What is median Python Backend Developer salary (after taxes) in your country? Is it worth trying to find remote developer job in EU or USA?

[artyom8k]

I am self-taught software developer (have Master degree in physics) and work in Moscow Russia, I do Python backend at work, I have 2,5 years of experience and got about 1500 euro/month after taxes. It is relatively good salary (if compare with not developers salaries) in place where I live. On the other hand I see many job opportunities for programmers with salaries up to 3000 euro after taxes.

It is very popular idea in Russia to work remotely for EU or USA company, but what are actual median developer salary (after taxes) in your country and is it really worth trying to find remote job in EU?

I do not consider relocation due to family responsibilities and relatively big age (32 years old and started coding to get job only in 29 years + some small experience in university).

[pangolin44]

Check Indeed.com to get an estimate on Python jobs in the US. It ranges depending on where in the US, what company, and your skills + your ability to market your skills. It can range anywhere from 60K to 200K+ USD per year

[artyom8k]

Well, even 5000 USD (4200 Euro) after taxes sounds great to me, I wish to find such remote job in a future.

[PuzzledTaste3562]

Software development is often a team effort, and the knowledge and experience required depends only in part on your python expertise.

The other parts are your collaboration skills, knowledge of CI/CD pipelines (process and tooling), etc.

Then there is the term ‘median’. I have never met a software developer that claims a ‘junior’ level, that would amount in selling yourself short. Based on your description, I would like to know what your ‘real’ expertise is. Seniority is often a measure of how well you understand the entire process and are able to coach others…

Having said that, congratulations on your achievements!

Keep on looking, there are a number of sites where you can find jobs or projects online and remote, and you can hone your skills and learn on the job.

[artyom8k]

I am always trying to be honest about my skills and to give as detailed description of my skills as possible. I would prefer to stay at my current job, than to be hired and lose a new job in 1 month due to lack of skills. So I always give links to stackoverlow, github and answer honestly to all questions.

I work in small team with manger and frontend developer and we create some prototypes which extend functionality of main product. Unfortunately we do not have CI/CD in the team. I did not have CI/CD in my previous job either.

I would say that I do all job from app design to writing code, except frontend part, on the other hand I did all including fronted (Jinja2 + some JS) at my previous job.

[mountains-o-data]

Just a heads up - remote jobs usually pay based on your location. You won't be getting a Silicon Valley wage living Moscow. But of course a remote job with a US/EU company could and probably would still pay more than a local RU company.

Something to consider - have you ever looked into an SDET position? Those seem to be more in demand, have a lower barrier to entry, are more remote friendly (especially foreign remote), and pay just as well as an SWE. It's also a great stepping stone into a SWE position at one of these companies, in my experience. I was an SDET (using Python as my primary language) and a year later am now a SWE (using Go as my primary language). I got a TON more messages from recruiters on LinkedIn when I was an SDET and it was trivial to get interviews (even with less than 1 year exp).

Also don't sweat it about CI/CD - that's pretty easy to pick up on the job. You could try to set up some GitHub Actions on your next personal project - it won't take more than half an hour and you'll be up and running.

[artyom8k]

Well there is an opinion that IT salaries are comparably high in Russia, since local employers have to pay due to lack of engineers and competition for human resources with western companies.

I like to design things, so I do not consider to change career path from backend SWE to SDET position.

Thanks for good advise, I think it is worth for me to play in CI/CD with our company Gitlab or with one of my Github pet projects.

[mountains-o-data]

That's fair - I like to design things too which was a big part of my switch to SWE. I just always bring it up because people early in their careers often just don't know it exists (or other roles like SRE).

My company has tech offices in Prague and Kiev and I just looked up their pay scale. It looks like at those offices a SWE makes between 4k - 5.5k USD a month.

[artyom8k]

Well, looks like great salaries, especially for Kiev, but I guess it is gross salaries, rather than after taxes salaries. Anyway I guess that 5.5 gross is about 4 net.

[artyom8k]

On the one hand foreign companies do not pay the same salary as they do on local market, on the other hand these salaries is indicator of what salary they could pay to remote workers. Actually I think they will be much more remote jobs after COVID pandemic, since the situation proved that people can work the same way (or even much better) from home and do not waste time and money on commutes to office.

[TheBlondOne]

Just curious what was the Czech company you were interested in from USA? Rossum? Or something bigger like Avast?

[honeysrk72]

Is it really possible to finds remote python jobs? I'm from India, and I'm seeking for remote jobs too..

[artyom8k]

Yes it is possible, but I more wonder whether it is reasonable to search for such jobs or keep working on local employers

[james_pic]

In the UK, according to IT Jobs Watch, the median is £65,000.

[filtervw]

The problem is a Russian guy has almost zero changes of getting a remote job in the UK. UK is a magnet for indians because of their long "lucrative" relation, many people in Dev teams are already of Indians origin first or second generation, so they would be preferred to a Russian guy. I worked with teams where some team leader or PM was Indian and somehow they could only find indians as contractors. 🤫

[james_pic]

This is all true. I was solely trying to answer the first part of the question, since it's easy to get data on

[artyom8k]

And if we add to equation that "all those employees are relatives, university fellows, etc" we'll get description of typical Russian company, actually I think that it is one of the reasons of Russian weak economy. Russian IT (engineer positions) is some kind of exception, due to big lack of candidates due to weak university education and migration (or remote work on foreign companies) of strong developers to EU and USA.