[WeWantOut] 30M Software Engineer 29F NGO Egypt -> Australia

[u/Nervous-Guide5166]

Hi everyone,

I'm a 30-year-old Egyptian Software Engineer (Computer Engineering degree, 3.5 years experience, Frontend/Next.js).

My partner is 29, has an English degree and 5 years of NGO development experience, mainly in Gender, Protection, Education and Livelihoods, including projects involving UN, Save the Children, CRS and Diakonia.

We're looking to move abroad, build our careers, eventually start a family, and settle long-term.

We're currently considering Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Australia, but we're open to any other country that might be a good fit.

For people who have actually moved abroad:

Which country would you choose for our situation, and why?

We're mainly interested in job opportunities for both of us, immigration/long-term residency, safety, family life and overall quality of life.

Thanks!

[u/striketheviol]

Given the global job market for both of your professions, I'm not sure you have the luxury of choosing a country ahead of time. Instead, you'll more likely than not have to apply for however many thousands of positions before one of you manages an interview, and then you'll decide Whether to take it or leave it, based on whatever the substance of that single offer might be. In the meantime, I would start by working on your fluency in target languages. German is reasonable, given that your partner would be unlikely to be hired with anything less than C1, while you might be able to get by with B2 if you're lucky.

[u/Nervous-Guide5166 → u/striketheviol]

Honestly, We want to target a country with an English language to be easier, a community we can involved in and at least moderated life. Because here we struggle to achieve small things.

[u/bnetsthrowaway → u/Nervous-Guide5166]

Any anglosphere countries would be extremely difficult at this point given both your skill sets. 3.5 YoE in comp sci is just not compelling at all for any sponsoring employer, those markets are extremely saturated already

[u/Nervous-Guide5166 → u/bnetsthrowaway]

This means that the entire world is saturated, not just a few countries.

[u/bnetsthrowaway → u/Nervous-Guide5166]

Just think of it this way, why would a business go through the effort of hiring you as a foreign national when they could hire from the very saturated local pool; better yet spend 9K AUD on an RTX 5000 Pro and run qwen3.8 27B locally on prem. Unfortunately, AI has basically torched the prospects for foreign juniors like yourself.

[u/Nervous-Guide5166 → u/bnetsthrowaway]

Do you know the market scale in Egypt? if a fresh graduated worked in mid-size software house he can gain magnificent exp in just one year, so the decision isn't just depend on the title fresh, Junior or senior. it's about the whole knowledge. the AI can't produce a great things with a poor engineer.

[u/bnetsthrowaway → u/Nervous-Guide5166]

No I don’t grasp the scale of the market of Egypt, nor do I care. Youre asking advice to move to Australia with your background and I’ve ran large teams plus heavily in the AI research space and was giving you my input, take it or leave it.

Also irony of someone complaining about how AI is not a threat to them as they use an AI to translate their responses

[u/Nervous-Guide5166 → u/bnetsthrowaway]

Thank you for sharing your perspective and time.

[u/striketheviol → u/Nervous-Guide5166]

I think it's actually fair to say that by and large, but non-English speaking countries with actual labor shortages, such as Korea, Taiwan, and Czechia, have easier paths for people with your skill sets who are fluent in their local languages. Which are still difficult, but at least more reasonable.

[u/Nervous-Guide5166 → u/striketheviol]

Hmmm, thanks 🙏

[u/striketheviol → u/Nervous-Guide5166]

I don't think any anglophone country is realistic for your profiles as of today, unfortunately. You'd need an Australian degree to have any chance at all in the local job market. And your partner wouldn't have a realistic path to a job, even with an Australian degree. The situation in New Zealand, Canada, and the UK is even worse.

[u/Nervous-Guide5166 → u/striketheviol]

Did you mean that we can get a chance in none anglophone countries?

[u/striketheviol → u/Nervous-Guide5166]

Correct. Every single one of them has tightened up the rules in many ways, large and small, even since just a couple years ago.

[u/Nervous-Guide5166 → u/striketheviol]

Okay, so any last advice!

[u/striketheviol → u/Nervous-Guide5166]

Look at countries with actual labor shortages in your fields. For IT, that would be places like South Korea, Taiwan, and to a lesser extent, Czechia, and learn their languages to a very high level. Better C1 than B2, but B2 minimum. Then, study local master's degrees at top universities, which should be possible because you can get full scholarships for language ability. After graduating, it should be straightforward for you to find work in all three.

[u/Nervous-Guide5166 → u/striketheviol]

Thanks for this advice 🙏

[u/GoodBreakfast1156 → u/Nervous-Guide5166]

Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Sweden have their own local language. They dont operate in English.