HiJenx

Minor Differences: Changing Jobs

So, big news. Chris got a job. But you may being thinking, “didn’t he already have a full time job?” He did. He quit and got another one.

This is something that felt more like a major difference from his previous experience in the UK. Some of it was down to very different labor laws and work culture.

All previous jobs that he had in Britain took at least a month or two to apply for and interview with and there was nearly always a long period before one could leave a job, often a period of several months. Now, with both the UK and Arizona (I speak only of Arizona because US labor laws vary wildly from state to state), at the start of a job you can leave with no questions asked. In the UK, this is because they have a probation period. That is a period in which either the employee or the company can choose to end the contract for nearly any reason (obviously nothing illegal like discriminatory reasons). In Arizona, this is true for a very different reason. Arizona is a at-will employment state. Here’s another link if that was unclear as labor law is very complicated. Now, I am not a lawyer or any kind of legal expert on this area, so bare with me and corrections, ideally with sources, are welcome. This seems to mean that even long after the first 6 months, you can just leave if you want and they can also just fire you for any legal reason or for no reason. This can be quite bad in certain situations I am sure, but it appears to be useful in parts of IT.

2016-03-15 13.22.54Even though Chris could have left a job in the first 6 months in Britain if it wasn’t working out, he was highly unlikely to get another job in that time. For instance, he did an interview for a company in Brighton in November 2014 and didn’t hear back from them properly until the day before we were leaving Brighton in late April 2015. American IT interview processes, at least from the two he has been through, seem much faster.

One of the jobs he looked into in December came up again and he got a call on a Tuesday asking if he wanted to do an interview with them. By Friday, he had had two interviews and had been offered the job. By the next Tuesday, the background check was complete and he was able to give his notice at his first job. Within 2 weeks, he will be able to start the new job. Very fast indeed.

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Despite being an at-will employment state, after speaking to a few people, it looks like even though an employee can leave at the drop of a hat, there is still the custom of a two week notice period. The industry seems to take this seriously. It made us a bit nervous as it wasn’t written down anywhere, so we feared that the previous company would just ask Chris to leave on the day he resigned as they legally could have, causing a loss of two weeks’ pay. This didn’t happen. What our friends and professional contacts recommended came to pass; despite being quite new at his now old job, they still honored the unwritten 2 week notice period and were actually very understanding about the whole thing.

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I can see how these labor laws can be both good or bad depending on who you are and what you do. They are unlikely to affect me either way as I am now working as a freelance translator through a few international sites online. They will affect Chris in that although he could be let go very easily, it looks like getting a new job is a faster and easier affair, which means he may be more likely to find the job that most suits him as change can happen quickly rather than every few years if it needs to. I can imagine it could be rather punishing if you were in a field where there are many people ready, willing and able to do your job. It can be a plus if you are in a field where you are rarer and in demand. In IT in particular, not getting stuck is important as learning new technologies is essential to staying relevant in the field. Either way, it is a significant cultural and legal difference.

For any curious parties, the primary reason Chris decided to change jobs is the new one is exclusively working from home, which he has wanted to do for a long time, so he could hardly say no. 🙂

Here’s the video, which happens to include a trip from Chandler to Scottsdale for anyone who wants to see a bit more of the area:

 

 

6 thoughts on “Minor Differences: Changing Jobs

  1. Colleen Ciavola

    Hearty congratulations on a new job with the conditions that you wanted. I assume that you mostly wanted an at home job to gaze upon the lovely and inspirational Jessica.

    1. Jess Post author

      It really is just dead flat other than the massive mountains. The Phoenix area is basically a huge valley, which has made it excellent for cycling and not too bad for driving.

  2. &J

    Congratulations 🙂

    I’m working at home now and I hate this.
    After a week working at home I’m absolutely exhausted – but I hope you will enjoy this kind of work.
    Can you tell us more about your new work?

    1. Chris

      Yes, it’s more of a developer role than the last job. I’ve only just started so I’m still going through a lengthy onboarding process but I will be writing Puppet modules (component and profile ones).

      The only other thing I know is that there will be lots of unit testing so I’m brushing up on how to write rspec files.

      Something to be aware of is that here, ‘systems administrator’ seems to mean ‘helpdesker’. What I considered a systems administrator is called a ‘systems engineer’.

      We have a dedicated office for working so I’m hoping it will be better than you describe. Am I right in thinking that you work at home because you are working a late shift or are you working at home permanently?

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