RoadWarriorFromLP

Pleasanton is uber-suburbia, safe but dull.

Again, you need to check on how you'd get from BART to your office if you wish to commute from elsewhere. You can use the BART timetable to determine the commute time from SF or areas such as Berkeley, which are probably closest to your tastes. Just keep in mind that not all of SF is convenient to BART, so calculate your commute times carefully to see how far you can stray from BART, and whether it is suitable for reaching the job.

Cape Blue

Laptopsurfer, mate, definately live in SF.

If after a year you find the commute a drag you'll have had time to check out other areas like San Jose or Palo Alto.

Would you have aimed for westchester county when in NYC, or Woking rather than London?

I don't remember Pleasanton that well, but it will probably be a slightly dull, drive-everywhere kind of place that may not suit a single well travelled expat.

laptopsurfer

Thank you all for your comments, lots to think about.

I never thought I would have to take a driving test again though :-( not looking forward to that!

CelestialAnnie

I think if you are asking 100K and this has your apartment included as well.....you should be just fine...... even better than that if they pay for your housing........... sounds terrific........... again...... Good Luck!!

laptopsurfer

That's my feeling also! ... If I live in central SF means I may not bother with a car. Looking online I found a BART stop quite close to office, so just may just have to put up with that. One thing, Is BART safe late at night ? I can then hire a car to explore at weekends. I am looking forward to spending time at the beach!

dbj1000

I'm not in the .COM field, but I think you're selling yourself VERY short on that salary. Even as a straight conversion of your UK salary to dollars, you're too low.

My field is semiconductor engineering, which commands similar salaries to many .COM jobs. A British engineer making "£60k + Bupa, laptop, phone, company credit card" would ask for $110-$130k in somewhere like Dallas, where the cost of living is low, but in San Francisco/San Jose that same engineer would expect anything from $150k to $200k, depending on seniority and experience.

This may not apply to your situation, but £60k is a high salary for a British .COMer (my wife was one, back in the day) and I would strongly advise you to find out what people are making in similar jobs in SF before you go in with what could be a very low salary request.

EDIT: Thinking about it a little more, if they'll actually pay 100% of your rent and healthcare on top of the $100k then it looks more realistic. However, in my field it would be an unusual request to have the company pay your rent. Be prepared to factor it back into the basic salary number if they balk.

scrubbedexpat099

Not sure about living in the city, weather sucks.

But that is after a couple of years of CO sun, and depends on your priorities.

Pleasanton is very different and a hike from SF.

veryfunny

I will add to the below: The IT field is still on the recovery phase when it comes to pay.

www.Salary.com

snowbunny

Absolutely. I'm in a fairly specialised field of engineering and I don't make near what I made a few years back -- and I wasn't in a field where there was significant salary appreciation. This is very much up to the skills required and your experience as well as how many people can do the work.

If you're making 60K GBP per annum, move because you want to live in San Francisco, not for the money. You won't do much better there than a straight conversion, your medical costs can be significantly higher, and taxes also rather unforgiving. You will definitely need a car or you're stuck in the city. You will also want to discuss holiday -- how much holiday/leave are you currently receiving in the UK?

dbj1000

That's all very sound advice. If the OP would like to move to SF (which seems like a pretty cool place to live, based on my visits) and the employer can provide a reasonably competitive package then it should all work out. Certainly Salary.com seems to show that anything much over $110k for a standard IT job would be a real stretch. I guess things ain't what they used to be back in the good old days of the .COM bubble, eh? Back then you could have negotiated to have an ice sculpture on your desk each morning, and a champagne breakfast every Friday and your own personal shiatsu massage expert living under your desk.

CelestialAnnie

As I said before...... if his rent/apt. is paid for by the company.......then $100K is a good deal.......... if not......he needs to ask for more...... or he's on the "poor" end of the scale....

dbj1000

Yes..... you said that before..... I was just..... adding my views.

laptopsurfer

Seems I am pretty much on the money. Program Manager / Development Managers get around $124k > $160k. So 100k plus apartment $2000 would be a fair deal ...

The reason I have always asked for an apartment to be included is because of the hassle of having to sign a lease for a long time, which you might well not be able to keep (company closes, I have to return to UK etc) and also my experience of NYC was that without some "credit history" signing a lease was almost impossible. In Asia apartments etc are seen as a standard part of any package and most are all high quality serviced apartment blocks.

gardnma

I lived in Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore. None of them are by any stretch of the imagination, small towns. Each has a pop of 50k plus and meld into each other creating a very attractive urban sprawl.
Very expensive. My Mum and Dad just sold a 3 bed tract in P'ton for 3/4 mil.

Nice place if like the inside of your car.