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> Obviously one could have thought of this before marrying and putting kids in school in the town with one tech firm this was going to be my response, but then

> Obviously one could have thought of this before marrying and putting kids in school in the town with one tech firm this was going to be my response, but then you said it yourself :) The more intelligent and self-responsible act (which is hard, i know) would be to move to a better place before making extremely serious life choices such as marrying and having kids. same goes for partner finding - don't marry a crazy partner and then say 'I married a crazy partner and now we have 2 mutual children. i cannot leave, i am stuck with this crazy person who is also the parent of my children.' and i know it is hard to find a non-'crazy' employer and a non-'crazy' partner- but this should be your goal and target, shouldn't it ? also, you get better as time goes by, even if you don't want to (as long as you are a bit intelligent) - bad companies/life partners will present themselves as red-flags on an interview/date . and it is your responsibility to detect those red flags . (edit: refactor the last paragraph)

alkonaut 10y ago
I guess what I'm saying is that a) job market is only one factor in deciding on where to live. A partners job situation, access to other things in life, being close to family etc often weighs in, and is often even more important than other factors. Obviously after such a choice one shouldn't be whining about limited job market - but the point is that only improving things by leaving bad companies is not always the solution. For many it's important to be able to change bad culture as well. aspect b) is that company environments change, and the fun startup can become a terrible enterprise in a decade. I wouldn't advise against working in tech in small towns because of the risk of getting stuck in the only gig in town. I would however advise that it be factored into that career decision. One might need to fight to improve company culture, whereas in Silicon Valley one would instead take a job across the street. I'd also recommend keeping an active contact network and online profile so you can get remote work should it be necessary.

alkonaut 10y ago

I guess what I'm saying is that a) job market is only one factor in deciding on where to live. A partners job situation, access to other things in life, being close to family etc often weighs in, and is often even more important than other factors. Obviously after such a choice one shouldn't be whining about limited job market - but the point is that only improving things by leaving bad companies is not always the solution. For many it's important to be able to change bad culture as well. aspect b) is that company environments change, and the fun startup can become a terrible enterprise in a decade. I wouldn't advise against working in tech in small towns because of the risk of getting stuck in the only gig in town. I would however advise that it be factored into that career decision. One might need to fight to improve company culture, whereas in Silicon Valley one would instead take a job across the street. I'd also recommend keeping an active contact network and online profile so you can get remote work should it be necessary.