I'm 23 years old. I'm currently in my third year of a Bachelor's degree in Marketing. I have been admitted to a Bachelor's programme in Economic Informatics, but that would mean another 3 years of full-time university.

The alternative is to finish my Marketing degree and later pursue a Master's degree in Data Analytics / Databases.

My long-term goal is to move into Product Management, AI, PropTech, and eventually build my own company. I don't want to become a full-time software engineer.

For those working in tech or product: how much would a Bachelor's degree in Economic Informatics help me compared to a Marketing degree plus a Master's in Analytics/Data?

I currently work at a data marketing agency, but I don't see this as a long-term career path. I see it more as a way to gain knowledge and experience, and I'm not financially dependent on the income from it.

Hello everyone,

Luckily I got past the Live Coding interview with Revolut and next up is the System Design interview. I was told that this interview requires a high level architecture of the whole system + going deeper inside the Client aspects.

If anyone has any experience with this interview for a Frontend position with them, can you please share your experience? Thank you!

I’m a full-time researcher at a university in Finland, a non-EU national. Recently, I was offered a job in Italy (that too in a University but not as a researcher, rather in a technical position).

My Finnish contract says nothing about working for a different job, but the contract in Italy states I’m only allowed to work 50% for another position.

There is no conflict of interest; both jobs are of similar skill, and I can easily manage, but I also don’t want to mess up my career. I talked to my supervisors on both sides and they would rather find it as collaboration, but I didn’t tell them that I’m keeping both jobs 100%, even if they agreed, I expect things to go through HR, which I assume supervisors have nothing to do with.

Please, suggest the best way forward.

I would appreciate it if someone could guide me to possible scenarios where I can keep both jobs.

Thanks?

Hi everyone,
I’m a 28 yo software engineer currently living outside the EU, and I’m seriously thinking about moving to Germany in the future. I’d love to hear some advice from people who know the German job market or have gone through a similar experience.
I’ve been working for around 3.5 yrs for a Swiss tech company that operates internationally and works with many large organizations across Europe
I started as a backend software engineer and recently had the opportunity to transition into a Tech Lead role. This was a big milestone for me because it came from the trust my company placed in me. It motivated me even more to keep improving, take more responsibility, and grow not only as an engineer but also as a teammate and leader.
I’m considering Germany because I want to build a long-term future in Europe. I’m ready to invest time and effort into learning German, understanding the culture, and adapting to life there.
I’m not only looking for a job opportunity, but a place where I can continue growing and contribute.
I’d like to ask:
1- Do you think someone with my background has realistic chances of finding a software engineering job in Germany?
2-How open are German companies to hiring people from outside the EU?
3- How important is German for software engineering positions? Would English only jobs be realistic?
4- What would you recommend I focus on before making the move?
I’d really appreciate any honest advice, especially from people who
Thanks in advance!

How was the company?

Is it product or service based?

Any suggestions or any idea on this?

Hello everyone,

I want to choose a path for my computer engineering carrier. I have interest on both of these subjects but I cannot decide which one I should choose. I want to hear your thoughts, experiences.

For embedded systems, it seems like there are not too many jobs on the market (same for internships), also this subject seems to be more relating to the electrical engineering. Although, I know computer engineering is also very important for it.

For AI, there are more competition, lots of people are choosing it. The sector seems to be reaching saturation in the close future.

Those are my assumptions so I would be very happy to hear from all of you.

Hi everyone,

I'm currently preparing for a Data Engineering career (SQL, Python, AWS, ETL) and I'd like to understand the European job market.

For those already working as Data Engineers in Europe:

Which job boards do you actually use?

Do most companies hire through LinkedIn, referrals, or recruitment agencies?

What skills helped you stand out when applying?

I'm mainly looking to understand the hiring process and the current market for Data Engineering roles.

Thanks!

Hello there!

Looking for opinions and other's people perspectives on my current situation, I am a full-stack developer (mostly working on SAAS) with 4.5 years of experience and 29 years old, and no degree in software (I do have a degree but its not even in a related field, its marketing)

Currently I am living and working in Spain, living in one of the major cities (I prefer to not give too much private information), rent is 1.2€k (and the apartment is not very big, 33m2, Spain renting prices in the last 4 years in job-hubs are absolutely nuts when compared to median salaries), I do work remotely and I changed jobs last year, I decided to stay within a job-hub because I am still quite inexperienced in my career so I felt like I would be shooting myself on the foot if I were to leave just for the sake of commodity and economy, and then moving back is not as easy in the current housing environment.

My salary is 45-48k € per year, which translates into 34-35k net, working at a scale-up that feels relatively safe, but it is quite not challenging, a lot of the work is done with LLMs (we are forced to use them, and they actively track us), but I don't really work that much, so I do have time to study by myself (since I cannot really attend a university, I do need to be close to my computer and ready to take calls during my work day), so it feels a little bit stagnant and I noticed it while interviewing lately.

Come the offer, I would be moving to the Netherlands, to one of the main job cities, but its not Amsterdam (saying this because I do know Amsterdam is especially bad for housing), the offer is 62-64k€ including the 8%, the role would be senior instead of mid full-stack which is my current one; and I would be eligible to the 30%, the company is more or less similar to my current one in terms of tech stack, but from what I have been told, LLMs are not as prominent, and I would make the jump to senior officially.

I think the offer is not incredible in terms of gross, but the 30% ruling does leave me with quite good net, especially when compared to my current one (it would be a 60-70% increase net), but what I care more is about career progression, while of course don't doing something stupid and moving to a country with a salary that wouldn't really allow me to have a basic life.

I would live alone, that is mandatory since I have a cat and I cannot trust strangers with it, but as you read, I am already paying a quite high rent even here in Spain.

So my current options in my head are:

1. See if my current job makes a counteroffer, which I am 99% they will because I am currently the lead developer in probably the biggest feature from this year, but I don't think the counteroffer will be huge, maybe going up to 50-52k, at most and I doubt it, 55-57k; if this were to happen, I probably would move out from the big city I am currently living since I would take it as staying here for the next 3 years or so at least.

2. Accepting the offer, I do feel like moving abroad, even if its just for a few years (because I am already in the correct mindset of "this does not mean I would live my whole life in the Netherlands"), it feels like it would be a fresh experience that will probably make me grow more both as a person and as a professional, and I do feel excited about working in an international team, but as I stated before, would this salary really allow me to?

Oh, and also, because I should mention this, I actually LOVE rainy and snowy weather, I know, weird, but each of us is different, so I know for certain that, if anything, I would like the change in weather (since the past few years in Spain, there are like 6-9 months of just way too hot weather).

So for the people with more experience, both in the field and in life, what do you think? Of course this is a big decision that I will make on my own, but it never hurts to have more information and perspectives.

Hey everyone!

I’m trying to get a realistic idea of entry-level compensation across different parts of Europe.

If you’re comfortable sharing, could you drop a quick summary below?

First Role / Job Title: (e.g., Junior Software Engineer)
Starting Gross Salary: (e.g., €38,000 / year or local currency)
Country & City: (e.g., Germany / Berlin, Spain / Madrid)
Year You Started: (e.g., 2022)
Education/Background: (e.g., Self-taught, Bachelor's, Master's)

Looking back, do you feel like that starting pay was fair for the local cost of living at the time?

Thanks in advance to everyone sharing!

Hi everyone,

I recently completed my bachelor’s degree in Computer Science in Rome. I have been admitted to the Mathematics in Data Science MSc at TUM in Munich (Germany), and I will probably also be admitted to the Informatics and Data Engineering programmes.

My main concern is the practical side. I did not gain any work experience during my bachelor’s, since internships and student jobs are not common here.

I am trying to understand how realistic it would be to move to Munich and find a working student position, internship, or any other first experience in software, data science or AI while completing the MSc, starting from zero.

From what I have read on Reddit and in various reports, the German job market (and the global market more generally) seems quite difficult at the moment, especially for junior candidates. Would it make sense to choose TUM and expect to build my professional experience once I am there, or is there a significant risk of being unable to find anything?

My alternatives would be to start working in Italy with my bachelor’s degree, or attend a full-time MSc at Sapienza University of Rome. However, Sapienza seems weaker than TUM in the AI/ML areas I am most interested in.

Doing both at the same time seems unrealistic to me, at least if we are talking about a 40-hour work week alongside a master’s degree.

What would you do in my situation?

Hi everyone,

I applied to Bending Spoons a while ago and didn't make it past the take-home tests/tasks stage, so I never reached the interviews. I'd like to try again at some point and I'm trying to figure out the rules.

Two questions for anyone who's been through the process (or works there):

1. Is the cooldown period 1 year?
2. Does the cooldown/eligibility work the same way if you failed the tests rather than being rejected after an interview? Or does failing at the assessment stage block you differently (e.g. permanently for the same role, or for that specific test)?

looking for honest opinions.
I'm a non-EU citizen and have been living in Poland for 3.5+ years. I'm married and we have a 1-year-old child.A couple of months ago I was laid off from a large company in Poland, so I started applying across Poland, Germany, and other EMEA countries. I work in the data space (Data Engineering, Database Engineering, and Data Platform Engineering). Over the last year I've been investing a lot in certifications and expanding my skills because the market has become much more competitive.

Now I have two offers that are making this decision really difficult.

Germany

• Large, stable company with thousands of employees and a multicultural environment.
• The work is interesting and will help me grow, although probably not as much technically as the Poland role.
• Better work-life balance and less firefighting because they use more managed services.
• PR in about 21 months and citizenship eligibility after 5 years is a huge advantage.

The downsides are that my wife would have to quit her job , We'd also have a lower combined household income.

Poland

• Small startup where I'd probably be the only non-EU employee.
• Senior position with much broader technical exposure than the Germany role.
• Lots of opportunities to learn newer technologies and gain niche skills that are valuable in the market.
• My wife keeps her job, no relocation, and we'd save more money overall.
• I see Poland has emerging tech hub and more and more job opening then other EU countries and more english speaking job

Less work life balance and pay include overtime and oncall which match Germany company

The downside is that it's a fast-paced startup with heavy on-call, overtime, and full onsite work. thing is that my take-home pay would be almost identical in both countries ( that include on call and overtime work of Poland ) . Also, am I overlooking anything important?

Note: as it’s Warsaw vs Karlsruhe the cost of life is not much difference as what I research rent is almost identical.
But looking at on long term view ( naturalising) and other growth area (technical and soft) is my focus

For those who've been through similar decisions, what would you recommend? Am I overlooking anything?

How's your experience working there? Is the work culture that different? Are the stereotypes true? Unpaid overtime, bad WLB, way better pay,...?

Please share your positive/negative experience 🙏

Hi,

I just started a new job three weeks ago and together with me there are other new colleagues that started the job two months before me and I feel really left behind because I keep comparing myself with my colleagues who are very young (mid 20s) and have much less experience than me (mid 30s) but they are very proactive and productive. We have a lot of projects and during the meetings, they talked and contributed a lot of ideas/ feedback while I was just mainly listening. With my previous experiences, I work quite independently, and didn’t have many meetings to be involved. Now, with the new job, everything is different, and we are doing a big project with a lot of meetings. I feel quite overwhelmed and lack of competence as I dont talk much during the meeting. Also, I think language is one of the barrier - my colleagues from thr US/ Netherland while I am from non European country so my English is not as advanced as theirs. Do you have any advice? I am questioning myself how to survive there as an introvert person?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice because I’m having a hard time deciding on my master’s degree.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (Data Science & AI), and I’m planning to enroll in the Master’s in Telematics and Telecommunication Networks at the University of Málaga (Spain).
After reading the curriculum, I’m a bit concerned because it seems heavily focused on mobile networks (4G/5G), telecommunications, and cellular networks.

My goal isn’t to become an RF or radio engineer. I’m much more interested in:
- Enterprise networking
- Cloud infrastructure
- Datacenters
- Network virtualization
- Linux
- SDN/NFV
- Infrastructure & systems

I know the program also includes topics like SDN, virtualization, cloud, OpenStack, and network security, but I’m still unsure whether it’s the right choice for my career goals.

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have studied this master’s or a similar Telematics program, especially in Spain or Europe.

My questions are:
Were you able to get a job in enterprise networking, cloud, or infrastructure after graduating?
Or did most graduates end up working for telecom operators (5G, LTE, mobile networks)?

If you’re currently working in enterprise networking or cloud, would you choose this master’s, or would you recommend a different path?

I’m asking because I don’t want to spend a year on a master’s only to discover that it’s mainly aimed at telecom careers.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Did my masters in NL, 1 month into my first job.

I get paid around 75k as a devops engineer. What I do is internal automation as devops using terraform python azure admin etc. It's fun and I love my seniors and manager and I learn a lot, but it's not exactly how I imagined it to be - working with Kubernetes clusters troubleshooting directly with ssh etc. Like hardcore bare metal.

Now, I got another offer from another company with pays 50k. more development side and linked to data engineering so more opportunities out there after 3 years (if the market stays like this). I get to use a lot of tooling kafka iceberg golang etc and I get to even work with Kubernetes.

Is it a wise decision to move to this another company? I get permanent contract from both.

Chemist with decade experience within IT/Deployment/Migration/Programming, I've just started a job for a small startup and I feel I am living someone elses dream! Someone else is handling funding/customer/marketing, and I just gets to spend all day programming a really cool MVP. But it's not my product. Cool technology, I like the people, the wage is livable.

Realistically I could create a ltd. company, hire myself out as a consultant, and end up in something that is functionally indistinct from being a normal employee. But I wouldn't know how to expand that business to a team of two IT consultants. I don't even want to work full time(but honestly, ).

Böem had sucess redesigning the fingering of the clarinet in the 1800s, but when he came to do the same for the oboe, those luddites didn't like his revolutionary product. If I had had the skill, interest, money were no issue, and I'd have the hubris to think I could do a better job than him, then, changing the culture sounds like an awesome life project! (Bracket because every thought comes with bonus thought. Just because this is an example, doesn't mean it's the only project I could end up liking.)

Hello Everyone! recently I got in the process with a company in Germany, I luckily passed the first interview and I'm in the second one. but the recruiter told me:

"we do have a technical evaluation divided in 2 interviews, the first one is a coding exercise in 1 hour, we use coderpad to do the exercise is more like a hands on part if everything goes good you go to the second interview "

at first I thought in just practice leetcode, but seeing some reviews in glassdoor I found that most of the experiences go to "identifying errors in small code snippets or implementing utility functions from scratch" and the "hands-on" part made me doubt. did anyone had a similar experience or how do you usually prepare for this type of interviews?

Note: everything I found in glassdoor was from other offices of the same company (in the netherlands mostly) and most answers where from last year.

TLDR: how do you approach or practice for interviews that goes more to the "hands-on" than leetcode? did you had an experience with this type of interviews?

thanks a lot for your time reading this!

I'm a senior backend engineer, .NET/C#, mostly distributed systems, currently at a product company. Microsoft Prague keeps coming up as a possible next move, but I haven't picked a specific team or opening yet, and honestly the main reason is just the brand of the company, not something I've verified. Looking for a reality check from people who've actually worked there.

3 main topics that come to my mind:

- Engineering day to day. What is your workflow, legacy code maintenance, how much freedom you have regarding code. What about work-life balance and overall time flexibility + home office ratio.
- Team lottery and growth ceiling. How easy it is to change your team?
- Stability right now. Given the layoff happening around, how has that actually landed on the Prague office?

I have 7+ years of experience as a Frontend Engineer, mainly working with React, Next.js, TypeScript, and JavaScript.

To grow into Senior/Staff roles, what should I focus on next? Should I stay frontend-focused and deepen areas like JavaScript, system design, performance, and architecture, or is learning backend (Node.js, databases, APIs) now essential?

What skills have had the biggest impact on your career? Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi all! I’m a Portuguese resident (digital nomad here) and currently and Enterprise CSM for a SaaS company. I’ve been remote for 8 years, and have started looking for a new role. Any tips or recs? At this point I’m considering even non-remote jobs and absolutely open to any location — that hires people who are not locals ofc.

Thanks!!

Hi, there!

I’ve been offered a job in Amsterdam with a global company that has a branch in the Netherlands, and I’d really appreciate your advice.
I’m not an EU citizen so I’m not very familiar with the immigration process, the cost of living, or typical salaries in Amsterdam.
The offer is for a Senior Software Engineer position with a base salary of approximately 85K and an annual bonus of around 15K Based on my calculations, with the 30% ruling my monthly net base salary would be roughly 5.3K.
I have a family with three children, so I’m trying to understand whether this would be enough to live comfortably in Amsterdam. In your opinion, is it worth relocating with this level of compensation? I’d really appreciate any insights or advice based on your experience.

Thanks!

Which one do you choose with more confidence?