Share your thoughts, job changes, relocation, choices.

I'll try to make this short, just thinking out loud and seeking the thoughts of people I consider friends and with much experience but who also don't run in my employment circles so this doesn't get out there.

I have a job, its a pretty good job. Overall I dont hate it, nor do I hate the company I work for. I am a bit disappointed that there seems to be a much higher focus on cost cutting (even though we are very profitable) and other monetary items in the past year or two but that can be chalked up to our new US president being a bean counter. Our HQ rotates these guys in every 2-4 years so it will probably change again eventually.

However, it is in NJ. I do sincerely dislike living in NJ. I've been here a long time now because I was young and dumb and married a Jersey girl. Recently I have worn her down to be open to discuss a move south.

Then I get a call, about a job, in the south, Alpharetta, GA to be specific. It's pretty interesting.

Both companies are listed in the top places to work in the US

The work is very similar to what I do now with a little more of a focus on the pieces of the job I like.

The pay rate is about 5% less than I make now in an area with a cost of living about 35% below where I live now (effectively a raise)

Benefits package seems to be comparable but I don't have all the details yet.

The downsides:

Its further south than the wife wanted but I think she could come around on it.

They want to start me temp to perm, this is a deal breaker, no way I give up a full time secure job for a temp position. The headhunter thinks he can bring them around on this.

They are offering nothing in the way of relocation assistance so far. It's going to be hard for me to get out of my place easily in NJ which will probably mean leaving the family here and couch surfing there for awhile (I have good friends who would accommodate) Its not possible for us to rent at the new location so we need to sell in NJ so we can buy new (7 dogs, 4 cats, do YOU want to rent me a house?)

I can't complain, I'm in a good position, I have a job, I like my job, if my job would let me work remote and move south I'd stay forever. So I can play hardball on this, they really need to sell me on working for them.

I'm also pretty bad with change, I want to make a change but there's a lot of stress around it, not sure I want to pile all that on right now.

Good luck! I'm in the process of getting ready to move north, and we've got to buy for the same reason's. Well 7 dogs and 1 cat.

You would be much closer to Atlanta.Craigslist.org.

Woody wrote: You would be *much* closer to Atlanta.Craigslist.org.

That thought has occurred to me...thus I've been looking at large garages with houses attached in the area ;)

I transferred in the same company from Knoxville, TN to Temple, TX last march. I was not offered any assistance for the relocation. I had to make a decision whether to transfer or find another job in three days. My family had to stay behind for six months. I had been promised a better position with better pay and less hours and the potential for advancement. And for the first couple months it was terrific. About a month after my family moved out my hours dramatically increased and I had to work almost every Saturday. I was laid off Monday without warning or any form of severance package. Now I'm here without any contacts trying to find anything I can to get some money coming in.

I don't really have any sage advice for you other than I sincerely hope your possible move goes a whole lot better than mine did.

Nick_Comstock wrote: I had to make a decision whether to transfer or find another job in three days.

First off, I am very sorry to hear about your situation, I hope things improve soon.

If this was a move or no job situation it would be easier to make the decision, but leaving a good, mostly secure, job for the unknown is scary.

I have recently been reevaluating my own situation, mostly with regards to work, and somewhat like you I am in a situation where my job is OK but has me wondering what else might be better. A new position was created above me and I was left out of the loop until the moment I was informed that I have a new boss!

I don't have many words of wisdom, but I have come to realize that being in a situation where life is okay and I might want change is far better than being in a situation where change is a necessity. (Sorry Nick, hope things look up soon!) That realization has helped me relax and use my own preferences and happiness for guidance. What would provide the most happiness for you and your family?

I have lived in NJ and currently work in Alpharetta. Don't underestimate the value of being able to do things nearly year-round. You gain so much from being able to get out and go places most any month that it really helps my overall disposition. I wish I would have left the cold much sooner.

I will add that Atlanta is less-southern than a lot of places. There are so many people who are not from here that it does not have the "you're not from here..." deal.

I would say to go for it.

Scott_H wrote: Don't underestimate the value of being able to do things nearly year-round.

Oh, Im not, its one of the prime considerations for wanting to move south.

In reply to JThw8: If the potential employer in GA turned out to be awful, would you have comparable employment opportunities in the same region? Despite how any company is rated, you won't really know what they are like until you've been on the inside. Even if it truly is a great company, that particular branch could still be a wasteland.

Being relatively close to Atlanta means that there are likely other options if things go sour, but it would be wise to have a well thought out escape plan, especially on unfamiliar turf.

I grew up in rural South Jersey, and there are some things about it that I genuinely miss, but I can't say that I would blame you for leaving. There are some developing countries that I would chose to move to rather than going back into NJ.

(I wonder what the job prospects are for industrial EV techs in Central or South America?)

Well, I'd do damn near anything to get out of Jersey.... and Georgia is far from the worst place you could land. The Hongs seem nice, and there's the aforementioned CLGeorgia clause..... that's like a pay raise in and of itself.

Thinking about moving to the GRM heartland of Florida. Wife has got an interview tomorrow. This time of year I'm about done with winter, but I still have at least another 2 months before the ground dries out and the days are long enough to get out after work.

We're going south as soon as we can. Screw this winter crap, I'm ready to deal with heat, humidity, hurricanes, etc. It'll be a couple more years before that's possible. Ideally, we want to be able to keep this place(it's paid for and not worth much anyway) and find a cheap place down south where we can split our time. I already have the ability to work remotely pretty much anytime, and there's a possibility my wife could have the ability to do so eventually too.

Is relocation assistance customary in your industry? If it is and they don't even offer U-Haul money, I'd take that as a red flag.

After a week in the sun here in Florida I have no desire to go back north. If I could dump my house and get the benefits I have at home I wouldn't.

BoxheadTim wrote: Is relocation assistance customary in your industry? If it is and they don't even offer U-Haul money, I'd take that as a red flag.

It has been many years since I was in a situation where relocation was required. In general I'd say its not customary, hell in this job market they feel they are doing you a favor offering you a job. And I guess that's where I'm at with this. They aren't doing me a favor, they need me, and I need to see some real world understanding of that if they expect me to jump ship.

As for some of the other questions. The skills I have, what I do, I can pretty much pick up consulting work anytime from most locations so while there is always risk I'd say the risk is no worse than what I have now. My company could at any point decide I'm redundant, there are no sure things in this world.

And yes I agree with everyone about getting the hell out of NJ and getting to warmer places, its really the only reason this is even under consideration. If I could easily dump my house and get a place in GA this might be an easier decision. But I know I need to put some time and money into my current place just to break even on it, which is not necessarily something I can do if I'm living in GA while I leave the wife and doggles in NJ.

Wife's really pushing back against it right now and honestly other than location (which is not a win for her) they aren't offering much more than what I have so it's hard for me to make the argument right now.

I was in the exact same spot as you this time last year. I was born and raised in the Philly region...been there over 40 years. Wife is from south Jersey, still trying to get that stench out. I had a good stable job I had been in for 9 years. Things hadn't been going the way I wanted, but it was still a good job. My wife and I had talked off and on about moving for years. Last winter was brutal and my wife really hated it. I was open to changing jobs, so we started talking about relocation. Cost of living down south is much less than in PA/NJ, weather is better, pace of life is different, etc... After much discussion, we decided to go for it. We picked up our 3 kids, packed everything in 2 U-Hauls and drove down to Atlanta. We were fortunate that we were able to sell our house in PA first, for a nice profit. There are plenty of rental houses down here, that's what we're in now. My new job was very close to Alpharetta, though as of yesterday my office closed and I now work from home...which is awesome. My wife's job is 7 miles from home, as opposed to 30 miles back in PA, so she's thrilled. She's very happy here, as our my kids. I'm not going to lie, I'm very homesick. Atlanta is OK, but I really miss PA. We've been here since July, and my observations:

Weather is certainly much better. It was 60 and sunny the past 3 days. Even now it doesn't get dark until 6:00 or so.

You better like crowded suburbs. Think Cherry Hill or King of Prussia. Every town here is like that. Sprawl everywhere. You need to get really far out from Atlanta to get the small town feel you can get in PA or NJ. Even then, it's not quite the same.

Traffic. People make a big deal of it. It's no worse than what you'd find on I-76 into/out of Philly, but the difference is there are more highways with that kind of traffic here.

Pace of life is different. Much more laid back here.

College football is religion. I don't get it, not my bag, but it is.

Not many "home grown" folks, everyone is from somewhere else. Back home in PA, most everyone in my towns were born and raised in the area. Here, nobody is originally from Atlanta.

Real estate is dirt cheap compared to PA/NJ, so are real estate taxes.

If you have any more questions about comparing ATL to Philly/NJ, let me know. Just be sure you're ready for the change. It is very different. Hell, I can't even get a cheesesteak here...well, I don't eat red meat steaks, but even a chicken cheesesteak. I don't want to slam Atlanta, my wife and kids love it. I don't hate it, but I'm not jumping for joy either.

JThw8 - I sent you a PM.

Thanks Klayfish, If I could sell my house for a profit, quickly, that would make the decision much easier. But I know I can't and I also can't rent when I hit GA (see 7 dogs, 4 cats on both counts)

I was born and partially raised in western PA then MD. I have no attachment to Philly/NJ so it wouldn't bother me to leave at all.

Real estate, at least what I'm looking for, doesn't seem all that much better in GA but the taxes are a huge difference that can be said almost anywhere I suppose. When 1/3 of my mortgage payment each month is for taxes you know you can do better. To get a house similar to mine in the Atlanta region might show a 10%-15% savings but it's not as large of a differential as I would have expected. If I moved part of the deal would be negotiated telecommute 50% of the time, with that I could deal with a commute and move even further outside of the sprawl to get into some backwoods areas with land and privacy.

The thing I've found with traffic in southern states being from the north is it's not any worse necessarily its just that up north we'll be bumper to bumper and still rolling at 75mph, down south people seem to follow speed limits for some reason.

Change I don't mind, I've moved around a bit in my life. In fact I've been in NJ too long, I do believe someone earlier referred to it as wanderlust and that's exactly it, I'm ready for new scenery and a new pace of life.

However all that being said I think this deal is done. I've told the headhunter that as a lateral move this makes no sense, if they want to do something to tip the scales then I will start to listen again :)

BoxheadTim wrote: Is relocation assistance customary in your industry? If it is and they don't even offer U-Haul money, I'd take that as a red flag.

For real. I got a job with a terrible company in 1986 when I moved to my current location and even they picked up the U-Haul bill and hired people to unload it.

Cool, if you decide to stay in NJ, awesome. I live in Acworth, which is 30 something miles northwest of Atlanta. Here, you can get a new construction 2500sq ft house with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bath for $175-$200k, make it $200-$230k if you want a basement with that. In most of the Philly burbs, that's a $350k house or more. In the subdivision I'm renting in now, they've got new construction 3 bedrooms that are 2500sq ft on a slab for $160k. And they're pretty nice. Taxes would be under $2k.

Wife and I kindof just did the opposite. Picked up and moved from Greenville, SC (3 hours from ATL) to near Baltimore. Her parents are down in SC, so that made the move tough- and mine are 6 hours even further north, where I grew up in western NY. So we're kindof by ourselves here. We're both very independent people, and the job I/we moved here for affords us a good standard of living. We just had our first baby and she is a full time mom.

That said, there have been issues. Mainly, especially with the new kid, being far form any of parents- especially hers. If you're not planning on kids, this is one huge issue not in the way. The cold weather in the winters doesn't do wonders for either of our moods, but we're both raised from tough midwestern stock originally. ;-)

I hated Atlanta the many times I'd been there. It's congested and sprawly and I was very nearly mugged. I liked SC, specifically the Greenville area- much more small town feel and a good mix of locals ad transplants. We're still not 100% on Maryland, but we're staying put for the time being- mostly because Moving sucks, and neither one of us have any desire to repeat that anytime soon. At least not with as much crap as we own.

Klayfish wrote: Cool, if you decide to stay in NJ, awesome. I live in Acworth, which is 30 something miles northwest of Atlanta. Here, you can get a new construction 2500sq ft house with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bath for $175-$200k, make it $200-$230k if you want a basement with that. In most of the Philly burbs, that's a $350k house or more. In the subdivision I'm renting in now, they've got new construction 3 bedrooms that are 2500sq ft on a slab for $160k. And they're pretty nice. Taxes would be under $2k.

I'm problematic when it comes to house shopping, this much I know :) While I live in a small (20 houses)subdivision now I won't do it again. Also no HOAs.

If I look for comps to my current house they come out around $300-$350k and don't have a 4 car garage (but I remove that from most comparisons because I realize its rare) Now granted I have no need for a house this size and won't let the wife talk me into it again so we will get to reduce the housing cost no matter what when the time comes. But feature for feature I've found that my house is actually reasonably priced when compared to others in "affordable" areas.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: If you're not planning on kids, this is one huge issue not in the way.

That's a big old not just no HELL NO. The only little ones we'll have are the furry 4 footed kinds. At an earlier point in our life every time the wife would think about kids I'd buy her a dog. That's why we have 7 dogs now ;)

I've relocated a lot. Moving is hard, very hard with a family. I'm not saying it isn't worth it, but I think most folks greatly underestimate packing up a house, selling a house, doing repairs on old and new house, buying a new house, leaving family behind, putting kids in new school, starting a new job, leaving friends and going to a place where you know zero people except the people you interviewed with.

EDIT: Just saw you don't have kids. That makes things much easier.