[mtogo]

My biggest pet peeve about HN? The automatic assumption that if you're not looking to start your own company, you're a worthless idiot.

Woah, didn't mean to imply that at all. I just used the "to start a company" bit because he had said that in his post. I notice that attitude around HN and i hate it too.

As bretthoerner pointed out, many companies will pay for you to move. And even if they don't, putting $5k on a credit card to move to someplace where you would actually be employed is still a better plan than starving to death next to your bed.

You are probably absolutely right. I felt that if he can't put $100 on a credit card for some reason he probably can't put $5k on one, but i don't know what kind of relocation assistance companies provide nowadays.

[rdl]

Even if a company doesn't have a formal relocation program (it's unlikely a startup would), the founder/hiring manager saying "here's my personal credit card; put all the charges related to your move on it, and I'll expense it for you" relocation plan is probably quite common at a startup; the only provision would be that you have to repay it in a timely fashion if you switch to another job within a year or so. (IMO, if someone gets fired or just doesn't work out, it's pretty pointless to try to collect relocation/education expenses, since he's possibly broke; the case to worry about is relo for job A and then switch to job B at a competitor once you're already here).

[pavel_lishin]

I'm sorry, I didn't meant to snap at you.

And I imagine that putting $100 towards a startup and $5k towards a move to a guaranteed job are vastly different - startups can, and often do, fail. A job offer is much more steady - and if he has a family, stability is important.