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What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

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Re: What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

#61

Post by etempleton »

denkmoon wrote: post #2

I'm an Australian working for a US big tech company, the culture thing is interesting to me. What I see from corp and the US side very much matches the "Americans tend to be enthusiastic about their company mission - in the extreme, believing that they’re saving the world" statement, but I always wonder how genuine it is? When your access to healthcare is directly tied to your enthusiasm for the company mission, it s…

I can assure you, your US colleagues are as cynical as you are, but in America you fake a positive attitude because what the hell else are you supposed to do but make the best of it?

Generally, the West Coast of the US is the most fake positive and the East Coast is the most blunt and outwardly cynical. Middle America tends to be friendly yet direct.

Re: What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

#62

Post by WatchDog »

thayne wrote: post #22

> Australians typically play down their achievements, while Americans like to talk themselves up. Americans naturally read to Australians as boastful, while Australians naturally read to Americans as meek American culture is not a monolith. This can vary greatly in different regions or different subcultures.

Matches my experience working with SF based companies.

Re: What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

#63

Post by ghaff »

ryandrake wrote: post #49
imoreno wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>your access to healthcare is directly tied to your enthusiasm for the company mission No, it's not. First, they're legally required to provide it so long as you work there, whether you're enthusiastic or not. Even if you got fired for not being enthusiastic enough, by law you can stay on the same health insurance plan for 18 months. If you still haven't found a job after 18-36 months, or just don't like the company'…

You are technically correct--the best kind of correct! However, if you step back and look at the big picture, the US's tethering of health care to employment is probably a big driver of lots of critical decisions around employment. It's definitely one of the big reasons guys like me with a family will never voluntarily quit my job and go try a startup. Or just semi-retire when I turn 55 (unless I find health care). A…

>And COBRA tends to be massively expensive

It's pretty similar to a comparable marketplace plan and even to Medicare for the first couple of years (which is tied to what your recent W-2 income is/was). The issue is that your employer is presumably chipping in a lot of your current insurance costs as part of your benefits. But, yes, if you're paying for insurance on your own, it's expensive because you're covering the whole thing.

Re: What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

#64

Post by sincerecook »

mmmBacon wrote: post #27
denkmoon wrote: post #2

I'm an Australian working for a US big tech company, the culture thing is interesting to me. What I see from corp and the US side very much matches the "Americans tend to be enthusiastic about their company mission - in the extreme, believing that they’re saving the world" statement, but I always wonder how genuine it is? When your access to healthcare is directly tied to your enthusiasm for the company mission, it s…

[flagged]

You sound like a dream to work for. Do you go around asking people who aren't beaming with an idiotic smile if they have a case of the Mondays too?

Re: What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

#65

Post by Gigachad »

RustyRussell wrote: post #57

Worked for American companies for 25 years. Generally Americans come across as more confident, and yet conform to hierarchy in a way I've never seen en-masse in Australian culture. It always seemed to be that only the most weirdo Americans are blind to relative status, whereas for many Australians it's the norm? Employment-at-will takes some cultural adjustment, too. But for tech folks tends to be a net win. You just…

Employment security has a lot to do with it. Obviously you can’t completely ignore leaders, and if you refuse reasonable instructions you can be fired. But you have a lot more freedom to rock the boat and share your opinion.

You can not be fired just because you hurt a managers feelings by disagreeing with them.

Re: What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

#66

Post by ghaff »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #56
bradleyjg wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found being in the US east coast in teams spread across Europe and the US to have the advantage of being able to touch base with anyone fairly easily but the disadvantage of never getting that natural quiet period. I don’t see how us east cost apac is really feasible on any kind of regular basis.

I did US East Coast / Shanghai for one project. We got really good at asynchronous messaging, and that went a long way. Still didn't fix the 1-workday latency for discussions, though.

A lot of companies have definitely gotten better at asynchronous communications over the past few years. Not perfect for everything but if you can keep the weird hour calls to a dull roar it's probably more manageable than even 10 years ago.

Re: What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

#67

Post by dkjaudyeqooe »

RustyRussell wrote: post #57

Worked for American companies for 25 years. Generally Americans come across as more confident, and yet conform to hierarchy in a way I've never seen en-masse in Australian culture. It always seemed to be that only the most weirdo Americans are blind to relative status, whereas for many Australians it's the norm? Employment-at-will takes some cultural adjustment, too. But for tech folks tends to be a net win. You just…

I'd say thats due to:

(a) Australian culture being quite egalitarian, ie people there see other people just as people rather how much money or power they have, etc and

(b) American management being more of the power tripping variety, so they're more likely to wield their power in a threatening and retaliatory fashion, and so underlings tend to be more deferential, including the at-will employment, as you say.

Re: What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

#68

Post by dkjaudyeqooe »

Gigachad wrote: post #65
RustyRussell wrote: post #57

Worked for American companies for 25 years. Generally Americans come across as more confident, and yet conform to hierarchy in a way I've never seen en-masse in Australian culture. It always seemed to be that only the most weirdo Americans are blind to relative status, whereas for many Australians it's the norm? Employment-at-will takes some cultural adjustment, too. But for tech folks tends to be a net win. You just…

Employment security has a lot to do with it. Obviously you can’t completely ignore leaders, and if you refuse reasonable instructions you can be fired. But you have a lot more freedom to rock the boat and share your opinion. You can not be fired just because you hurt a managers feelings by disagreeing with them.

And you don't lose all (long term) healthcare coverage if you're fired in Aus.

Re: What it's like working for American companies as an Australian

#70

Post by dkjaudyeqooe »

mmmBacon wrote: post #27
denkmoon wrote: post #2

I'm an Australian working for a US big tech company, the culture thing is interesting to me. What I see from corp and the US side very much matches the "Americans tend to be enthusiastic about their company mission - in the extreme, believing that they’re saving the world" statement, but I always wonder how genuine it is? When your access to healthcare is directly tied to your enthusiasm for the company mission, it s…

[flagged]

The irony of your attitude is that it's very likely to result is a really quite mediocre team, though you might not perceive it that way.
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