Comment by GuiA | Hacker News Reader

Comment by GuiA | Hacker News Reader

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And then you have all the French engineers currently moving to Silicon Valley because a $1XXk salary working for a world known tech company is more interesting than 30k € working for an SSII where you'll have a chain of 10 MBAs above you, or applying to companies that won't even look at your resume unless your degree is certified by the CTI, even if you're probably a better engineer than 90% of their employees.

Well, that's what I did anyway. Part of me wishes I could have the career fulfillment I currently have back in France, to give back to the system that made me (l'École de la République, what a beautiful dream!), but sadly that's not possible. Oh well, that's what the UK expats are for, right?

I am not saying whether the European system is better or far worse, just explaining why our systems permit free studies easily.

France is clearly lacking of interesting jobs (SII) in IT, expect research maybe. Europe is also far from having a perfect society, but nothing is black or white, just gray.

I was working only few weeks ago in Hong-Kong for the biggest French bank in HFT and had a decent salary as a graduated. Hong-Kong follows the US style. I was asked to move to NY for 1XXk but finally opted for a life in Sweden for many other reasons. Anyway, I did my research about NY. With the 1XXk in NY, you must pay a 3000$ * 12 rent (36k) for a 40m², put 1/3 for a future retirement and in case of a terrible health problem (30k$). When you get children, you must pay everything by your own, like fees for 2 children = 15000$ * 2 (30k$). Plus you work 30% hours more, hence make 30% more per hour. Statistically, Americans are richer, so it must be interesting to move there especially when single. It highly depends on your life style and your expected work-life balance.

Yup. SF is the same as NYC. I ran the calculations a while back, and for my lifestyle I've found out that it's hugely advantageous to work in the bay area until I have kids, and then move back to Europe when I do (unless I'm crazy successful and have a high net worth).

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