Job offer

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 In February I came across a job posting for an IT position at the Game and Entertainment company Blizzard. My 10 year old son is a major fan of one of their games and I thought he would be ecstatic if I told him that I am thinking of applying there. He sure was and at first the only reason I kept going with this job application was to impress him and let him have stories to tell his friends. He took pictures of some of the mail headers that showed that I was indeed communicating with a real Blizzard employee. My other kids occasionally asked if I was serious about this job but I always said that I was not and that I am just trying to figure out what I am worth after working for the same employer for almost 20 years.

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The process was actually quite interesting. It all started with filling out an online application, paste your resume, write a cover letter, and link to your LinkedIn page. After a few days I got an invitation to a telephone interview with the recruiter which then was followed up with another telephone interview with the hiring manager. Whenever I was asked why I would be so willing to move cross-country I always had some excuses ready: it's time to go back to the West Coast (my wife and I are originally from Seattle), the weather in New York sucks compared to SoCal, it's time to do some radical changes in my life, etc. At this point it was still good fun. Then Blizzard invited me over for an in-person interview. I was flown to Irvine, CA, hotel and everything was paid, and I was given $250 in pocket money for any extra expenses. All that for one day of interviewing. After that day I was sold. I was completely and utterly sold and knew I would uproot everything I know and love but it would be worth everything. Well, almost. I would not do it if it didn't come with a major pay increase as well.

A few days passed by and I saw one of the people I interviewed announcing that Blizzard is still looking to fill the position I applied for. It was a huge bummer but also a bit of relief that, you know, we don't have to move cross-country. It also helped that another job lead was moving forward as well. Another week came and went and I asked for an update. Lo and behold... I got the job. It was a Friday when the recruiter told me that they really want me and asked me once again, if I am still serious about all this, if I have anything else going on, etc. Of course! Show me the money! Well, I had to wait another week. One week later, on a Friday again, I got the deciding call. Numbers sounded very, very, very good. Benefits are not as great as what I have now (well, I do work in academia and those bennies are really hard to beat) but still above average, and Orange County would mean an upgrade of our financial health (coupled with a major pay increase, of course). New York, after all, is still about 30% more expensive on average than SoCal.

My wife was out of town on a business trip and I was pacing up and down trying to figure how to break the news. She just started a new job a year ago and loves it. Tearing her out of that will come with some heartbreak, I knew. After a lot of back and forth, a lot of arguments for and against, and some planning on how to deal with such a move smoothly, we decided to go for it. The kids will hate it, we know, at least for a while, but in the end it will be all worth it! At least that's what we think. I'll update this blog in a year and give feedback.

I want to use this blog to a) speak my mind about moving cross-town with family in tow, b) document what it takes to do such a thing, and c) share with the readers tips and tricks on how to do such a thing right and/or avoid other things that we did.