About domestic programmers climbing over the firewall

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I originally had no inclination to discuss this topic, but recently many of my domestic programmer friends have asked me this question via email or WeChat, so I will introduce it here as a simple answer. For the same questions, you can directly refer to it. In fact, I am very happy to receive questions of one kind or another, including topics like physical firewall circumvention. It is fun to chat with people when we are familiar with each other. But please also pay attention to your manners. There have been several times when programmers popped up on WeChat to ask questions without any reason, but they couldn't speak clearly, or didn't even say hello. What's worse, some programmers directly posted the log to me without saying a word, which really made me feel uncomfortable. I replied to some of them, but I really don't want to reply to some of them.

In addition, I am better at answering specific questions. For example, many people asked me, "What do you think of the United States?" I don't know where to start. Email is more suitable for specific questions, and I am more comfortable answering them. WeChat is more suitable for random chats. In addition, I have to point out that I moved to Seattle in 2014 and have not been there for a long time. I also have some programmer friends from other countries, but I only talk about the United States because I don't have other experiences.

First of all, I think I need to ask myself a question, why do I want to work abroad? Is it a whim? The food in other people's bowls always smells delicious; other people's lives always look beautiful. But when it's your turn, it may not be so. If you want to work in a certain country, then at least apply for a tourist visa to go and have fun and take a look, right? Visas can be troublesome sometimes, that's true, but if you don't even do such a thing, how credible is your determination and volunteering? Traveling is so convenient now, and tourist visas are already signed for 10 years, so traveling should not be a problem. Different people have thousands of pursuits in life, and finding what you like most may be the most suitable. And how to determine if you like it is definitely the safest way to go and take a look. When the purpose and reason are clear, then thinking about it will be meaningful enough.

Next, I want to throw some cold water on this and talk about what I feel I've lost by working overseas.

1. Friends and family. This doesn’t need to be discussed in detail. You will meet new friends, but most of your social circle and family will be gone. It is also common to worry about your parents’ care after you leave.

2. Convenient life. I remember when I lived in Beijing a few years ago, there was a convenient street downstairs. From eating and getting a haircut to shopping and walking the dog, all daily services were available. I could play football or basketball with courts and gyms nearby. I could walk to work every day. How convenient it was... Now, going out without a car is like being disabled. The nearest bus stop is a long way away, not to mention that the bus system is far less developed than in China. There is often only one bus per hour, and you have to drive in reverse to get to the city (Seattle).

3. Certain possibilities in career. You can think of it as a bottleneck in career. Language problems and cultural problems are mixed together. They are essentially the same kind of problems and cannot be separated. A career like programmers, which relies on technology to make a living, still requires soft skills such as language and culture. From my observation, Chinese people generally have shortcomings in this regard. Programmers whose mother culture is Chinese culture and who can strive to a very high position are rare.

There are many other aspects, but the above are the main ones. Knowing these is important and helps you calm down and make trade-offs.

As for the good side, there are already too many words, I will just say one thing:

Experience. Not only in life. It is a rare experience to have worked as an engineer in the top 2 software giants in the world.

Next I will talk about the ways to climb over the wall physically. As far as I know, there are three ways, with increasing difficulty:

1. Studying abroad . Studying abroad now is different from 20 years ago. There are many choices of schools. Most of my Chinese friends went to college in China and then went abroad to study for a master's degree. The advantage of this method is that the language pressure will be less when you come to the United States, and you will have enough opportunities to strengthen and practice the language in school. You can do an internship before graduation, which is also a good opportunity to stay and work, and the success rate is much higher than that of a social recruitment interview. When the student visa expires, you can apply for an 18-month OPT, so you will have several opportunities to participate in the H1B lottery. In the annual lottery, if you are a master's degree graduate in the United States, you will have two opportunities with different probabilities. The overall probability of winning is still relatively high.

2. Work in some large multinational companies , and then transfer abroad with an L1 visa. This method does not have as many options as the first one, but it is suitable for programmers who have already graduated from school. First, you have to interview and enter a foreign company, and then according to the internal transfer policy of these foreign companies, you can get an overseas position after working in China for at least one year (this may require interviews, recommendations, negotiations, etc.). The advantage of this method is that you can bring your family members, and your family members can work after applying for an L2 EAD through a lengthy process. During the L1 period, if the company supports it, you can apply for an H1B visa every year, but if you do not have a master's degree in the United States, the probability of being selected is not high. The probability of being selected each year in the past two years is about less than 30%. If your status does not change, the L visa will expire after 5 years and you must leave the country.

3. Submit your resume overseas directly. This method is the most difficult. It is not only because there are very few companies that directly recruit in the United States, and it is not only because the candidate assessment bar is high, but also because this method cannot apply for an L visa. You can only go through the H1B route, which means that whether you can get a visa is not something you can control. The probability is shown above. If you pass the interview but fail to get an H visa, some companies will send you to another English-speaking country to wait for a year to continue drawing. For programmers with families, this undoubtedly adds a lot of uncertainty.

Of course, no matter which one you choose, you will face a lot of preparation for visas and other materials, even every year. Before obtaining a green card, identity issues have always been a more annoying problem. Usually companies will contact lawyers to help, but it still takes a lot of thought and time. However, if you are a programmer who is overwhelmed by the preparation of those documents and materials and hates it, this is obviously a very bad thing.

Finally, answer two frequently asked questions about job hunting overseas.

How important is English? As far as interviews are concerned, English is important, but not as important as professional ability. Being able to communicate is a must, otherwise it will definitely affect the ability score. Especially for programmers who are interested in submitting overseas resumes, being able to communicate during telephone interviews is a must. The less time you spend on the language level, the more time you have to spend on thinking and communicating about the problem itself. Now your English may not be so good, but for career development, English opportunities are a necessary condition. I have seen many programmers who can speak Chinese fluently, but they are terrible at speaking English.

How difficult is it to adapt to life in a foreign land? It depends on how you define the word "adaptation". If you come to work directly, the first three months will be particularly difficult. After a few years, most things will not be a big problem. But in the long run, the biggest difficulty is still cultural. Because of cultural background, it is still difficult to enter the mainstream cultural circle. Of course, we also have our own familiar circles. And this difficulty is basically lifelong. It depends on how you look at this issue. Some people care, and some people don't.

That’s all I have to say.