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Contract location decisions.
Jun. 8th, 2013 12:26 pmSo, I have two offers on the table.
TomTom. Based in Amsterdam. A decent rate. Slightly less than what I was getting in Belgium but probably slightly cheaper to live there.
A company that does tools for oil drilling, doing visualisation stuff. Based in Stavanger, Norway. Slightly higher but a very expensive country.
So now I have to make a decision. This is tricky because I've always been a very indecisive person.
I've always had a conceptual fondness for Scandinavia. I like clean and efficient. The work for eDrilling sounds like it's more interesting. The area generally seems pretty geeky and so probably a good fit for me. The problem is, Stavanger is rather small. If it was Oslo (or Stockholm or Copenhagen for that matter) it wouldn't be a problem. Amsterdam I know is a major European city with good links to everywhere, a substantial expat community, and lots of things going on. I'm a little worried I might get bored in Stavanger. More to the point I know nothing about the place. It's a much more scary option.
One friend, who does know me exceptionally well, assures me that it's worth it for a six month contract, and feels that I'd probably do well there. On the other hand, he's half Norwegian so I don't trust his objectivity. My brother would prefer me to go to Amsterdam, but I think his reasons are more because he wants an excuse to visit. Not really a good reason to take that job.
Stavanger seems to be winning. I'm just paranoid I may be choosing the wrong one.
TomTom. Based in Amsterdam. A decent rate. Slightly less than what I was getting in Belgium but probably slightly cheaper to live there.
A company that does tools for oil drilling, doing visualisation stuff. Based in Stavanger, Norway. Slightly higher but a very expensive country.
So now I have to make a decision. This is tricky because I've always been a very indecisive person.
I've always had a conceptual fondness for Scandinavia. I like clean and efficient. The work for eDrilling sounds like it's more interesting. The area generally seems pretty geeky and so probably a good fit for me. The problem is, Stavanger is rather small. If it was Oslo (or Stockholm or Copenhagen for that matter) it wouldn't be a problem. Amsterdam I know is a major European city with good links to everywhere, a substantial expat community, and lots of things going on. I'm a little worried I might get bored in Stavanger. More to the point I know nothing about the place. It's a much more scary option.
One friend, who does know me exceptionally well, assures me that it's worth it for a six month contract, and feels that I'd probably do well there. On the other hand, he's half Norwegian so I don't trust his objectivity. My brother would prefer me to go to Amsterdam, but I think his reasons are more because he wants an excuse to visit. Not really a good reason to take that job.
Stavanger seems to be winning. I'm just paranoid I may be choosing the wrong one.
