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Ancillary Character posted:How much of that $40k raise is from the base salary and how much is from their rosy projections of how much you'll be billing? With good budgeting yes. It would mean not relying on the bonus at all, except for the guaranteed ones I guess. I can't answer how much would be from billing and discretionary incentives, as the offer isn't here yet. Horking Delight posted:SlowMo's problem was always spending (and his inability to pass the tests to get a higher rate), never income. It would have been meaningless for him to get a better job because he would have just increased his spending proportionately. Argh Horking my phone crashed after I wrote up a big response. Moving is both a pro and a con. I did mention wanting to check out Seattle, Boston, etc at various points in the thread. I frankly consider this more of an option b. I'm worried about finding a remote job because I've been having trouble getting motivated lately working remotely. This place has a good team, with good development standards, and it has that good sign of a developer being revenue generating rather than an expense. Plus the view the developers get is amazing. I don't know if I could swing $85,000 right now without moving. I'm still kind of junior. However with the skills I pick up here I could potentially become a consultant. My path if I took this job is extremely similar to the path my boss took starting his business as a consultant pulling a couple hundred thousand a year. He worked for a Microsoft Gold Partner that Microsoft bought out, and ended up doing consulting for the clients he worked for while there @ $150/hr. It would likely be valuable if I wanted to work at Microsoft later on, too. There's still a lot of time to consider this, so no hurry. There's so much to consider, and I don't even have an offer in hand yet. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 06:02 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 06:00
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Knyteguy posted:I don't feel like anyone is really telling me this is a bad idea except for you n8r. There's a lot of proceed with caution, which I think I am. You said this would get us stuck in a bad situation, but not many reasons why. We could look at nearly doubling our income here over some time. I'd be happy to hear more reasons beyond time. Time is an unknown factor at this point. ?? A bunch of people think it's a bad idea. I think it's an awful idea, the offer as you've explained it sounds atrocious for San Diego. And what someone said earlier was right, San Diego is not a tech hotspot. Seattle has a similar COL and MUCH better opportunities. RTP has a similar COL to Reno and slightly better opportunities than San Diego. I'm actually kind of weirded out the fact that your recruiters have avoided the big tech places. I want you to clear up something for me, originally I thought you were asking for 105k base, + bonuses depending on deliverables. You posted earlier that the company said that should be easy if you bill a certain number of hours? Which makes it sound like it's a much lower base and then with bonuses you get up to 105k. That doesn't sound like it's worth it at all and you sound like you are way too attached to the idea of a '6 figure salary' even if you sacrifice real spending power for it. Nevermind why the company knew about your 105k number at all. I don't know what the market is like for accountants, but I do know that for a tech guy you can do better, it just might take time and patience. There is no reason to get suckered into a company that will abuse you. Rurutia fucked around with this message at 12:56 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 12:48
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Knyteguy posted:Pros The bolded aren't really pros. The first you can do NOW. And is really the time off a good thing? You know you won't be paid? How would that effect your budget? edit Just so you know, my husband refuses to move to California until both of us are working and in the lower mid 6 figures because he has so many friends there and he sees how fast the money goes for them. The COL and taxes are so high. It just doesn't make sense when you have other options, which you do. You just have to work smart about this. edit2 You keep talking about 'junior' like it matters in this field. The great thing about tech is that you can teach yourself and as long as your skills shine, not much else matters. I want you to finish Cracking the Coding Interview, get into Elements of Programming. Get through a ton of Euler project questions. Do this, and I don't see why you can't at least get a job at Amazon (the easiest of the big 4). I'm not sure about certifications, I've never heard of it mattering. Someone else can correct me, but none of the tech guys I know bother with them. Rurutia fucked around with this message at 13:27 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 13:06
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Rurutia posted:I'm not sure about certifications, I've never heard of it mattering. Someone else can correct me, but none of the tech guys I know bother with them. Well I wouldn't pursue certifications on my own, but the company said I could get an incentive based on that, for example. Thanks for the input. We'll see what happens with the offer. It's all guess work until then.
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May 25, 2015 16:13
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California lurker popping in to say the San Diego job sounds like a bad idea. You're going to have less money than you do now, and probably have to work more hours and spend way more time commuting to get it. This plus a move seems like a recipe for piling on debt. You seem to be talking yourself into this job, I hope you'll pass and keep looking.
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May 25, 2015 16:27
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I'm wondering whether this whole thread is serving KnyteGuy wrong. You've taught him the basics of pinching the pennies, but I'm not sure the few hundred bucks here and there on restaurants and fun stuff was as significant as the thousands burned on big, impulsive decisions like breaking leases and moving across country to an area with higher cost of living. San Diego isn't a walkable area as far as I know, so they'll probably need a second car just so the wife doesn't go stir crazy stuck at home all the time.
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May 25, 2015 16:30
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So about this job, most people seem to have the following problem: 1) Less overall spending power (potentially) 2) Time 3) Moving Assuming I took the job: Since #3 should be covered by a relo bonus and a personal thing, and #2 is a personal thing (I'm not going to take a job where I'll be exploited), it seems like #1 is the biggest problem here? Tech hub and all that stuff I'm not too concerned about, because we can always move again. I really like the idea of moving here for a year, but only a year. But I can't let myself be blinded by that. Rurutia I don't really care about the number $100,000 itself. My goal is financial independence with a high saving rate. 50% of income saved is much more enticing. That's one of the main reasons I'm really interested in this company. If I can make a ton of money every month for a year by working my rear end off, and then I get burnt out at that job, then that sounds fine to me. I'm not partial to this job; I'm partial to the idea of being in control of my pay every month. Working long hours doesn't bother me if it's worth it. But my partiality won't be enough to sway me if I don't like the offer. I've got a business going now, even if it's small at the moment. I hope to foster it into something more (it's a software I made currently in alpha, but the initial feedback has been absolutely great and people are already using it live).
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May 25, 2015 16:40
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BarbarianElephant posted:I'm wondering whether this whole thread is serving KnyteGuy wrong. You've taught him the basics of pinching the pennies, but I'm not sure the few hundred bucks here and there on restaurants and fun stuff was as significant as the thousands burned on big, impulsive decisions like breaking leases and moving across country to an area with higher cost of living. San Diego isn't a walkable area as far as I know, so they'll probably need a second car just so the wife doesn't go stir crazy stuck at home all the time. Breaking the lease was expensive, but it wasn't that expensive. And it was worth every dime. The big impulsive decisions were done when we took a break from the thread (buying the car, dog, exercise equipment, etc). We wouldn't need a second car if I was walking distance from the office (which is what we've been looking at). Plus I haven't made a decision. Giraffe posted:California lurker popping in to say the San Diego job sounds like a bad idea. You're going to have less money than you do now, and probably have to work more hours and spend way more time commuting to get it. This plus a move seems like a recipe for piling on debt. I am talking myself into it haha, but it's really fun to think about the adventure of this. The actual decision I make will be based on quality of life and math. I don't even have an offer yet.
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May 25, 2015 16:47
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Dude, what would moving to SD for one year accomplish?? It's not going to put a lot (if any) extra money in the bank. Not with that company at least. If you want to play the "move around for money" game, it can be extremely rewarding both financially and just in terms of life experience. I have done it, I'm sure others in this thread have done it, we can ramble about it at length if you want to know how to play the game. Don't waste a year in SD for what appears to be a very lateral move.
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May 25, 2015 17:54
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Knyteguy posted:Breaking the lease was expensive, but it wasn't that expensive. And it was worth every dime. What you are saying is that you prioritize your family's well-being over money. Which is totally understandable. And totally the opposite of saying that you are ok with working until you are burnt out in order to save some money.
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May 25, 2015 18:10
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Knyteguy posted:I'm worried about finding a remote job because I've been having trouble getting motivated lately working remotely. Trouble getting motivated sounds like a great asset when considering switching jobs to one with a billable hours component. Knyteguy posted:This place has a good team, with good development standards, and it has that good sign of a developer being revenue generating rather than an expense. Plus the view the developers get is amazing. I've never been a developer but I'm guessing the amount of time staring out the window at the "view" probably isn't considered a positive in almost any job. Like really, this is enough of a "positive" for you to specifically mention it?
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May 25, 2015 18:21
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I think if you are solely financially motivated Knyteguy you should stop interviewing with your current recruiter and spend the next three months learning React or Angular. Throw together some medium complexity personal projects using them and maybe try to contribute back either directly or in the form of support or plugin libraries you can point to on github. This will get you a job in san francisco or the valley making $120k easily. Even if you hate the job you end up in you'll be getting really valuable experience in an in demand sector and you'll already be where all the jobs are which means you can change jobs without uprooting your entire life as you're doing now. Do you want to do this all over again in a year or six months? Because if the San Diego thing doesn't work out that's where you are headed. I think the most valuable thing for your career is to get out of X++ consulting and into a more general field with strong growth and demand where your options are going to open up.
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May 25, 2015 18:27
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BarbarianElephant posted:I'm wondering whether this whole thread is serving KnyteGuy wrong. You've taught him the basics of pinching the pennies, but I'm not sure the few hundred bucks here and there on restaurants and fun stuff was as significant as the thousands burned on big, impulsive decisions like breaking leases and moving across country to an area with higher cost of living. San Diego isn't a walkable area as far as I know, so they'll probably need a second car just so the wife doesn't go stir crazy stuck at home all the time. Have you even read the thread? The entire thread has been trying to beat it into his head that while saving $10 a day on energy drinks is important, actually planning on big decisions like breaking a lease (for the 2nd time in a year) is extremely important. San Diego is beautiful and in a dream world I'd want to live there too, but this seems like a bad plan, even without know the job details. Once again something that started with "lets test the waters" and changing to "we're moving away from everything we love, this is the best offer (maybe!)!" in a few short weeks.
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May 25, 2015 18:41
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Iron Lung posted:Have you even read the thread? The entire thread has been trying to beat it into his head that while saving $10 a day on energy drinks is important, actually planning on big decisions like breaking a lease (for the 2nd time in a year) is extremely important. San Diego is beautiful and in a dream world I'd want to live there too, but this seems like a bad plan, even without know the job details. Once again something that started with "lets test the waters" and changing to "we're moving away from everything we love, this is the best offer (maybe!)!" in a few short weeks. I read the whole thread and my impression was that KnyteGuy was getting more comfortable with small acts of self-denial (skipping that bachelor's party) but thinking that $100 saved there made up for very big sums of money blown on large life decisions that felt good. "Penny wise, pound foolish" as the old wives say. The ability to say "no" to Starbucks is clearly not the same skill as saying "Let's proceed cautiously on the job hunt."
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May 25, 2015 19:01
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That pros/cons list is completely useless, because it doesn't provide any weight. In that list, "selling extra stuff" could be as important as "staying close to your family", when they probably aren't equivalent. What you need to do is turn that list into priorities, and rank them against each other in order. i.e. "Between X and Y, if I could only have one, which one would I choose?" Repeat until entire list is ranked. No one can give you good advice if you keep claiming that your priorities change every 2 weeks. You keep conveniently ignoring that the impulsive past decisions that landed you in your current situation have completely different focuses than what you claim you're concerned about now. You're lying to yourself every time you post and say that you're fine with ignoring all the family related things and how much stress you'll be under if you need to work a lot of hours. Your past behavior suggests that these thins are important to you, and you can't just handwave them away.
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May 25, 2015 19:09
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I feel like all of you are talking as if I've made the decision, but I've mentioned very specifically on multiple accounts that that is not the case. This has been in fact the opposite of an impulsive decision, as that would mean without consideration. X++ is a very good field after getting out of development. Check out x++ technical architect salary (I'm on my phone) http://salary.careerbuilder.com/Dynamics-AX-Solutions-Architect/ Plus ax is moving to Visual Studio as a .net language. This field may very well explode. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 19:22 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 19:13
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Knyteguy posted:With good budgeting yes. It would mean not relying on the bonus at all, except for the guaranteed ones I guess. This has not been your strong suit.
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May 25, 2015 19:16
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sheri posted:This has not been your strong suit. We have shown we're capable of living within our means however.
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May 25, 2015 19:21
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How are you doing so far for May?
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May 25, 2015 19:26
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ufsteph posted:How are you doing so far for May? Doing alright with some pinching in some places. I'll post the budget at the end of the month per the agreement.
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May 25, 2015 19:31
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Knyteguy posted:We have shown we're capable of living within our means however. Three months ago you finally realized you aren't supposed to go over the budgeted amount on any line item in your budget. You have just started to actually use a budge. Go a whole year while sticking to your budget - that would be starting to prove you can live within your means. You have nothing but time to find a really good job. Working under the assumption you have your spending under control, you will keep chipping away at your debt with your current job. You aren't in a critical situation where you are spending more than you make every month. You can go through the stress and expense of relocating for a job that is possibly a slight move up. Why not spend 1 hour a day on a personal project in a new language or area of knowledge that will look great to an employer? You could add very valuable skills that will result in real income with 6 months effort. During the same time, job hunt locally and look for remote jobs that you are well qualified for. Consider finding a recruiter that specializes in remote jobs (I'm sure these guys exist). Much like the $200 food budget months, there is no shortcut to increasing your income. It's obvious during this round of interviews that your potential jobs that involve relocation do pay enough to justify the uncertainty/expense. You are flat out wrong when it comes to just how hard it will be to relocate to a new city without any friends and a newborn baby. n8r fucked around with this message at 19:51 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 19:48
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n8r posted:You realize that it was about three months ago that you finally aren't supposed to go over the budgeted amount on any line item in your budget? You have just started to actually use a budget instead of a means for reconciliation. If you manage to go a whole year while sticking to your budget - that would be starting to prove you can live within your means. I don't think it will be easy. I think it could be fun though. I also don't want to neuter my career opportunities. I've known since I got into this field that a move will probably be necessary eventually. I think the income potential has been much more on the conservative side (justifiably), but what if this job actually pays like really good money and it's not that crazy hard to make excellent money? On the phone the guy said I could make "much, much more" than $120,000 if I wanted to put in the work. Yea it's his job to sell the company, but they're trying to start an app team and an AX 7 team, and they potentially want me heading one of these up. Why would they spend say $15,000-$20,000 to a recruiter, plus hours of time to fly me out and interview me (when they could be bill probably $200/hr instead) for nothing? Obviously if I can't get by I would have to move on, and that would be bad for all of us. Like SloMo made way more than I do with a very similar scheme, right? This is what I was trying to bring up earlier. I didn't get the impression he spent all of his time at work (some months yea, but definitely not all the time). This could be a good opportunity. It's why I think an offer is necessary for real discussion. IllegallySober posted:Trouble getting motivated sounds like a great asset when considering switching jobs to one with a billable hours component. It's a pretty amazing view. Look up from the monitor and see some really neat stuff basically. It's definitely worth mentioning. Right now I see a parking lot (and a nice mountain if the office is kind of empty). Working remotely can be difficult, and I'm getting a little tired at my job. I've been doing the same stuff for the past 12 months, and my boss has been becoming a lot more irritable lately due to the startup portion we're working on not working out very well. I do like my job, but moving on would probably be a positive at this point if it was the right job. Plus he's late with my pay (for the 20th time) I was supposed to get paid Friday the 22nd and my pay stub hasn't even gone in yet. That means it'll probably be Thursday when I get paid (6 days late) since it's a two business day deposit time. I know he just forgot but you can't forget to pay your employees. Luckily we're a month ahead so we can weather it no problem, but it's the principal of the thing.
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May 25, 2015 20:02
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I think you *do* need to move jobs within the next year or two, but what is worrying is that you are jumping at the very first offer. That's like someone leaving a bad relationship (good) and marrying the first person who goes on a date with them (the rebound, bad.) Normally, when a person is job-hunting they can't be picky, because they just lost the last one. They are burning through their savings. They need a job in the next couple of months. A recruiter who can say "I can place you in a new job with a higher salary within the month!" is like an angel sent from heaven. But you are not unemployed. You can play "hard to get." Employed job-seekers in high-demand careers are highly desirable. When a person is unemployed, potential employers think "This guy doesn't really want to work for us. He's desperate. He probably got fired for surfing porn on the internet." But with a guy who is employed and putting out feelers, the roles are reversed. Employers think "How can we poach this guy? He must be getting a lot of offers. How can we persuade him to work for us?" I think the main deal with this offer you have got is that it depends on you being a workaholic, and you are a laid-back new dad. I don't think your wife is going to like you working all the time and leaving her alone with a pre-verbal baby in a new town. You need to find out how much you'll make from your base salary, and draw up a budget with that, which assumes your expenses will increase by 1.5 (as people have said that is the cost of living difference.) Does it still work? Find out how much a typical rent in a nice area costs. How much does a good daycare cost if your wife wants to work? Assume you'll need two cars in this budget. The received wisdom on this forum is that you should not have two cars, but I can see from your posts you are *this close* to cracking and getting a second car. You assume you can live close enough to work that you can bike, but I think this is a case where your sunny optimism is getting the better of you. Is there a nearby suburb with nice, affordable houses, low crime, and a safe road to work?
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May 25, 2015 20:20
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Knyteguy, the thread is giving advice as if you'd already decided to accept the offer to try and head off you returning to the thread on Saturday saying the offer was fantastic and you've accepted it. Read all the advice without getting defensive, and have it on your mind while reading the contract. I have a seven week old and we are planning a move, so I understand that you probably feel your current situation is untenable and that's why you want to move. However let me tell you, living away from your family sucks. We have no family in town. There is no one to babysit. One of us is here with the kid all the time. You say you don't have date night often, but how did restaurants get so high then? You may get to spend more time with your family, but you'll get to spend no time with just your wife, which is really hard. Please don't count on selling things either. If you accept time will start going really fast, and it's unlikely you'll be able to sell the things you want to get rid of unless it's a quick sale where you're losing money.
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May 25, 2015 20:32
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BarbarianElephant posted:I think you *do* need to move jobs within the next year or two, but what is worrying is that you are jumping at the very first offer. That's like someone leaving a bad relationship (good) and marrying the first person who goes on a date with them (the rebound, bad.) Thanks I like this analysis. I agree I can be picky. And I feel like I have been picky. I'll be picky if this offer isn't very good. I've turned down interviews at probably 5 companies now, probably more. I discounted an entire state (Florida), and I've basically turned down that Virginia offer since I could have that right now if I wanted to come down just a tiny bit in price (they said I was their strongest technical interviewer). I don't know San Diego enough to know what's safe and what isn't, but there's Solana Beach, Encinitas, San Diego proper, and Carlsbad. Probably more I'm sure SD goons could give input here. Rents I've seen could probably be about $2,000/mo for a nice place. Maybe cheaper; I don't know where to look. I'm not really all that laid back; I feel like I'm pretty driven. I've spent thousands of hours trying to get businesses going. I've cancelled family trips to work on businesses (microscope reseller in this case, which has been worth it). I spent the entirety of last weekend plus a lot of time after work getting my software ready for an initial release and creating a website. Y'all can see it here: http://www.hometheatertablet.com/ realize it's a work in progress though. The site is a little schizophrenic right now so I'll be working on that. But I did that from start to finish in a weekend (not including writing the software) including most of the articles, so you can imagine that wasn't a fast process. That doesn't include my biggest project to date which ate up I don't know how many hours, and there's still lots to go. And countless more anecdotes. ITM posted:Knyteguy, the thread is giving advice as if you'd already decided to accept the offer to try and head off you returning to the thread on Saturday saying the offer was fantastic and you've accepted it. Read all the advice without getting defensive, and have it on your mind while reading the contract. You're right, and in my mind that's what I'm trying to do. But I think some people think I've already made my mind up, so I'm just trying to clarify. I absolutely will be considering everything here, and my wife is also questioning the decision much more due to the input so far. My wife and me haven't had a night out together without the baby since he was born. We haven't used a babysitter yet (we were going to this past Saturday, but we ended up hanging out with family instead of going out to stick to budget). We haven't had a time at home together since he was born either. Restaurants if we want to go out it's just a quick fast food or pizza takeout. Or we'll just take him with us if he's being amicable (we've done this a couple times and it went fine no crying). Selling I'm talking about a dune buggy frame and an old VW Bug intended for parts for the dune buggy. It was given to me, but I could probably swing $400-$600 for them. Probably even more frankly. No way we could take them with us.
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May 25, 2015 20:51
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Knyteguy posted:I'm not really all that laid back; I feel like I'm pretty driven. I've spent thousands of hours trying to get businesses going. I've cancelled family trips to work on businesses (microscope reseller in this case, which has been worth it). I spent the entirety of last weekend plus a lot of time after work getting my software ready for an initial release and creating a website. Y'all can see it here: http://www.hometheatertablet.com/ realize it's a work in progress though. The site is a little schizophrenic right now so I'll be working on that. But I did that from start to finish in a weekend (not including writing the software) including most of the articles, so you can imagine that wasn't a fast process. That doesn't include my biggest project to date which ate up I don't know how many hours, and there's still lots to go. And countless more anecdotes. I think those things are interesting and worthwhile, but still a little impulsive. You've started a bunch of little businesses but not really devoted yourself to any one. I guess they didn't go anywhere? Or you got bored of them? One weekend is *most definitely* "a fast process." By "laid back" I don't mean "lazy." I mean you are a chill guy who goes with the flow and always looks on the bright side. Not really compatible with working at the office until 10pm while your wife asks where you are so she can finally throw the baby at someone else and get 5 minutes to herself!
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May 25, 2015 21:01
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BarbarianElephant posted:I think those things are interesting and worthwhile, but still a little impulsive. You've started a bunch of little businesses but not really devoted yourself to any one. I guess they didn't go anywhere? Or you got bored of them? One weekend is *most definitely* "a fast process." One weekend not including the software. There's a lot of work put into it there, as I had to delve into some unknown territory. I do have a better monetization plan for that site and software also, since I'd guess some people may be wondering about that. Some businesses have been abandoned, some have not. I had one just loving nearly off the ground where I was getting clients from all over the world paying me $25-30/mo for a service, but due to a bunch of drama bullshit I had to drop it. I regret that to this day, as I was invited to conferences in my niche and I basically made my company into an or the authority there. Others had little potential, or I decided not to roll with them. My microscope business makes me a little passive income though, so does my little former contracting business. Not much, but some. I understand what you guys are saying regarding time. It's something we'll consider for sure. My wife and I will talk it over this evening, and more when the offer comes. My boss is a workaholic out of necessity and I see the effect it has on his family, so I think it should be taken seriously. Thanks for the input everyone. I think this is an interesting discussion. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 21:14 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 21:12
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I would just like to remind everyone that SlowMo had a minimum billables count of 104/month (while you would have 130/month) and billed 75/hr over that. Working 16-hour workdays and weekends (and blowing a ludicrous amount of money on stimulants for that), he was able to bill something like 230 hours and then burnt himself out so badly that he took half the following month off. He is in a different industry than you, and really wasn't making that much, comparatively speaking. I think he pulled in something like 4000/month post-tax (plus 700/month into a 401k paid by his employer) plus some nebulous amount in bonuses (something like 10k/6 months or whatever when his bonuses paid out?). At his tax rate, which is higher than yours, and his higher cost of living place, I think he might have been actually making less than you (he just had way fewer necessary expenses). ... I can't believe I remember that. But does that sound about right to other people?f
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May 25, 2015 21:14
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Horking Delight posted:I would just like to remind everyone that SlowMo had a minimum billables count of 104/month (while you would have 130/month) and billed 75/hr over that. Working 16-hour workdays and weekends (and blowing a ludicrous amount of money on stimulants for that), he was able to bill something like 230 hours and then burnt himself out so badly that he took half the following month off. Can't comment on the rest, but I thought for sure SloMo made/makes like double what I do. I can't confirm that 130 hours minimum billable. That was an off-the-cuff remark from the partner; he said he wasn't sure what the total amount was.
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May 25, 2015 21:19
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http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3560557 SlowMo made ~4k/month salary (post-tax) and 2k/mo (post-tax) bonus accrual. His bonus accruals were a shitshow so he didn't actually reliably make 2k/mo, IIRC, and he barely contributed anything to his 401k. 108 hours was his billables minimum and I think his average might have been 130 hours to get that 2k/mo bonus accrual, but again, he was going through some personal issues that prevented him from actually accruing that much, which is why the thread yelled at him all the time (among many other reasons). Considering his cost of living should be higher than yours (but WA also doesn't have a state income tax, IIRC), the only reason he should have had so much spare every month was because he's single and doesn't have any family to support. I can see how you got "twice as much as me", but I think that number is most accurately "SlowMo makes twice as much pre-tax as you do post-tax, as long as he meets his billables minimum and then accrues 20+ extra hours of billables, which he has had trouble doing in the past." EDIT: But he does spend like he makes twice as much as you! :V
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May 25, 2015 21:30
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You're OK working 50 hours a week, but how long is that commute? You mentioned living in Encinitas which would be a "brutal" commute. A generic google maps (which i assume is heavily idealistic) says its ~40 minutes one way. Tack on an extra 2 hours per day for commute and you're officially gone 12 hours per day for work which you're planning to do for at least a year. One of your 'pros' is seeing your wife more (but there's a con of seeing the baby less?) and potentially taking "lunches" every day together. If you're leaving the office to have lunch with your wife, tack on another 30-60 minutes to your work day. How much is rent to live in walking distance of your job? How are you going to handle potentially missing what I assume is a fair bit of your sons "firsts" if you're away from home 12-13 hours per day?
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May 25, 2015 21:34
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"Closer to family in LA" is not a pro. LA is really loving far away from San Diego and if you have to work 50 hour+ weeks to make things work, you are not going to want to drive 3 hours one way to see them all the time.
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May 25, 2015 21:44
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As someone who did almost exactly what you're thinking of (but no kids and to a different city), I hope this is something of a reality check: Financial: - Plan to lose 1/4 of your income to taxes/Social Security/Medicare. Maybe it won't be quite that severe, but I've lived in states with a similar tax structure to CA and that's what I ended up paying. - Your car insurance will probably be significantly higher. Vet bills will be higher. Gas will cost more. Food will cost more. A 1.5x increase in COL is conservative, and you'll probably end up spending even more at first. It took us a year to get our budget sorted out again after moving. - Moving is costly. If you plan to stay there for a year, you'll have to pay all of your deposits and fees all over again, some of which aren't refunded. It's genuinely wasteful to switch rentals that often, and it's really hard not to lose money each time. - It can take a few weeks to get reimbursed by the company you move for. I did my move with severance from my previous employer. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to afford it, even though it was 100% reimbursed by my new employer. Family: - Be prepared for your mom to relapse once you aren't around as much. - Remember that your son will learn from your example. Workaholic? He'll be too busy for you when he grows up. Moving a lot? He won't have a solid network of childhood friends, and he won't learn the importance of extended family (but he'll probably be annoyed by having to take long trips to see them when he wants to spend time with his friends instead). These are all things my family did, too, but you should be aware of the consequences. - Moving away from immediate family is emotional. I was thinking about how great the career move would be, and then for the first month after we moved, I felt like I'd made a huge mistake. I don't even like spending lots of time around my family and it still hit me. - Don't count on seeing your LA family all that often. You won't drop by their house for dinner after work. It'll be a weekend trip that you have to plan out. There's a reason you didn't see them often before, and moving a little closer won't drastically change that. - Traveling for holidays is going to suck. The Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday gauntlet is way more stressful when you have to travel, and it involves eating out more, plus last-minute gift shopping. Pets: - Call up the apartments you're interested in and talk to someone about their pet policy. There might be a limit of 2 pets per apartment, or breed/size restrictions. You might pay a pet deposit per pet when you move in, and/or you might owe a monthly pet rent fee per pet. You have too many pets to rent in most apartments in Seattle, even though almost all apartments here claim to be pet friendly. - Most affordable walking-distance apartments may not have enough space for all of your pets to live comfortably. Even 1500 square feet is probably pushing it. Career: - You're exposing yourself to a lot of unnecessary risk. That'd be fine if it was just you, but you have a family that definitely depends on you. What if the company doesn't do well, or you end up not liking it for some reason? Then you have to find a new job, and it probably won't be in San Diego. You may have to move again. You may not have the luxury of being able to take your time. - You won't be working for a big-name tech company in the new city, which is a security blanket you kind of need right now. The big companies like Microsoft recruit heavily from each other's employee pools, and if you get a job at one of those big places, it's easier for you to get a job anywhere else. - As a dev, the companies you work for can do more to boost your career than any certification. Pick the company carefully. Anecdotes: - I have a friend who works at a big tech company in CA, and his wife doesn't work. They have no kids and no debt, and they own their house outright. He makes six figures and still can't afford to save very much. - I have another friend whose moving truck was stolen during a cross-country move. It took a year for the insurance companies to work out who was going to pay for it. In the meantime, they had to use their savings and credit cards to replace basic poo poo like towels and plates. You can't afford that "worst case scenario."
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May 25, 2015 21:48
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Knyteguy posted:X++ is a very good field after getting out of development. Check out x++ technical architect salary (I'm on my phone) What do I know if you're getting job offers, though.
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May 25, 2015 22:13
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Hawkgirl posted:"Closer to family in LA" is not a pro. LA is really loving far away from San Diego and if you have to work 50 hour+ weeks to make things work, you are not going to want to drive 3 hours one way to see them all the time.
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May 25, 2015 22:19
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:I've never heard of X++ but it looks like baby's first OOP language so I'm not sure how spectacular of a candidate you are compared to the mountains of OOP-proficient folks out there already. Maybe some shops will prefer someone who's actually touched X++ before but it seems like a job anyone with Java or C# experience could do. I suppose it's still good that you're at least investing in a language that you feel is marketable, but I don't think you're as spectacular of a candidate as you think you are. Keep working on that resume. Ouch. I never said I was a spectacular candidate. In fact I said that I'm still junior level. It's one of the reasons I'm weary to apply at the big 4 still. I know my way around creating websites (esp frontends) very well since I've been doing it for so long, but I'm relatively new to serious development. Much of my marketability with this particular company is actually doing C# Windows Universal apps that connect to Dynamics AX classes. I've already created an app for my current company that does exactly this, so it's a big boon to them. I have far more C# experience than X++. Plus Dynamics AX is more than just the scripting language (as X++ is a scripting language basically). It's knowing how to create and manage forms, navigate the system, how the database works, creating tables and indices, etc that is basically desirable. The whole package. It's an enterprise level software with customization, of which X++ is apart of. Plus I think most C# developers would actually work on, ya know C#. Dynamics AX can be grueling to get through. I'd say 70-90% of this job would not be Dynamics AX at all. Just tangentially related. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 22:25 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 22:22
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Knyteguy posted:Ouch.
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May 25, 2015 22:28
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It's also important to remember that even if there's a lot of people who can work on whatever tools he's using, he's only competing against people who are willing to work on them, and his experience with that system is also a major plus. No experienced Java or C++ programmer is going to be applying to those jobs because they'd be applying to more lucrative Java and C++ positions instead. It's not like there's a dearth of programming jobs out there right now. He's niche, but it's a good niche for now (if the tech bubble bursts and all those programmers lose their jobs, then yeah, maybe he should worry about that, but at that point, there'd be a lot more things to worry about). Also: Zanthia posted:As someone who did almost exactly what you're thinking of (but no kids and to a different city), I hope this is something of a reality check: This is a good post. You should read it several times. Colin Mockery fucked around with this message at 22:45 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 22:42
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:In hindsight I realize that wasn't a terribly constructive post and rather more of a tear-down. For that I apologize. I'll take a look at the last draft of your resume and see if I can come up with some more concrete suggestions for personal improvement based on the comments about your interviews. No big deal. I don't even like doing Dynamics AX really, it's just that it's an OK niche. But I picked up the gist of x++ pretty quickly as most developers would. The whole system is loving massive though (thousands of forms, classes, etc) and I'm still struggling to grasp it all. Like knowing how to instantiate a class in x++ is less important than knowing what class to instantiate (or if one needs to be created) to accomplish "X" task. I got hired on to my current job as a C#.net developer, which I actually much prefer. My official title is "Software and Web Developer". If you feel you'd have some input on my resume that'd be great. I have my github on there I think too. And again most of what I would be doing at this San Diego job would be Universal App Development (Windows 8.1/10 desktop apps and mobile apps), and mobile development (Android, IOS). I would definitely be picking up some good skills, a lot of which I'd be able to learn on the company's dime. Horking Delight posted:This is a good post. You should read it several times. Yes I agree that post is good (and thanks for that Zanthia). My wife and I will get together to discuss all of this after she gets off work. She said she was really confident about moving to San Diego, but now she's like 40% after all the posts so far in here. That's a bummer I would like for this to work out (which is still could). But we have to be realistic too. Hey and also to clarify, at this San Diego job, while things were rolling out (likely years), most of the bonuses would not be billable, but incentive based. He mentioned specifically "creating a hello world Universal App talking to DAX" which he said could pay $5,000. I've already done that! Then he said working out details of X would be another $5,000 and I was thinking like "poo poo I could tell you right now how to do this". Billable hours for me would much more likely be just to help them pay for my base salary. It wouldn't and may never be (if I took the job) my main source of income. I think that's an important differentiation. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 23:03 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 23:01
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| # ? May 19, 2024 11:51 |
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You should seriously consider Zanthia's last post because a lot of it is spot on, especially about the "pet-friendly apartments" = 2 pets. That's the case for every apartment I've ever seen in SoCal except smaller complexes/houses where you can deal with the landlord directly. We moved to SoCal from a lower cost of living area for a $40K initial increase in income. It's perfectly possible to save money for FI while living here if you keep your lifestyle down. For us that meant our quality of housing is lower than what we had in Michigan, and though we make even more now through promotions we don't feel any richer in our everyday lives. I know you're interested in FI, and while income is a big problem for you raising it isn't going to be a silver bullet without living well below your means. Also I have a newborn now and if my husband were planning to start working 50+ hour weeks I would lose it. By lunch time on weekdays I'm already dreaming about my 6pm shower. ETA: Most apartments here in Ventura County and one I've rented in LA don't come with refrigerators (or sometimes other large appliances like dishwashers and washer/dryers) so I'd check that if you end up looking at places in SD. Baja Mofufu fucked around with this message at 23:07 on May 25, 2015 |
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May 25, 2015 23:02
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