Should you move for a job? Is it worth the risk? How do you weigh the risk of moving? There are many things to consider when moving for a job.
First, if you move and lose your job are there many other opportunities in the area. What is the likelyhood that you are moving to a location with a higher concentration of job opportunities?
Second, if you are in a relationship will you partner be able to find a job? What is the job opportunity situation for your partner? This is only relevant if you are married or want to be with someone long term. While it can help to “define” or move a relationship to the next level, it’s not imperative.
Third, what is the cost of living between where you are now and the new location? Can you get more bang or less bang for your buck? Are salaries equitable for the difference? Preferably of course it’d be better to move to a lower cost of living, but that’s not always linked to a location with many jobs.
Fourth, what impediments do you have currently? Do you have to sell your house? Do you have children and will you have to find a new school for them? Do they want to move if you do have children?
Finally it’s important to consider the job itself. Is it a promotion? Does it have better benefits than your current position? Does the new job have more potential for upward mobility both in responsibility and income? Will you gain from the experience?
Should you move for a job? I think it depends on many factors. And there are many intangible factors like having friends and family around that can’t be measured financially. But we’ve moved cross country. I can’t tell yet if it’s been worth it, but the experience has been interesting.
And if we didn’t do it now, I don’t think we’d ever have done it. Also I’m glad to have had the opportunity to see how other people live and experience a different type of lifestyle. So maybe it was worth it.
5 responses so far ↓
1 FruGal // Nov 26, 2008 at 10:33 am
Great post! There are so many important things to consider if you are thinking about relocating because of a job. I’m from Australia, but I currently live and work in the UK, and I can tell you that the decision definitely can’t be boiled down to one single question or point. You definitely do a good job listing all the different questions that should be asked before relocating.
Though I moved here on my own, I imagine its doubly difficult if you are thinking about moving with a long term partner. At the end of the day, I think that the new location is one of the most important factors. I know personally that I wouldn’t really consider relocating anywhere other than a large city.
2 fengshui // Nov 26, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Right now, at this point in my life, I would not move for a job. But I also happen to live in a large city and have all of my friends and family, my hubby’s friends and family here, so I/we would leave so much behind, and I don’t think that it would be worth it, because the only places where I would make more is New York or Cali, but then the cost of living is insane in those states, so it wouldn’t pay to move. Only if there was a significant pay increase, and I mean really significant, like a difference of $30k a year would I consider packing up and moving. But, if I lived in an area of the country where I couldn’t find a job right now and moving meant survival, then of course I would do what I had to.
3 LivingAlmostLarge // Nov 27, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I agree that it depends. My DH left Canada because there were no jobs. His parents left their country because they wanted something different. Same with mine. But it’s not as easy as it seems to move internationally.
Currently my BIL is thinking about moving to Korea for awhile.
4 Revanche // Nov 29, 2008 at 12:42 am
Great list of questions, I linked to this!
5 LAL // Nov 29, 2008 at 10:44 am
Thank you! I appreciate it.
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