It doesn't matter where you're originally from, living abroad is undoubtedly an amazing experience that I don’t even need to convince you about. The question is rather how you can do it.

If you’re from the tech field, I have some good news for you: The world is calling! We’re living on an era where money for innovation is not a problem: Tech start ups are getting funded, backed up by VCs, Angels and private investors with millions of dollars in a pace that I have never seen before. Big companies are investing more and more into technology to be able to compete in this super rushing market. But in order to make these companies successful, money is not enough: People are needed! And that’s where it becomes tricky. Engineering is one of the departments that companies usually have a hard time finding the right candidates to help them pursuit their goals.

Countries like Canada have even a dedicated visa for IT professionals, that accelerates the process of onboarding them in the new job. Europe uses the Blue Card visa to receive highly qualified people into any country of the Union. And don’t be afraid of the highly qualified term, as long as you can proof a bachelor or some years of experience in the area, you’re pretty much eligible. If you're interested, read more about the requirements for Canada or Europe.

The market for software engineers is hotter than ever, but not only for start ups. In the graphic below, you can have an idea of who big companies are also looking for at the moment.

It’s also important to know that although entry level is accepted, the more senior you are, the better.

But OK, you have the decision, the courage, the knowledge, you’re legally eligible but... now what? How to really apply for those companies?

I’m going to give you three realistic options that can land yourself in a new job / country:

1. Find recruiters that are looking for your profile. You can find lots of them here in LinkedIn, but do not go shooting everywhere! Try to find a specific person that works with your technology. There are specific people for DevOps, Backend Engineers, FrontEnd and so on. It helps a lot to raise your chances;
2. Another option is to sign up for companies that are specialized into having a pool of talents to offer to other companies. I highly recommend VanHack. The guys are amazing! They test your level of English, set up some mock interviews, where they advise you of possible mistakes and then they start offering you only to companies who sponsor your visa and for free. Sharing my own experience, really recommended!
3. The usual Job Search tool here in LinkedIn will help you to get started. But if you go this way, please be a premium! I know it’s expensive, but it really gives you a lot of advantage and puts you always on the top of the list. It’s also important to notice that you should only apply to those companies who are literally looking for someone like you. Do not waste your / their time with profiles completely different from what has been described.

So, you have done everything above and got an interview. Congratulations! But now it’s where things get interesting:

Did you know that most of the candidates fail for other reasons than technical ones?

Reading the book or watching videos about Cracking the Code Interview is very good, but it’s only a part of what should be done. You can be the best in your area but if you cannot truly express that with confidence, you’re screwed. If your English is not good, you’ll not even reach the end of the interview.

So, now I’m going to give you 5 small non-tech-hints from my own experience to be applied during your online interview:

1. First of all, I’m going for the obvious: Prepare yourself, make sure your camera and microphone are correctly working and be ON TIME!
2. If possible, try to do the interview STANDING. Put your computer in the eye level and feel the freedom to speak as you were presenting something in front of an audience. Usually when you stand, you have a better posture, which gives you a bigger confidence during your speech and helps you to stand out;
3. Do a small summary with bullet points about the company and the interviewer. And during the interview, split the screen between the video and the summary. It’ll be a great help to remind you of some interesting things you found out about them;
4. And please, if you’re applying for a different city, state or country, don’t you dare to talk bad about your current country or employer! It should be obvious that you want to grow your career and give a next step to your life. I’ve seen people saying they want to come to Germany because life in Brazil is difficult or because their current boss is a pain in the a$$. This is not only unethical but very bad arguments… that will definitely take you out of the line;
5. Be highly interested in what they are saying and by the end of the interview, they usually ask you if you have any questions. Please, do ask a question, ok? But be smart, ask about what they expect from your role, how a specific thing they mentioned works or something like this. But show that you’re interested! It will definitely help you to be remembered.

Remember, this is a just a summary of every step involved into finding a new job, specially abroad. I hope my experience can contribute to your job search and I would be really happy if you could also share your experiences with me! Did I miss any step? Do you want to add anything? Every feedback is welcome!

Thank you a lot and I see you around (the globe).

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