Hello my friends and colleagues!

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Alexander and i'm a 33 (34 in two months) years male, experienced software engineer from Moscow, Russia. This is not a cv, so I describe 20 (yes, first time I coded for money when I was 14, my father is software engineer too) my career just briefly to let you imagine me better. Junior - programmer (math/statistics) - lead programmer - R&D lead (finance/ERP) - server lead (MMO) - my own team lead. I'am focused on C#/Unity3D development last few years.

As you may already heard, RUR/USD rate increased from 30 RUR for 1 USD to about 65 RUR for 1 USD and still growing. Therefore my income dropped from $4000/month to less than $2000/month and I think this is not the end. My russian employers don't want to recalculate project costs in USD, while still want to publish game we're working on in US & Europe and receive income in USD and Euro. I think this is not fair. So i need new job for me and my team.

I've found some web sites for freelancers like odesk, but this is not the best offer for me. It is mostly for students, in my opinion.

My questions are:

1. Where are the best places for foreigners to seek remote job in US/Europe?
2. What is common way of paying for remote job in US and Europe - wire transfer/web money/credit card or other?
3. How much money may I ask for my service taking into account i prefer small indie projects to big ones.
4. How people in US/Europe threat their russian colleagues?

I'm open to any questions and thanks in advance!

3. Your employers are your employers, and they must have their reasons. That said, I do agree that it's usually best to seek business in one's own currency. However, when the value of one's own currency has dropped considerably, the figure stays the same and the paying power of the figure is greatly reduced.

Their reasons are clear - they can invest their money into more projects in this situation. But I have my reasons too. Don't want to work for half price.

Are we talking about just you? Or are we talking about a development team (a company)? These are two entirely different matters.

We're talking just about me. I'm trying to be realist. I have zero experience on the international job market and finding a job just for me would be great. I can only dream to find jobs for my whole team in near future. Also having a USD or Euro income I could keep my team alive during this crisis with this money by keeping them at least partially busy on internal project. Originally we planned release on spring 2015 but now I don't know.

oDesk is mainly for tracking the work and the payments, is it not? I used it for one of my freelance projects. I haven't used it to get projects.

I read a paper, it said on oDesk one can find really good projects, but this requires an account with good reputation. Or low price, like $5/hour. I have no time to invest into developing oDesk reputation because i will lose my team.

8. You need enough to cover your costs and make a profit of between 20 and 30 percent.

Sorry, i don't understand. I would like to know how much a software engineer with my experience may ask for his services.

6. See, this is where the confusion in #4 comes into play. Are you talking about work for an individual? If so, are you talking about freelance, or a "job"? Or, are you talking about work for your whole team (a company)? These are three entirely different matters, needing three entirely different answers.

Just for me at this point. Freelance or developing an entire small game project. I can't do teamwork in EU/US team because of time zones. Can't stay in touch with team or work in particular hours - there will be night here.

Don't worry about that. Countries may have differences, but interpersonal relations rarely sour for such concerns.

Thank you for your support!

I read a paper, it said on oDesk one can find really good projects, but this requires an account with good reputation. Or low price, like $5/hour. I have no time to invest into developing oDesk reputation because i will lose my team.

Most of the stuff I've seen on oDesk and other similar "facilitating" sites haven't been thoroughly fulfilling jobs, I've had a lot more experience with other avenues.

Just to be sure though, your intent is to provide services remotely to other companies, or to relocate.

Also, do you wish to be part of a greater team or want to take contracts and get stuff done for clients? (the type of client you'd be after would greatly vary depending).

Just so you know, I've been freelancing internationally for the last 5 years or so.

I don't understand - we're talking about just you, but you keep talking about your team. If we're talking about just you, then who is this team you keep mentioning?

When talked about my team, i've just tried to explain what's on my mind. Maybe it was too much in the context of my question. Sorry if confused you. As i said, i am trying to figure out the best ways and places to find freelance job or small project for one software engineer, myself. Everything else is about reasons what brought me here.

Just to be sure though, your intent is to provide services remotely to other companies, or to relocate.
Also, do you wish to be part of a greater team or want to take contracts and get stuff done for clients?

I would like to provide services remotely. No plans for relocation. As for the second question, I'm in doubt. I can't keep in touch with the team and work in the same time the rest of the team do because of timezones. Also, with no experience in international work, i'd better start with something small.

My questions are:

1. Where are the best places for foreigners to seek remote job in US/Europe?
   - By contacting companies and applying, its hard to know which ones allow remote workers. Our company does we currently have 2 employees from russia and 4 from Ukraine.
   
2. What is common way of paying for remote job in US and Europe - wire transfer/web money/credit card or other?

- Usually through a deposit into a bank account

1. 3. How much money may I ask for my service taking into account i prefer small indie projects to big ones.

- What you think you are worth, don't under value yourself and also make sure not to ask for to much. A good suggestion is look at the average salary of people in that job position in that city. Then look at cost of living differences and you might be able to work out a fair number.

1. 4. How people in US/Europe threat their Russian colleagues?
   
   We here in Canada treat remote employees the same as we treat employees who work on site. Im sure the US is the same. Also you will find yourself possibly working weird hours if you need to be part of meetings or scrums and discussions. I know our remote employees plan their work days around our meeting morning so they are just finishing work when we have our morning meeting.

I would like to provide services remotely. No plans for relocation. As for the second question, I'm in doubt. I can't keep in touch with the team and work in the same time the rest of the team do because of timezones. Also, with no experience in international work, i'd better start with something small.

My advice then would be to aply directly to individuals, not full fledged companies.

It doesn't mean they're not registered as companies, but they're much smaller teams and easier to find as personal entities than as companies (aka, don't look for their websites, they probably don't exist yet, etc.)

I started my business dealing with these individuals and it worked very well. You'd be surprised the amount of people lurking these forums in need of services you can offer. They may not go through he classifields however so you may need to be a bit creative with your approach (I can't reveal ALL of my trade secrets...)

Tom Slopper, Orymus3, DerekL, thank you very much for your advices, now I think I know what to do