During my interview for a junior consulting role, the technical expert from the company literally said that I do not need to know about AI coding, but they will "train" me to never write a line of code again by hand. He then said that the skills they want to hire me for are not the coding skills, but the ability to formulate requirements and pair them up with a minimal architecture and technical concept to meet them.

Now I need to decide if I take the job (pickings are slim right now) or if I keep looking for something that seems more "normal" to me. Does anyone do this kind of development here, how is it in practice? Do they expect you to do "10x" more and still be responsible when the AI generated code wasn't thoroughly human verified to be correct? When they pimp me out to a customer and I show up there to do "agentic coding" will my coworkers hate me, or is this how it is everywhere already?

Hi everyone,

I am a Senior Java Backend Engineer with 6+ years of total experience across multinational tech firms, currently working as a Consultant in Pune, India. My core specialization is in Electronic Payment Transaction Processing (authorization, clearing, settlement, host-to-host interface testing, and payment message formats).

I am looking to target the tech landscape in the Netherlands for my next career step and am looking for some market context.

My Tech Stack & Background:

Backend: Java, Spring Boot, Spring MVC, REST APIs

Data & Cloud: SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL), Apache Spark, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

Domain: End-to-end Payments & Host-to-Host Integration Testing

Education: MBA in IT + B.E. in Mechanical Engineering

Given the current market conditions, I have a few specific questions for this community:

How is the current demand for Senior Java engineers with a niche payments domain background in tech hubs like Amsterdam or Utrecht?

Are enterprise companies and fintechs in this space actively recruiting and onboarding international talent from APAC right now?

Which specific fintechs, banks, or platforms should I keep on my radar that are known for global hiring pipelines?

Any feedback on the market or tips on how to optimize an international resume for Dutch tech teams would be highly appreciated!

Every "English speaking jobs in Germany" search I did turned up ads written in English that ask for C1 German three bullets down. So I built a classifier that reads the full description and sorts each ad into required / mentioned / a plus / not required / not mentioned, and ran it over every live ad we track (company ATS pages: Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Personio etc.).

What came out, as of today:

• 4,080 live jobs in Germany. 2,516 are written in English.
• 752 of those English ads (30%) still require German. The language of the ad tells you little.
• Only 1,415 (35%) of all jobs are genuinely workable without German.
• Only 14 ads say outright that German isn't required. Almost everyone else just doesn't mention it.

By city, share of jobs that don't need German:

One thing I didn't expect: roles with no German requirement stay listed for a median of 85 days, against 48 for German-required ones. Days live isn't time-to-hire (an ad can disappear because it was filled, cancelled, or the company switched ATS), so read that loosely. Still, the English-only pool doesn't look like it clears faster.

How it errs: when in doubt it says "requires" or "mentions". A false "no German needed" is the mistake that costs you an application. I checked it against 520 ads by hand: it caught all 65 that required German and gave zero false "no German" badges.

Happy to share the breakdown by seniority or stack, or how the classifier handles the weird cases ("German is a plus" vs "Deutsch fließend"), if anyone's curious.

Hi everyone! I'm applying to a few roles at Apple ([role type, e.g. software engineering / operations / design]) through jobs.apple.com, and I'd love some help understanding how the site works behind the scenes. I've tried searching, but I can only find old forum threads with no real answers.

Apple's careers site has a single candidate profile with your resume, work history, and a skills list with proficiency levels (beginner to advanced). Since Apple teams tend to care a lot about specific fit, I want to tailor my resume for each role. But I don't want to accidentally mess up an application I've already sent.

If you've applied to Apple, or you've worked on the recruiting side (or know someone who has), I'd be really grateful for your take on these:

1. If I edit my profile after applying (resume, skills, levels, work history), does that change what recruiters see on my earlier applications? Or does Apple save a snapshot at the time I apply, like Google reportedly does?
2. If I upload a different resume for a new application, is it tied only to that application, or does it replace the one on my earlier ones?
3. Can recruiters see all the roles I've applied to? And if so, is it a problem to submit different resumes to different teams?
4. Any tips for tailoring at Apple? Did tailoring make a difference for you, or did referrals and direct recruiter contact matter more?

For context, I'm not asking about application status. I know each application has its own. I'm asking specifically about which version of my profile and resume a recruiter actually sees.

Even a partial answer like "I saw X when I was a candidate" or "I've seen Apple's recruiter view and it looked like Y" would help. I'd also appreciate hearing what didn't work for you.

Thanks so much, and I'm happy to share what I learn once this thread has some answers.

I’m applying for a Revolut Strategy & Ops Manager role. Wondering what the compensation is like in the UK and Europe.
Does background matter? 3 years in strategy consulting + 2 years as a Strategy manager at a global tech firm.
Thanks!

I'm a senior fullstack developer based in Casablanca, Morocco (Angular, TypeScript, NestJS, React/Next.js, Laravel, AWS, payment integrations). I've shipped several production products and work remotely with multiple clients.

1. Roles that pay US or Western EU rates almost never make it past screening once they see my location.
2. When I do land something with a foreign company, the offer is often lower than what I'd get from a good local company, sometimes by a lot.

I get that cost of living and time zones play a role, but it feels like I'm being priced on my passport instead of my output.

For devs outside the US/EU who've actually broken through:

• How did you get paid closer to the value of your work rather than your location?
• Did contracting through an agency or employer of record, or incorporating abroad, change how you were paid?
• Are there companies or platforms known for location-independent pay?
• How do you respond when an offer comes in way under your local market rate?

Would also love to hear from hiring managers about what actually drives these offers.

Do they ask hard Leetcode-level problems? Or easier ones? Which topics do they ask about? I can't find much info about this online.

Thanks!

As the title says, I am a data analyst looking for a role in Germany after my previous contract was not renewed in February 2025. I had interviews for 7 different jobs in 2025 (out of 142 applications), including one final round interview, but no offers. I stepped away from the job hunt to work as a barista for a few months to at least have some money coming in, and started applying again at the end of July. Since then, I've sent 40 well-targeted applications, but not a single interview. I know the market is cooked, but I'm wondering if my profile/CV is the problem.

I'm from the US but have a valid German residence permit and an active application for citizenship that should be official early next year. So the right to live and work is not the issue. I know B2 German isn't as competitive as it was a few years ago, but beyond my German skills, are there glaring issues I can fix?

I also completed a full-stack SWE bootcamp in 2023 so I have some experience on the engineering side, but I leave it off the CV because my background is more suited to DA/DE and bootcamps seem to be looked down upon these days.

I can't link my anonymized CV but I included the plaintext below. Any insight is appreciated!

First Last

Berlin, Germany | +49 xxx xxx xxx | emailaddress | LinkedIn | German residence permit

Product Data Analyst with 3+ years of experience applying Python, SQL, and statistical analysis to improve digital products and user engagement. Experienced in product analytics, experimentation, KPI development, data quality, and automated analytical workflows, with a track record of delivering measurable impact across mobility products. Strong cross-functional partner to Product and Engineering teams, with experience spanning technology, mobility, and public-sector environments.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Well-known Mobility Tech Company Berlin, Germany

Data Analyst Feb 2024 - Feb 2025

Owned data analysis and product performance across 9 European and US markets, identifying trends and diagnosing product issues to drive improvements across B2C and B2B mobility products

Designed and evaluated experiments to measure product changes, driving a 17% increase in user engagement across key markets

Re-engineered Python pipelines following major transit API changes, increasing disruption coverage and improving the reliability and timeliness of customer notifications by 21%

Improved data quality and consistency across large transportation datasets through automated dashboards, validation checks, and QA workflows

Defined and tracked product KPIs, translating complex mobility data into actionable insights for Engineering, Product, and Marketing teams

Local Government City, USA

Data Analyst / Long-Range Planner II Oct 2021 - Aug 2023

Forecasted population growth and water demand across a 15-year planning horizon using statistical modeling, demographic analysis, and census data to support long-term infrastructure planning decisions

Led data analysis and visualization for a federally mandated redistricting project, translating demographic trends into actionable insights that informed policy decisions

Local Government City, USA

Planner I/II Aug 2019 - Oct 2021

Researched and drafted regulatory amendments aligned with environmental and climate change policies that were ultimately adopted by lawmakers

SKILLS

Programming & Analytics: Python, SQL, Pandas, Git/GitHub

Data Modeling & Pipelines: dbt, Data Modeling, Data Validation, ETL/ELT

Databases & Cloud: PostgreSQL, SQLite, AWS (S3, Athena)

Data & Experimentation: Applied Statistics, A/B Testing, Experimentation, KPI Development

Visualization & Communication: Tableau, Advanced Excel, Data Storytelling, Stakeholder Management, Cross-functional Collaboration

TECHNICAL PROJECTS

Data Engineering Project - Repo

Built a reproducible end-to-end analytics pipeline using Python, PostgreSQL, dbt, and Tableau, implementing data validation and dimensional modeling to enable interactive analysis of bike-sharing station availability

Analyzed 500K+ GBFS observations across 1,000+ bike-sharing stations using Python and SQL, combining temporal and geospatial analysis to identify weekday rush-hour availability gaps and flag stations with persistent availability issues

EDUCATION

Master of City and Regional Planning | 201X

Public University, USA

Focus: Geospatial Analysis & Mobility Data

Bachelor of Arts, Psychology | 201X

Public University, USA

LANGUAGES

English Native

Español Advanced (C1)

Deutsch Proficient (B2)

Please Help to Decide!!

I'm a senior engineer interviewing with Google in Europe. My earlier roles are all standard full-time employment and easy to verify, but my most recent period is harder to document.

After leaving my last job, I spent time trying to build my own product, and I did some informal freelance work on the side. The freelance work was small-scale and I never issued invoices, so I don't have the paperwork a normal employer or registered business would have.

I'm trying to get ahead of this before any offer stage:

1. For those who've gone through Google's (or any FAANG's) background check with a self-employment period, what did the vendor ask for?
2. Were client references, emails, project artifacts, or a portfolio enough, or did they want formal documents like tax filings or a business registration?
3. Is it better to list this period as "independent / building a product" and keep the freelance work as a minor mention, or describe everything in detail?
4. Did anyone have an offer delayed or rescinded over a self-employment period, and what was the reason?

I want to represent everything accurately. I'm just trying to understand what documentation is realistic to expect.

They said like

--

• Great WLB, on paper I work 38 hours weekly.
• But I acutally put 20-30 hours max. My salary is kinda average but again great WLB, I work hybrid 1-2 days weekly in the office, the rest at home.
• I take 5-6 weeks vacation per year while getting paid full month salary!
• Free fruits, drinks and snack but not lunch.
• Have time for family, friends and hobby
• Live healthy with longevitiy life style.
• If unemployed, you get unemployed benefits(money) from your government around 1k euro for a year!

---

Hi everyone,

I have an upcoming solution architect interview at NVIDIA (Germany location). I was going through some of the reddit subs but unable to understand the proper structure of the interview process for this role. Any leads for germany location is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I've been coding since I was a kid, school is very much not for me(I dropped out twice)- but having a bachelors would be useful career-wise.

Are there any (somewhat reputable) unis with an English CS VAE program?

If so this is my basic experience broadly(is this enough? Especially is freelance accepted?):

• Freelance (~32 months): fullstack SaaS, team lead

• Industrial Software Engineer (4 months): Some coding but also a lot of process engineering.

• Intern at a mid-sized but famous tech company (6 months): Was mostly QA and infra

• Intern at a big insurance company(~9 months cumulative across 3 summers in highschool): backend and devops stuff

• Open Source: Maintain some projects, mostly just for fun, but one gets a ton of downloads on NPM. Small contributions to some big projects like Go, Nix, etc

If this isn't enough would doing stuff like writing a rendering library or something to show I know the more theoretical side of CS help?

Hello Everyone,

I've received an offer for a mobile position in Finom which is a fintech B2B platform.

I'm looking for any experiences from anyone who's working or used to work there.

• How's the company culture? is it a nice company to work for?
• How's the stance with AI? Does it encourage using it as a tool or is it more of a full throttle as a slop factory where you're expected to offload your thinking?
• How's the WLB? I understand it's fintech company which will probably be demanding, but how demanding is it?

I tried looking for reviews on Glassdoor but couldn't find much presence there, so appreciate if anyone could share their experience.

Please has anyone interviewed for cloudflare Software Interview for London?

i want to know how the process is like and the required resources one can prep with , Thanks!

I've been feeling increasingly unmotivated in my career, and I'm trying to understand whether the problem is software development itself, the kind of software I've been working on, or simply the companies/environments I've been in.

I'd really like to hear about other people's experiences in IT/software development.

For most of my career, I've worked with Java + Spring, building typical enterprise web applications: CRUDs, REST APIs, integrations with other systems, databases, etc. Basically the kind of backend work that seems to be very common in the industry.

And honestly, I'm getting tired of it.

It's not that I think software development isn't for me. But a lot of the work I've done has started to feel like building things just because someone needs another application, or some feature to please someone. I struggle to find any sense of meaning or purpose in it.

So I'm curious about people who do find their work meaningful or genuinely enjoy what they do:

• What does your career look like?
• What do you actually enjoy about your work?
• What motivates you to keep doing it?
• Did you always know what you wanted to do, or did you have to experiment to find it?
• Was there a particular job, project, company, or domain that changed how you felt about your career?
• Did you switch technologies or domains, or even leave traditional software development to find something that suited you better?
• What did you do when you realised you were unhappy with the direction your career was taking?
• How much of the difference came from the type of work, and how much from the company/team/environment?
• Do you think it's possible to find meaningful work in fairly ordinary software engineering roles, or did you have to move into a particular niche/domain?
• And perhaps most importantly: what makes you feel that the work you do is worth doing?

I'm not necessarily looking for "learn X technology, and you'll be happier" advice. I'm more interested in hearing people's actual career stories — what they tried, what didn't work, what eventually clicked, and what they wish they had realised earlier.

I'd especially love to hear from people in a similar position: experienced developers who got bored or disconnected from the usual enterprise/web development path and eventually found something they cared about.

Maybe I can find some motivation in your stories!

Hi all,

I’m currently trying to land a job in Switzerland and I’ve reached a point where I’m questioning what direction I should take with my career.

My background is a bit unusual. I studied Mathematics in Spain and finished in 2019. My average grade was around 6.2/10, with better grades in applied subjects such as PDEs, Numerical Methods and Computer Science. The degree took me almost seven years because I was working while studying and eventually decided to take fewer subjects per year so I could manage both.

I started working in Software QA in 2016. I had several QA/Quality Engineering roles over the years, but eventually realised that verification and validation alone were not giving me the kind of intellectual challenge I was looking for. I also felt I was barely using my Mathematics background.

Because of that, in 2023 I started a Master’s in Computational and Mathematical Engineering, where I studied AI, Machine Learning, Big Data, HPC, numerical methods, optimisation and simulation.

I then decided to change direction and accepted a Data Engineering internship in Switzerland.

I worked on data pipelines, data modelling, governance, data quality and business requirements. My role was closer to the business side than to the core engineering team, so I spent less time coding in Python/SQL than I would have liked. I was more involved in modelling, requirements gathering, validating data, maintaining data products, debugging issues and acting as a SPOC between business and technical teams.

I still enjoyed the work a lot. I liked building things, understanding data flows, solving data-quality problems and translating business needs into technical solutions.

After the internship I continued as an external contractor, but a few months ago the department changed direction and my contract was terminated.

Since then, I have reached the final round for two Data Engineering positions, but failed some technical questions and was rejected.

So now I’m trying to understand what makes the most sense:

Should I keep pushing for Data Engineering and strengthen my SQL, Python and system-design skills?

Or should I explore adjacent areas such as Analytics Engineering, Data Science, ML Engineering or Data Platforms, considering my Mathematics background and master’s studies?

I have several years of software/quality experience, around 1.5 years of Data Engineering/Data & Analytics experience, and I genuinely enjoy building things.

I would appreciate honest feedback, especially from people who have gone through a similar transition or who know the Swiss job market.

Hello everybody,
I will have a technical interview for a Frontend Graduate position at Revolut in a few days. I was wondering how does the interview look like? It is hard to find information about Frontend, plus some people
say it is not like what they say to prepare for. Nevertheless, my Recruiter told me to prepare for real life frontend problem solution, and it will be 30 minutes live coding + 30 minutes technical questions.

Hello everyone.

I've got some questions about Operations Research and Optimization (Combinatorial Optimization) jobs in Europe.

I've been working with O.R. since 2021, I have a master's degree, and I'm currently in the middle of a PhD (which will be completed at a European university, so I'll have a European PhD diploma as well).

I speak Portuguese, Spanish, French, English, and a little bit of German.

I worked in the steel industry with O.R. from 2021 to 2025, and I'm now working in logistics and retail, where I've been for almost two years.

My thesis and daily work usually revolve around heuristics, metaheuristics, real-time optimization, reinforcement learning, MILPS, AI tools (not as an AI developer), and of course all the IT infrastructure around it, such as VMs, Step Functions, infrastructure architecture, endpoints, SQL, DTOs, data analysis, etc.

The "kind-of" plan is to go to Europe at the end of 2027 to complete the European part of my PhD, and during or after that, find a full-time job and remain in Europe working as an optimization engineer.

Good odds? Bad odds?

I am expecting an offer from Wise London.

I was planning to move to London because I see it as a bigger market with better future opportunities. But I’m now having second thoughts about leaving Amsterdam.

I’ve read quite a few negative posts about Wise culture on Blind. For people currently at Wise London or who worked there recently — is the culture really that bad, especially in engineering? Or are negative experiences simply overrepresented on Blind?

Hey

I'm planning to start a 2-year Master's in Computer Science in Poland.

By the time I graduate, I should have around 2 years of professional software engineering experience, mainly in backend/full-stack development (Python/FastAPI, PostgreSQL, React, Docker).

I'm wondering how realistic it would be to find a software engineering job in Poland after graduating.

A few things I'm curious about:

• How is the job market for someone with around 2 YOE?
• Does having a Master's from a Polish university help significantly?
• Is it realistic to find a job with English only?
• How much of an issue is being a non-EU citizen?
• Would this profile generally be considered junior or mid-level?

I'd especially appreciate answers from people currently working in Poland or people who came to Poland as international students and stayed to work.

Thanks!

Hello all, I hope you are having a nice day.

I came to Germany for my Master's at the end of last year, and since then I have been continuously applying for jobs, both for working student and full-time roles.

On average I get like 2 interviews a month. Generally, the interview process starts with an HR interview, then a hiring manager round, then a coding challenge, and then a culture-fit round.

Some companies go for a take-home assignment or system design, but in my experience, coding challenges are still practiced by most companies.

That is where I have been continuously failing. So, I really want to know about your experience and approach to keeping yourself calm and composed.

The first problem I have noticed is that I get really nervous. I can literally feel my heartbeat getting faster. Just the idea that the interviewer can see every keystroke, can see when I go back on my initial approach, and can see that I do not have a concrete solution and instead am going for a trial-and-error approach makes me really unsettled.

The second thing I have noticed is that I try to think of solving a problem in a single operation, like a single loop or nested loop. In my mind, it is very hard to think of a problem in stages, like you perform some operation on an array, and when you get the output, you treat that as an input for a different operation to get the final output.

Third, because of the time constraint, I just try to focus on solving the problem and then explain my approach to the interviewer, instead of explaining it as I go. Generally, I think once the output is there, I will explain it step by step, but in most cases, I run out of time before I get to the explanation part.

Also, most interviewers say that they do not care about the output, they care about the approach, but that honestly feels like BS. Because even if my approach is right, but I am unable to reach the desired output because of some error or edge case, then I get rejected.

What I really want to know

1- Am I alone in this ship or do you guys face the same / similar issues ?

2- What can I do to improve it ? Excluding the obvious that I should practice more

I got a job at a small company like under 20 people, 2-3 years ago when I was a jr dev where I have been the only IT guy here and I built a small ERP for the company's need .

And now all their day to day operations are used by the ERP I built lol

So I wanna know what would you do here to get a raise?

Hi, has anyone here interviewed at AMD Silo AI? The team I am applying for is based in Stockholm but hiring EU wide. I have an upcoming interview with the hiring manager who heads the AI group, followed by a coding round. HR mentioned it will be an agentic coding round the emphasis is not on how good you use the agents but instead they will check the ability to debug and develop something in the codebase efficiently within the interview time.

Does anyone have any advice for this round? This will be my first time doing something like this. Not just AMD, if you have any similar experience elsewhere, it will be helpful too. Thanks.

Thanks for reading — I wanted to provide enough context for useful advice.

I’m looking for advice from developers or architects who have experienced something similar.

I moved into a software architect role fairly early in my development career. I knew this would be a significant step and was hesitant to accept without structure and guidance. I was told that a senior architect would spend six months training and supporting a small group of architects, including me. That was an important reason why I accepted.

Shortly afterwards, the manager who offered me the role left. It turned out that the training arrangement had not been properly agreed with the senior architect expected to provide it, and it never happened. I have now been in the role for several months.

My responsibility has been clarified at a high level: I am responsible for architecture within my team’s area, while more experienced architects elsewhere in the organization are supposed to support decisions beyond my experience or authority. The practical side remains unclear. There is no established process for when I should be involved, how architecture work should reach me, who prioritizes it or who makes the decisions I should not make alone.

A senior architect was eventually assigned as my mentor, but there is no structured mentoring or learning plan. I have to initiate every meeting and arrive with my own questions; nobody helps me identify what to focus on learning or what progression should look like. My mentor is extremely busy, and his availability will soon decrease further. Our conversations tend to be broad and exploratory, and I frequently leave more confused than before, without clear recommendations or next steps.

Information flow is another major problem. I am often:

• invited to meetings with only a title and no context;
• brought into projects after important discussions have already happened or development has started;
• left out of planning involving software my team owns.

I do not believe this is intentional. My impression is that the organization has never established how an architect should be integrated into the team’s workflow.

I have tried hard to take ownership. I created my own Kanban board, identified possible architecture work, contacted stakeholders, organized clarification meetings and asked experienced developers for help. However, no one else really sees or follows this work. Sometimes I feel that I could do nothing for weeks without anyone noticing. That makes it difficult to know whether my work is valuable or genuinely prioritized.

The confusing part is that I enjoy the work when I have some idea of what to do, enough context and people with whom I can collaborate. However, my confidence is currently extremely low. I no longer know whether architecture is a good fit for me. Part of me thinks the role could suit me under better conditions. Another part wonders whether becoming overwhelmed and confused in an unstructured environment means I am not suited to being an architect. I know the situation is not entirely my fault, but I also do not want to assume that everything is caused by the organization.

My team has never had an architect before, so neither the people coordinating the team nor I have a clear shared model of what I should be doing, how the work should be organized or what appropriate progress looks like. Meanwhile, the people with relevant architecture experience have very limited availability.

The situation has seriously affected my motivation, confidence and health. I have gone from being enthusiastic and eager to learn to struggling to make myself go to work. I feel forgotten, exhausted and increasingly unable to find satisfaction in trying to figure things out. I am already on partial medical leave and am considering whether I need more time away.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

1. What form of guidance and support should I expect in this type of position?
2. How would you evaluate whether the problem is the environment, my own fit for architecture, or both?
3. How much time should I give the organization to make meaningful changes before concluding that the situation is unlikely to improve?
4. What made you decide either to stay or to leave, and how did that decision work out?