I am trying to figure out if I should move to booking.com Amsterdam office with 6 years of experience in Microsoft and Senior position role. 1. How will be the growth in next 5 years? 2. How much total compensation I can expect? 3. Lifestyle change compared to Seattle? 4. Role I can expect?
Amsterdam sky is grey like Seattle. The women there are hotter and lots of blondes.
With very very long legs. Summer here is a total leg fest
Although none of them will even consider you with this sexist attitudw
1. The forecast is good for the industry, travel is expected to grow and we have great projects to take over an even bigger slice of the cake (we’re already no. 1 but we’re not in the comfort zone). Depending on your skills, expect to grow with us. 2. AMS, although being expensive, have a completely different reality, I would risk saying, with little to no information about your current situation, that you will have a more austere lifestyle and will not save as much money as you do nowadays. If you land on a Core position (likely from your YOE) expect around 90k TC (that is including bonus) and mind the 50ish% our lovely government takes away from you in taxes ;) 3. I don’t know much about Seattle, and all of the changes you will make in your life can be seen as positive by some, negative by others. I personally love the city, the culture, the company but hate the food and the climate. I’m not from the US, tho. 4. If you are really really good you can try a Senior position, but with 6 YOE is likely that you would join as a Core Dev.
What do you mean here by Senior position? On a side note, what's the upper range for Senior Software Developer role. I was offered around 78k + some performance based bonus. After seeing the tax rate, I am not sure about the offer. Does booking follow the 30% rule, which will ensure that I am only taxes for 70% of my salary?
It’s not Booking’s deal, but government deal. But yes, Booking will help you get your 30% tax ruling and you will most likely benefit from it.
Thanks @MSDee for the elaborate answer. This helped me in deciding I am not missing out :P My perspective in case someone is looking for more details. Comparison is with Microsoft in Seattle Pros of Booking- - Easier travel to other european countries - You also get some discount on travel bookings - Amsterdam has more hot girls? And may be boys :P (As mentioned by others) Cons of booking- - More focus on business as compared to tech at higher level - Hard to get into higher levels (senior dev) and in core team - Lesser total compensation
A few things MSDee missed, you get ruling 30% for 5 years which makes your net increase by ~20%. In addition buying a house here is a breeze, you can do it around 2 months after you arrive. I've been in Seattle, if you enjoy quiet, multicultural and 300 festivals per year, Amsterdam will be a good fit for you.
How is the immigration policy there for non EU citizens? I heard they love refugees. Do they welcome high skilled immigrants?
I don’t mention the 30% ruling because it’s not a guaranteed benefit, nor provided by the company.
TC is ridiculously small compared to US. Company started stagnating. BE development is still in Perl. Imagine management that can be the cause of forcing using Perl... You got the idea. Management sucks. Promotion process is based on whispers (they call it feedback).
May i ask how you manage to get an offer in amsterdam? Did they contact you via linked in or did you apply for positions in amsterdam. I am also looking to work in europe for few years and was wondering how to land a job in europe from seattle.
I had offer with both before moving to Seattle and I was thinking if Amsterdam would have been a better choice. I chose compensation and better work opportunities over travel opportunities.
Amsterdam is good, if you want a free ticket and visa for europe is very good option. In personal, professional, and economic growth you will loose a lot. Bad managers at all levels up to ceo, and very old tech stack is not helping.
Check glassdoor reviews
I’m only going to answer 3. Life in Amsterdam is great. Gorgeous city and it’s easy to have a healthy lifestyle here because you’ll likely be biking everywhere and the food is very high quality. You’ll lose quite a bit of weight. Average temperatures are a bit lower, but no extremes. Small shops, bars and cafes everywhere, so you’ll be able to enjoy your free time. In terms of healthcare, you should expect to be surprised. If you go to the doctor’s they’ll just tell you to go back home and rest unless it’s a serious problem. That may sound awful to you, but you’ll quickly get used to it and you’ll soon notice that despite this nonchalant attitude towards medicine, the Dutch are very healthy (even the older ones).
High quality food and small shops, bars and cafes are true for Seattle too.
@IT_Guy_14 ... tell me more about AMS. Does the weather ever get to you? Do you have children?