Relocating for Work

[Glenn70]

I’m curious if there is anyone out there that has recently relocated for work? Whether it was forced ( you had to move or quit ), or if you did it voluntarily. I’m currently trying to decide if I should relocate for my work. I'm not being forced to, it would be voluntary at this point. However, there is a chance in the future I could be asked to move. One of the reasons to go voluntarily would be to swing a promotion out of them for going. I’m currently living in NY ( NYC suburbs ), and considering a move to SC. I'm a sales rep and my only account is based there, and although I love the travel, it’s starting to get tiresome.

Has anyone out there gone through a relocation recently? Preferably out of state ( across town is just a pain in the neck, not a lifestyle change ). I want to know what things you considered, and what you didn’t consider but later realized you should have. Obviously different people’s jobs and lives make this a pretty personalized situation, but I’m mainly looking for the things that you didn’t think of until after you moved. I hope this makes sense. I’ve already started making a Pros vs Cons list, and so far it’s a 50-50 toss up.

And yes, one of the items on the Pros list is better weather/able to play more golf each year! However, on the Cons....finding a new weekly foursome.

Anyway, thanks for any advice.

[mddubya]

A move from NYC to the Carolinas? Better weather, more golf, less crowding, and a promotion? Sounds like a no brainer to me.

[Eracer]

I don't know about that! I've lived in SC, and there are parts that are decent (Charleston), and parts that suck (Columbia.)

[Release]

It shouldn't be a hard decision for you at all ?
Things would be more complicated should you have a family to move.

Make sure the move provide a more stable work environment than your current one, you don't wish to move and within a short period of time to find out that you have to look for another job. That's the first thing you need to consider.

Finding a new group of golfing buddies should not be too hard ( your current foursome might find excuses to go visit you now ).
I think you had already made up your mind of moving to S.C. and had been looking up information on all the golf courses near by where you're going.

[BigJim13]

Originally Posted by Glenn70

I’m curious if there is anyone out there that has recently relocated for work? Whether it was forced ( you had to move or quit ), or if you did it voluntarily. I’m currently trying to decide if I should relocate for my work. I'm not being forced to, it would be voluntary at this point. However, there is a chance in the future I could be asked to move. One of the reasons to go voluntarily would be to swing a promotion out of them for going. I’m currently living in NY ( NYC suburbs ), and considering a move to SC. I'm a sales rep and my only account is based there, and although I love the travel, it’s starting to get tiresome.

Has anyone out there gone through a relocation recently? Preferably out of state ( across town is just a pain in the neck, not a lifestyle change ). I want to know what things you considered, and what you didn’t consider but later realized you should have. Obviously different people’s jobs and lives make this a pretty personalized situation, but I’m mainly looking for the things that you didn’t think of until after you moved. I hope this makes sense. I’ve already started making a Pros vs Cons list, and so far it’s a 50-50 toss up.

And yes, one of the items on the Pros list is better weather/able to play more golf each year! However, on the Cons....finding a new weekly foursome.

Anyway, thanks for any advice.

My wife and I went through this about 6 months ago. She had a company that was interested in her and would have required a move from small town Vermont to just outside of Milwaukee (sp?), WI. Talk about change in lifestlye.

You are talking about staying with the same employer so I won't go into salary, benefits etc being equal to or better than what she has now.

When it came time to talk serious with them about moving halfway across the country we asked several questions.

1-how much were they willing to give us towards our moving expenses, meaning renting a truck or movers and getting from Vermont to Wisconsin.

2- Our house, we would have to sell it in order to buy another house out there or to be able to afford rent. We just could not swing 2 mortgages or rent and mortgage. This may not have been an issue but at the time the housing market, as I am sure you have seen in the news, was in bad shape and still is. We figured our house could be on the market for 6 months to a year before we got an offer.

These were the 2 main things that we were worried about. The company that wanted her to come work for them heard our concerns and were not willing to offer anything in either scenario, which was disappointing because she flew all the way out to Wisconsin for like 4 days to meet with these people.

I don't know much about your family situation but had it gone past this point we would have asked about things like schools for our daughter, daycare and a safe area to raise a family, but like I said we didn't get to that point.

I hope this helps...

[TigerWoods666]

Originally Posted by Release

It shouldn't be a hard decision for you at all ?
Things would be more complicated should you have a family to move.

Make sure the move provide a more stable work environment than your current one, you don't wish to move and within a short period of time to find out that you have to look for another job. That's the first thing you need to consider.

Finding a new group of golfing buddies should not be too hard ( your current foursome might find excuses to go visit you now ).
I think you had already made up your mind of moving to S.C. and had been looking up information on all the golf courses near by where you're going.

I think best thing to do in a new place is just to go out to a course by yourself and have them put you in a 4some. this is great way to meet new poeple.

[Glenn70]

Originally Posted by BigJim13

I don't know much about your family situation but had it gone past this point we would have asked about things like schools for our daughter, daycare and a safe area to raise a family, but like I said we didn't get to that point.

I hope this helps...

I'm single, so I don't have much to worry about on that front. Just the usual moving away from family stuff.

Thanks to all for the replies so far.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Would you keep the same salary?

If you do, this would seem like a financial goldmine to me. Financially I would bargain to guess it would likely be as good or better than any promotion you could ask for based on cost of living, housing, insurance, etc. of the two areas.

This doesn't even take into the consideration of what else was mentioned from a weather aspect.

edit 1 - They relocated the IT dept. for my wifes company from Parsippany, NJ to NC. Based on the research and the peoples comments, it would seem as though they got the equivalent of a substantial raise. Substantial, in the sense of almost double. You figure you are going from a place with one of the highest cost of living, and salary base in the US, where even Blue collar salary around NYC is likely extravagant in SC. Not comparing KS to SC, but you can buy a home in the bigger areas in KS for around $50k, which would likely cost you $500-750k around NYC. Where my wife is from, you can buy a 4BR home with about 2500 sq. ft. in a nice area, for less than what we paid for either of our cars (Honda Pilot, Hyudai Santa Fe - not Rolls Royce ). Granted, SC will be higher than KS, but will still pale in comparison to NYC, as will almost any area in the US.

[Wi-Golfer]

I relocated 3 years ago. The company I was with was closing the doors & moving the equipment to other facilities. It was my choice to relocate or not. We didn't move out of state but it is 140 or so miles from our old town. Overall it was a win win situation for myself, not so much for my wife. I thought being Madison is the capitol of Wi jobs would be numerous & decent paying for her, we have found the exact opposite to be true & wages for her suck. That's not an issue for you though.

[Glenn70]

Originally Posted by Pa Jayhawk

Would you keep the same salary?

If you do, this would seem like a financial goldmine to me. Financially I would bargain to guess it would likely be as good or better than any promotion you could ask for based on cost of living, housing, insurance, etc. of the two areas.

This doesn't even take into the consideration of what else was mentioned from a weather aspect.

edit 1 - They relocated the IT dept. for my wifes company from Parsippany, NJ to NC. Based on the research and the peoples comments, it would seem as though they got the equivalent of a substantial raise. Substantial, in the sense of almost double. You figure you are going from a place with one of the highest cost of living, and salary base in the US, where even Blue collar salary around NYC is likely extravagant in SC. Not comparing KS to SC, but you can buy a home in the bigger areas in KS for around $50k, which would likely cost you $500-750k around NYC. Where my wife is from, you can buy a 4BR home with about 2500 sq. ft. in a nice area, for less than what we paid for either of our cars (Honda Pilot, Hyudai Santa Fe - not Rolls Royce ). Granted, SC will be higher than KS, but will still pale in comparison to NYC, as will almost any area in the US.

Yes, same salary or more. So the financial part isn't an issue, I know it will be better. Just trying to think of the things that aren't so obvious.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by Glenn70

Yes, same salary or more. So the financial part isn't an issue, I know it will be better. Just trying to think of the things that aren't so obvious.

We did relocate about 5 years ago to this area, but it was only two hours away. It worked out great for us but from one who has moved alot having grown up in a military background and doing a relocation, a few thought that came to mind. I think alot would be simply adding to what BigJim mentioned. Moving expenses can be costly if you don't have time to do it yourself. They paid ours and was likely in the amount of $10k. Although if you have the time, you can likely do it yourself in a Ryder for less than $1k. 10 years ago a truck ran around $500. Closing cost where another thing we negotiated into the relocation. While they did not guarantee the sale of the house which some companies will do, they did pay our closing costs. You may also request they pay for you to go down and visit to find a place to live. Between traveling and hotels that can cost a bit.

From my perspective, the biggest thing you personally may consider is if you can deal with not being in the mainstream. This really gets to me up here. I lived in KS, which is slow. Then lived outside Philly for about 10 years. Up here is kinda midway between. It really may sound minor, but having to drive to NJ or 1 hour south of here to buy golf balls or any comercial area bothers me. Being around NYC, if you move you will soon realize the inconvenience to having to travel more than a couple miles to get what you need. Doesn't sound like much, but when you have to drive 30 minutes to say a Home Depot, only to find they don't have the $1 part you need and you then have to go another hour to the next, it can become taxing when it is in an effort to buy a $1 part that in your current area could be found within 10 minutes any direction. Again, lived all over during my life, but it was still nerve wracking after coming from a pretty commercialized area. Buy in large quantities. I buy 10 dozen golf balls at a time because it is 1 hour to buy them at a decent price with a decent selection. Having a very small selection of restaurants or bars around, we stay at home and eat in alot. We went from eating out about 5 days a week to once or twice a month. You don't have alot of choice. So you have to decide if you would rather be in a bar or restaurant, or sit out in the yard or on the deck and have a drink and be at one with nature.

Finding new friends and golf acquaintances is probably a concern, but again, since I grew up as an Army brat I never really had that issue. Just something you get used to and just a matter of being outgoing. We probably know more people up here outside of work than we did down toward Philly in half the time. Actually met almost all of them through our golf course.

[West Coast Duffer]

I moved once before and it was no issue becuae I have no kids or wife so I could just pick up and leave but even now still no wife and kids Im not sure I want to do it again, it would have to be more money of course and it is tuff meeting new people. I have been contacted quite a bit lately from employers across the U.S. to go work for them since my field is small and experieced personal are hard to find. The place and money would have to be just right.

[Slingblade61]

Just trying to think of the things that aren't so obvious.

Ok......



........They have alligators in SC.

[Glenn70]

Originally Posted by Slingblade61

Ok......



........They have alligators in SC.

LOL, you see...that's what I'm talking about! Now I just have to figure out if I should put that on the Pro side, or the Con.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Depends on whether you buy into the urban myths around NYC. According to many, they have alligators in the sewer system in NYC. Should make you feel right at home.