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Getting a job in San Francisco

blog.penso.info

11–20 of 104 posts

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#11
I am not from SF and hard for me to believe that a company like Twitter cares about your look more than your technical expertise.

  I will add than Twitter had a specific atmosphere compared  
  to other so called startups. The employees seem to be hired 
  on more than skills, everyone at their office is very much 
  hipster like, beautiful looking, feeling super confident 
  and ready to kick it. Walking around Twitter sometimes 
  almost feels like walking within a TV show.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#13
Interesting read. Does anyone have recent experience in obtaining a Green Card? I'd be interested to know how long it takes on average, transitioning from an H1-B visa.

>Mecca for Software Engineers, the only place in the World where the guy in front at Starbucks has big chance to be Software developer.

I'm a iOS developer and I love software, but this was one of my main reasons for leaving SF.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#14

Interesting read. Does anyone have recent experience in obtaining a Green Card? I'd be interested to know how long it takes on average, transitioning from an H1-B visa. > Mecca for Software Engineers, the only place in the World where the guy in front at Starbucks has big chance to be Software developer. I'm a iOS developer and I love software, but this was one of my main reasons for leaving SF.

It depends on a lot of factors. You can get an H1B and renew it once, and each period lasts 3 years. During your H1B, your company can sponsor your Green Card application, which in itself can take anywhere from 5 to 10 years - sometimes longer.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#15
To be honest, this makes me want to get a job in Paris.

The way Fabien describes SF as a Mecca evokes the sense of wonder Woody Allen had about the City of Love:

You know, I sometimes think, how is anyone ever gonna come up with a book, or a painting, or a symphony, or a sculpture that can compete with a great city. You can't. Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and when you think that in the cold, violent, meaningless universe that Paris exists, these lights, I mean come on, there's nothing happening on Jupiter or Neptune, but from way out in space you can see these lights, the cafés, people drinking and singing. For all we know, Paris is the hottest spot in the universe.

There's something nice about being in a city where everyone is one the same wavelength, but I think there's something more romantic about being holed up in a Parisian apartment that's stood the trial of centuries, committing to GitHub with the Eiffel Tower in the window (physical or otherwise) and such tremendous history all around you.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#16

Interesting read. Does anyone have recent experience in obtaining a Green Card? I'd be interested to know how long it takes on average, transitioning from an H1-B visa. > Mecca for Software Engineers, the only place in the World where the guy in front at Starbucks has big chance to be Software developer. I'm a iOS developer and I love software, but this was one of my main reasons for leaving SF.

It depends on the E status you can get. If you get sponsored for an E3, forget about it. With an E1 (say, you are the world expert in your field), you can have a green card very quickly. E2 can take a year or two.

The other course, depending on your country of citizenship, is asylum, which enables you to skip the queue and apply for your green card after a year. However, fraud is a big issue and you will eventually get slammed.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#17
post #11

I am not from SF and hard for me to believe that a company like Twitter cares about your look more than your technical expertise. I will add than Twitter had a specific atmosphere compared to other so called startups. The employees seem to be hired on more than skills, everyone at their office is very much hipster like, beautiful looking, feeling super confident and ready to kick it. Walking around Twitter sometimes…

>cares about your look more than your technical expertise.

In all fairness that's not what he said. Some companies - like google - have a very objective hiring process based almost entirely on technical skill. But many other companies include "fit" as a part of the hiring decision. I haven't interviewed at twitter but I could believe they are like that.

I've thumbed down candidates who did well on the technical part of the interview because I felt I wouldn't get along with them day to day. Not as extreme as "beautiful" people who are "ready to kick it", but more like arrogance or social awkwardness.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#18
post #3

>When rejecting candidates for my own company I wanted to tell them why I rejected them, and how to improve, but I have been told not to do it, for legal reason. When the laws prevent you from giving actionable feedback to the person you didn't hire, you know it has gone too far. The government should have no business in your selection or rejection of new hires, and the firing of them if needed. >I believe the US way…

Remember that almost always in the US you end up paying your own legal expenses even if someone else unsuccessfully sues you. That means it is expensive even if you are in the right.

Then look at it from the pov of the corporate lawyer. If they okay you supplying a rejection paragraph instead of a rejection sentence and you do get sued then it looks a failure of the lawyer. Whenever I've worked with corporate lawyers they have always erred on the side of not doing anything because the risk is to their career and the rewards go to other people in the organization.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#19
post #16

Interesting read. Does anyone have recent experience in obtaining a Green Card? I'd be interested to know how long it takes on average, transitioning from an H1-B visa. > Mecca for Software Engineers, the only place in the World where the guy in front at Starbucks has big chance to be Software developer. I'm a iOS developer and I love software, but this was one of my main reasons for leaving SF.

It depends on the E status you can get. If you get sponsored for an E3, forget about it. With an E1 (say, you are the world expert in your field), you can have a green card very quickly. E2 can take a year or two. The other course, depending on your country of citizenship, is asylum, which enables you to skip the queue and apply for your green card after a year. However, fraud is a big issue and you will eventually g…

I think you mean EB status not E status, which refers to the priority level of the green card application.

I was really confused because an E3 is a visa very similar to a H1-B for Australians and an E1 is a visa for traders from countries that the US has a free trade agreement with.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#20
post #15

To be honest, this makes me want to get a job in Paris. The way Fabien describes SF as a Mecca evokes the sense of wonder Woody Allen had about the City of Love: You know, I sometimes think, how is anyone ever gonna come up with a book, or a painting, or a symphony, or a sculpture that can compete with a great city. You can't. Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and…

... in a 18 sq.m. "apartment".
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