I'm a student, and I'm pretty sure I will get accepted to a MSc program in Switzerland. After that, I'll try to get a job and settle there. Many consider Switzerland one of the best places on Earth (QoL, high pay, good benefits, nice healthcare, low taxes for Europe, etc). It's much better than where I'm at (Eastern Europe). But in our profession (SWE) US seems to provide better career opportunities. That is why I'm considering Washington (Seattle) and California (SV). I see that people here on Blind are mentioning "rat race" as one of the main cons of the US. But I really don't want that. I want to live a family life and TC hunt isn't all that important. I guess it's possible to do that. The most worrying thing about Switzerland is the job market. For general/front-end SWE there seem to be very few openings. Google is the best employer. Oculus, Apple, Microsoft are really small and mostly focus on ML/CV. I mean there are other companies like Cisco and Logitech (in Lausanne), and others in Zurich but I'm not sure if it's worth being in Switzerland is worth it. Working for FAANG would be much nicer than Cisco/Logitech/Expedia/similar. There's London though, but obviously Zurich >> London, and US >> London. So I'm only considering US and Switzerland for now. Ideas? Where would you settle for a family-oriented life, but not sacrifice career totally? I'd appreciate your input. TC: student, but my internships were about 2k USD/mo.
I am from the US but want to move to Switzerland once I have enough saved with my wife. My wife can get an EU passport because her parents are Polish. You could consider going to the US for a short time (4-8 years), saving money, and going to Switzerland afterwards. 8 years in the US in Seattle or the west coast will make you a millionaire at least.
True, but most of the money I will (hopefully) earn in later stages in life (when I’m 30+). So going after money as a new grad doesn’t make much sense IMO.
But when you’re 30+, you will have kids, a wife, and all kinds of responsibilities outside of work. It doesn’t get easier to have time to grind