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16.02.2011, 14:43
| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | What do you mean? I was in san diego the other day and everything was shut by 8! | | | | | | Quote: | |  | | | Yes, but on the other hand, you would enjoy the full benefits of...what are they called again...oh yes, opening hours. (That's when people purchase products after 9pm...or so I've heard ) | | | | | San Diego is the armpit of California! Thing is, I have no problem with hard work. It's nice to be in the sun with people that smile and to go chill on the beach on the weekend and go eat out with the family for $30. I'd go.
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16.02.2011, 14:44
|  | Forum Veteran | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Adliswil (close to Zurich)
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | ...what is it that you do if I may ask? | | | | | I work in the semiconductor industry, I design electronic circuits for implementation on chips (micro-electronics).
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16.02.2011, 14:44
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Lugano
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | I do not understand why you cannot combine career and family in silicon valley. | | | | | Nor I.
However, it's not somewhere that I'd choose to live (though I did consider it before moving to Ticino 21 years ago).
Tom
| 
16.02.2011, 14:44
| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | From my Swiss perspective with six years of constant SVP fear-mongering this surely means: | | | | | Yes, basically in Switzerland there are two kinds of people: murderers and white people.
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16.02.2011, 14:46
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Lugano
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | Yes, but on the other hand, you would enjoy the full benefits of...what are they called again...oh yes, opening hours. (That's when people purchase products after 9pm...or so I've heard ) | | | | | Thanks, but I prefer the opening hours here.
Tom
| 
16.02.2011, 14:46
| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | Nor I.
However, it's not somewhere that I'd choose to live (though I did consider it before moving to Ticino 21 years ago).
Tom | | | | | I envy you. I'd live in Ticino if there was a way I could earn money there. But this isn't a comparison between the warm, stunningly beautiful, latin environment of Ticino, but rather the cold, rainy, post industrial mitteleuropaische Zurich. OK, lol I'm overstating, but still on balance I'd go to California.
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16.02.2011, 14:51
|  | Forum Veteran | | Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Zurich
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you?
I couldnt bear to live in California. Its just seems like a crap version of home (Australia). NY would be awesome to live and work though
Career and family wise, I like europe. Sure my family lives on the other side of the world but my wife and I have a nice, clean, laidback life here in Zurich (once we sorted permits....:S ). And I can't read the paper so I'm completely ignorant to political things. Just the way I like it | This user would like to thank Jimmy Bee for this useful post: | | 
16.02.2011, 14:53
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Town or region
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | What do you mean? I was in san diego the other day and everything was shut by 8! | | | | | Where were you?
| 
16.02.2011, 14:53
|  | Forum Veteran | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Adliswil (close to Zurich)
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | NY would be awesome to live and work though | | | | | I once worked there for an internship for 3 months. NY is truely awesome, the centre of the world as far as I am concerned.
| 
16.02.2011, 14:53
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Town or region
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | Thanks, but I prefer the opening hours here.
Tom | | | | | I'm sure you do.
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16.02.2011, 14:54
|  | Forum Legend | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Basel
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | You see, suddenly the advice gets concrete. 
I think the same as you and Summerrain: If it is the better place to be for the next five years from a personal development perspective... I'd probably go. As there are no kids as of yet, you do not need to worry about the school system yet in my eyes... | | | | | And I agree with all of you.
We are in this time of the year where we are looking for new positions. We have some offers on the table and all are very extremely opposite of each others.
We took our decision according of family and career together! And yes, we could have take the job that offer the best pay check, the best boost in my husband's career but with a very shitty lifestyle for the family.
What we choose was the Boost with family lifestyle. Not the money. The money will probably stay the same at the end of the month but the quality of life will be much better for us.
It depends of what you are looking for. For me, I am going crazy of how excited I am to learn a new culture and a new language (that I actually enjoy) and I like it when life moves, when you get a lot of opportunities to do plenty of things at the moment you get out of your house. Switzerland is pretty but very very boring to me.
For us, the culture of the place is very important. If the population is warm, if they like kids, if it is easy going (mentally) if help is easy to find and to afford, if going out and enjoying the place with kids is possible, if people will be friendly to families, etc. This is for us much more important that the cash in the bank account.
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16.02.2011, 14:54
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | I couldnt bear to live in California. Its just seems like a crap version of home (Australia). NY would be awesome to live and work though
Career and family wise, I like europe. Sure my family lives on the other side of the world but my wife and I have a nice, clean, laidback life here in Zurich (once we sorted permits....:S ). And I can't read the paper so I'm completely ignorant to political things. Just the way I like it  | | | | | that's strange, i always thought of australia as a crap version of california | The following 6 users would like to thank scrambled for this useful post: | | 
16.02.2011, 14:55
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | that's strange, i always thought of australia as a crap version of california  | | | | | Its strange for a person to have a differing opinion? | The following 3 users would like to thank Jimmy Bee for this useful post: | | 
16.02.2011, 15:10
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you?
To us this isn't a Switzerland Vs San Francisco argument.
If my husband walked in the door right now and told me that he thought it would benefit us to move, I'd be packing.
But whats so frustrating about it all is that there is no concrete discernible benefit (career wise) other than 'networking opportunities'. In fact the move from here to the US and subsequent salary conversion from Chf to US$ puts him over his US salary range. So financially we wont benefit for a number of years either.
He'll have at least 2 hours of commuting every day and he's going to have to fight to get 4 weeks annual leave (currently they're only offering 2) and longer working hours so it will impact on our family life.
All this because one of the bosses wants him at his right hand? | The following 2 users would like to thank nic80 for this useful post: | | 
16.02.2011, 15:13
| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | To us this isn't a Switzerland Vs San Francisco argument.
If my husband walked in the door right now and told me that he thought it would benefit us to move, I'd be packing.
But whats so frustrating about it all is that there is no concrete discernible benefit (career wise) other than 'networking opportunities'. In fact the move from here to the US and subsequent salary conversion from Chf to US$ puts him over his US salary range. So financially we wont benefit for a number of years either.
He'll have at least 2 hours of commuting every day and he's going to have to fight to get 4 weeks annual leave (currently they're only offering 2) and longer working hours so it will impact on our family life.
All this because one of the bosses wants him at his right hand? | | | | | Benefit in bold. You have to be in it to win it. You move, you become invaluable, you ask for more money or you leave and enter an environment with loads of opportunities.
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16.02.2011, 15:15
|  | Forum Veteran | | Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Zurich
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | To us this isn't a Switzerland Vs San Francisco argument.
If my husband walked in the door right now and told me that he thought it would benefit us to move, I'd be packing.
But whats so frustrating about it all is that there is no concrete discernible benefit (career wise) other than 'networking opportunities'. In fact the move from here to the US and subsequent salary conversion from Chf to US$ puts him over his US salary range. So financially we wont benefit for a number of years either.
He'll have at least 2 hours of commuting every day and he's going to have to fight to get 4 weeks annual leave (currently they're only offering 2) and longer working hours so it will impact on our family life.
All this because one of the bosses wants him at his right hand? | | | | | In such a case, the answer is clearly NO
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16.02.2011, 15:30
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | Benefit in bold. You have to be in it to win it. You move, you become invaluable, you ask for more money or you leave and enter an environment with loads of opportunities. | | | | | agreed, boss moves up, right hand man gets the boss' job
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16.02.2011, 15:31
| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | agreed, boss moves up, right hand man gets the boss' job | | | | | Or at least learns everything that the boss knows and right hand man becomes worth millions to competing company.
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16.02.2011, 15:33
|  | Forum Veteran | | Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Aargau
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | For us, it's not a binary equation, career vs. family - the two are intertwined.
My husband is my family. It is important to him to take on interesting challenges, to find fulfillment in his career. He loves what he does, his work is an integral part of who he is. And as I am rather fond of the man, that he finds satisfaction in his work is important to me as well. Just as my aspirations/goals are important to him.
If a move would mean an exciting challenge for one of us, often that's then the best thing for the family as a whole - and we then figure out a way to provide for the family happiness wherever the next posting lands us.
But if we weigh up the pros and cons and find there are compelling family reasons why we need to stay put, we do so.
And sometimes we have had to live apart temporarily in order to meet both needs.
We have done pretty much every variation of the stay/go, family/career dance... and learned that one can make just about anything work.
Just remember: A family is not created by, nor tied to, a place.
Best of luck to you. | | | | | I think we can pack up and go home now, I'm not sure anything else of value can be added. Life = career + family. you cannot easily separate the two.
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16.02.2011, 15:34
|  | Forum Veteran | | Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Zurich
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| | Re: Family life or career? Whats more important to you? | Quote: | |  | | | It depends of what you are looking for. For me, I am going crazy of how excited I am to learn a new culture and a new language (that I actually enjoy) and I like it when life moves, when you get a lot of opportunities to do plenty of things at the moment you get out of your house. Switzerland is pretty but very very boring to me.
For us, the culture of the place is very important. If the population is warm, if they like kids, if it is easy going (mentally) if help is easy to find and to afford, if going out and enjoying the place with kids is possible, if people will be friendly to families, etc. This is for us much more important that the cash in the bank account. | | | | | No place is perfect, the more places you stay the longer is the "wish" list..
I am sure you will miss lot of good things about switzerland, but I am glad you have already started looking at the brighter side of your new move. Good Luck | The following 2 users would like to thank miss_bean for this useful post: | |
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