PHP programmer moving to Greece

[wesley_nl]

Dear readers,

This summer i am moving to Thessaloniki to live with my long time friend. As PHP programmer in Laravel i am trying to get myself going in Greece.

Does somebody have any tips for me? Mostly i'm looking for a job within my field of experience which is detailed in my CV which is attached to this post. 

Is it hard to find a PHP job? 

is freelancing possible?

I do have Dutch connections to find work but would like to work with the Greek as well. Some of my previous employers are looking for Greek programmers as it seems to be cheaper for them. Maybe we can work something out on this regard.

I am quite new to Greece so any help is welcome!

Thanks in advance!!

wesly_van_aalst_resume.pdf

[masteripper]

Just don't do it.... unless you have extremely good connections...here is the programmers graveyard... especially to Thessaloniki which has being declared dead over 10 years... Athens at least has some jobs (mostly fake) 

Unless you love the idea of working for around 600-700€ while having much more work than simple development...

Here in Greece most IT are Devops meaning that they do everything..from hefty programming to server maintenance...to VMware administration...to fixing the boss's daughter iPhone ....😀😀😀

Επεξ/σία 28 Αυγούστου 2019 από masteripper

[wesley_nl]

13 minuten geleden zei de kapitein

Doe het gewoon niet. ... tenzij je extreem goede connecties hebt ... hier is het programmeerkerkhof.

@masteripper

Thanks for the quick reply. I understand what you are trying to say.

Here in the Netherlands a solid dutch programmer makes around 65 euro each hour in freelance and around 100 each hour when in fixed positions.

I have connections within the freelance business in the Netherlands, might it be an idea to advert those jobs in Greece?

[masteripper]

Here we go the opposite..

We get around 5 -7€ per hour and when an opportunity pop-ups for 20€ /h(freelancing) we are considering ourselves very very lucky persons...😀😀😀😀

[donblunts]

Καριέρα... Στου χαντάκι...

Wesley, if you are not ready to lower your salary standards, don't bother sending a resume.
 

[alexb_10]

re, don't listen to them.

Come and you will love it here!

[vadou]

Hey mate. Hope you have a great time here.

It's not hard to get a PHP job. Freelancing will be a little harder, considering you have no connections here.
Things are not so bad as masteripper claims. As a PHP developer with 5y+ experience, I am guessing your income would be somewhere around 13k - 20k (net) depending on the company and your quality.

If I were you, I would use my nl connections to try and land a remote job there with a gross salary 50k - 60k. That would leave you with about 30k (net) which is a lot more than most of Greek companies would pay.

Enjoy the sun responsively! 😛
 

Επεξ/σία 28 Αυγούστου 2019 από vadou

[tolhc1234]

16 ώρες πριν, vadou είπε

Enjoy the sun responsively!

Is this a pun or what?

[masteripper]

2 λεπτά πριν, tolhc1234 είπε

Is this a pun or what?

I guess he refers to the sun protection...SPF 50+ .....

[prometheas]

Come and live your myth in Greece !1

Seriously speaking, you will need to adjust your salary and career expectations taking into consideration the overall economic conditions in οur country. 

(Mπας και είναι ακόμα ένα από τα θρυλικά insomnia hoaxes ? Να προμηθευτώ πατακάκια τουλάχιστον...)

 

[vadou]

11 ώρες πριν, tolhc1234 είπε

Is this a pun or what?

Haha, nope didn't do it on purpose. He is mostly back-end anyway so I couldn't have thought it. Nice catch though xD

[ajaxmonkey4hire]

Στις 28/8/2019 στις 3:24 ΠΜ, wesley_nl είπε

Dear readers,

This summer i am moving to Thessaloniki to live with my long time friend. As PHP programmer in Laravel i am trying to get myself going in Greece.

Does somebody have any tips for me? Mostly i'm looking for a job within my field of experience which is detailed in my CV which is attached to this post. 

Is it hard to find a PHP job? 

is freelancing possible?

I do have Dutch connections to find work but would like to work with the Greek as well. Some of my previous employers are looking for Greek programmers as it seems to be cheaper for them. Maybe we can work something out on this regard.

I am quite new to Greece so any help is welcome!

Thanks in advance!!

wesly_van_aalst_resume.pdf 1 MB · 58 downloads

You could also use your connections in the Netherlands, get projects from there, round up some programmers in Greece who are way cheaper than their counterparts in the Netherlands, do the project management, and make some money while still paying your Greek colaborators above the local average.

 

[t(o.ot)]

9 ώρες πριν, ajaxmonkey4hire είπε

You could also use your connections in the Netherlands, get projects from there, round up some programmers in Greece who are way cheaper than their counterparts in the Netherlands, do the project management, and make some money while still paying your Greek colaborators above the local average.

This is the best advice one can give you to solve your problem. Working in Greece will not only require you to adjust your salary and career expectations, but also most probably require you to adapt to a working environment that you will find at least challenging.

It is not uncommon to be expected to work unpaid overtime, deliver requirements before unrealistic deadlines and never get any appreciation from your line manager. While working for larger organisations will not be as bad, being located in Thessaloniki will mean that your options will be quite limited.

I would advise you to consider working remotely for Dutch (or other foreign) companies and focus on building a network of developers that you will initially collaborate with, with the prospect of building your own agency that will target contracts from abroad. 

In any way, learn Greek as quickly as possible.

Good luck!

Επεξ/σία 31 Αυγούστου 2019 από t(o.ot)