Job

Isn't life strange.  I've spent a year trying to get a work permit in New Zealand, and just as I accomplish it, I get a job offer from the UK. For a company in the US.  Working from New Zealand.

A bit of background: In 2000, I worked with someone on a project in San Francisco, and then again a few years later at Honda.  We kept in touch even after I moved to the UK and he moved to Quebec/Boston/New York. In 2013, he moved to the UK and so we saw each other regularly.  He tried several times to get me to come work for him, but he always seemed to be working on high-pressure projects, and I was always too lazy.

Six months ago he had teamed up with someone from that same project in San Francisco 16 years ago, and they developed an idea for a new product.  They had just managed to get seed funding to bring the product to market, and now needed a couple of developers to make it happen.  Even though I was now 12,000 miles away, he called me.

I'd like to say I accepted because I was desperate and had no money, but that's not true.  In fact, just the opposite: Since I now had NZ residency I was confident I would have no trouble getting a job. In addition, working with people in California and UK was going to be a nightmare just finding a timeslot to have a conference call; in the past I didn't like working from home; I'd have to travel every couple of months; and because the project was a startup, the pay wasn't great (although it did come with some equity in the company).  I also hadn't done any serious development in about ten years, and was used to managing a team of developers rather than doing it myself.

So there were many reasons to turn it down, but I accepted simply because the project was really interesting.  In addition, I knew I could work really well with my friend, and when I travelled it would either be to the UK or California, so I could also visit friends and family.  Working from home was an issue when I lived on my own and never saw anyone; now that I have a family that won't be a problem, and it actually gives us more flexibility since I'll be home when the kids leave for school and come home.  It will still be hard to find a timeslot but since I am managing my own time, making a call at 10pm isn't a problem.  And because I really think the product will be a big success, I think (hope) the equity will be worth a lot in a few years.

There are still some formalities to finalise but if all goes well, I could start as early as next week, and I may be in the UK as early as February 10.