Six Things to Consider Before Saying "Yes" to Relocation

If you feel like you’ve exhausted your job prospects at home, it may be time to consider relocation. Working close to friends and family makes taking on a new job a little easier, since you have to don’t have to adjust to a lot of new experiences and schedules. Relocating to a new city or state adds to the stress and adjustment period for both living and working.

Companies are looking for talented, flexible employees willing to relocate. You can limit your job prospects by checking “no” after the question “willing to relocate.” Before you say yes, here are some things to consider:

1. Your family situation. If you are a parent with children in middle or high school, uprooting them and changing schools is a difficult transition. Some children do well, but moving a high school junior or senior can be traumatic. Jobs can be short term, so stability is a major factor in the decision process.

2. Your financial situation. The real estate market is soft in many areas. Selling a house in one state and managing it from another is a difficult and stressful process. Do you have enough savings to weather a long sales period, bridge loan or short sale/foreclosure process? Will the company pay for all or part of relocation costs? Try to negotiate some financial support to bridge the sale of one home and purchase of another.

3. Climate conditions. Making the move from sunny Florida to Maine can be a shock come September or October. The job or salary can’t make up for long winters, snow and ice. The reverse is also true. If you love to snow ski half the year, a move to Phoenix may not be for you.

4. Your time of life. It can be difficult to move away in your 50’s or 60’s after living in the same town, or the same house, for 30 or 40 years. Leaving a community where you are established, respected and involved is a dramatic lifestyle change. Each region of the country has its own culture as well. A type-A New Yorker can become frustrated with the laid-back, easy Southern culture, and that can affect work life as well.

5. Cost of living. The new job’s higher salary may let you live like a king in your present location, but barely pay the rent at the new job location. Check out the tax situation, schools, restaurants, grocery and gas prices and commute time to calculate the true cost of relocation.

6. Your spouse/partner’s career plans. Your great opportunity may be the end of your spouse/partner’s career. Does it make financial sense? Can your relationship survive when one person sacrifices his career plans for the other? Both need to be supportive and positive about a move, with benefits for each.

Have you considered or weathered job relocation in the past? What challenges did you face? Share your experiences in the Comments section below.

Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for BusinessWorkForce.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and helping clients reinvent their careers for today’s job market. You can read more of her blogs at businessworkforceblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt.