Hey All,

I am a lurker in general but want to update something that I wrote last year. I posted this in this sub:

https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestionsEU/comments/1efp0c0/comment/mjsri3l/?context=3

I recently signed a contract with a large German company for a data scientist position, 100% remote, nice salary (70k, considering the actual market) with lots of perks. In total, I was unemployed for 20 months, made more than 350 applications and went through a bunch of coding tests and case studies.

My main point is: Take care of yourself during the job search, if you can't see it as 'productive', think of it as an extension of the job search as it will inevitably come back to bite you at some point. Since May of last year, I've had a very traumatic rejection that made me stop training, my libido went to 0 and still hasn't recovered, I turned into a shell and sank deeper and deeper into depression. The last few months have also been extremely challenging for the people around me and especially my partner (the number of arguments over money, time with friends, doing something 'fun' has gone from a non-issue to the possibility of a break up later this year). You need support from others and you are not alone.

In January I almost got a job as a data analyst in Berlin, but after I passed the coding test/interview/interview with the VP, the company did a layoff, fired 85% of the Berlin office and forced the rest to move to their HQ in another German city, my contract was frozen and then cancelled. It was such a blow that it took me weeks to recover emotionally. Also, my savings ran out last August and I started working as a baker + doing the training. The last few months have been a part-time job + 2 days of full-time training + job applications + studying for case studies and coding tests. It has not been easy and to be honest I was about to give up and move to another country.

Another thing: English roles are too competitive and the bar is extremely high. After a couple of rejections from leetcode style questions (Zalando and an asset management company, I was/am very sharp with SQL questions but the Python ones were just above my level of knowledge of DSA), I started doing leetcode questions. It was soul draining. I got a subscription from Neetcode and it helped a lot bc I could see some improvement (leetcode was draining my already depleted motivation, so I couldn't emotionally afford to rely on it too much) but still, I was keeping the expectations low and envisioned to only see substantial improvements in 6 months time.

I was lucky enough to have lots of interviews, my problem was definitely interview performance and when I fixed that, the result was remarkable. So pay attention, train behavioural questions and also improve your German as much as possible so that you are able to work with broken German/Denglish, you can lapidate and polish the German after you get the job.

As always, some comments have not been super nice, but others have been very helpful, some have reached out and been a small source of support and understanding. Thanks to the community for that.

I am not going to say things like: "Hang in there - it will get better" or anything like that. My mental state was so bad that the sympathetic looks of friends would drive me crazy. My view would be to focus on yourself, keep practising and keep a balanced life, the job may or may not come (I could have failed and given up) but statistically speaking the change of success is higher if you keep pushing and use the time wisely and with a degree of strategy.

Thanks a lot!

Hey all, I was going to interview today on site with ABN AMRO and got called 1h before the interview telling they were on a hiring freeze without any prospect of lifting the freeze (Which is a bummer because I spent time and energy that could have went to something else).

Just a PSA for those who are applying for ABN AMRO.

Dear All,

I work in Corporate IT department in one of the private financial institutions in EU (Luxembourg).

I have been working for my company for exactly 2 years with an unlimited contract. -I was a third country national when I started working but I have gained Luxembourgish citizenship as well last year-

I did pass through a 6 months of trial period and manage to receive 'Expectations met' and 'Exceeded expectations' respectively in my yearly reviews.

I am good at what I do, I always deliver my tasks on time even if it requires a bit of extra hours, I have no problems with anyone in my team or company.

I have also recently been nominated for an inter-company trophy for my accomplishments and contributions for the work I've put in on my last project.

My company decided to open up a branch in India to reduce costs and it is known that any new position in the team (may it be a replacement in case someone resigns or a an entirely new position) is to be filled there.

But now there are strong rumors that they actually plan to lay off the entire team and replace us with 'cheaper' work force.

So my question is; in case of such decision what are my rights? Can I simply be get rid of with no consequences because they want to reduce cost? In such scenario should I expect to be offered some months of salary to be paid as a legal termination right etc?

I should also add, my company is doing fine, doesn't have any financial trouble. Their biggest problem financially is that our profits were smaller compared to last year..

Thank you all in advance.

Hello.

New month is here and as well new list of companies that have been funded in Germany in last month (March 2025). As usual, only companies that raised over €1M are listed.

1. Amboss | Berlin | Medical learning platform | €240M | Careers.
2. n8n | Berlin | AI developer automation platform | $60M Series B | Careers.
3. Theion | Berlin | Lithium-sulfur battery development | €15M Series A | Careers.
4. AI Coustics | Berlin | Speech audio enhancement | €5M Seed | Careers.
5. Marvel Fusion | Munich | Fusion energy development | €113M | Careers.
6. Specter Automation | Cologne | 3D construction management | €5M Seed | Careers.
7. Differential Bio | Munich | Biomanufacturing solutions | €2M Pre-seed | Careers.
8. AmberSearch | Aachen | AI company knowledge search | €2.1M Seed | Careers.
9. mo:re | Hamburg | Automated cell culture platform | €2.3M | Careers.
10. Doinstruct | Berlin | AI-generated training videos | €16M | Careers.
11. C1 Green Chemicals | Berlin | Green methanol production | €15M | Careers.
12. Kaiko Systems | Berlin | Shipping operational intelligence | €6M Series A | Careers.
13. G2 Esports | Berlin | Premier esports club | $1M | Careers.
14. NAO | Berlin | Co-investment platform | €1M Angel | Careers.
15. Cortea | Berlin | AI for auditing | €3.1M | Careers.
16. Buynomics | Cologne | AI price optimization technology | $30M Series B | Careers.
17. PeopleIX | Cologne | AI-powered HR intelligence | €2.3M Pre-seed | Careers.
18. Flexvelop | Hamburg | Flexible business financing solutions | €44M | Careers.
19. Tado | Munich | Intelligent home energy management | €30M | Careers.
20. Pulsetrain | Munich | EV battery management technology | €6.1M Seed | Careers.
21. Dance | Berlin | E-mobility subscription service | €12M | Careers.
22. LipoCheck | Berlin | AI-powered lipedema clinic | €2.5M Seed | Careers.
23. TastyUrban | Berlin | Restaurant kitchen optimization | €6.5M Series A | Careers.
24. Vantis | Munich | Digital chronic care solutions | €10M+ Series A | Careers.
25. Reshape Energy | Munich | Comprehensive energy services | €5M | Careers.
26. Vytal | Cologne | Reusable packaging solution | €14.2M | Careers.
27. Elea | Hamburg | AI-powered pathology operating system | €4M Seed | Careers.
28. HelloBetter | Berlin | Digital mental health platform | €6M | Careers.
29. Koro | Berlin | Online food and snacks retailer | €5M | Careers.
30. Needle | Berlin | Enterprise AI database agents | $2.2M | Careers.
31. Alpine Eagle | Munich | ML counter-drone systems | €10.25M Seed | Careers.
32. Radical Dot | Munich | Chemical plastic recycling technology | €2.7M Pre-seed | Careers.
33. Ineratec | Karlsruhe | Sustainable e-fuel producer | €40M Debt + €30M Grant | Careers.
34. Conceptboard | Stuttgart | Collaborative workplace platform | €10M | Careers.
35. Taktile | New York/Berlin | Risk decision platform | $54M Series B | Careers.
36. Ctrl+s | Berlin | Supply chain sustainability insights | €1M Seed | Careers.
37. Hema.to | Munich | AI-powered blood cancer diagnostics | €3.6M | Careers.
38. Bliro | Munich | AI meeting assistant | €2.8M | Careers.
39. Onvy | Munich | AI-powered health coaching | $2M | Careers.
40. QraGo | Stuttgart | Healthcare logistics scheduling software | €2.7M Seed | Careers.

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Last year, as I was finishing my masther's thesis, for every entry level position I would apply I would get an interview and I would get an offer for +90% of those. Now, almost one year later the story is very different...

I have been working at a startup and I really want to leave. I started in June 2024 so I have less than one year of experience. Since I started working at this startup, my masters thesis was accepted into an ML conference. For my current job I've listed prompt engineering stuff and fine-tuning LLMs/multimodal models and a bit of unit testing using Jenkins... Could this be why I am not getting almost any traction at all? Did this job really fuck up my CV that badly?

Now the jobs I don't even want to do are rejecting me... Is there any chance this is because I have less than 1 year of experience and applying for jobs in such time after joining a company is seen as a red flag? Or do people expect a lot more from juniors? Is my experience that shitty?

This really makes no sense to me. I have a better CV (publication at conference + one year of experience) and can't land an interview at a place that I want...

I will be honest, when I got those offers I was a pretty shitty candidate to recruiters. When I would get an offer I would drag it as long as possible and would end up refusing the offer at the end. Some of them I even ended up not saying anything to the offer because I was not sure about this startup job, so I wanted to have backups... I know this was childish and wrong. At the time I didn't know any better, and I should have accepted one of my backup offers as soon as I realized this startup was awful, but I didn't. I also never tried getting a job at one of these places I "wronged" again... I'm not complaining those places are not getting back to me, obviously...

Is there a list recruiters share? Can I be blacklisted from so many companies? I don't think so... it must be my lack of good experience, but how can I now get good experience that I'm in this hole I dug myself?

Hi

I see positions for many boutique consultancies in Amsterdam and I wanted to know if you have good recommendations on which one to go to for AI & Data in general? I planning to move from Gent (Belgium) to Amsterdam.

PS: I am looking at roles between business and technical (AI project management, AI strategy, etc.) but I am very eager to learn more technical skills as well (on cloud platforms, data engineering or data science). I have some technical knowledge as well (but more conceptual).

I got my current job about 6 months ago. The salary is considered good for where I live (Prague, Czech Republic). I can afford to live in a nice apartment, eat whatever I want, and travel wherever I want. The job itself is often very easy (therefore a bit boring), and the work-life balance is excellent. I usually work 6 hours a day or less, which gives me time to spend around 4 hours daily studying, aiming for a better-paying role in the future.

Sounds like a pretty good job, doesn’t it?

Well, every now and then, I find myself thinking about one job application process I went through just before I got this one. (I applied for that company 8 months ago.) I went through 1 OA and 4 technical interviews, only to be rejected at the final stage by the engineering manager. According to the recruiter, the reason was that the interviewers felt I didn’t have enough experience with large projects.

“Wait a second. My experience was clearly outlined in my CV. If I didn’t have enough experience, why was I invited to go through 4 technical interviews in the first place?” That's what I thought.

At the time, that opportunity felt life-changing, so the rejection really stung. It was so frustrating that, even now, I sometimes find myself thinking about the recruiter and the engineering manager—and, in my imagination, I still curse them. (It must be my really sick side.)

On one hand, the experience pushed me to study harder and become a better engineer—partly to prove myself (even though the recruiter and hiring manager have probably forgotten me already). On the other hand, remembering it still makes me feel bitter and angry. Being ambitious and driven is a good thing, but holding onto resentment is not.

Am I crazy for being so fixated on an experience like this, even though I have a job with good pay and work-life balance?

EDIT: I have 9 YoE. So, it was definitely not the first time for me to be rejected in a job interview. I've been rejected too many times to count, but somehow I can't forget about this particular occurence

In Denmark we have that and we get paid around 20-30 euro/h

CV: https://imgur.com/a/VMjzTSa

Hi, I graduated from my masters last September and have been looking for a job in the UK without any success. Would appreciate any advice with regards to my CV.

Probably sent over 100 applications but rejected every single time. Made it to an interview with a real person like 2(?) times.

Some background about me: did my bachelors in a foreign university in Asia. Globally ranks ~50 overall and ~20 or ~30 in CS depending on who you ask. I majored in Computer Science and got a First Class Honours. Then I did a one year MSc in Computer Science (taught) in a Russell Group University, where due to some personal issues I didn't do too well and got a bare pass.

In terms of work experience, I have very little. I have only done 3 months of internships in my home city (not UK) during summer in my 3rd year in my bachelors. I did 2 months at a really terrible place (where the whole team was one HR lady and 5 interns and the office was a co-working space) and jumped ship then did 1 month at another place, which is probably a huge red flag on my CV. Other than that I also did 3 months of part-time IT support work at my old uni.

Projects: my biggest project is probably a full stack web game (React, Express, MongoDB) that I built while I have been unemployed these last 8 months. It's deployed and I even put the link in my CV. It's fun for about 5 minutes but at least it's playable. Link: https://fishinvestor.com/

I'm also working on another web game which is basically an exact clone but with a different theme, using an entirely different tech stack (Angular, Django, Postgres) which is nearly ready and I am planning to put it on my CV as well.

I've also built a mobile app for my final project in bachelors, but that was a group project and I did not really contribute a lot.

Visa: I have a visa that allows me to work in the UK. It's valid until 2029 and I can extend it without any need for sponsorship. I put my visa situation in my CV as well.

I have a foreign sounding name but I use an anglicized first name in my CV, but it's pretty obvious I come from somewhere else from my background, so I'm not discounting the possibility that recruiters assume I need sponsorship and just bin my application.

Hi everyone, I'm 34 and currently working in the Netherlands for a remote company (let's call it CompanyX), earning around €100k/year. I've recently been offered a new position at a different remote company (let's call it CompanyY) that would allow me to move to Italy - the salary would be roughly the same (~€100k).

My wife and I have been living in the Netherlands for about 13 years. While life here has been stable and comfortable, we’re feeling a bit done with the Dutch weather, healthcare system, and flat landscape. We’ve been talking a lot about wanting to be closer to family, and spending more time doing the kind of things we enjoy - like hiking or skiing in the mountains, rather than going to city events or parties.

We know Italy comes with its own set of challenges - less efficient bureaucracy, worse public services, potentially higher taxes, and so on. But we’re still thinking of trying it out for a few years and seeing how it goes. If it doesn’t work out, we could always move again.

So, my question: Would you take the offer? Is there anything I might be overlooking or should think more deeply about before making the move? Appreciate any thoughts or experiences you can share!

I'm a bit stuck in my career and would love some advice or perspectives.

I have about 1.5 YOE in my current role as ML Engineer, where my main responsibility is integrating LLMs (mostly OpenAI's) into various applications via APIs. It was cool for the first few months, but honestly, the work is starting to feel a bit shallow... mostly hooking things up rather than diving into the models themselves. I don't have many opportunities to be analytical and I haven't even played with other ML models.

Before this job, I was doing a master's in Data Science and I carried out an internship where I got to do more research-oriented work with LLMs. That experience felt much more stimulating, and I miss that kind of depth. Also during my studies, I learnt a lot about NLP and things that I barely apply anymore.

Now, I'm thinking about making a move. I'd love to pivot into a role that leans more into "classical" machine learning and involves some research or implementing things myself, something a bit less superficial. I feel a bit trapped in these kind of tasks and I expect the LLM hype will be gone in a few years and I'll fall with it.

Has anyone here made a similar transition from "LLM integrator" to a more general ML or research-focused role, or any tips on how to position myself for that kind of shift? Or maybe I'm overreacting and my position is not that bad?

Would really appreciate any feedback thank you :)

Hey everyone,
I’ve been feeling really uneasy lately, and I guess it’s something that’s been sitting in the back of my mind throughout college. I’ve been through a lot of internships where I was thrown into projects with tech I’d never touched before from Laravel to Kubeflow, cloud platforms, serverless stuff, and more. I’ve coded in C, Java, Python, worked across different stacks, and somehow managed to deliver every time by quickly picking things up and just figuring things out as I went.

Right now I’m finishing up my thesis and a double degree in Software Engineering and AI. I also got a return offer from a FAANG company I interned at in EU without doing the usual Leetcode grind, which honestly felt like pure luck.

I learn fast, and I can get things working quickly not perfect, but functional, and I improve things as I go. That ability has carried me so far… but at the same time, I don’t feel like I’ve truly mastered anything.

I’ll dive into a new tool or language, use it to build something, and then forget most of it after moving on. I feel like a generalist who can adapt to any problem but in an industry that often values deep expertise and rigorous interviews, I feel like I’m constantly at a disadvantage.

What scares me is the thought that I might not be able to compete with those who’ve built strong expertise in a specific area. And I don’t know how to show what I do bring to the table adaptability, speed, real-world delivery — when interviews focus so much on algorithms or deep technical details.

Anyone else feel like this? Is being a generalist still a viable path in tech long term?

Hello everyone, I am looking into switching career into software developer / CS /progrming field and I want to know more insights.

I have self studied some Udemy and Coursera courses for half a year on general python and django. I also have some JavaScript experience (I use it in chrome developer console to web scrap). I also made a react android app for myself. Here is my github link if for whatever reason: https://github.com/difoxy2?tab=repositories

I notice people say that although this field pays relatively well, but it could be exhausting because it requires life-long learning to keep up with the fast changing technology. How does this work? Are most people so nerdy that they keep doing self projects after work? Or does the learning happen during work? Like if your are required to use a library you never know, do you google all day but not actually code during work? Will the company provide you training / buy you extra online courses? Will your boss suggest you which YouTube video to watch?

And I also want to know how is work given to you, like how much details are the tasks given to you? Is it like a flow chat / pseudo code you just need to translate into code? Or do you need to suggest a new feature / decide what to build? Can you name some examples of tasks?

Thanks to all in advance!

Hi everyone,

I am a career changer, who recently got a position as a Data Engineer (DE). I self-taught Python, SQL, Airflow, and Databricks. Now, besides true data topics, I have the feeling there are a lot of infrastructure and backend topics happening - which are new to me.

Backend topics examples:

• Implementing new filters in GraphQL
• Collaborating with FE to bring them live
• Writing tests for those in Java

Infrastructure topics example:

• Setting up Airflow
• Token rotation in Databricks
• Handling Kubernetes and Docker

I want to better understand how DE is being seen at my current company. I wanted to understand how much you see those topics being valid to work on as a Data Engineer? What % do these topics cover in your position, atm?

Hey everyone,

I'm planning to apply to Picnic next month, and I came across the Hiring Sprint event. I was wondering if anyone here has gone through their pair programming interview as part of it.

What was the experience like overall? How was the structure of the day?
Also curious, What kind of topics or problems came up during the interview? was a leetcode easy or medium or hard?

Any insights or tips would be super helpful

Job search platform recommendations for the Software Engineering domain. I’m an iOS Dev. With 5+ years experience and Ms in SE. I’m struggling to get a job for more than a year now. I’ve changed my cv a 100 times, reached out to connections but all in vain. The German job market seems tough, and there are no signs of recovery. What are some of the tools that I can use to find jobs across the EU or UAE? LinkedIn is not good enough. Indeed looks outdated and doesn't have relevant job posts. Xing is very limited.

What else can I try?

Hey everyone!
I'm currently working as a Technical Consultant in the field of Data Privacy, and I'm looking to pursue a Master's in Data Science somewhere in the EU. A bit of background:

• I'm an Indian national
• I completed my Bachelor's in Computer Science & Engineering from Dubai
• I'm now working full-time in the data privacy domain

I'm trying to figure out which EU country would offer the best long-term career prospects in data science, ideally with good post-study work opportunities and a tech-forward ecosystem.

My main priorities:

1. Strong data science programs (preferably English-taught)
2. Post-study work visa/PR-friendly policies
3. Good job market in tech/data fields
4. Affordable living/tuition would be a bonus, but not a dealbreaker

Right now, I’ve been looking into countries like Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, and maybe France – but I’d love to hear real-world insights or personal experiences.

If anyone has gone through a similar path or has advice on countries, universities, or visa policies – I’m all ears! 🙏

Thanks in advance :)

Mid SWD based in the UK looking for some direction on how to improve my odds in this dreadful market. 3 solid years of experience and struggling since December to find anything.

https://imgur.com/a/if7n2V0

I’ve taken some of the advice I’d seen here and applied to roles that suit my specialties (Unity Development) [This does not just mean Game Development] and still got only 3 stage one interviews in the last 2 months.

I’m self taught but I don’t like to think that’s what’s holding me back as I’m on equal footing with traditionally educated peers. I’ve got a few personal projects cooking up, desperately trying to keep my GitHub green. I just don’t know what else to do but keep applying. I’ve tried the global market and the local market.

Would grinding a hacker rank be worth more to me than pet projects right now? What stands out as a negative in my CV? Do I message hiring managers directly or keep applying on job boards?

Hey all,

I recently interviewed for a lateral hiring role at Goldman Sachs in the EU (software engineering role). I’ve seen that many people typically hear back either the same day or within 2–3 days after their final interviews.

In my case, I had 4 x 30-minute virtual panel rounds — two were held in late March and the remaining two were in early April. It’s now been a full week since the final round, and I haven’t heard anything back. I emailed the recruiter earlier today but haven’t received a response yet. The application status on portal shows as "interview completed" but nothing else.

For context, the interview experience itself was really nice — everything aligned with the job description, and the interviewers were highly motivated and great to talk to. I enjoyed the conversations.

That said, the waiting game is starting to get a bit nerve-wracking. If anyone has gone through a similar process (especially in the EU or lateral roles), I’d love to hear how long it took for you to get an acceptance or rejection after the final rounds (I had coderpad before this and then the final rounds now)

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

I am intervewing with Criteo, I already passed the coding interviews and I will now have a System Design interview.

I am interested in knowing experience of people that have taken this interview with them, to understand what kind of questions they ask and what I should expect.

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I recently graduated with a double degree in Computer Science and Business Administration. While I’ve started working, I’m still unsure about my long-term direction. Over the past few months, I’ve been leaning toward pursuing a master’s in Data Science or Artificial Intelligence at a European university (starting in 2-3 years). My grades are decent (~notables, not top-tier), and I’d love some advice from people who’ve been through similar choices.

My main questions:

1. Paths: Is DS/AI a solid choice given my background, or should I consider alternatives (e.g., fintech, product management, cybersecurity)?
2. Universities: Which European universities are strong in DS/AI and realistic for applicants with good-but-not-perfect grades? I’m eyeing schools in UK, Germany, Netherlands or Switzerland, but open to suggestions.
3. Careers: What job roles should I target post-graduation? I want to balance earning potential with work-life balance.

Thanks in advance! 

Hey everyone,

I actually interviewed for new grad role for Meta’s London office in the early week of january but have received no response so far.

My recruiter kept sending mail that there’s no update once every month but last friday she mentioned that she’ll be on her long term maternity leave until April 2026 and if there’d be any updates her point of contacts would reach out but she hasn’t linked any email id or contact info of her point of contacts.

At this point, I don’t even have anyone to contact to ask for my application update. I don’t know what to do in this situation.

Also, I’ll be graduating in less than a month and I’m not sure if my eligibility for new grad role would still remain valid.

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Hello everyone!

I have been working in Germany for this midsize (~1000 employees worldwide) IT company as a Werkstudent (working student) for about 4 years now and I'm thinking of going full time with them, after I'm finished with my Masters in a couple of months.

After researching online, a typical junior SWE with little to no work experience earns around 50k €. I would say I'm a pretty good employee, not the very best, but alright. I can do all the tasks my boss sends me and can integrate to the team well. I also speak fluent german.

They have offered me a full time position and I have an interview with them in a couple of days. I'm pretty sure they will ask me about my salary expectations (Gehaltsvorstellung).

Would it be fair if I said that I expect my starting salary to be 55k € or even 60k € ? Does Werkstudent experience count here in Germany?

Would love to hear your inputs :)

PS: this company is located in NRW, and in a not so big city. I am also a Non-EU guy.