Software Engineers

Hello everyone,

Serious question to all you computer science majors and software engineers in general.

In advance, let me request that you please be serious about your answers.

About me:
Software Engineer, Full Stack
Location: Seattle
Year of experience: 5
Miscellaneous: Married w/ kids

My question(s):
What are your plans?
I have been looking at companies in Monterrey and Mexico City. Some look alright, particularly Wizeline, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nearsoft. I can't find any others.

What are your expectations in terms of salary?
I can't quite equate or translate my current pay to pesos. That is, I am unaware of what would be a good salary or a bad salary. Mexico city seems to range anywhere from 8k-35k (pesos) monthly for software engineers or as they call them, desarrolladores.

When do you plan to start looking/applying?

Housing
Home prices definitely do not seem to correlate to the salaries. Mexico city is super expensive with houses even listing on dollars. I primarily focused my search around neighborhoods where criminality rates aren't as high.

Canada
Have any of you successfully applied for Canadian work authorization?
How did it go?

Please feel free to share any other ideas that you may be contemplating. Again, please just be real. This is a very important subject for me, specifically since I fear not only for my career, but for the effect that such a radical change might bring to my loved ones.

Thank you.

You have a family to take care of, so my choices might not apply to you, but this is what I plan for myself.

My current plan is to marry my girlfriend, but if that doesn't happen for one reason or another I plan to apply for the Canadian and/or Australian Residency. My country doesn't pay Software Engineers very well and there is too much corruption, so going back is not an option.

In terms of housing/salary I will take something close to what I get right now because those countries are just as expensive as California.

I have briefly checked both the Australian and Canadian sites and I do qualify according to their point systems, but haven't officially applied.

Since you are looking at big companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, etc with worldwide presence I would try to get in while you are in the U.S and later seek a transfer because leaving the country and then trying to apply would be too risky, especially since you have a family to provide for. Those companies are highly competitive and you know what they say, it is not about what you know, but who you know .

did u do coding bootcamp?

Bachelors of Engineering
But dont let the diploma impress you. Only about half my co workers have CS Degrees. As long as you can crack the interview, you can get a software engineering job. Leetcode all the way

My general suggestion right now would be to move into a 1bdrm hovel somewhere far away from Seattle (oh.. Tacoma?) and squirrel away all that you can. If you can put way 50k in the next year then that'll set you up for a comfortable year abroad while you look for remote positions, etc.

I have no plans for leaving the US. I don't know why you're making these plans.

What you mean. I can't really sit still. Specially given that we don't have any clear deadline or due date for when something will happen.

One can't really say, oh, i'll stay a year cause I know the next president will set us straight. That's not really guaranteed, so in the process of waiting, you might actually end up trashing your career.

Having a family to take care of makes it even more difficult. Mortgage, Kids expenses [pre-school specially], car loan, etc.

I don't know. I am not going to deny that I have thought about just staying and dropping my career. But I love what I do. And it would certainly go against that saying of "There is one thing they can't away from me, my education/career".

What are your plans?

I think his plans are finding a Vietnamese-American wife.

Who is saying anything about dropping your career? DACA is not being cancelled.

Until then, you make more money in the States. TC = 300k. Try find one in Mexico. You can't. So while I am making that much, you are going to be making 100k or less? Let's stay in the States then move back in the worst case.