Introduction:
The purpose of this article is to share my experiences and strategies for internationalizing my career as a developer. I have been working on this goal for several years, starting with the decision to learn English and eventually targeting the United States as the country for expanding my career. In this article, I will outline the path I have taken so far to ensure a secure and solid internationalization process.
First Steps — Language Proficiency 🌎🗣️:
Throughout my educational and academic journey, I have always prioritized learning English as a second language. However, I faced challenges in conversational fluency. To overcome this, I have been investing in private lessons with native speakers or individuals who have lived in English-speaking countries for about seven years. I prefer an assisted learning approach, and it takes me time to fully grasp and feel confident enough to incorporate new knowledge into my daily life. Over the past seven years, I have spent two years focusing on conversation with a British teacher, took a break, and resumed with another English teacher whom I still have classes with today. Mastering the language is a crucial phase in the career internationalization journey.
Today, I can comfortably communicate with recruiters in English and explain my career and skills in this language, which is different from my native Portuguese. I am currently working on improving my written English through articles that I create in Portuguese and later translate. This process further enhances my performance in external job interviews as I am producing content in English and expanding my vocabulary. However, I believe that true fluency will only come when I am immersed in the culture of an English-speaking country, as most of my daily conversations still take place in my native language despite having two weekly conversation lessons.
2. Pursuing an International Entrepreneurial Path 🌐💼:
In my case, I chose to continue as a software development service provider in the United States. This required me to seek tools that would assist me in establishing a company overseas. Since I did not have a U.S. visa at the time, I had to complete the entire process online. I decided to use the services of Firstbase, and it took approximately eight months to navigate through all the bureaucratic steps to establish an LLC in the United States.
After setting up the company, the strategic positioning phase began, including the creation of an English-language website (https://www.areopagus.tech/) and the development and registration of the brand. I hired a branding company, Proteina Digital, to handle the brand creation, content preparation, and design. Additionally, I registered my brand with the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) with the assistance of Conlsolide — brand registration services.
Alongside the branding process, I created social media accounts for my company, focusing on consolidating the brand and positioning it as an American company. I have been working on consolidating technical content related to software development on LinkedIn, where I maintain a profile for my American company, associating each publication with my content production and the technical expertise of my company.
3. Building a Portfolio 📚💻:
Over the course of more than 10 years of experience in software development, combining teaching and project experiences, I have built an extensive and robust portfolio. This journey has provided me with full-stack development skills and extensive experience as a DevOps engineer. In Brazil, developers often take on multiple roles, encompassing both development and infrastructure. I seized every opportunity to provide comprehensive services, learning the end-to-end software development process, including conception, modeling, architecture, engineering, and coding. My expertise was further enhanced by pursuing a master’s degree in Computational Modeling, which solidified my understanding of code construction and infrastructure foundations.
Through academic and practical experiences, I documented details about the companies, projects, and technologies I worked with for each service provided. This extensive portfolio serves as evidence and provides a foundation for establishing myself as an international software service provider with a company based in the United States.
4. Navigating the Legal Immigration Process 🗽📋:
In addition to the entrepreneurial and academic advancements, entering a legal and juridical process is necessary for immigrating to the United States. As a Brazilian, this process involves obtaining the required visas. At this stage, there are various paths one can take, and I chose the most secure and solid option: obtaining a tourist visa to the United States, which I already possess, and then pursuing a legal process to acquire a Green Card. The Green Card allows immigrants to reside and work in the United States.
Although the modern world offers numerous opportunities for remote work, in my experience, a work visa opens up additional possibilities that align with my aspirations. Moreover, it enables me to further enhance my qualifications in the United States. For this reason, I engaged the services of AGMigration to handle the legal process of obtaining a Green Card. This process also provided me with the necessary documents to strengthen my international career, such as proof of experience and relevance in the IT field, as well as academic equivalency documents for both my undergraduate and master’s degrees.
Furthermore, I joined an international computing association, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), which brings me more visibility and credibility as a professional in the software development field.
5. Specialization and Certifications 🎓✅:
In addition to obtaining academic equivalency for my undergraduate and master’s degrees, it is important to possess international certifications that validate my professional expertise for working or providing services in the United States. I have obtained certifications in various technologies through online and in-person courses from LinuxTips and the Pluralsight platform. To further deepen my international certifications, I am currently pursuing AWS certifications and a software development course certificate from Harvard University through the EDX platform. These credentials provide internationally recognized professional foundations, complementing the Cisco certification I have held since 2011.
Conclusion:
Internationalizing a career as a developer requires a strategic approach, encompassing language proficiency, entrepreneurial endeavors, portfolio development, legal immigration processes, and continuous specialization. My journey has involved investing in language learning, establishing a presence in the United States as an entrepreneur, showcasing a robust portfolio, navigating the legal immigration process, and obtaining international certifications. These steps have paved the way for me to pursue international opportunities and enhance my professional standing in the competitive software development industry. As I continue on this path, I remain committed to further expanding my skills, networks, and contributions to the global technology market. 🌍💪
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