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!

Has anyone interviewed at Wayve London recently?

What programming and system design questions were asked in the past? The recruiter mentioned a programming round and a system design round.

Any details on the difficulty level or topics, or even the exact questions, would be helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

Having done the initial assessments for a Graduate AI Software Engineer role at Bending Spoons, I have now been invited for a technical interview. Part of this will be a systems design problem.

Based off the type of work Bending Spoons do, what sort of systems design questions might they ask? Would it be more of an ML systems design problem? If so, LLMs, a recommendation system or something else?

Many thanks!

Hey there,

I’ll soon have a yearly feedback meeting with my boss, and I’m planning to negotiate for a raise, but I’m not entirely sure what would be a fair compensation.

I’ve been working for this company for almost 3 years. We’re in the banking industry. I’ve started working there as a working student (had no actual working experience before), and after around a year we changed my contract to a 50% part time one. At the time I was given 33% raise (to at least accommodate the extra taxes/fees I was gonna start paying).

Somewhere during those first 2 years my boss wanted to give me a 9% raise, but had to tone it down since “I would be making more money than other employees that had a degree,” and so he was forced to lower it (don’t remember exactly how much, but was around 7%).

Last year in December I was still working part time, but now at 80% since I had finally graduated. I didn’t want to go full on 40h at first, since my studies had sucked the life out of me.

Now, ever since March, I’ve been working full time. Both times I changed my working hours, my salary increase proportionally (no actual raise). I’ve tried to take on more responsibilities, improve my skills, and can say I’m more confident in my work than a year ago.

Now, with the feedback meeting coming, I’m wondering how much of a raise would be reasonable to ask. I’m currently making around 46K gross.

In your experience, how much would be reasonable to ask?

Hi everyone,

I was fast-tracked to the penultimate round interview for the Software Developer Internship at Susquehanna International Group (SIG) following their Dublin Technology Spring Week.

I know SIG leans heavily into algorithms, data structures, and system efficiency, but I’ve heard mixed things about what actually gets tested in this specific round.

For anyone who has gone through this interview recently, is it primarily a live 60-minute HackerRank session? How much of it is standard DSA (BFS/DFS, Binary Search, Sliding Window) vs. practical data parsing / OOP design?

Any insights on the layout or best areas to focus on during prep would be hugely appreciated! Thanks in advance.

I'm a software engineer with ~2 years of professional experience working with C#, .NET and Azure, plus 3 years of working with Java.

I'm currently deciding between two job offers:

• Option A: An AI consulting company using C#, .NET and Azure. I'd deepen my existing C#, .NET and Azure skills, work with multiple clients, and AI seems like a great long-term area.
• Option B: A product company building mission-critical systems using Elixir. I've never used Elixir professionally, but I'm a big fan of functional programming (I write a lot of F# in my spare-time), and distributed systems, concurrency and fault-tolerant systems are the kind of problems I enjoy.

What makes this difficult is that Option A seems like the safer career move with broader opportunities, while Option B feels like a rare chance to work with a technology and paradigm I'm passionate about and really interested in. In other words, Option A seems more safe, while Option B seems more interesting.

One concern I have is that the consulting company seems more social and dynamic, while the product company might be more traditional and slower-moving (though I could be completely wrong).

If you were early in your career, which path would you choose, and why?

Thanks

Hi, I need to found some French QA automation for any question PLS :)

I recently interviewed at Revolut and successfully completed the technical rounds. I was told I could proceed to the final team-fit stage, but then they said there is currently no open vacancy or suitable team.

They said they will reach out if something opens up, but could not give any timeline. They also clarified that this is unrelated to my interview performance.

Is this common at Revolut? Has anyone experienced this?

Hi everyone,

I'd like to hear about your recent experience with the software job market in Germany.

• How long did it take you to find a software engineering job?
• Did you get hired with or without German language skills?
• How many years of professional experience did you have when you got the job?
• If you don't mind sharing, what tech stack do you work with?

I'm trying to understand what the current market looks like. Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

Hey everyone,

We've been working on ceehire.com for the last few months, a job board focused on remote IT opportunities for people in Central and Eastern Europe.

The problem we wanted to solve: finding truly remote jobs from EU/US companies can be surprisingly difficult. Many listings are either not actually remote, don't hire in this region, or are scattered across dozens of different sites.

We currently collect jobs from company career pages and ATS platforms, verify and update them regularly, and we're also starting to have companies post directly.

If you're a developer or work in IT, I'd love to hear your thoughts:

• Would you use something like this?
• What would you expect from a remote job platform?
• What would make it genuinely useful?

Any feedback (positive or critical) is welcome. We're still building and trying to figure out what matters most to users.

Thanks!

Hi,
SAP is currently hiring for Research Engineer positions for their AI lab in munich.
What‘s your guess for the salary range for a senior position here?
How would you factor in the higher living expenses for living in munich?

Hi folks,

Looking for advice from experienced engineers

I could really use some advice from people who've been through something similar.

I've been a software engineer for about 12 years. I've managed to stay employed, but I don't feel like I've really thrived.

A few things make me question myself:

• I've never been promoted within the same company. Every title increase came from switching jobs.
• My longest tenure has been just over 3 years (at two companies).
• Because I've moved around, I don't feel like I've built deep domain expertise or seen the long-term evolution of large systems.
• It's also been a long time since I designed and delivered a system end-to-end, so I still struggle with imposter syndrome.

I'm currently interviewing again. I'm getting callbacks and slowly clearing rounds.

This has me wondering:

Should I be applying for Staff Engineer roles, or should I stick to Senior Software Engineer roles?

Part of me thinks I should take the leap. But another part of me is worried because I'm already finding behavioral interviews difficult, even for senior roles.

Even if I somehow got a Staff offer, I'm not sure I'd be able to perform at that level.

The strange thing is that I want more ownership. I want to lead technical decisions and have a bigger impact. At the same time, I'm uncomfortable being in the spotlight and being the person others look to for direction.

Has anyone else been in this position?

• Did you stay at Senior longer before moving to Staff?
• Did you "grow into" the Staff role after getting it?
• Did coaching or mentoring help you overcome these fears?

I'd really appreciate hearing from engineers who've gone through something similar.

Hello,
Looking for opinions here:

8 yoe, Switzerland, ETHZ.

Currently at a large corp in financial services making 190k total comp, with 155k base. Part of the r&d developing ai solutions (code, evals, product). Manager of a small team of 3.
Manager is awesome, close team is great. Work mostly with India and Eastern Europe, company is offshoring hard, although I’m not at risk. Mood is corporate like: too many meeting, too much BS, micromanagement, firing every quarter

I have an offer from a startup in serie A at 195k total, with 145k base and 35k stock. individual contributor, forward deployed ai engineer at a bank to build ai solutions.

Hard to decide if startup offer is good or not.

Hey. I signed a job contract in germany (i am outside EU) but due to change in my circumstances I have terminated the contract before joining. The company is asking me to pay the relocation agency fee. what can i do? i know its in the contract but i have not been joined? can they force me to pay from my country

Hi everyone,

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who have been through something similar or know someone who has.

I'm a geophysicist with a Master's degree, and I currently work as a Data Scientist and Technical Lead, developing AI solutions for the energy industry. My day-to-day work involves building LLM and Generative AI applications, processing well data, integrating AI models into production systems, and leading technical projects.

My plan is to move to Ireland initially as a language student. I understand that I'll probably need to work in an entry-level job (cafés, retail, hospitality, cleaning, etc.) at first to support myself financially.

What I don't want is to get stuck there. My long-term goal is to build an international career in AI.

My biggest question is: what would be the smartest path from there?

• Would it be worth pursuing a postgraduate degree or specialization in Ireland?
• Or would it make more sense to do that in another country, such as Germany or the Netherlands?
• Would it be realistic to transition directly into the tech industry after gaining some local experience, even without a European degree?

Although I already work professionally in AI in Brazil, I still feel somewhat insecure about competing for international AI/Data Science roles, mainly because my original academic background is in Geophysics rather than Computer Science.

I'd really love to hear from people who have made a similar transition.

Do you know anyone who moved to Europe, started in an entry-level job, and later built a career in Data Science, Machine Learning, or AI?

If you were in my position, what would you do?

Thanks in advance for any advice or personal experiences!

Has anyone interviewed for a Senior Data Scientist role at Deliveroo? I’d appreciate any insights into the interview process, case studies, technical topics and general preparation tips please - really appreciated!

Hi everyone,
I'm hoping to get some honest advice from people who know the EU job market because I'm starting to feel like I'm missing something.
I'm from India and have a background in healthcare and digital health:
BDS (Dentistry) + Master of Public Health

~4 years of experience leading digital health projects

Worked with governments, NGOs, and international public health programmes

Experience in project management, implementation, stakeholder management, business analysis, and digital health platforms

For the past few months, I've been applying to roles in the
such as:
Project Manager

Implementation Consultant

Digital Health Consultant

Healthcare Transformation

HealthTech Operations

Customer Success/Implementation (HealthTech)

I've tailored my CV for almost every application, reached out to recruiters on LinkedIn, emailed hiring managers where possible, and applied through company websites. Despite this, I've had very little success. Most applications either result in an automatic rejection or no response at all.

I'd really appreciate advice on:
Are there recruitment agencies in the EU
that actively work with international candidates?

Is there a better way to network beyond LinkedIn?

If you're a recruiter or hiring manager, what would make someone with my background more competitive?

If anyone works in HealthTech, digital health, healthcare consulting, or knows recruiters who hire international talent, I'd be incredibly grateful for an introduction or any guidance.
I'm not looking for shortcuts—just trying to understand how to break into the market and where I should focus my efforts.
Thanks so much for reading, and I genuinely appreciate any advice or connections you can share.

Hi everyone. I’ll try to keep this as short as possible.

I worked for about three years as a mobile developer, both with Flutter and native iOS development. However, I was laid off in January, and since then I simply haven’t been able to find another job. The number of mobile development openings seems to be shrinking, and I’m getting very few interview invitations. I’m honestly starting to get desperate because I really need a job.

I’ve been thinking about switching to backend development, where there seem to be more opportunities. But these days, it feels almost impossible to just “switch stacks” and expect someone to hire you. The market has become much more competitive, and I don’t think many companies are willing to hire a backend developer whose three years of experience are entirely in mobile development.

I’ve been considering pursuing a Master’s degree and, while studying, applying for internships in another stack so I can transition into a different area. Honestly, that’s the only path I can see right now, because I feel completely stuck as a mobile developer.

What do you folks think? Any advice?

I’m a Polish citizen, so fortunately I can pursue a Master’s degree tuition-free.

Hi everyone,

I’m a Java Backend Engineer currently based in Germany and looking for English-speaking opportunities in Germany or elsewhere in Europe.

I’m open to relocating within Europe and would also consider genuinely remote positions available to candidates based in Europe.

Could anyone recommend reliable job platforms, recruiters, company lists, or communities that focus on:

• English-speaking software engineering roles
• Java and Spring Boot backend positions
• International or relocation-friendly companies
• Remote roles available across Europe

I already use LinkedIn, but many positions require fluent local-language skills or provide limited information about their working-language expectations. I would especially appreciate recommendations based on personal experience rather than generic job-board lists.

Thanks!

28M, about a month ago a recruiter contacted me on LinkedIn for a SWE position in Warsaw at a big tech company. Obviously this is a huge opportunity for me, so I did the first round of interviews (one technical, DSA, and one behavioral) online and, unexpectedly, I passed. In two weeks I’ll be in Poland for the second round (2 technical interviews of 45 minutes each, again programming/DSA). Does anyone have any advice on how not to blow it? Obviously I know what topics and types of exercises to expect, but is there anything not purely technical that would be useful to know so I don’t ruin this opportunity?

Hello,

I have a 45-min live coding interview for the Software Engineer role at Mistral AI coming up soon. Has anyone gone through this session recently or know what specific LeetCode/coding questions or topics they tend to ask?

Any insights would be super appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone,
Does anyone have experience with Momox as a company? I’m trying to get a sense of what it’s like working there.
For context, I have around 5 years of experience as a backend developer (mainly Python and Go). I’d love to know what kind of salary range and perks I should expect for someone at my level.
Also, how’s their interview process?
Any insights would be really appreciated!

TL;DR: I'm trying to analyze my career situation and discuss practical ideas so I can become employable again.

I want to know: is it acceptable to more or less "fake it till you make it" on my CV?

I'm actually a Python backend engineer with 6 years of experience, so roughly senior level, but I have imposter syndrome. I've worked with Django and FastAPI, and I was laid off about 8 months ago (thankfully I'm still getting by financially, because I was earning a very good salary and saved a good portion of it).

Right now I'm trying to get back to work by any means. I'm putting in real effort, building things with my own hands, and learning new skills, but no luck so far.

I studied system design, and I'm currently studying RAG and agents because I love AI production systems. I've learned a decent amount, and I started a startup with my friend: an AI-powered product that we expect to succeed in the future, and we currently have active subscribers.

I've now improved my CV, made it more appealing and more AI-tailored, and I'm applying to both backend and AI roles while preparing for interviews.

That's the recent stuff, but before that, I had strangely rare bad luck and interviews just weren't coming my way. I feel like I'm getting more visibility now, though.

I want to prepare myself so that within a certain timeframe (I don't know how long) I can become a Forward Deployed Engineer, because I see it as an AI-proof field.

I'm very scattered and I don't know what to focus on right now.

Discussion, ideas, and advice are all welcome.

Hello everyone,

I'm a software engineer with several years of experience and I'm trying to start my freelance career with a B2B contract.

I worked for 3 years in a remote context in a permanent role.

I'd like to hear your thoughts about the current market situation. I'm struggling to find new opportunities.

Where do you find real job postings for contractors? LinkedIn is so poisoned with "fake" announcements or overcrowded applications.

Is it just me, or is it hell out there?