From Ukraine to the USA - Alexander Fedorov, Silicon Valley Developer
I moved from Ukraine to the USA in 2013. I have been working in the field of programming since 2007, and for three years before moving I was a leading developer with a good salary. He graduated from the Kiev Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Applied Mathematics and at the same time completed a Bachelor's degree in Finance. After graduating from university, I got a job at a small robotic company from New York to trade in the stock market. And then he worked at Google for EPAM for five years.
First time in San Francisco, June 2013. It has already become clear that the path will not be easy
Why did you decide to leave your country
Before, my family and I spent a lot of time in Spain, and I was seriously thinking about moving there. But the deeper we studied the issue of moving, the more opportunities opened up for us. For example, one could work remotely from Spain for a Ukrainian company or move to Luxembourg. But we refused these options for financial reasons: remote work from Spain for a Ukrainian company meant that we would be tied to the hryvnia exchange rate and the dollar's surges, and life in Luxembourg would be too expensive. In addition, it is very difficult to obtain citizenship in Luxembourg.
Of course, while working for American companies, I considered moving to the United States.
Previously, I twice tried to get a visa on my own, but I was refused all the time.
First, I was interviewed by a company in Chicago. To move, it was necessary to issue an H1B nonimmigrant work visa, which is issued to foreign specialists. But the process of relocation by the host company was poorly organized, and a lot of worries fell on my shoulders. Therefore, I understood that help from the company is an important component of relocation.
Several factors influenced my final decision:
- the employing company was engaged in issuing the Green Card a year after the start of work;
- in my country, first one revolution happened, then the second. I myself am from Crimea, and my wife is from Donetsk;
- more and more familiar entrepreneurs gradually left for other countries and transferred their business there;
- EPAM provided an opportunity for employees to relocate to their offices in other countries. I was offered a job in California - I just had to agree and successfully pass an interview with an EPAM client. The company fully organized my move to the USA, provided support, so this option seemed to me the easiest move.
My decision was supported by my parents and close people. But then I did not know that in the new place everything would not be the same as in Ukraine, where I had no financial problems. Now I would have acted completely differently. But then I was "on the chain" - I did not have the opportunity to change the company, but I also could not earn more in this place. In fact, the company determined my fate to the extent that it could send me back to Ukraine if it could not keep me busy.
How to get a job in the USA
You need to understand that the American employer must have a serious motive to hire a specialist from another country and transport him. Competition in the United States is already tough, and there is no need to spend resources on organizing a move for a local employee. In addition, a foreign specialist must be fluent in English. Therefore, for the representatives of India, for example, it is easier to find a job - they speak English since childhood. I was lucky because I was working on a project for a bank from England, and I often had to communicate with the British.
I passed all interviews remotely. First there was an interview with HR from the local EPAM office, and then with a representative from the California office.
I was half an hour late for the first interview - I was in December traffic jams without access to a computer.
But the meeting was successful, and I was invited to the second stage, which I also went well.
Then there was the most alarming stage - three interviews with different teams from the USA. The problem was also in the big time difference: when the American team started the working day, it was night in Kiev.
In addition, hiring in an IT company in the United States differs from hiring in Ukraine: Americans are looking to see if you can solve algorithmic problems in real time, how you can apply your skills in practice and in non-standard situations. In Ukraine, it is mainly an outsourcing business, so interviews are conducted to test practical skills for performing daily tasks.
I have solved algorithmic problems before, but not on a daily basis. Therefore, every day I prepared for an interview in order to build a strategy for my actions and understand what tasks to solve in the first place and according to what algorithm.
During the interview, Americans are trying to understand your willingness to quickly master a new programming language, if it is necessary for a project, your desire to work in a team and integrate into new tasks.
How was the move: preparation of documents and fees
EPAM has a dedicated department that organizes the relocation of employees. I filled out the necessary documents, and then I was simply told the date and time of the interview at the US Embassy for obtaining a visa.
Usually the moving process takes 6-8 months, but in my case it was delayed due to the New Year's holidays, which in the United States last from mid-December to mid-January. Going to America, we quickly sold all the property that we did not take with us. I flew away first, and a month later my wife arrived.
For the first time in the new country, the company provided a full package of accommodation and adaptation services. We were paid for 1 month rent of housing and a car, as well as a round-trip flight - in case I just want to fly home. Since I moved on a temporary visa, paying for the flight costs is a prerequisite for a visa from the US government. At the airport, I was met by a man who showed me my car and escorted me to my workplace. The package also included any legal and career advice.
Is it expensive to live in Silicon Valley
Spoiler: yes.
Despite the great support from the company, I do not advise you to leave without a good financial cushion: in a new country you do not have a credit history, so local banks will not give you a credit card and will hardly open an account.
We saved up $ 50,000 for the move. But already in the first month it became clear how much money you really need to live in California.
For example, the taxation system in the United States is completely different: in Ukraine I paid only 5% of taxes on income (in Ukraine I worked as a sole proprietor - an analogue of an individual entrepreneur in Russia), but here for a long time I did not understand what salary I would receive at the end of the month.
You need to be prepared for the fact that the company, negotiating with the employee the conditions of the move, often gives distorted information about the prices of real estate - the minimum prices, not the average. So, an apartment in an ad can cost $ 800 per month, but in reality, $ 1,700 per month. It's the same with the cost of kindergartens.
As a result, the accumulated financial cushion over the course of 4 years was completely spent on arranging life and allowed the older child to go to kindergarten. But due to lack of money and expensive cost, we sent the younger to the kindergarten only after the elder went to school. In the United States, schooling is free.
For a couple of years I was "drowning" in terms of finance. Already in my second month of work at EPAM, I realized that for a comfortable life I need to look for a job in another company with a higher income. I now work as a Software Engineer at Indeed, the world's largest job search platform. Only now I have gone to zero, I feel confident and I can afford to fly to Europe for holidays or go on a trip to neighboring states several times a year. On average, such a trip costs $ 3,500 for 10 days of rest.
Many come back home is a fact
In addition to the financial side, there is another, in my opinion, the main problem after the move - the difficulty of adapting to the new environment.
I know people who returned to their homeland because they could not find friends and form a social circle.
It was easier for me, because I moved with my wife and child - this is a great emotional and psychological support. My wife is very sociable and makes connections quickly, which helped us make friends right away. For the first three years of our American life, my wife was a housewife, and then she took up psychology and worked as a coach.
However, our family is still in the process of adapting to the environment. For example, in the near future I will take a soft skills development course for $ 1,500 to learn how to build acquaintances easier and faster and accelerate my career. I also went to a local college for an MBA, where business experts from local companies teach. I also like studying with the possibility of networking.
How moving changed my life
In Ukraine, I had a feeling of financial well-being, but I was not satisfied with the low standard of living, high corruption, bad roads and medicine.
In the USA, I am not a rich person, but I have a feeling of confidence in the future, because here:
- more options and they are transparent;
- high stability of the currency, and I can predict life for 30 years ahead, and also gradually save money to buy things by a certain time;
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During my time in this country I have changed: the focus has shifted from material values to spiritual ones. Now communication with people, positive emotions and life in comfort are more important for me. And the desire to buy an expensive car and live in the castle has disappeared altogether. I live in a house that is older than my parents, but is located next to two lakes, pools and fountains, and a park-reserve with century-old trees is located nearby. The ocean is 40 minutes away.
Here I began to drive a car differently. It was hard to pass the driving license exam - I did it only on the third attempt. We were constantly being fined for traffic violations - I'm not used to giving way to a pedestrian who is still on the other side.
The conclusions that I made for myself
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I am a veterinarian by training. But recently I have been working as a programmer: I have worked at Gazprombank for more than a year and a half, and now I hold the position of a leading developer at EPAM Systems, at the same time I am studying for a master's degree in IT and in Netology - Data Science. I need a master's degree in IT because its availability increases the chances of finding a job and moving to other countries.
Once I visited Yandex. Their inner atmosphere pushed me to transition to IT
Why do I want to move
I believe that there is enormous economic and social instability in Russia, there are no guarantees with a pension. I got married not so long ago, and now my main goal is the welfare of my family. In our country, I do not see guarantees and opportunities for starting my own business and I am not sure that my children will be able to get a good education: schools are poorly funded, teachers' salaries are small, so they are most often angry. In addition, it is important for me to be able to use affordable medicine and eat quality food.
In addition, I am not sure about the effectiveness of the Russian tax system. It seems to be good: you pay only 13% of income and that's it. In fact, we also pay personal income tax, VAT, and employers pay social contributions for retirement, and in the end this is 40-60% of your real earnings. Will I see this money? I'm not sure - now I am thirty years old, of which I have been working for 14 years, not always officially. I climbed into pension savings, and saw the amount of my future pension there - only 3,000 rubles had accumulated for the entire time. And a friend who moved to Texas had 5,000-6,000 dollars in his retirement account in six months. And this money, if he did not manage to retire, does not evaporate anywhere, as in Russia, but will go to his wife. This is a big difference. In Russia, of course, there are non-state pension funds,but you need to pay there out of your own pocket, and the employer is still obliged to make contributions to the FIU.
What are the principles for choosing a country
My wife and I considered the following options:
- European countries - but there you can reach the ceiling of professional growth too quickly. Northern Europe has disappeared because it is cold there, and in other European countries wages are low.
- Asian countries - many of them have a low standard of living. I did not consider China because I do not want to live under communism. I was offered a job in Thailand with a good salary, but there are very few decent schools there. Singapore is very expensive but has a high standard of living, and you can achieve good career heights.
- Canada - it's not difficult to move there and find a job, the country has a good standard of living, high salaries, but it's cold. This is the only thing that turns me off.
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As a result of various small studies, I have compiled a list of countries where I would definitely like to go. Among them are Mexico, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Singapore and the United States.
Now I am on the verge of relocation to one of these countries. I don't know which country I will be able to live in first, but I hope that the first experience will be successful and I will want to stay there forever. However, if this does not happen, then I am ready to try the next one from the list until I am sure that the chosen location suits me for a permanent life.
I have had the experience of living in Turkey for a couple of months - and I realized that the environment is very important, it greatly affects the morale. Therefore, I want to choose a country in which life will benefit me and my family.
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You need to be prepared for the fact that companies rarely want to relocate a person. Stories when an employer finds you and offers you a move are extremely rare. Usually they only happen with very bright specialists - those who are widely known in the professional community. Therefore, I want to use a workaround: while working at EPAM, I can move to work in another country under a special program.
Regardless of the country, employers pay attention to specialized higher education, previous work experience, achievements, and how well you do the interview. Therefore, you need to understand which Russian universities and specialties are quoted in other countries. Sometimes you can find special sites where a country posts a list of listed foreign universities. For example, in Germany there is a website, where you can see the listed university for each vacancy and position. Although there are exceptions regarding education - I know five people who work in Europe in the IT field without specialized education.
Unfortunately, many people are intimidated by the amount of tasks that need to be done to move.
For myself, I realized that it is easier to break each big task into small pieces - and constantly remind myself of what motivates.
This is how I moved
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Now I am on the verge of my first long-term relocation, I just have to improve my English from B1 to B2. In addition, now I have switched to learning Node.js and developing soft skills as a team lead on the project. It is appreciated in targeted locations and I decided to concentrate on that. I hope that I will soon add to my story from the other side of the time zones.
From the Editor
Course " Career in IT abroad: from resume to move " - we help IT specialists prepare for relocation and form an individual move plan.