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What language to learn to have the highest chance of working internationally?

 
Greenhorn
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This question has been on my mind for some time.

I'm a Business Informatics student (first year) and was wondering what language should i learn for my specific goals. In the second year i will get introduced to c and c++ and in the third year to php and frond-end scripting languages and UI design.

My question, in accordance with my specific goals , is : what language would give me the highest chance to work remotely (internationally) for a USA/AUS/Canadian employer as a junior with no formal work experience? I'm refering to stable employment as a remote contractor for a company.

It is important to note that i live in Eastern Europe. I've done some reasearch on the legal part and concluded it will not be a problem as i do not plan to live in the USA and will be contracting or making my own limited company, i also plan (not set in stone) to work only for a few years [until that experience and savings will afford me the means to maybe start my own company (not limited) here]



I had two options in mind : php and java (android-eclipse).

PHP because is the only language i've seen job ads for hiring junior devs internationally and i understand it takes less time to learn and be employable, though my perception is that the maket is saturated with php developers ...

I expect the field will be even more saturated until i will get enough experience to enter it. Another disadvatage is the low pay in comparison to desktop development (also apperent in my country).

In my view, the advantages of php are that you can work independently on a product , going through all the development cycles independently (alone) and thus the probability that i can work remotely is higher as i do not need to be part of an office team.

I do not want to use java (asides from android development) for just that reason. It's mostly used by big companies that use big teams and will only accept experience contractors provided by consulting firms.

My perceptions about android development is that there is more demand than supply on this market , you can , again go through the development cycles alone and that it has a higher entry barrier (java is harder and is harder to become a java dev. without formal education, it takes more time to learn etc.), making it less saturated.

The data i have from 2012 suggests a huge demand for mobile devs , though it does not differentiate between technologies and i do not know if the data is still valid today , as the mobile market is a volatile one.

A thing i do not know is if it's practiced by app developing companies/employers in general to hire junior devs remotely , long-term and i wonder about the future of apps.:

How much math would i need to know to be a android developer ? I assume it's mostly used in 3D and physics engine , though i do not know if the future will become 3d oriented as far as games go. I'm not a big fan of math, so i need to know how much math will i be getting into. I plan to do mostly 2d development (if that's possible).



The last questions are about time and experience.

How much time will it require for me to become an employable (remote) entry-level php developer and likewise a entry level android developer?

How much difference is between chances of employment as a entry level php dev vs an entry level android dev for employers using those technologies?

I'm scared that the companies that usually hire android devs want people who already had some formal job for some time (1-2-3 years) [it's that way for java], like i said the only (very few) jobs that accepted entry-level people remotely where php jobs.

You are welcome to suggest any language, but please discuss the reasoning .


Sorry for the amount of info and questions, but this has been on my mind for some time now and i decided , based on some lurking and recommandations that this is the place that can help me in this regard.


Thanks in advance.
 
author & internet detective
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Have you considered using the freelance sites? I would think that most places would want you to have some experience as a remote worker and that helps you get some.

One advantage of Android is that you can develop a portfolio of apps by yourself and show that you do have experience.
 
Radu Andrei
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Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:Have you considered using the freelance sites? I would think that most places would want you to have some experience as a remote worker and that helps you get some.

One advantage of Android is that you can develop a portfolio of apps by yourself and show that you do have experience.



Thanks for the replay.

My plan was to get all the info i can and then decide on a language, start learning it until i'm at a level that i can do some basic freelance work and then continue to learn and try to get work.

Assuming no prior language experience how much time would i need to start developing simple apps? If you could estimate hours/day and the time period that would be best, as to know what is ahead.

Could you compare the time it takes to learn that (making simple apps) with the time it takes to learn to make websites and maybe simple web apps?

For example , i had in mind an application that reads a range of hours and returns a message and an image for each range. For example : 4-6 am - it's too damn early to be awake with an image and so on. Another one would be an app that reads the temperature from somewhere (a server in your city) and behaves the same way. I don't know if these are good examples for apps as i do not have any experience..

Thanks
 
Bartender
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Hello there

It depends on what you want to do professionally or as a career. From your post, I believe you want to enter the mobile dev arena, which I think is good.

Yet thinking more broad, and from your potential interest from college courses or concentration, new areas may pop up.

I don't know what your college program looks like, you may want to explore data (eg database, data analysis, business intelligence, data warehousing, big data etc) which is a growing market at least for now.

But then your passion for java will most likely go beyond mobile dev (eg android) but into Java SE and EE.
 
Radu Andrei
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K. Tsang wrote:Hello there

It depends on what you want to do professionally or as a career. From your post, I believe you want to enter the mobile dev arena, which I think is good.

Yet thinking more broad, and from your potential interest from college courses or concentration, new areas may pop up.

I don't know what your college program looks like, you may want to explore data (eg database, data analysis, business intelligence, data warehousing, big data etc) which is a growing market at least for now.

But then your passion for java will most likely go beyond mobile dev (eg android) but into Java SE and EE.



Thanks, about the last point, maybe, but when i think SE and EE i think mostly bigger established companies that wouldn't hire remote , at least at entry lvl.

Mobile as far as i can tell , seems more flexible in that regard.
 
Rancher
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Sounds like you have already decided on mobile development. Based on current market conditions, that seems to be a wise choice. Your choice of language will be dictated by which platform you want to target first
 
Rancher
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Be aware that getting a job in another country introduces complexities and costs (both financial and otherwise) to the hiring company. So a successful applicant would have to bring something substantial to the table - which is unlikely for someone just starting out. Plus, in most countries companies would also have to show that they can't hire someone locally - that, too, would likely be difficult for an entry-level position that requires few advanced skills. I don't want to discourage you from pursuing a dream, but you should be aware that there are formidable obstacles.
 
Bartender
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If you are only in the first year of your degree, I'm guessing it will be at least 2 or 3 years until you graduate? So you're asking people to guess what the job market will be like in 3 years' time, for somebody with no experience and only a vague idea of what their interests/aptitudes are likely to be by the time they've finished their studies.

My advice would be to get as broad a range of skills/experience as possible via your studies and any external work, then look more closely at your own ambitions and the job market in one or two years' time. The UK job site Job Serve often has jobs all over Europe, so you can get an idea of what the market and salaries for different skills might be.

As for working as a contractor, it's very rare (here int he UK at least) to hire contractors without significant experience. And if you want to work remotely, you have to remember that any work that a UK or German employer can give to you working remotely in your country, they can just as easily give to somebody in India or Vietnam. So don't expect to get rich that way.
 
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