Hi! I was laid off early feb and have been interviewing since then. I absolutely loved my previous job as a software engineer (front end) since my team was awesome in every way and comp was good. I’m an immigrant on f1 visa ( student visa ) and have lived in SF for the past 4 years. I love SF and have a very limited number of friends here. Last year, I struggled a lot with my mental health after my ex-fiancée called off the wedding. We were together for over 8 years and i’m still recovering from it. Keeping this in mind, can the blind community help me with my situation? Prev comp (before layoff) - Base - 170k Stock - 70k per year Bonus - 10% Fully remote job, awesome perks/benefits and the best team I’ve worked with. Current tc - 0 (laid off feb 1st) Potential job at Autozone (software engineer) Base - 116k Stock - 0 Bonus - 10% Hybrid job (three days a week), will need to relocate to Memphis, Tennessee, not primarily a tech company. Benefits and perks are no where close to my previous job. I know the job market is not that great right now but I also have no clue about life outside the Bay Area. Saw a couple of YouTube videos about crimes in Memphis, Tennessee which threw me off a lil bit to be honest. Also don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my standard of living there with the current offer. I don’t have any dependents to take care of. What would you do here?
You don’t want to be with someone who does not want to be with you. Imagine if this happened after marriage. Take the job and keep looking or may be after an year. Good luck!
Only accept remote
You can get an outstanding home in the best suburbs of Memphis for a fraction of bay area homes. The crime in the bad parts is comparable to the bad parts of the bay. You'd be Ballin at 116k in Memphis as a single person
This is the most common comment I received from my mentors here. But i somehow can’t comprehend on living with a 120k base. Like I said, I haven’t lived outside San Francisco and I’m immigrant. Don’t know much. Will the low cost of living, gas, rent and food really make such a big difference? 🤔
No state tax, cheaper rent what else do you want
Seems like 1 month is a pretty quick job search process. Are you not having luck finding interviews? Why jump on this one so quickly if you’ve only been unemployed 1 month and feel uncertain about it?
I think I’ve a pretty good resume with good work experience. I do get noticed my recruiters but it’s always some reason before the final on-site. Either they want to support people on H1-B ( few startups and a google recruiter told me this ) or straight up told me that people with way more experience have applied for the same role and we are cutting you out. Generally, I feel like the job market has crashed so hard. I remember in the first two weeks after getting laid off I was in panic mode and would have taken any offer. Also being on Visa definitely does not help my case. 😢
Ah sorry to hear. Scrolled to rough the post without seeing the visa part.
I’m in Clarksville, so a few hours out from Memphis. It’s not the best city. Nashville is better, but it also depends on how you lean politically. On the plus, no state income tax.
I really don’t have a strong political preference to be honest. have both democratic and republican friends. Do you think 120k base is good enough in Memphis? 🤔 I also have this feeling that the company is a bit old school corporate. The hiring manager was wearing formals and they are a bit traditional I guess. Are companies there strict in terms of office formals? I have never had to wear formals at work at all.
120k in Memphis should be fine if you’re not doing any crazy shopping/eating out, especially single. I only have experience with people who worked in Nashville, and it ranged from business casual to casual. Depends on the company.
Memphis is a dangerous city
A lot of YouTube videos suggest the same! I have zero friends there and I would have to start from scratch. Having lived in SF, I know some parts of SF aren’t safe at all. do you have any suggestions of safe neighborhoods there? Also how are the cops there?
Bro since you on F1 Opt you need to maintain a job. Take the Memphis job and keep on hunting. While in Memphis drive to Atlanta for weekends. Make friends in Atl to hang out with. I have lived in the Midwest as a single guy and it was depressing af. But you gotta do what you gotta do while on H1B. Best!
At this point I’m not too concerned about staying in the US. One of the reasons I moved here was for my ex. Now I have zero reasons to be here. But I’m curious to know why you termed it as depressing? Were you finding it hard to make friends there? also how are the people there? Are they welcoming ? 🤔
Did my MS in a major city and had lot of friends there. Had to move to the Midwest for my first job. Didnt know anyone, weather was terrible (hated the ice, snow, dark skies and long winters). People though are nice and friendly. Making friends was fine though. I just hated the overall bland and dull life of the midwest. Memphis though has southern culture and its not really midwest. so its different plus milder weather and easier drive to coast and atlanta which is a major city for socializing/friends/activity
also remember crime reports are for entire cities. every city has good suburbs and crime ridden hoods. just find out where most asians live - those are generally safe and nice areas. Memphis is decent sized city with ok weather unlike the midwest which is boring af and depressing weather.
Aaah. Gotcha! Time to hit those WhatsApp/Facebook groups I guess! 😂
I lived in both TN and Bay Area. As many already suggested, 116K is enough to live and save in TN. Crime is high in the certain areas, same as in Bay Area. Middle class suburbs are safe. Main concern could be your social life (or lack of) - how easy for you to make friends and what to do outside of work. Dating, however, could be better - more women and your social status as SWE with 6 figure pay will be higher there. I Go and check it out, worst case you come back in a year and will have life time memories. If it sucks, you'll appreciate Bay Area more. Good luck!
Your comment seems to summarize everything I wanted to know! I’ll be going ahead and accepting the offer. 👍🏼👍🏼 thanks!
Sorry to hear that. Join the company. And tell us why she called off the wedding ?
We became really toxic towards the end and ended up fighting a lot. I was also too busy during my masters degree with the course work and my multiple part-time jobs. I guess I became a bit boring for her 😅. It’s not all bad since she recently wanted to get back but I moved on.
Oh. I get surprised whenever I hear breakups after 7-8 years. I mean wasn’t it boring or imperfect during these years? Not about you op just saying in general