Today's the day...
Discussion
off_again said:
Ah great - thanks for that!
I work for a certain company that was started up in a garage - doesnt take much to work out who!
If you dont mind, a few questions on the process though - the SSN bit, do you mean that I need to wait 10 days AFTER arrival before applying? What happens if you enter and leave? Or is it a case of entry and then stay until I can apply?
At the moment I dont have anywhere to live, and my family is coming with me (well at some point in the next few weeks) so I am a little worried on the whole process. I dont believe I can rent somewhere until I have an SSN, but I could be wrong here, but where do you get the SSN sent to?
And I am all ears on advice and suggestions. My office will be Sunnyvale, but I am actually a mobile worker so I dont need to commute or anything - but I will be going to the office at first though. I cant wait... bloody miserable weather here....
My kids are going to love it!
Surely Apple HR will assist you with all this stuff? Presumably they have hired you, so they will bend over backwards to get you as set-up and work-ready ASAP?I work for a certain company that was started up in a garage - doesnt take much to work out who!
If you dont mind, a few questions on the process though - the SSN bit, do you mean that I need to wait 10 days AFTER arrival before applying? What happens if you enter and leave? Or is it a case of entry and then stay until I can apply?
At the moment I dont have anywhere to live, and my family is coming with me (well at some point in the next few weeks) so I am a little worried on the whole process. I dont believe I can rent somewhere until I have an SSN, but I could be wrong here, but where do you get the SSN sent to?
And I am all ears on advice and suggestions. My office will be Sunnyvale, but I am actually a mobile worker so I dont need to commute or anything - but I will be going to the office at first though. I cant wait... bloody miserable weather here....
My kids are going to love it!
dobly said:
Surely Apple HR will assist you with all this stuff? Presumably they have hired you, so they will bend over backwards to get you as set-up and work-ready ASAP?
Typically they will stick you in a nice Company owned Condo, one that is lot better than you can probably afford long term.
Someone will ferry you about for a few days until you get a car. They will take care of SSN and assist you with getting driv lic. Tricky at present as Homeland Security control the requirements, passport is 3 points, employee ID is 2, SS Card 3 etc.
The personnel Dept will have done this many times, not something to worry about.
Car.....I know I'm going to get yelled at for this but.....
For your initial car get an auto, it will be far easier to adapt if you just need to point it, then all you need to worry about is not getting lost. Sat Nav is your friend.
At first everything will seem stupid, why the xxxx do they do that!!
If you let it worry you you will find things difficult.
Just accept what you think is cxxp and go with it.
With regard to house buying, no rush, make sure you get what want the first time.
Oh, learn to smile
Sorry, been a little busy the last week. I did a preview trip to the US to check things out and work with a local company to do some city visits and work out where we want to live. We think we have eliminated a few places and we are down to the east bay area. Probably the tri-valley area. We have two kids and a dog and are looking for the easy access to places, schools and hikes etc - east bay seems to fit well for this. Oh, and I dont need to commute to San Jose though, maybe once per week, so this isnt an issue. I know the freeways to and from the east bay area are a nightmare at rush hour - but not really that much worse than the M4 and M25.
So yes, the relocation package is great and really helpful. We could use temp accommodation for a while, but I am worried about getting a lease sorted on a house so we can get our kids into a school. If we go for the full temp accommodation we run the risk of missing this semester and the kids will have been out of weeks worth of schooling! Not too worried about them, more about me and the wife having them kicking around under our feet! They need to be out and making friends!
Looks like I will be out mid / late Feb though, and family heading over later. Oddly, I was staying last week in the Hilton in Santa Clara, right next to the Citrix offices - should have said hi to the chap earlier! But no I dont work for Apple - its the other one...
Cant wait now. Shippers coming for an assessment on Friday and then booking flights from there. Bring it on!
So yes, the relocation package is great and really helpful. We could use temp accommodation for a while, but I am worried about getting a lease sorted on a house so we can get our kids into a school. If we go for the full temp accommodation we run the risk of missing this semester and the kids will have been out of weeks worth of schooling! Not too worried about them, more about me and the wife having them kicking around under our feet! They need to be out and making friends!
Looks like I will be out mid / late Feb though, and family heading over later. Oddly, I was staying last week in the Hilton in Santa Clara, right next to the Citrix offices - should have said hi to the chap earlier! But no I dont work for Apple - its the other one...
Cant wait now. Shippers coming for an assessment on Friday and then booking flights from there. Bring it on!
So much to do! You should have looked me up as I work in the Citrix offices a couple of days a week. East bay is renowned for terrible traffic, but if you don't have to commute every day, you should be fine. We ended up in Los Gatos down by the Santa Cruz mountains - love it here and only 30 minute commute in rush hour.
We paid £4500 for a 20ft container and it took 10 weeks to get here. I can recommend a couple of shipping agents but if the company are paying, then no issue.
We paid £4500 for a 20ft container and it took 10 weeks to get here. I can recommend a couple of shipping agents but if the company are paying, then no issue.
Viper_Larry said:
So much to do! You should have looked me up as I work in the Citrix offices a couple of days a week. East bay is renowned for terrible traffic, but if you don't have to commute every day, you should be fine. We ended up in Los Gatos down by the Santa Cruz mountains - love it here and only 30 minute commute in rush hour.
We paid £4500 for a 20ft container and it took 10 weeks to get here. I can recommend a couple of shipping agents but if the company are paying, then no issue.
I will look you up when I get there - if you dont mind.... We paid £4500 for a 20ft container and it took 10 weeks to get here. I can recommend a couple of shipping agents but if the company are paying, then no issue.
We looked at Los Gatos but found it a bit too expensive for what we wanted. 2 adults, 2 kids and a dog meant we were touching $5000 as a starting point, and I want to ensure I have spare money to indulge in V8's and bikes!!! Really liked the area, but just too expensive for me. Competition for places there meant we would struggle for a place. Mind you, maybe I will win the lottery and head there? Hahah
Shipping is being handled for me in the relocation package (I really dont underestimate what they are doing for me! Its excellent) and I am not paying. So far the only think that is costing me money is getting out of the car finance (ouch) and shipping the dog (company pays 50% of this). So we should be OK. But as you say, so much to do.... arrrghhh - trying to flog some stuff on eBay is proving a challenge too! Another late night tonight I think.
Tell me about it, we budgeted $2500 for rent, ended up at $3500 for rent, but as Mrs VL wasn't so keen to come, it had to be somewhere she wanted to live. I don't regret it at all, but with her not working yet (first interview today) things are very tight.
I had no relocation package - they stumped up for the visa fees, but I had to pay for the container, flights for both of us and flights for the 2 x rabbits and 1 x cat! And then pay for everything once here - don't under estimate how much you have to buy! For instance, we brought all our lamps with us, I bought 8 x US plugs and re-wired them, no issue, what I didn't count on was you can't get bayonet fitting bulbs here, so had to order 8 x bayonet to screw fitting adapters to take the bulbs. The ones we did have with small screw bulbs, turns out is a different size to US small screw size!
It's all fun!
I had no relocation package - they stumped up for the visa fees, but I had to pay for the container, flights for both of us and flights for the 2 x rabbits and 1 x cat! And then pay for everything once here - don't under estimate how much you have to buy! For instance, we brought all our lamps with us, I bought 8 x US plugs and re-wired them, no issue, what I didn't count on was you can't get bayonet fitting bulbs here, so had to order 8 x bayonet to screw fitting adapters to take the bulbs. The ones we did have with small screw bulbs, turns out is a different size to US small screw size!
It's all fun!
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