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Post by oldskoolboarder on Jan 18, 2016 15:33:05 GMT -5
I was going to write something yesterday but got delayed. But I have to say, I'd probably write similar to reaper's.
Sounds like there may be some 'bad blood' with management as it is. If you turn down a 2nd job after spending this much time getting it in line, you're probably done at your current company. If I'm in management and we offered an employee 2 great positions and got turned down, then it's game over.
Sounds like you're hung up on the relocation money. First off, you'd be hard pressed to find any company that's going to cover (or even bother to care) about cost of living increases. Your relocation data comes from 10 and 2.5 years ago. Lifetimes in semi company years. If there's no set policy, there's not much you can do. You can provide them 'data', but IMHO, that might hurt your case. I'm with reaper, $19K is a LOT in the short term. But, this is a long game. If you really like this opportunity and it works out, later on that $19K won't mean jack. You REALLY can't put a price on happiness.
I know it's hard as engineer to not analyze the data. But make sure to not get into analysis paralysis. Decide what your end game is. If your end game is a new position that looks great, then take it. I think it's fair to get your quotes on relocation costs and share them w/ your boss. But I would approach it from the side of, I'm taking this job but here's what it'll cost me. If they add more, great, if they don't, at least you got $6K.
I think I was in the minority before, saying take the jump and go to Japan. I’m saying it again. Take the jump. It’s a new job, fresh start, new opportunities in a new area. You, me, reaper, we all work in semis. It’s stable for now but trending down. W/ BRCM getting bought by Avago, Altera getting picked up by Intel, CPU companies being bought up by Amazon, etc, our semi opportunities are shrinking. It’s in your best interest to widen your skills and prepare for other markets. And if you can do it w/ people you already know, even better.
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Post by dschroll on Jan 18, 2016 16:57:56 GMT -5
Thanks oldskool. Yeah, again, I totally agree with you and reaper and think that's the best approach. It's hard not to take some of this personally as it feels with my company I always end up having to fight for stuff that seems automatically given to others. But nonetheless, the new job seems like a good fit for me and I think I would learn a lot and be successful at it. It's hard asking my wife to give up her job here (which she is fine doing) and moving my entire family with the hopes that this will be better for us in the long run, but I do know I'm pretty unhappy in my current position and know I don't want to keep doing this in the long run. So, for me, this new position sounds like a much better fit. I have no regrets on turning down the Japan job. I knew it was going to be extremely hard on my family and seeing this guy come back less than one year without having any of the family hangups further validated things for me. Management may still be bitter about my choice, but I gave them plenty of opportunities to work with me on that job and they chose instead to go with a cheaper and younger candidate instead and it basically turned out to be a bust. Like I said, I've had several people tell me I made the right decision by turning it down, one of which would be my new manager in CT. In any event, the good news is by accepting this position it cleans the slate for me. Hopefully it erases my having previously turned down anything and I'm in everyone's good graces again. And, it gives me a lot of chances to build up a strong network in CT and NY so that if things do go south with this company I have a strong network to hopefully assist in helping me finding something else. And, best of all, there is a Lego office in CT that I keep begging my wife to apply for a job there Thank you again for your reply though. I feel much better about the decision and just want to put together a cost estimate to help them understand my costs.
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Post by fatty on Jan 19, 2016 0:10:03 GMT -5
When I read this yesterday, I was thinking about it a bit before I responded. My impressions when first starting to read your post it seemed like an opportunity you were very excited about so I was thinking "Great news!". When I first saw about the $6k amount for compensation I didn't think too much about it. Not knowing anything about this type of thing I figured it was about right since it would cover the moving expenses. I thought "great opportunity for a new position at a new spot and they are willing to help you move...win/win".
This was all before reading on to see the comparison to the others' amount they received. And again, please keep in mind I don't know anything about what is considered standard. As oldskool mentioned, the relocation data comes from a while ago, so maybe the company internally decided to use this as one of the ways to help cut costs. I don't know.
But I do agree with both reaper and oldskool. I try to answer this question as if I was in your shoes and I think this is one of those times where you want to seize the opportunity. Embrace it as a whole new learning experience. I keep thinking back to where you said your current position is one that you won't be happy with in the long run. I say life is too short, do something that is going to be fulfilling. Even if for some reason it doesn't work out and you have to move on sooner than you thought, the experience gained will benefit you in the long run.
I like reaper's and oldskool's advice about how to approach the relocation amount, some good stuff there. Good luck, bud! These are big decisions, these are the moments in your life where you look back and you appreciate the new challenges you embraced.
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Post by dschroll on Jan 19, 2016 21:50:48 GMT -5
Thanks fatty! Thank you everyone actually. It's great having such good people here that I can share this stuff with and get good honest feedback on.
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Post by dschroll on Jan 26, 2016 23:36:36 GMT -5
Ok everyone. I met with the Sales Director today to discuss the relocation package and provided them a detailed estimate of what my costs will be to relocate to CT. The good news is that I was able to get additional assistance and my company bumped up my relocation number from $6k gross to $16k gross. Definitely a big help as it should now cover all of my costs to get my family out to CT. They claim they are no longer offering housing assistance, which is a shame, but I can live with that. As long as I'm not out of pocketing the actual moving expenses, I felt that was a win for me. So, I officially accepted the position. I start as of April 1, but my family and I won't be relocating until June, once my daughter finishes up school. PAX East here I come!!!
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Post by oldskoolboarder on Jan 26, 2016 23:43:48 GMT -5
Congrats!
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Post by reaper on Jan 27, 2016 7:42:09 GMT -5
Wahooooooo!!!
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Post by fatty on Jan 28, 2016 7:11:13 GMT -5
Wow! Congratulations!
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Post by dschroll on Jun 5, 2016 16:16:10 GMT -5
Well everyone, this is my last week in IL. Movers come on Wednesday, we leave for Connecticut on Friday. We'll be living in Fairfield, CT, which is about an hour outside of NYC. Jincman and I are planning to have regular get togethers and you can bet I'll be going to the Nintendo store for the NX launch. I'll miss Chicago a lot but am excited to try something new. Worst case my family and I decide east coast life is not for us and we quit our jobs and move back to Chicago. But this time next week I'll be an east coaster. Thanks again to everyone here for all the support. Wish me luck!
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Post by UsualNoise on Jun 5, 2016 19:43:30 GMT -5
Congrats, hope everything goes smoothly! Ironically I'm going to be moving from NY (Hudson Valley near Albany) to Idaho in the next month! We'll be crisscrossing the country in opposite directions.
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Post by dschroll on Jun 5, 2016 20:46:18 GMT -5
Congrats, hope everything goes smoothly! Ironically I'm going to be moving from NY (Hudson Valley near Albany) to Idaho in the next month! We'll be crisscrossing the country in opposite directions. Well that stinks. Albany is a place I will be visiting regularly and could've easily swung by for a visit or we could've grabbed a drink or something. What's sending you to Idaho?
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Post by UsualNoise on Jun 6, 2016 9:28:43 GMT -5
A couple things: most importantly, my wife's entire family lives there. She's much happier out there; since I actually like it too it seemed like a no-brainer. Secondly, I've been wanting to spend more time doing volunteer work for a while; as I've mentioned before I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses and I'll finally have the freedom to spend more time in our Bible education ministry. It's a little nerve-wracking only because I've worked for my current company since I was 21 (July 1997) and it's been great ... but we'll have a good-size savings buffer to carry us until I can find some part-time remote work that I can do from home. Been looking at flexjobs.com and between that and various other skills I can draw on I'm sure I'll find something to do.
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