Are US companies afraid of hiring contractors from Eastern Europe?

14 points by robsun 6 years ago | 14 comments

Hi,

I'm a dev from Poland with 8 years of commercial experience. I worked for US companies, visited the US a couple of times. I am a skilled developer and I rarely see my CV is rejected by recruiters - I had an opportunity to work on some cool stuff that draws people attention.

I noticed companies that are looking for remote devs are not interested in inviting me for an interview. I assumed the problem is my CV, experience or skills I possess. A few days ago I spoke with a less experienced friend from Germany I worked with and he said he has no problems at all with getting into the first interview.

I started to wonder, maybe it is not me but the place where I live?

alexmingoia 6 years ago |

I don’t know the answer to your question, but my advice would be to seek out US companies that already hire from Eastern Europe. I know Sentry has a team in Romania for example.

docflabby 6 years ago |

At the moment remote jobs are very competitive, you're likely running up against local competition within the US especially given all the layoffs there...

giantg2 6 years ago |

My company has hired eastern European contractors for at least one system. They are on-site. Our remote contractors are all in India.

A lot of times companies sign contracts to be exclusive with one remote shop. For example, my company can only source remote engineers from one company in India. We still have the option to bring in on-site contractors from other companies.

It's my understanding that the cost of labor is cheaper in India than in Europe, which is why companies like mine opt for resources there. After all, the reason they outsource is to reduce cost, so they will go with the cheapest option that can meet their needs.

As long as you aren't looking for remote work, you should e fine. If you are looking for remote work, you would have better results going through a local contracting shop. Security is a big thing with most companies, so they would rather contract with one shop than with many individuals.

This is all from the perspective of my US based company. Others may be different.

CraigJPerry 6 years ago |

I can only share my perspective but eastern europeans are viewed highly favourably in my circles (hiring manager for who knows how many roles over the past 15 years in fintech / banking).

There’s an enviable reputation for hard work, high quality and beneficial labour cost discounts vs other european countries.

MAMAMassakali 6 years ago |

Same goes for Indian developers. Always faced rejection for full remote as well as visa sponsored positions. Maybe Indian tech service companies have made our reputation so bad that even good developers get neglected.

robinnift 6 years ago | |

Good point. Well, its high time we Indians collaborate and create product companies. I am open for ideas and collaboration.

MAMAMassakali 6 years ago | | |

Sure, lets get in touch.

kasey_junk 6 years ago |

I’ve worked on many projects with contractors from Eastern Europe, probably the majority of the non-US contracting firms I’ve worked with over my career.

I will say that recently the trend seems to be South American firms. They have the advantage of being in similar timezones.

LockAndLol 6 years ago |

Just out of curiosity, (assuming you live in Europe) are you looking in Europe as well? If you're not getting responses from European companies then there's something else that's going on.

robsun 6 years ago | |

No problems with European openings.

codegeek 6 years ago |

Funny that I just created a post just yesterday asking about developers from Poland and Ukraine. What are you requirements ? I am happy to connect. Contact info. in profile.

zkirill 6 years ago |

How do you advertise yourself or how can companies find you? I'm asking because I found Eastern Europe to be surprisingly underrepresented on the hiring websites that I use.

robsun 6 years ago | |

Well I don't advertise myself at all. I am searching for companies that are hiring remote employees and they don't have requirement to be located in US. I'm using remoteok.io, jobs posted on hackernews, some combination of googling and friends' recommendtions.

brudgers 6 years ago | | |

Any job you see posted on the internet is seen by many many other people around the world. It probably attracts thousands of resumes. This means most of the 'hiring' process is finding ways to reject resumes quickly to make the numbers manageable. Suppose there are 1000 applicants and 100 of them meet the requirements. Ten of them get phone screens. Three get an on-site. One gets hired. 1000 applicants is optimistic. It is probably several times. Particularly for a job listed at an aggregator. If it's easy for you to see a job, it is easy for thousands of other people.