We all know how saturated the current tech market is. After the Covid-19 pandemic came to pass, several waves of layoff have occured, and many tech companies are now calling for return to the office. Those caused the market to get even more chaotic. Initially, the market were full of people transitioning from non-tech careers, but now, it’s flooded with experienced people who were either laid off or are unwilling to return to in-office setting. Even worse, companies are not looking to hire more junior candidate anymore, they have less and less chance.

In the midst of this madness, one potential way out of is to explore opportunities with overseas companies, whether through remote work or relocation.

Here’s the thing, standing out among the crowd is not easy. I’m not going to cover resume-polishing tips, those were already widely discussed. Instead, I will focus on which tech stack could give you an edge if you are a newcomer. Bear in mind that these are based on my own observation.

For the backend development, Java and Phython are the most commonly listed programming language in job postings. Moreover, these two has been around for decades, so a lot of technologies are already built on them. Fot the frameworks, it’s usually Java with Spring Boot and Python with either Django or a more recent FastAPI. When it comes to databases, there are typically 2 categories: SQL and NoSQL. For sure, if it’s SQL, the most in-demand would be PostgreSQL or MySQL, but for NoSQL it usually depends on the product they are working on, it could be MongoDB, Cassandra, or even Neo4j. Lastly, familiarity with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure is essential.

For the frontend development, React is on the top. By itself, to master React you need master HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. And, yes, you can start from JavaScript, but skipping TypeScript is not an option in today’s market. Also, if you want to stick to one language for the whole fullstack development (both backend and frontend), you can accompany React with NestJS.

I am not well-versed in roles related to Data, AI, DevOps, SRE, or similar fields, so I can’t give much insight about those area.

However, for mobile development, I recommend to stick with native platforms rather than hybrid like React Native or Flutter. I’ve noticed in several postings that the requirement specify iOS with Swift and Android with Kotlin.

Now, where can you find the postings?

For remote job opportunities, you can start by checking out platforms like Remote.com, Remotive, Wellfound, WeWorkRemotely and Jobgether.

When it comes to jobs offering relocation support, I can only think of Relocate.me as the most trusted. Many companies also list relocation as part of th their perk, so be sure to keep an eye on their career pages.