I will be embarking on a new adventure soon. On May 1st I will begin employment with a new company based in Boston, and I will be relocating, with the family, to Boston two months later.
Going back to the US was always part of the plan — mine at least, maybe not the wife’s — but not so soon. However it was time to find a new job and the prospects in Singapore have been as exciting and numerous as authentic American sushi.
It’s a bad time I guess, it’s always a bad time in Singapore due to the ‘normal’ career path of engineers — let me just say that they don’t do much engineering for long — and the fact that most companies come to Singapore for cheap labor. So, unless you have ample experience in the banking sector it’s mostly cheap, entry level jobs. My best Singapore option was to run the technical operations of a certain cloud computing company… but they decided my lack of System Engineer experience was a non-solvable problem. C’est la vie, I want to program anyway, but management is the only real option for well paid techie jobs in S’pore.
So I widened my search to include other places in Asia. China offered a couple of interesting positions, but I could not get a house I was willing to keep my family in for what they want to pay a month. Unfortunately I am not a local and don’t live with my parents or 10 other guys. A real place to live most likely with gated access is required. And then there is private school. Too bad then, I would like to work in China now, I think it can only help long term. But no luck. Maybe next time.
I had a long shot for Taiwan, but that didn’t pan out either. Again, it would have been fun. People I’ve worked with before. Good people. Would have loved to work with them again. And I’ve had fun in Taipei so I’d be willing to go there.
Too many unemployed techies in Aus. Not even worth applying really.
Europe is out. I have a US passport, so no right to work anywhere in Europe. No company wants to take on the headache and paperwork.
So I spent a lot of time looking in the US. Got a couple of decent offers, a few what-the-fuck-happened disappearing HR people and lots of cold shoulder.
In the end Boston won. It’s a start-up with a lot of work in Mobile, so I can utilize the wealth of random industry info in my head, but at the same time they branch out in to some other related spaces I have less experience with that could offer a new challenge and learning opportunity. Location seems good, Boston is a decent tech town and seems to be a good place for a family. And, of course, most of all, the people seem good. Good as in a hard to find quality that I need to feel is there in people I work with—especially in a start-up situation. Hard working, smart, fun-loving. We’ll have to see about piercings, tattoos and blue hair (I’ve only see one guy, spoke to everyone else on the phone/email.)
So, the countdown to the big move has started. Plans are being formulated, evil plans devised and coup d’état’s plotted. It’s exiting and scary. Wish me luck… and wish my wife sanity… living in a foreign society for the first time is a mindfuck, from working professional to house-mom will be a big transition.
Now, last thing. Anyone want to buy a condo in Singapore? No? A car? Washing Machine? A sofa? Call me. Let’s discuss. Over kopi!