What To Consider When Choosing Your Next Work Destination In Europe

In our earlier posts, we’ve told you how to find a job in Europe as a software engineer. In this article, we’d like to focus on the key points to consider when choosing your work destination in the EU.

Work Environment

By this we mean a lot of things starting from your expectations and requirements (a comfy office, flexible work hours, high-speed, broadband Internet, etc.) to people working with you. It’s worth taking the time to do a web search and learn as much as possible about your potential employer. You should be confident that the company has the potential to grow and can reward you according to your expertise.

Another key point to consider is how much effort the company puts into creating comfortable working conditions for the team. As a software developer, you are sure to find a well-paid IT job in Europe (see average wages of programmers working internationally), but money isn’t everything. In addition to exploring new opportunities and experiences, working in a comfortable and well-equipped office environment definitely would be a nice bonus. The more you know about the company and your target city/country,  the less likely you’re to get disappointed with your choice afterwards.

Language

It goes without saying that the knowledge of the language of the country you’re going to work in is important. In fact, It’s a major factor that determines how good you’ll be at the position you’re applying to and how well you’ll get by with the people working with you. English’s long become a de-facto standard for the IT industry and if you speak English, you can expect to be placed in just about any European country. For those who speak even a smattering of German, there are a slew of IT jobs in Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Hamburg, and Frankfurt that you can apply to right now. There’s no lack of software engineering jobs in the EU, and the more languages you know, the wider range of countries to relocate to you can choose from!

Weather

Though this might be less important than knowing the language, for example, or finding a comfortable workplace with a friendly team, considering the overall climate of the country where you plan to work and live can help in choosing your next work destination in Europe. If you love the idea of working in a city near the beach and a hot environment doesn’t seem all that bad to you, consider vacancies in Portugal, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, etc. In case you want to escape the heat and would rather live in a more peaceful and tranquil place without crowds that are typical of the southern part of Europe, look for tech jobs in Germany, Croatia, Austria, or Switzerland. The UK and Ireland are a good option too. These countries offer an influx of jobs for multilinguals and will be an easy start for those who know English well and want to perfect the language. Northwestern Europe is a bit colder in winter, but summers there are nice and warm.

Cost of Living

Living in the EU is expensive, but not that expensive considering the standard and quality of living there. In general though, no matter what country you choose to relocate to, your expenses will largely depend on your lifestyle requirements and where you decide to live – in a spacious, fully furnished apartment in the city center or a small one-bed flat in the suburbs. To give you an idea of how much money you need to live comfortably in Europe, here are a few numbers: you should expect to pay €1000+ per month on rent and utility bills, 24% − 42% of your income will go on taxes, food and drink will cost you €150-200, whereas social life may cost around €50 to €200, or more depending on whether you plan to travel, what places you will visit and what you will do in your free time.

As you can see, the decision to move abroad shouldn’t be taken lightly – there are many things to think about in addition to the factors we’ve mentioned in this post. That said, don’t waste too much time too because while you’re thinking wavering between options, someone might already be applying to your dream developer job somewhere in Europe. Remember, the cost of missed opportunities is extremely high!