Ask HN: how to manage golden handcuffs when changing jobs?

Posted by anon120 on Thursday April 30, 2009 @06:50PM
from the ask-hn dept.

I recently accepted a position at a company doing lots of interesting things which I am very excited about. The pay is comparable, which is great for a startup environment, however otherwise it's very much a lateral career move.

I had originally planned to start this month, but due to some changes on their end they have asked me to start in July. I have a cliff coming up at the beginning of September, and given the recent increases in the stockmarket, I'm now potentially missing out on a decent chunk of change.

My question is what's acceptable in this situation? If I stay at my current job for another 6-8 weeks past the requested start date (to the end of August), I get my hard-earned stock. However I suspect I may be burning this opportunity if I do that.

Anyone had similar experiences on HN? How did you resolve it? Is it just an expensive lesson for me?

( 4 comments | 7 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: how to manage golden handcuffs when changing jobs? by mrduncan on Thursday April 30, 2009 @08:18PM (#587813)

Depending on the situation, this might be something to discuss with the new company. If they have asked you to wait to start until July, they may not have a problem with you starting a few weeks later.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: how to manage golden handcuffs when changing jobs? by anon120 on Thursday April 30, 2009 @08:22PM (#587816)

That's what I was thinking, but I'm unsure on how to raise this. I am getting a modest signing bonus, so suspect this won't go down well.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: how to manage golden handcuffs when changing jobs? by lacker on Thursday April 30, 2009 @10:57PM (#588003)

They just asked you to wait two months. They can't really complain if you want to wait either zero months or four months. If you feel bad saying you are doing it just for the money, say there is a project at your current job that would take about four months, and you would feel bad starting it and not completing it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: how to manage golden handcuffs when changing jobs? by NonEUCitizen on Friday May 01, 2009 @04:56AM (#588277)

Is the company you are presently at public, and for which there is an options market? If you'll get an extra 6 months' vesting with the cliff, ask the new company to pay you an extra signing bonus NOW, with which you can buy N shares of call options at a strike price of S; N being the number of shares you'll vest in 4 months (6 months minus July and Aug), S being the same as your options' strike price.

If there's no options market, you'll have to guesstimate.

There should be other opportunities beside this offer?

[ Parent | on HN ]