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Comment by bbarn | Hacker News Reader

Advice about what to do after you've already done something else isn't very useful, but when my wife and I moved internationally for her new job, we made sure to have it be a slow process. First she went, rented a short term apartment, while I moved all of our belongings into a storage facility, then once she felt good about the position she found us a nicer more permanent home, then I sold our home in the US, the car, and moved to meet her in the other country. Yes, it was more expensive, and we certainly wasted some money, but my feeling was if the company can't compensate us appropriately to take this risk, it's not worth the risk. They helped with moving expenses and apartment selection and the first two month's rent.

If something had gone wrong, or she'd felt like it was a bait and switch, we had months of buffer to fall back on.

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This is far more sensible advice than all the "there ought to be a law" (in which jurisdiction?) comments on this thread and probably also more realistic than trying to figure out how to protect yourself 100% against any eventuality.

Even without moving internationally, managers change, executives decide to cancel projects or cut back headcount, etc. Sure, that can happen a year down the road too. But if something is going to be a big move, it makes sense to find ways to at least reduce the harm if it turns out there really wasn't a meeting of the minds or circumstances changed.

> in which jurisdiction?

It'd be the country of employment, but that presents a huge enforcement problem for people like this. Navigating your own country's legal system is hard enough, but another country's?

I mean, the advice is "use a giant pile of money to set up and maintain a dual-home situation until you are satisfied that the job will pan out."

Laws are supposed to protect people who don't have the resources to proactively hedge against stuff like this.

A situation can "not pan out" in lots of ways that laws can't/won't protect against. Pretty much no law is going to handle "This job/place isn't like I thought it was going to be and I want to pull the plug before we have to commit" absent gross misrepresentation and probably getting lawyers involved. The parent specifically used the phrase "once she felt good about the position."

Maybe you cross your fingers and hope for the best or you use resources you have to hedge things. (Where hedging implies spending some upside to guard against serious downside.)

Anyone who owns a house is going to have to "set up a dual home situation" I think. Houses don't sell overnight - and in this case I got an offer the day it went on the market. Still took almost a month to close.

If you're one of the millions of Americans 2-3 missed paychecks from poverty, then yes, it can be difficult. Generally speaking though, this is not the crowd considering international moves for jobs, especially within this forum.

I did something similar when I relocated. I made plans with the company to be remote for the first month, though I was coming into the office on odd weeks. They understood I'd be out for a day or two here and there as I tried to find a new residence. That allowed time to find housing and move the family and I didn't have to terminate my lease until I already had a new house lined up.

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