[easy_rider]

I'm a Freelance webdev living in Amsterdam for my whole live (27 years).

Worked for a few successful start-ups that moved on to become big players in their industry. As said, most software development is web/app based (startups). E-Commerce and mobile to be specific.

That said there is ample opportunity for Java/C++ engineers. These trades are often sparse here and I always see a lot of Vacancies in that area.

If you are unsure, check out some dutch vacancy sites. E.g [1] (I have no idea why they won't translate their site, most employers value English speaking devs). Companies I've worked at are always mixed ethnically. I've worked with devs from Ukraine, Romania, Britain etc. More and more companies are flying over people from other parts of Europe. System engineers are always welcomed as well. Even in web dev where it looks like there is a lot of saturation, highly experienced people are always in demand. Even in PHP I often get messaged for jobs primarily for Symfony2 experience.

Overall though you will probably find the pay to be not so great compared to The Valley and for example London.. I would advice you to proceed cautiously and start sending in your open resumé or applying to some jobs through the web and get a feel at least.

[1] www.itjobboard.nl

[mdn0420]

Thanks for the advice. What would you say the average salary for an engineer with 5-6 years of experience is? I'm trying to get a sense of what kind of rent I'll be able to afford.

[csmdev]

Rent is about 1000 euros per month with everything included. Maybe less, maybe more depending on the area.