Moving to Seattle

Most anyone who reads this blog also reads Aimee's blog, so I am sure everyone knows that we are moving to Seattle. It is strange to think that it is really going to happen. Here is how this all started:

The Recruiter
This all started a few weeks ago when a Microsoft recruiter found my resume on monster.com. When he called me, I really didn't take it seriously because the thought of moving out of state just didn't seem to be within the realm of possibility. I don't know why, I just never saw it happening. Still, I agreed to a phone interview. The interviewer's name was Simon, and throughout the call, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was not impressed. Apparently at least one of the rumors about interviewing with Microsoft is true: they will never let on if you are doing well, so you have to try to pretend that you are so as to not get nervous and give up. A couple hours later, the recruiter called me back, saying they wanted me to fly to Seattle for a day of interviews.

The Interview
Even though they were flying me to Seattle, I still didn't believe they would actually ever offer me a job. I thought to myself "I mean, tons of people interview with Microsoft so I shouldn't get my hopes up or anything". The day of the interviews came and I interviewed with some really cool people. Even though one of them said "I'm not supposed to give you feedback, but you're doing very well, I hope you join the team.", I still thought that they would probably give me an offer, but that it wouldn't be good enough to make me want move to Seattle.

The Offer
The first offer came, and I turned it down, not because it was a bad offer, but because I really didn't feel like we would ever move to Seattle. Then the second offer came, with more Salary and more Microsoft stock. Again, I turned it down, assuming that they would not counter offer again. Don't get me wrong, the benefits at Microsoft are awesome: Completely FREE health care (no premiums, co-pays, or deductibles), annual stock award, bonus program, and (my favorite) 4 weeks paid paternity leave if Aimee has a baby. Still though, Seattle seemed very far away. But, when the third, even better offer came, we started planning our new life in Seattle.