Berlin has been talked a lot about on HN, but what is the situation like now? I know for awhile it was relatively cheap which was one of the big perks, but housing costs have gone up due to people moving there. What level of experience would you need as an American programmer to move to Berlin and find work? Is it a realistic option?
Rent prices have definitely exploded and there are no signs that the upwards trend will stop anytime soon. Nevertheless they are still low compared to cities like London or Paris.
Furthermore software developers in Berlin are in very high demand. If you speak English fluently and are a good software developer, getting a job in Berlin should be no problem.
Software developers are in demand, but the pay is not that great compared to other places (like Munich of Frankfurt). I think the influx of young developers from all over the world might have something to do with that. Also the lack of big companies, so it's mostly startups with limited money supply who employ developers.
The influx of developers has almost nothing to do with that. Wages in Berlin are in general somewhat lower than in Munich because Berlin is cheaper to live in.
Hm, does that really make sense? The level of rents should have no bearing on how much a developer is worth to a company? So it would mean the Berlin developers are just bad at negotiation?
It's in German but it should be still fairly easy to understand. Basically average rent for a 72m^2 two bedroom apartment with a new constract is somewhere between 815€ and 1100€ within the SBahn ring.
If you are willing to share an apartment (which students generally do in Germany), you can usually get by with 300-400€ per month for rent.
If you mean examples about rent prices, a 1-room apartment in Charlottenburg (nice location) costs around €600. Similar apartment in Wedding (a bit further north) is around €500.
For reference, a regular programming job should be around €1500 per month after taxes, while a month worth of supermarket food costs around €250 (although the right habits can shave almost a hundred from that). Add another €100 for a month of unlimited public transport, and you are set.
1500€/month after taxes sounds very low. That is like 27k yearly before taxes (Steuerklasse 1 / no church taxes). Eastern europeans get paid that, because you can lowball them so easily. But as far as I know 40k is a lower bound for cs graduates.
For reference I got 56.5k/year base salary at my first job after graduation (small company) and that were 2770€/month after taxes. I even have two friends that earn more than I do. Quit that one after half a year though (russian offshore programmers communication hell).
Your rent/food prices are correct though. Small hack: your employer can pay you 44€/month tax-free for the public transport ticket (geldwerter Vorteil Freibetrag).
I'm going to third that. 1500 is definitely very low for a monthly salary as a software developer. A one bedroom in a nice part of Berlin is already more than half of that.
My impression from visiting and friends that live there is that Berlin is undergoing a true technology renaissance at the moment. Personally, if I weren't already living in a perfect location, I'd be looking to move to Berlin.
If you have at least 3-4 years of experience, especially in web or mobile development you're good. I think you'd get `extra points` for being native English speaker.
Food is still pretty cheap. You can avoid buying public transit ticket if you don't mind biking to work as well.
Money is also usually not the issue while renting the flat. Your credibility is. It's best to start by renting a room in a shared flat, gather the paperwork and then try to find something better.
Looking for a flat outside Ringbahn (or just outside) sharply brings prices down.
Still, you'd better start learning German right now, it really pays off.
An example of a past thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3221799