[discordianfish]

Would be really interested in your opinion on the German market. Do you see a trend of more and more solid tech people leaving the country? I'm a German working for SV companies remotely for quite some time because of the situation here (very conservative both internally as well as product-wise, low salaries for non-management). I see most good people I worked with in Germany leaving for opportunities in London, Amsterdam or SV and was wondering if it just feels like that or if there is more to it.

My opinion on the topic is that those letters feel really odd and I stopped asking for one a few jobs ago. That being said, at my current job (SF Startup) I was asked for 'references' which was something new to me as well and it felt similarly weird and outdated. I don't think either are very useful to any party and IMO not worth the effort.

[peteretep]

"References" in the US / UK are proof you worked where you said you did, far beyond qualities references. This guide (see linked PDF) for developers on job titles written by a friend summarises pretty nicely:

https://opensource.careers/developers/how-to-get-paid-more/

[pgeorgi]

Thank you! That PDF is pretty good and applies to Germany and its reference letter system just the same. The advantage of the letter is that you know (while tuning the resume) what they'll work with.