is feat unto itself.
-Brian
If You want to come to the Netherlands (Score:2)
This probably works for most european countries. Duthc immigration laws are pretty restrictive so that can be a problem, but if you've got a job at a dutch company, again, that is much easier.
Be prepared for a slight culture shock though. Oh, and pick up the briliantly funny book "the undutchables" (isbn 0962500631) describes us wonderfully.
Yes, you'll have problems (Score:2)
First, European countries have strict regulations against employment of foreigners (i.e. non European Union citizens). I was only allowed to work 20 hours. Apparently, there were other problems as well, since I never actually got around to working.
Second, don't kid yourself into thinking you'll pick up the language. I speak almost fluent German, but even I had a hard time. My German hardly improved the time I was there. It's one thing to be able to hold conversations with people when you're a tourist, but you know nothing about what it's like to actually live in the country. Do you know how to hook up phone service? Did you know you need to pay a license to watch TV? What about car insurance? Or going to the doctor? If you don't bring your significant other with you, will you be able to have a meaningful conversation with someone you meet there?
--
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:2)
If you qualify (and this is getting more difficult) as a technical expert, your pay is not taxed by the German government and in addition, your first $75K is free from U.S. income taxes as well. The only catch is that your employment must be temporary and that you must not be "ordinarily resident". There are a number of firms who have workers there under this status including Mitre [mitre.org], Logicon [logicon.com], and others.
Its a well kept secret but you can qualify.
Try Geneva and CERN (Score:2)
I'm not sure, but I think only citizens of CERN member states can be CERN staff members, and the U.S. is not a member state, but many american universities participate in CERN experiments and so you can go as a staff member of an american university - I did, as an undergraduate student, I did my senior thesis work at UC Santa Cruz [ucsc.edu] at CERN this way.
Physicists have some strange ideas about what constitutes good software practice though. I try to politely correct this in this paper [scruz.net] which I wrote for my experiment at CERN, proposing we scrap our FORTRAN codebase and rewrite it in C++.
Geneva's a little expensive to live in but if you work at CERN you can live in either france or Switzerland. (The particles have to show their passports twice each time around the accellerator ring as it crosses the border). I lived in France and found it very affordable.
Michael D. Crawford
GoingWare Inc
Re:Translation: (Score:2)
Re:Oh one mroe thing... (Score:2)
(I warned you my Italian was never good and has gone rsuty over the years. As I used to say in Italiano: "Posso parlare un poco Italiano ma vocabulario mio e limitato, e grammario mio e multo male.
I worked in Milano for my first year (Score:2)
I didn't worry about the visa, and my advice is not to. If the company wants you then they are in a much better position to help you get one or at least tell you how to go about it yourself.
In re language, in Italy all the computers and computer scientists speak english pretty well. The same may not be true in France. I went over having had 3 semesters of Latin but not Italian. if you cna deal with feeling like an idiot-savant for awhile while you pick it up, IMO the best and easiest way to learn a language is by immersion.
It took me abotu 3 months to learn enough street Italian to get by. Til then, i was very creative, and relied on things like pictures on cans at the market (which led to some very amusing stories I can still tell
Throwing yourself out of your familiar environment and cutting yourself off from your support network is definately an adventure and not for the weak of heart, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It made me a far stronger and more capable person.
Oh one mroe thing... (Score:2)
King? (Score:2)
In nearly every village I've seen (and even in the big cities), a large portion of the shops and restaurants had VERY prominently displayed and obvious signs stating that gaijin (foreigners) were not welcome.
I noticed this after being nearly beheaded while trying to purchase a some gifts (OK, so I didn't read the "prominently" displayed sign
But seriously, there is a growing anti-foreigner sentiment in Japan, thanks in part to Russian/American/etc. organized crime and decidedly thanks to American military behaving like baboons. While in business circles you will be treated VERY well, you will find that left on your own you run the risk of serious verbal and physical abuse.
Second post? And useful stuff too! (Score:2)
Seriously, make sure you can get a visa first. It's not that easy for someone who isn't an EU member, and Americans applying for jobs tend to be viewed with serious suspicion by governments.
Also, you should bone up on your french _now_, not once you get over there. I wouldn't bother hiring anyone who couldn't speak the local language at least passably. (mind you, that means I've had some colleagues in the past who I wouldn't hire
No idea of the job market over there, other than that the UK is booming like it hasn't in 30 years.
Re:See! There is a good reason to learn French (Score:2)
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:2)
Surpluses abound in just about every level of Canadian politics these days. Unfortunately, the prevailing wisdom appears to be "spend, Spend, SPEND!!" rather than "Pay down the massive debt while we still can".
Supporting our particular brand of socialism wouldn't be that hard if it didn't involve corrupt prime ministers and retarded government bureaucracies.
--
Re:Shouldn't really (Score:2)
The biggest problem is going to be the language.
I highly disagree. The biggest problem for an American would be finding out that there's people living outside of the US!!
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:2)
But almost all their population lives within a few miles of the border. The actual denseley populated area of Canada, where most of those services would be, isn't especially large when compared against the entire US.
--
Re:EU is a "closed job market" (Score:2)
"The French National Front is the third largest political organization."
"If the conditions of France and Germany had been reversed, after WW I, Europe would have been in a lot worse mess."
Man, could you please STOP LYING AND WRITING SUCH UTTERLY NONSENSE SILLY CRAP? Thanks in advance.
Even if you've been through the obligatory lip service ("pleasant people..."), you really have a problem with the French, don't you?
Re:EU is a "closed job market" (Score:2)
Re:EU is a "closed job market" (Score:2)
I know that most British tabloids seem to have nothing better to do than bashing the French in a way that is not very different than what could be found about jews in the antisemitic press and "litterature" across Europe in the beginning of the 20th century. I'm happy to report that there is no such equivalent in France. I would also like to remind you that the French system, as opposed to the British one, is not designed to have only two strong political parties, both very secure for the establishment. Which means that "protest votes" can express themselves, as opposed to the UK and the US where people in distrust with politics just don't vote. As a consequence, a populist party can end up with a strong score from time to time, just like the National Front. Note also that the National Front is currently declining very fast; it was, during the last elections, the 7th political formation, which makes it very weak. Interpreting its (former) strength as a symptom of the fact that the French are most nationalistic than others is unfair, and you know it. With Le Pen and the National Front, the difference between France and (for example) the UK is that French racist and nationalist voters have found a way to express their disgusting hatred. I'm sure you also know that, since WWII, no government leaders in France have come close to Mrs Thatcher's rhetoric when it comes to nationalist, and complex of superiority.
I'm also sorry to remind you that France faces its history, even its most shameful parts. Being an avid reader of the British press (I love British newspapers, at least the serious ones), I can safely claim that the same is not true in the UK. I can also safely claim that the UK suffers from a strange francophobic obsession that distorts the way they interpret almost everything happening on the international scene. This is the kind of attitute that he French, Germans, Italians, Dutch, etc... left behind them decades ago.
Re:Beware of social life :) (Score:2)
> time my salary in the US.
You're in a very specific situation: you're a ph.d student. In France, you're scandalously underpaid (something that many associations are trying to change) because you suffer competition from engineers of Grandes Ecoles, and you also get paid by the academe. In other words: this is by far the very worst figure when you want to compare French and US salaries (actually, ph.d students in the US are also usually underpaid: in Columbia Univ., for example, it's 1300$/month approximately, ie roughly like in France, but in a place -New York- where life is much more expensive).
On average, in high-tech jobs, you can safely say that the US salary will be twice the French salary. But most of the good US IT jobs are in places (Valley, SF, NYC, Boston, Chicago...) where life is insanely expensive, especially housing: remember, for example, that an appartment in Manhattan is 3 times the price of an appartement of the same size in Paris.
Re:France sucks (Score:2)
Re:My take on Italy (Score:2)
Come to Ireland (Score:2)
In the last decade the software industry in Ireland has really taken off. We are now the largest per capita exporters of software in the world.
Ireland has 3.5% unemployment and a need for more IT people. Recently the government has introduced grants to companies who bring people in to the country to work in IT.
Try Irishjobs.ie [irishjobs.ie]
Also we speak a kind of English.
Re:Come to Ireland (Score:2)
Re:France sucks (Score:2)
Adam Thorpe -- Ulverton and Still are absolute masterpieces. Iain Bank's The Wasp Factory or The Crow Road. Martin Amis' The Rachel Papers or The Information. Even a cretin like yourself should be able to appreciate these books.
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:2)
__________________
Re:Yes, you'll have problems (Score:2)
Just because one is less blue than 99% of the other smurfs does mean that one is white.
--
Health care advantages irrelevant (Score:2)
This is a non-issue - every tech worker in the US can afford dental and health, and most tech companies offer excellent packages.
The people who are hurt by the US health care system are low-income earners who aren't going to be picking up and moving to France for two years anytime soon.
Working in France (Score:2)
One interesting side point relates to significant-others: if you want your S.O. to be able to work legally in France, they'll need to find a job in France and go through the work visa process in parallel. Otherwise, you'll have to sign a statement saying that you will support your S.O. and family, and your S.O. will probably never be able to get a work visa once they are in the country.
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:2)
Well ... (Score:2)
Absolutely. But, how is this different from any other place where you are obviously different from the locals Eyour words, "blonde/redhead/italian/etc" I have been living in Japan for ten years and I love it. Is it different from, let's say, the US? You bet. But, that's what makes living here a GREAT experience.
As far as dating in the "gaijin ghetto"goes, I guess to each his, or her, own. I find that, in MY experience most of the Japanese who hang around the gaijin "infestedEareas are either looking for "cheap sex" or cheap English lessons. I don't care to offer either.
As far as the language goes, it's no more difficult than any other language that is TOTALLY different from one's mother tongue. I haven't had as much trouble with Japanese as I have had with some of the European languages - I still make more mistakes that I care to admit when I have to choose a "der" a "die" or a "das" than I have in choosing a "wa" and a "ga"
My 2 yen.
PS: If you're in it for the money, Tokyo, or even Osaka, is where you want to go. If you want to ENJOY life in this country get out in to the "boonies".
Australia has an IT shortage (Score:2)
But if where you are is important to you, take a look around, Australia has a lot to offer.
Overseas (Score:2)
Re:Yup (Score:3)
I have been living, studying, and working in Japan for the past four and a half years. The above poster has some points that I agree with, but I work in Fukuoka (city of just over 1 million people in Kyushu, southernmost of the four main islands) and it is not rural or old-fashioned, in my opinion.
I don't know what experience H310iSe has, but his or her comments sound a lot like someone who only lived in Tokyo and hung around with foreigners in foreigner-bars (filled with 'gaijin-zuki'-- foreigner-lovers), especially the comments about the dating-scene. Japan can be a very different (and much more normal, really) experience once you get out of the foreigner's ghetto.
True, once you get outside the larger cities (but there are a lot of these!) you will get the "wow a foreigner" reactions (good and bad). Although, even there your chances of being the first, or only, foreigner in town are pretty low. (You could well be one of only a half-dozen though, which is rare enough.) Of course, there are not many high-tech jobs available out in the boondocks!
If you want to come to Japan to actually get a feel for the country, I encourage you to get out of the foreigner ghetto and out of Tokyo as much as possible. One way to do this is to work with a Japanese company-- but then the language becomes much more important.
As far as the Japanese language goes, I think it goes without saying that you need a basic grasp of it to be a useful employee. I also agree that the basic grammar is pretty simple. However, I don't think you can really "avoid the chinese-based character system" if you actually want to read or (heaven forbid) write Japanese. There is hardly any point in just learning hiragana and katakana-- you won't be literate.
Also, maybe I'm stupid but, although Japanese has a pretty simple grammar, it is still not a particularly easy language. I learned basic Japanese in a six-month intensive course, and that is enough to start with. For a while I thought I was doing pretty well. However, recently my wife (Japanese) and some coworkers have finally started pointing out my mistakes, and I've started to notice them myself. Frankly, I'm surprised people can understand me sometimes. Bare communication is easy, actually speaking correctly is very very hard. Even so, I do get work done in an exclusively Japanese working environment, so I guess language barriers are not a huge deal.
I'm rambling I think, so that's my two yen (which is a bit less than two cents right now).
Some tips (Score:3)
You can pick up a new language while you're there.
Also, note that the salaries over there are nowhere near what you make in the US. You'll earn half or (a lot) less for the same work. Of course, the cost of living is lower as well, but keep it in mind if you have payments to make in the US.
Also, the culture is different in Europe: contracts are more binding than in the US: you'll have to tell them you're moving on months in advance instead of not returning from lunch (as you could do in the US). The benefits are different as well. You may get coverage from the company for the first three months as you're 'in you trial period'.
Taxes get messy if you have both US and European income.
But it's worth it. I worked in London for three months and it was great. Rome would be even better...
Good luck.
We're British now, anyway. (Score:3)
NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE
To the citizens of the United States of America,
In the light of your failure to elect a President of
the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the
revocation of your independence, effective today.
Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume
monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other
territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new prime
minister (The rt. hon. Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85% of you who have
until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders)
will appoint a minister for America without the need for further
elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A
questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you
noticed.
To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency,
the
following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford
English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the
pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have
been pronouncing it. Generally, you should raise your
vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the
same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as
"like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of
communication. Look up "interspersed".
2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let
Microsoft know on your behalf.
3. You should learn to distinguish the English and
Australian accents. It really isn't that hard.
4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast
English actors as the good guys.
5. You should relearn your original national anthem,
"God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We
would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.
6. You should stop playing American "football". There
is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American
"football" is not a very good game.
The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world
outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays
"American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and
should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you
played with the
girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in
time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American
"football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty
seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are
hoping to get together at least a US rugby sevens side by 2005.
7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using
nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 98.85% of you
who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should
count yourselves lucky. The Russians have never been the bad
guys. "Merde" is French for "sh*t".
8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November
8th will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be
called "Indecisive Day".
9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap
and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you
will understand what we mean.
10. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Re:Some tips (Score:3)
To give some background, I lived in Italy until I was 27, and moved to Canada after that: I've been here about three years.
If you move to Italy for a little while, the reality will be that, even if you will get a 'real' work permit (which means a lot of time fighting the Italian burocratical windmills) you will likely be offered several jobs 'in black', meaning that you will be paid cash, and you won't be officially an employee of the company.
Don't forget that salaries are not what you are used to, some of my friends (with MS degrees from the *best* Italian university) are making about $1000-$1200/mo net after 2-3 years in the workplace.
This would be fine and dandy if living there didn't cost you an arm and a leg. Some quick facts:
a dumpy apartment in a major town will set you back at *least* 500$/mo (this is just for the apartment itself), then you have to add up at least, say, 100$/mo in heating costs, another 50$/mo in hydro (if you're careful with the lights, and you don't have a hot shower every day), another 50-200$/mo in phone depending on how much time you spend surfing (yes, even local calls are metered, and not cheap).
Let's not forget food: forget about eating out, if you don't want minuscule portions at obscene prices (unless you go in 'inns' (osterie) or in pizzerias where you can usually get a sizeable plate of pasta or a pizza for 4-5$ (plus 2$ for getting a seat, plus 1$ for a half-liter bottle of water (no free refills) or 3$ for an orange juice etc. etc.). If you buy your own food, you'll be surprised to see that food prices in Italy are *much* higher than in the States: just one example, meat is about 7-8$/pound, the only cheap stuff is pretty much pasta and tomato sauce and in-season veggies/fruit if you go to the big open markets.
Also forget about picking what looks good, usually in these markets there is a pyramid of fruits, and the shopkeeper gets the amount that you want from the *back* of the pile, which means that you get stuff that's way more beaten up than at the front, and the bags are paper and you pay in advance, so you can't see what you got until you get home.
Clothing is fairly rippish too, a decent (i.e. you don't get your feet wet when it rains) pair of shoes will set you back anywhere from 60$ to 150$, but if you want to spend more the sky's the limit (I've seen shoes for 1000$ a pair).
One of the few good points is that everything is very close together, so you'll be able to do everything that you need via public transit (fairly inexpensive for monthly passes) or at most with a bike (the crappier it looks the better, otherwise it *will* be stolen). If you plan to get a car, remember that the cheapest piece of junk that you can get in Italy will set you back at least 10,000$ new, a *neon* (which is not exactly a ferrari) costs like 20,000$
Italy is a really nice country if one has lots of money, for the low-to-middle class people it's a major rip. If I stayed in Italy I would probably still be living with my parents trying to scrape by some savings in order for one day to be able to buy a very small apartment (I grew up in a 400sqf one) while here in Canada I was able to get a really nice townhouse after only *1 year* of employment. Now I could afford much more, but until the mortgage rates will go down I won't move.
I was forgetting: people that say that the Valley is polluted should take a hike where I used to live (northern Italy, close to Milan), after 2-3 months without rain, just walking outside gives you a permanent headache: when I went out with a motorbike for an hour, the part of the face that was exposed (helmets are mandatory) would be grey with soot-like stuff, I don't want to imagine what my lungs were like.
The situation is this bad because of an incompetent and corrupt class of politicians, and because Italians are very family oriented, and don't want to leave Italy no matter how bad it gets, also English is not taught very well in school, I didn't learn to speak and understand English until I went to England for a while...
Italy has its strong points: excellent education system, great history, awesome monuments, great night life *in some cities*, people tend to be more willing to help you if you are in need, but right now my feeling is that unless you have a lot of money and you plan to go to Italy just for fun for a while, you'd better look more northward, a friend of mine did his Ph. D. in Dublin, and loved every moment of the two years he spent there.
P.S. Prices quoted are intended to be in US$
IT jobs galore in the UK (Score:3)
The situation is a little better on the continent (France, Italy, Spain) because there are more CompSCI/Engineering university graduates.
So I don't think you'll have too much trouble getting an IT job in Europe - though the UK might be quite a bit easier than France, especially if you don't speak much French. Good Luck!
Cheers,
Janice
--
A European's perspective (Score:3)
Getting a job
Many conpanies are also desperately seeking competent IT people.
Example sites:
France: http://www.cadresemploi.fr/
Switzerland: http://www.success-and-career.ch
NB: CH is in the middle of Europe, but not actually in the EC yet.
Work permits
This can be complicated, but note that each European country has its own immigration laws and policies. A few of them (Germany, CH...) have started to facilitate the immigration of IT personnel.
Taxes
First, tax policies also vary from country to country. Here in Switzerland I am paying much less than I did in Canada.
Lifestyle
Reasons I moved back here in Switzerland:
- in 5h by car, train or motorcycle: get to Paris, Venice, Rome, StTropez, etc... Or drive 1h to mountains and ski at 10000ft, 15min to any peaceful place in the country, 15min to the biggest lake of Europe (lake Geneva).
Everything is close, rich in history, you can spend each week-end in a completely different culture at will.
- more holidays and free time overall, less criminality concerns and such, better infrastructures.
- more care for nature: less waste, less car driving (smaller distances for job too), people enjoy walking more often (because they can).
- less fast-foods and coach potatoes. Restaurants are more expensive, but you take the time to eat fine things rather than junk.
Public school system (my wife was from Toronto and had a 9 year old when we moved): just great !
Individual French classes (the official language in this part of CH) were offered to our daughter until she was fully assimilated (took less than a year). She enjoys walking to school through a small wood (5min), while she had to be driven there in NA. She can take the bus and go downtown on her own (no concern here).
Having kids, moving to CH was just a bliss.
Also by the way, Universities are basically free here (~600 USD/year).
I actually kept working for the same company (asked to be relocated with no particular benefit for that), and I must say that we all really enjoy it much more here (although I am the only one who was born here).
That's just an personal perspective...
Yes (Score:3)
First, you can NOT go over there looking for a job. You must have a job already before going over there. They will not even give you the papers to fill out for a job permit if you are in the country. You must do it from here.
The job is not a problem, the work visa is. You have to find a company that is willing to go through the pain of the paper work to get you in. Without a company with a job as a sponser, you have no chance of getting the work visa. That company will have to state that they could not find anyone else in the EU that could not do this same job. For tech's this is a fairly easy statement to make. If you are a fry cook you are out of luck.
You can get around this however. The easiest, most expensive is to start your own small business there. I contacted lawyers in France and they said that it works fine, but it costs you about $5000 and takes about 6 months. France is full of paper shufflers and the process is long, but will go through. Some of that 5K, I think most of it, is like serious money when buying a house, to make sure you are not a dead beat. The money is still yours, but it must be used for purchases within the country for your business, i.e. office space, accountants, copy machine, etc.
You can get one as a consultant, but you need letters from several companies over there, guaranteeing that they are in need of your services and will hire your services.
Good luck
Re:Yup (Score:3)
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:3)
What is really amazing in light of this is how Canada gets by with a land mass larger than the US, and a population smaller than California.
UK Visa easy for college students/recent grads (Score:3)
I graduated in May 1999 and found out about a program called BUNAC (www.bunac.org [bunac.org]). They give US college students (and grads up to a year after graduation) a six month visa to do whatever the hell you want. I got the visa, contacted a number of companies before I left, and had a number of interviews with companies and recruiters lined up as soon as I arrived. I told everybody that I was looking for longer term work, and all of them were receptive to helping me find a more permanent visa.
Once I was in with a company, we submitted my application for the normal 4-year visa. I was denied on the basis that I hadn't had "two years postgrad experience," but within a month the Government announced that they were relaxing the rules to let more tech workers come in. We re-submitted and I got a "Key Worker" visa for 3 years. It wasn't that difficult and I know of a couple other Americans in London who did the same thing.
It's definitely worth looking into if you meet the qualifications (they do Australia and New Zealand as well)... and if you get sick of interviewing at IT companies, you can always pull pints in a pub. :)
Re:IT jobs galore in the UK (Score:3)
And of course there are a couple of typical American mannerisms that the British feel uniquely irritating, namely the tendancy to use peoples first name in every sentance, and to smile a lot.
What you need to do it go down the pub and spend a quite evening getting drunk, and you will see a different side come out.
Or were you in London? In which case your impressions are pretty much correct...
Phil
Brother in Denmark (Score:3)
- Getting paid in Euros currently is a bummer.
Taxes and the cost of living are very high, so be
careful about estimating what your effective
income will be, and the uncertainty of the
currency makes it harder to compare.
- Smaller companies often have signficantly
less experience hiring US workers and there is
enough paperwork that it can get complicated.
A safer bet, particularly for a first position
in the EU, is to work for a big company with
good experience sorting out the visas for you.
It is complicated and painful enough so that you
will want someone's help.
- Another strategy is to work for a US
company with offices in Europe before committing
to a more permanent move.
- There are many places where the working
language is English, which is a plus or a minus
depending on what you are looking for.
- Vacation policies are generally much
more generous there than here. He gets six
weeks so we actually see him at
least as much now as when he was doing web
page design here in the US.
- All your friends will come and visit you
and crash with you, which is a plus or a minus
depending...
He has thought about coming back to the US several times but each time they keep giving him a raise there, so that is a good sign for people who are thinking about heading that way...Re:We're British now, anyway. (Score:3)
INDEPENDENCE'.
To the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
We welcome your concern about our electoral process. It must be exciting
for you to see a real Republic in action, even if from a distance. As
always we're amused by your quaint belief that you're actually a world power.
The sun never sets on the British Empire! Right-o chum!
However, we regretfully have to decline your offer for intervention. On
the other hand, it would be amusing to see you try to enforce your new policy
(for the 96.3% of you that seem to have forgotten that you have little to
no real power). After much deliberation, we have decided to continue our
tradition as the longest running democratic republic. It seems that
switching to a monarchy is in fact considered a "backwards step" by the majority of the world.
To help you rise from your current anachronistic status, we have compiled
a series of helpful suggestions that we hope you adopt:
1. Realize that language is an organic structure, and that you aren't
always correct in your pronunciation or spelling. Let's use your
"aluminium" example. Sir Humphrey Davy (an Englishman) invented the name
"aluminum" (note spelling) for the metal. However, in common usage the
name evolved into "aluminium" to match the naming convention of other
elements. In 1925 the United States decided to switch back to the
_original_spelling and pronunciation of the word, at which point we
dominated the aluminum industry. We'd also like to point out that the
process of actually producing aluminum was developed by an American and a
Frenchman (not an Englishman). However, we'd like to thank you for the
Oxford English Dictionary. It's an interesting collection, considering
that over 10,000 of the words in the original edition were submitted by a
crazy American civil-war veteran called Dr. William Charles Minor.
2. Learn to distinguish the American and Canadian accents, and then we'll
talk about the English and Australian accent issue.
3. Review your basic arithmetic.
(Hint 100 - 98.85 = 1.15 and 100 - 97.85 = 2.15)
4. If you want English actors as good guys, then make your own movies.
Don't rely on us for your modern popular culture. We liked "Lock, Stock,
and Two Smoking Barrels", "Trainspotting", and "The Full Monty". We've also
heard good things about this "Billy Elliot". But one good movie a year
doesn't exactly make a cultural powerhouse. However, you're doing pretty
well with music, so keep up the good work on that front.
5. It's inefficient to have a national anthem that changes its title
whenever your monarch dies. Let's not forget that your national anthem
has an extremely boring tune. We suggest switching to that Rule Brittania
ditty, it's toetapping. Or maybe Elton John could adapt
"Candle In The Wind" again for you guys.
6. Improve at your national sport. Football? Soccer? This just in:
United States gets fourth place in men's soccer at the 2000 Summer
Olympics.
United Kingdom? Not even close. By the way, impressive showing at Euro 2000.
You almost managed to get through the tournament without having your fans start an international incident.
7. Learn how to cook. England has some top notch candy. Salt 'n' Vinegar
chips are quite yummy. However, there's a reason why the best food in
your country is Indian or Chinese. Your contributions to the culinary
arts are soggy beans and warm beer. Perhaps when you finally realize
the French aren't the spawn of satan they'll teach you how to cook.
8. You're doing a terrible job at understanding cars. The obvious error is
that you drive on the wrong side of the road. A second problem is
pricing, it's cheaper to buy a car in Belgium and ship it to England than to buy a
car in England. On the other hand, we like Jaguars and Aston Martins.
That's why we bought the companies.
9. We'll tell you who killed JFK when you apologize for "Teletubbies".
Thank you for your time. You can now return to watching bad Australian soap
operas.
p.s. - regarding WW2: You're Welcome.
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:4)
No, I'm not blind to what we're paying for in the states. We have a fabulous military, vast national forests (which require a lot of resources to manage), and so on. I am amazed at what that extra 5% gets the Germans. I suspect that it is because they use the taxes more effectively, and that less of the tax money goes into politician's pockets, or to giving tax breaks to people who need them the least.
Translation: (Score:4)
to a loading of the system. Much people forget that we have had a dictator and fought you in
world war two but they do not preoccupy themselves because there are many gangsters in your cities like New York and Chicago. I cannot believe that you have preoccupied yourselves
translate this of new to English.
Damn. I seem to be just another victim.
Not me, but my sister (Score:4)
A few things to consider: If you earn over $75,000 USD you will have to pay American Taxes as well as the taxes of the country that you are living in.
Visas: You will need a sponser anywhere in the EU, and the paperwork will take upto a month to process.
Payment: Is the job payed in EU, Franc, Pounds, or in dollars? Currencies change value, so watch out.
Housing: Did you know that quite a few apartments do not come with a kitchen? Renting can be quite the adventure!
Family: Relocating your family can be quite hard to do, and cause all kinds of stress. Also, what if there is a fmaily emergency back on this side of the Atlantic?
In all, please write back if you do make the jump and let us know how it's going!
Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:4)
This is not a critique of the European system - just a heads up for potential expats who will invariably find themselves paying for services they cannot use.
Overseas (Score:4)
Try http://www.escapeartist.com and head to the overseas jobs area. Plenty of links.
Re:Yup (Score:4)
Re:have you ever been there? (Score:5)
Online resources (Score:5)
You would be suprised on the number of people on continental Europe who speak english, although the French are particularly full-on about maintaining french as the primary language within their country (see earlier
When I was in Berlin, I don't recall meeting one person who couldn't speak english... The homeless beggers even spoke english. Multi-lingual beggers. I was impressed.
As someone else mentioned, the UK has a massive shortage of tech people with half a clue. Providing you play by the immigration rules, you should have no trouble getting sponsored, assuming you find someone who wants your particular skills. Central London is only 4 hours from Central Paris (including customs, check-in, etc., on the Eurostar train), so you may want to consider coming here and use it as a stepping stone in to Europe.
If so, check out JobServe [jobserve.com], which is considered (more or less) to be the definitive way to find a tech job in the UK. If you don't get at least 3 interviews in a fortnight, you might as well give up (actually, maybe not. I guess if you're still in the States and trying to get a job in the UK, you'll get less bites. Point is, it's easy to get a tech job in London).
HTH,
...j
Re:Paying for someone else's socialism (Score:5)
No, what you get in the USA is corporate welfare.
Sports arenas, zero-property-tax factories and offices, corporate tax breaks, enforcement of monopoly power, etc. All paid for by the individual taxpayer.
Oh, and let's not forget the "war on drugs". Aside from the military, it's got to be the single biggest drain on public budgets out there.
I agree with you, it would be nice to live in a place where you actually get something for your tax money, instead of other people getting something for it.
Sarà troll o divertente moderato? (Score:5)
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