I really am grateful to be a software engineer.

Being a software engineer here in my country really is wonderful. We're very short on software engineering and IT professionals, so we could quite easily make 2 to 4, even 5 times average salary, and most of us don't even have to worry about getting fired because we can quite easily get a new job in a matter of weeks.

I'm really, really grateful. And I intend to give back to the community by enabling those without access to formal education in IT to learn a bit about software engineering by sharing my knowledge freely in my blog. I hope I can keep consistent in this. Wish me luck!

So the only question that is left: Where are you from?😅

@OnlyBytes
"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" :D

@okkimus That's where the magic happens...😂

@OnlyBytes @NoMad I live in Jakarta, Indonesia. I don't know that much about migrating here, but some unicorn startups and corporations offer relocation and visa assistance for international hires. For expats, the numbers can go wayyy higher, I believe.

@NoMad the general quality of life, I guess? Living here is stressful with the ridiculous traffic, pollution, generally lacking public services, and the recently arising racism and extremism issues.

Also, though you're paid multiples of the average wage, you can make even more overseas in Singapore or Australia (the average monthly wage here is about US$400, while the minimum wage is about US$250). I have a friend who lives in Singapore and makes US$3700 a month, he can save more than twice my monthly net income.

@NoMad
Its the same thing in Australia.

There is a shortage of programmers and general IT proficiency here in the workplace.

@NoMad
And I recently got a job in Sydney quite quickly.

What are you looking for? Maybe I know someone

@NoMad the description sounds good indeed - earning 2-5x more money than the average, but that's only possible in shitty countries.

In my home country I was making more than 10x the average income when I decided to pack and leave.

Why was I making so much money? I wasn't. Everyone else was making next to nothing. I was a freelancer on long term contracts, paid 15$ per hour, which is 2400$ per month. When I left my country, the average income was around 180$ per month.

Having a huge discrepancy between IT and the rest is an indicator that the country is crap, because IT income often comes from international collaboration, with standard fees.

I'd rather be a modest earner in a country where people are respected, and happy, than be rich in a country where every day in people's lives are filled with stress and hatred.

Australia is one of the best places to be right now. Too bad finding a lucrative contract is hard, but trust me - living in crappy countries is much harder.

@NoMad
Nice.

What do you specialise/enjoy the most?

Can you do embdedded c? Worked with payments gateways? Nodejs/asp/cloud skills?

Do you think of yourself as a frontend/backend or fullstack developer?

No kidding. Somewhere over the rainbow where 🦄 are flying 🙄

@NoMad :) I feel like you really need a 1-2 week visit in my home country, for some perspective.

But yeah, there are places on Earth that look rich, but have poor infrastructure. A famous example is the lack of any good public transportation system in the US (which is why everybody uses cars).

But where would you be then?
The least conservative laws are probably somewhere in Denmark or Sweden, but the startup scene (where IT is most welcome) isn't very bright there. Berlin so far is my choice, but it's quite volatile here - real estate prices are rising fast, laws are quite conservative and hard on business (it's nearly impossible to fire someone after their trial period, so there are quite a few professional slackers in the less-ambitious branches of business).
London should be even more volatile (Brexit), but its a financial capital so FinTech startups are blooming there. Not sure about San Francisco, it's expensive to be there, and there are lots of Cali people coming to Europe.

@fyzrn The skills shortage is common across our region (South-East Asia).

There are plenty of jobs, and a shortage of people to fill them. I attend meetups and hackathons to find half of the number of attendees made up of expats.

@NoMad
Sounds like you can literally just apply for any junior role then. Most places that see you have 1.5 years of experience and still junior would hire you quite quickly.

@fyzrn
If you are SE, answer this.

Difference between Software dev and software engineer