[speakeasy]

(05-08-2014 02:00 PM)SVK Wrote:  

Thanks for all the replies guys. So far it looks that most likely I'll stay here in AZ. Next best contender is LA as I'm in talks with a couple companies there. The expected pay is 15k-20k above Phoenix, which should cover the higher COL.

One of the jobs is in Thousand Oaks area - LA locals what could you tell me about lifestyle there? Personally would rather prefer West LA (Santa Monica, Venice, WeHo). But rents are def cheaper out there.

Yeah, Bay Area is prolly out of picture for now, didn't even have many job inquiries from there, only low-balling Indian headhunters offering 6 month contracts in Silicon Valley cities for $55/hour - fuhgeddaboudit.

Denver does seem interesting, probably the next serious contender. I know that it is very sunny area while not being overly hot, which is great. Is the startup scene up and coming?

Seattle - yeah probably too rainy for me since I'm used to sunny weather, but would give it a thought if the right job comes up.

Austin - will consider it, depends on jobs.

Thank you everyone and keep it coming!

Thousand Oaks, I used to commute out there for work in 2001. It's not a place you'd want to live as a bachelor. It's a bedroom community, a place for families. Demographically it is very white by California standards, middle/upper-middle class, Republican, mostly families. It's actually one of the best places to raise a family in the L.A. region because it's known to have great public schools and it's extremely safe and there are high paying jobs. Also lots of outdoors stuff around as you're near the ocean and surrounded by mountains. But I'm sure you realize that any place that's touted as "great for families" in the news sucks for bachelors and vice-versa. Plan on living somewhere like Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley which is much closer to things in L.A.(only 15 minutes to Hollywood), yet the commute on the 101 Fwy to Thousand Oaks wouldn't be too ridiculous. Traffic is a bitch on the 101 regardless of direction. I wouldn't recommend living in the L.A. basin if you work in Thousand Oaks, the commute is going wear you out fast.

[SVK]

(05-09-2014 06:07 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

(05-08-2014 02:00 PM)SVK Wrote:  

Thanks for all the replies guys. So far it looks that most likely I'll stay here in AZ. Next best contender is LA as I'm in talks with a couple companies there. The expected pay is 15k-20k above Phoenix, which should cover the higher COL.

One of the jobs is in Thousand Oaks area - LA locals what could you tell me about lifestyle there? Personally would rather prefer West LA (Santa Monica, Venice, WeHo). But rents are def cheaper out there.

Yeah, Bay Area is prolly out of picture for now, didn't even have many job inquiries from there, only low-balling Indian headhunters offering 6 month contracts in Silicon Valley cities for $55/hour - fuhgeddaboudit.

Denver does seem interesting, probably the next serious contender. I know that it is very sunny area while not being overly hot, which is great. Is the startup scene up and coming?

Seattle - yeah probably too rainy for me since I'm used to sunny weather, but would give it a thought if the right job comes up.

Austin - will consider it, depends on jobs.

Thank you everyone and keep it coming!

Thousand Oaks, I used to commute out there for work in 2001. It's not a place you'd want to live as a bachelor. It's a bedroom community, a place for families. Demographically it is very white by California standards, middle/upper-middle class, Republican, mostly families. It's actually one of the best places to raise a family in the L.A. region because it's known to have great public schools and it's extremely safe and there are high paying jobs. Also lots of outdoors stuff around as you're near the ocean and surrounded by mountains. But I'm sure you realize that any place that's touted as "great for families" in the news sucks for bachelors and vice-versa. Plan on living somewhere like Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley which is much closer to things in L.A.(only 15 minutes to Hollywood), yet the commute on the 101 Fwy to Thousand Oaks wouldn't be too ridiculous. Traffic is a bitch on the 101 regardless of direction. I wouldn't recommend living in the L.A. basin if you work in Thousand Oaks, the commute is going wear you out fast.

Thanks for the intel Speakeasy. Checked that commute from Thousand Oaks to Sherman Oaks and it's quite brutal right now - 5:45 PM on Friday, about 45 minutes. And Fridays are usually a little bit slower days in my experience. Still about 30 minutes in normal traffic. I wouldn't want live that far from work. Commuting sucks. Anything closer to that area that would be a decent spot? It is quite close to Malibu (which is extremely expensive though).

Maybe I just shouldn't accept that job. I guess Santa Monica would be a cool place to work at. Where can you live relatively inexpensively if you work in downtown Santa Monica? One bedroom is all I need, maybe even studio but that would be pushing it.

[speakeasy]

(05-09-2014 08:20 PM)SVK Wrote:  

(05-09-2014 06:07 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

(05-08-2014 02:00 PM)SVK Wrote:  

Thanks for all the replies guys. So far it looks that most likely I'll stay here in AZ. Next best contender is LA as I'm in talks with a couple companies there. The expected pay is 15k-20k above Phoenix, which should cover the higher COL.

One of the jobs is in Thousand Oaks area - LA locals what could you tell me about lifestyle there? Personally would rather prefer West LA (Santa Monica, Venice, WeHo). But rents are def cheaper out there.

Yeah, Bay Area is prolly out of picture for now, didn't even have many job inquiries from there, only low-balling Indian headhunters offering 6 month contracts in Silicon Valley cities for $55/hour - fuhgeddaboudit.

Denver does seem interesting, probably the next serious contender. I know that it is very sunny area while not being overly hot, which is great. Is the startup scene up and coming?

Seattle - yeah probably too rainy for me since I'm used to sunny weather, but would give it a thought if the right job comes up.

Austin - will consider it, depends on jobs.

Thank you everyone and keep it coming!

Thousand Oaks, I used to commute out there for work in 2001. It's not a place you'd want to live as a bachelor. It's a bedroom community, a place for families. Demographically it is very white by California standards, middle/upper-middle class, Republican, mostly families. It's actually one of the best places to raise a family in the L.A. region because it's known to have great public schools and it's extremely safe and there are high paying jobs. Also lots of outdoors stuff around as you're near the ocean and surrounded by mountains. But I'm sure you realize that any place that's touted as "great for families" in the news sucks for bachelors and vice-versa. Plan on living somewhere like Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley which is much closer to things in L.A.(only 15 minutes to Hollywood), yet the commute on the 101 Fwy to Thousand Oaks wouldn't be too ridiculous. Traffic is a bitch on the 101 regardless of direction. I wouldn't recommend living in the L.A. basin if you work in Thousand Oaks, the commute is going wear you out fast.

Thanks for the intel Speakeasy. Checked that commute from Thousand Oaks to Sherman Oaks and it's quite brutal right now - 5:45 PM on Friday, about 45 minutes. And Fridays are usually a little bit slower days in my experience. Still about 30 minutes in normal traffic. I wouldn't want live that far from work. Commuting sucks. Anything closer to that area that would be a decent spot? It is quite close to Malibu (which is extremely expensive though).

Maybe I just shouldn't accept that job. I guess Santa Monica would be a cool place to work at. Where can you live relatively inexpensively if you work in downtown Santa Monica? One bedroom is all I need, maybe even studio but that would be pushing it.

If you work in Santa Monica, check out Culver City, Palms and Mar Vista. You can get better deal there and commute should be pretty light(relatively speaking). Anywhere north of there is going to get expensive real quick. Anywhere east of that then it's a brutal commute on the 10 freeway.

--edit--

They are extending the metro expo line to downtown Santa Monica that runs from Downtown passing through through Culver City. It'll be finished next year and then it'll be viable to get to SM by public transit and not have to worry about commute.

[SVK]

Thanks Speakeasy!

[SVK]

So it looks like it's going to be a choice between LA and Phoenix. In PHX, I have $110k fulltime job offer in the pocket already. Interviewing others, could get even a little bit more here in PHX with other employers.

What should I shoot for in LA? So far it looks at about $120k, hopefully more.
What kind of salary would compare LA to PHX for somebody like me who just needs a 1 br or even studio. Would prefer LA if I could have the same amount of $$$ after COL expenses.
Especially West LA is a lot more expensive than anywhere in PHX, also I think taxes are higher.

Also, anybody has good tips how to negotiate with a prospective employer to beat other offers? I'm pretty much a complete noob in this area...

Thanks!

[Onto]

(05-13-2014 02:04 PM)SVK Wrote:  

Especially West LA is a lot more expensive than anywhere in PHX, also I think taxes are higher.

Also, anybody has good tips how to negotiate with a prospective employer to beat other offers? I'm pretty much a complete noob in this area...

Thanks!

From what I understand the state taxes in CA are very high. This link for calculating your take home pay may help in seeing the difference.

http://www.paycheckcity.com/calculator/salary/

The best way to negotiate is to know your worth. Do this by talking with co-workers, etc, researching on the internet and testing recruiter's reaction to numbers you give them. Knowing the right number and coming out with it in a firm and confident tone is your best negotiation tool.

If you don't have that, shoot for 30-40% higher than your making now. Have you been at the same place for 7 years? If that's the case, maybe it should be Double.

[CrackerDaddy]

(05-07-2014 02:14 PM)SVK Wrote:  

Thanks to everybody who posted here, I really appreciate it. Seattle has been panned here to oblivion but per some of you guys (who seem to live there) it doesn't seem that bad. Good to hear that there is significant Slavic population in Bellevue, I'm myself an immigrant from a Slavic country and prefer girls from that region (or just foreign girls in general). I've never been, but the Pacific Northwest area looks beautiful and would be nice change of pace from rocks and desert. How bad is the weather? I heard that it is indeed rainy almost every day (except for summer), but it doesn't really rain that much - thus Seattle actually has lower precipitation in terms of inches per year than many East coast cities where when it rains it pours.

Austin - I have heard good things about the city, it's cheap and has good tech/startup scene, culture and nightlife. However, the weather seems to suck (almost as hot as Arizona BUT humid) and there's not much cool outdoor stuff around the city. But could be an option.

Santa Barbara - will look into jobs out there, love the area, How expensive is it to live there?

I got some inquiries from headhunters about jobs in Atlanta, what do you guys think? My leaning is negative - hot and humid, South, not as beautiful area as West coast cities. Not sure about a lifestyle out there or how good the IT job market it has.

Also - if it makes any difference - something about myself; early 30s, tall (6'3") white guy originally from central European Slavic country, lived in US for over 10 years now.

Avoid Atlanta like the plague. Horrible traffic and the women aren't anything to write home about. As far as the tech industry, it's hardly on the radar anymore.

[SVK]

(05-13-2014 02:50 PM)Onto Wrote:  

(05-13-2014 02:04 PM)SVK Wrote:  

Especially West LA is a lot more expensive than anywhere in PHX, also I think taxes are higher.

Also, anybody has good tips how to negotiate with a prospective employer to beat other offers? I'm pretty much a complete noob in this area...

Thanks!

From what I understand the state taxes in CA are very high. This link for calculating your take home pay may help in seeing the difference.

http://www.paycheckcity.com/calculator/salary/

The best way to negotiate is to know your worth. Do this by talking with co-workers, etc, researching on the internet and testing recruiter's reaction to numbers you give them. Knowing the right number and coming out with it in a firm and confident tone is your best negotiation tool.

If you don't have that, shoot for 30-40% higher than your making now. Have you been at the same place for 7 years? If that's the case, maybe it should be Double.

Wow, thanks for the link.
AZ salary of $110k vs CA salary of $120k, the AZ actually makes $50 more per biweekly paycheck. AZ salary of $110k vs CA salary of $130k makes only difference of about $150 dollars in CA's favor. Count in much higher COL and LA looks like a bad deal financially...

I think I'd have to get $140k - $150k in LA to make me move...we'll see what they offer.
Those taxes are ridiculous.

[puckerman]

Denver and Austin both have the same problem. They are being californized.

[SVK]

It looks like I'm gonna have a few offers, have one in my pocket already. Anybody has experience how to get them to raise their offers in light of competing companies?

[Travesty]

(05-15-2014 08:25 PM)SVK Wrote:  

It looks like I'm gonna have a few offers, have one in my pocket already. Anybody has experience how to get them to raise their offers in light of competing companies?

I have before. Say you have other offers and that either you need to be making X in compensation because that is what your value is or you can say I want to making as close to (large $ amount - 15-25% more than you think you could possible get) as possible. Be as vague as possible about the other offers. The advantage of stating "I want to make as close as possible to X" is that you either:

1) Get more than you expected
2) Can come back with a second round offer if it is too low

Whereas asking for X gives no room for them to offer more than you expect.

One thing I noticed from two different experiences is if you push a company to raise their initial offer there is no second round usually unless they absolutely need to have you. So if you are playing multiple offers off each other plan it so that if you have Job A and Job B with Job A being more desirable and probably paying more:

Make Job B raise their offer first. Then Ask Job A to raise their offer based off of Job B's new offer. If things work out Job A will offer even more, plus it was the better job anyway.

[SVK]

So I stayed in AZ, interviewed for a few jobs in LA, but couldn't get more than 125k out there and it simply wasn't worth it. Settled on a job with a company I got very good feedback from few acquaintances and so far I like it a lot, laid back atmosphere, great perks and benefits,e.g. "unlimited" paid vacation, this really only means about 5-6 weeks a year from what I have heard from coworkers, but that's still extremely good for USA. 110k base pay, 10% bonus, and pre-IPO stock options that could be worth anywhere between $0-$30k a year.

Had another company that I was talking to here in AZ and after negotiations we were talking about $120 base salary, however, they ended up hiring somebody else.

I could have probably played it better, but I'm quite content for now. Main mistake is that I committed to an offer too soon, you can always rescind (which I did with the first offer I have accepted), but you can only burn so many bridges. We'll see in a year or so. After I settle down in the job I'll be looking to spin stuff on the side as well, either side gigs or my own startup.

[Fighting888]

Denver and Phoenix are good choices. Especially when you consider how low the cost of living is compared to other places.

I'd avoid SF and LA, as your money gets eaten up way too quickly.

Seattle is alright, but people are rather unfriendly. Seattle freeze definitely.