Originally Posted by apey_grapey

i was, but am now reformed i'm back in school for something completely different. i do miss the very generous benefits - east coast companies aren't as lavish. i sometimes think people here must think i am making things up when i tell them all the perks we had - specially the team building trips.

Interesting! so you have no interest in going back into biotech? I was just thinking the other day how good the industry has been to us (DH is now at his 3rd biotech in 12 years. Pre-IPO so we're real stoked and so far he's loving it there as well).

When I was working team building wasn't that lavish but at least it was offered. Team building at DH's last biotech constituted go cart racing and a nice dinner afterwards. Again not very lavish but at least a nice gesture.

I think the thing I miss most was all the paid leave we got. I can't remember what companies besides Genentech that offers it, but GNE has a sabbatical program where upon your 6th year, you get 6 weeks paid leave in addition to whatever vacation time you've accumulated. A lot of female coworkers I knew stacked that with their maternity leave and vacation hours that resulted in almost 6 months of paid leave. It's awesome...

Originally Posted by lorenzo94580

Interesting! so you have no interest in going back into biotech? I was just thinking the other day how good the industry has been to us (DH is now at his 3rd biotech in 12 years. Pre-IPO so we're real stoked and so far he's loving it there as well). When I was working team building wasn't that lavish but at least it was offered. Team building at DH's last biotech constituted go cart racing and a nice dinner afterwards. Again not very lavish but at least it a nice gesture. I think the thing I miss most was all the paid leave we got. I can't remember what companies besides Genentech that offers it, but GNE has a sabbatical program where upon your 6th year, you get 6 weeks paid leave in addition to whatever vacation time you've accumulated. A lot of female coworkers I knew stacked that with their maternity leave and vacation hours that resulted in almost 6 months of paid leave. It's awesome...

i'm not ruling out returning but i want to do something else. gosh, i worked at start-ups, medium, and large biotechs. startups are definitely more exciting but it's nice being able to buy instruments and reagents and not have to worry about burn rate.

i totally agree about the paid leave. one company gave us 5 weeks pto to start. i accrued almost 16 weeks until the company imposed a limit.

Originally Posted by apey_grapey

i'm not ruling out returning but i want to do something else. gosh, i worked at start-ups, medium, and large biotechs. startups are definitely more exciting but it's nice being able to buy instruments and reagents and not have to worry about burn rate. i totally agree about the paid leave. one company gave us 5 weeks pto to start. i accrued almost 16 weeks until the company imposed a limit.

Good point. That's awesome you have that perspective of having worked at firms of varying sizes. Part of me kinda regretted not going the startup route because you get to wear so many hats (that and man, did my friends in the industry made bank when they did same day sale!!) but overall I'm still happy with the opportunity I received.

But wow, 5 weeks to start... Even for biotech/tech standard, that's insane!

Originally Posted by lorenzo94580

Good point. That's awesome you have that perspective of having worked at firms of varying sizes. Part of me kinda regretted not going the startup route because you get to wear so many hats (that and man, did my friends in the industry made bank when they did same day sale!!) but overall I'm still happy with the opportunity I received. But wow, 5 weeks to start... Even for biotech/tech standard, that's insane!

oh yes, i remember the good ole days. our company parking lot went from hondas, toyotas, nissans to jags, beemers, mercs, audis. friends went out to lunch in old cars and came back with new cars. even the mail room guys got in on the action. but i learned it is best to think of stock options as an extra and not part of the compensation because most companies don't make it and the options end up worthless.

Originally Posted by apey_grapey

but i learned it is best to think of stock options as an extra and not part of the compensation because most companies don't make it and the options end up worthless.

So much word.

Speaking of options, DH and an old coworker who lives in Cupertino were talking about the housing market not too long ago. I guess in Cupertino, old coworker was telling DH that houses are selling for 5 -10% above asking price (I think houses are $700K- A mil maybe??) Paid for in cash. Wah?? But then we realized, who's the biggest employer in Cupertino and yup, you guessed it. Apple. You mention the mail room guys being in the action, but can you imagine having been at Apple as a janitor for 10 years and now being able to lay down that kind of cash for biding your time? Insane.

Originally Posted by lorenzo94580

So much word. Speaking of options, DH and an old coworker who lives in Cupertino were talking about the housing market not too long ago. I guess in Cupertino, old coworker was telling DH that houses are selling for 5 -10% above asking price (I think houses are $700K- A mil maybe??) Paid for in cash. Wah?? But then we realized, who's the biggest employer in Cupertino and yup, you guessed it. Apple. You mention the mail room guys being in the action, but can you imagine having been at Apple as a janitor for 10 years and now being able to lay down that kind of cash for biding your time? Insane.

before i left the bay area, 10% above asking was the standard offer (from personal experience). i'm glad it has bounced back to those levels again. i think a lot of it is the facebook ipo effect as well.

i truly hope apple gave options to the janitor and that the janitor exercised them well.

Originally Posted by apey_grapey

before i left the bay area, 10% above asking was the standard offer (from personal experience). i'm glad it has bounced back to those levels again. i think a lot of it is the facebook ipo effect as well. i truly hope apple gave options to the janitor and that the janitor exercised them well.

I forgot about Facebook. Is it true their same day sale single handedly alleviated CA's deficit due to the revenue generated from short term capital gains?

One great perk I heard about FB is that they provide free food to their employees breakfast, lunch, dinner. Wonder, as a result, if employees experience "freshman 15 effect" from all that food. lol.

I work on a trading floor at a big investment bank. I like that everyone has their own tv at their desk to catch up with news. We also have a great cafeteria that serves really great food including sushi. And there is a trader's canteen right on our floor for those of us too lazy to go all the way to the cafeteria. The canteen stocks hot food, sandwiches, drinks, muffins, cookies, candy and fruit.

Originally Posted by lorenzo94580

yup. apey you're in biotech right?

Heh, funny - this is one of the competitors to the company I work for. No one on the west cost wants to work for us compared to them. We can't compete!

Originally Posted by Midge S

Heh, funny - this is one of the competitors to the company I work for. No one on the west cost wants to work for us compared to them. We can't compete!

Hey another fellow biotech-er! Are you in the lab or are you in a non lab position?

yeah, GNE creates a really competitive environment in regards to drawing top talent. I don't know how hard it is to get in nowadays, but I can imagine it's gotten tougher through the years.

Originally Posted by lorenzo94580

Hey another fellow biotech-er! Are you in the lab or are you in a non lab position? yeah, GNE creates a really competitive environment in regards to drawing top talent. I don't know how hard it is to get in nowadays, but I can imagine it's gotten tougher through the years.

non-lab. I did some bench work at a diff company very early in my career, but now I am in HR.

I love my boss. She is absolutely hilarious and we keep each other laughing all day.

the free snacks!

Originally Posted by lorenzo94580

I forgot about Facebook. Is it true their same day sale single handedly alleviated CA's deficit due to the revenue generated from short term capital gains? One great perk I heard about FB is that they provide free food to their employees breakfast, lunch, dinner. Wonder, as a result, if employees experience "freshman 15 effect" from all that food. lol.

it probably helped. i am not current with CA's budget woes, but i don't think revenue from Facebook stock sales (this is in the private market as FB is not public, obviously) is that big right now. i think CA lawmakers are praying very hard that it becomes a big revenue source.

my old company had free food in the cafeteria too. we had line cooks who made hot food to order. friends would come saying they wanted to visit me but they really just wanted to have lunch at my work

The insurance... having my own office... a small handful of really awesome coworkers that make me laugh... good places to eat and drink in walking distance...