How far would you go?

[sobrique]

Assuming all other things being equal, how much of a pay rise would you need to be offered to consider relocating elsewhere in the country?

And assuming the mythical job fairy were to offer you pretty much the same job, but 100+ miles away, at what point would it be a 'no brainer' for you to accept?

Would the same apply to relocating out of country? (Assuming no hinderances like work permits/language barriers etc.)

Comments

[nicolyrezk.livejournal.com]

Myself? None, provided they'd pay relocation and just adjust pay for regional cost variations.

I tend not to get overly attached to specific places.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Considering I currently live in one of the most expensive cities in the UK and anywhere else bar London itself would have the same or lower living costs, probably not that much.

Things like do I know anyone at the new location and is it possible to find accommodation of similar quality at a similar cost would be far more important to me.

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

A place is just a place really, but giving up social networks, friends, and sorting out moving house is a real pain. OK, so the latter is covered by 'relocation assistance' but ...

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

I'll give you that - cost of living does become a factor, since if your rent doubles by moving, then same money = pay cut (or vice versa of course). I'm thinking in more the general sense of leaving the 'social network' and moving elsewhere. As you say, already having friends/contacts would help there somewhat.

[nicolyrezk.livejournal.com]

My social network doesn't really rely on my physical location anyway.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

If the job was right, yes. I did it 10 years ago when I moved to the UK and I would do it again if the right job opened back in Germany, especially back in Nuremberg or especially Berlin as I really like it there. I have the biggest social network (and the nices friends) I've ever had over here but various factors mean that I live in poorer/smaller accommodation than I did when I was a student in Germany. I wouldn't earn much more (after tax and other deductions) in a similar job in Germany but my money would go almost twice as far. Unfortunately, my profession is moving away from being permanently employed to freelance on a larger scale each year so it's getting more and more difficult finding something appropriate...

[ash1977law.livejournal.com]

I'd have to be offered a job to GM professionally - oh wait...

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

If in two years' time a postdoc here was going at the same time as several in different places, no amount of money would make me leave. Unfortunately academia works differently to that, and people regularly move hundreds if not thousands of miles to find somebody who isn't a large company but will pay you to do science. The going rate for relocation is any amount of money at all.

[mrph.livejournal.com]

A lot of mine isn't here so is inconvenient due to my physical location. The fact that the rest is here helps to keep me sane.

Moving to somewhere without either would be... interesting... I think.

[nicolyrezk.livejournal.com]

Right now, my nearest friend is about an hour away. I am essentially in that situation now. It's not so hard to stay sane ;)

[zeke-hubris.livejournal.com]

As I have a young child who doesn't live with me (but does live near by) and don't drive the current answer is you couldn't offer me enough money to get me to move out of this area. In a few years time the situation is likely to change a lot at which point a simple "We'll match your current money and pay relocation costs" would probably be enough to make me leave London.

[spodula.livejournal.com]

I have thaught about this in the past.

To move down south, i would have to be given a substantial pay rise. the sort of rise that is unlikely for someone of my qualifications.

I enjoy having my own place. It cost me 70k 5 years ago. For the equivelent cash, i could probably get a garden shed down south.

As for people, the social part wouldnt really worry me as such.
I already live too far to be convenient for most people i really give a toss about.

So, South of brum, probably not. anywere else, negotiable.

[deathboy.livejournal.com]

I'm more portable than most as I work from home, but yeah, a few K and I'm anyones / anywhere ;)

[kal-357.livejournal.com]

I am tied to Leicester for just over the next decade, so it would have to be enough for plane tickets back every fortnight and then a large amount on top of that.

Before Jude though it wouldn't have taken a lot more than I was already earning to put me abroad, although it would have taken a lot more for me to relocate inside th UK. Mid you I have odd sense of priorities.

[kal-357.livejournal.com]

Some things are more important than money.

If you are considering it Ed do it now before you find yourself tied down and responsible like...

[mister-jack.livejournal.com]

I turned down £10k extra to move to Stroud.

[cthulahoops.livejournal.com]

Well, it all depends on circumstances at the time, but in general the further the move the better.

Whoever lives in the most countries wins.

Doh

[kal-357.livejournal.com]

I lose.

[forest-rose.livejournal.com]

It would depend on where to. I wouldn't move out of the country permanently, and I would be very reluctant, however good the money, to move out of visiting distance of the people who I love (most of whom are in Nottingham or Warwick/Coventry, with a scattering of southerners!). Having said that, I am about to up sticks and move to a town (Leicester) where I know very few people. It is conveniently situated between my two main centres of friends, which was no small part of the reason why I applied there, but if I'd had to go elsewhere in the country to study medicine, then yes, I would have done it. I suppose what that comes down to is that I value my career path more than I do money (if you offered me a GP salary to move, without the job, I wouldn't take it).

[jorune.livejournal.com]

To seek to grow and change is natural and it is through new experiences we can become faster, stronger, better.

Rather than discuss money I would ask how much personal growth are you going to get out of the move?

A good working environment and a good social environment are resources that provide support and comfort. It is under these conditions that personal growth becomes more likely. Lose either one and you risk becoming unbalanced. Because you have a strong online life this is less of a problem for you.

Write out your day, each part of it, and put it into three columns labelled Good, Unsure, Bad i.e. Is your trip to work good? Does seeing your colleagues make you smile or curse? Do you enjoy coming home? What part of it do you enjoy/don't mind/dislike? This acts as your reference to compare against your new location.

The second part is write out an imaginary day for your new location. Draw out what you would like to see, can you improve on each part of the day for your new location? As you write it down challenge your assumptions, will the traffic be light or busy? Will it take the same time? What's the cost of living going to be? Can you find any evidence of a social network in your new location that will provide a similar level of support to the current one?

Armed with these questions you will hopefully see any new location with a sober understanding, realising its flaws before they happen. Also it may provide you with questions for a interview.

One of the key rules for jobs is that are offering stupid money then they may be expecting you to do stupid things. A small company run by workaholics who see themselves as capitalist heroes with brand new Mercedes every year does not make for a happy social life.

[drivenapart.livejournal.com]

Given the fact that I've done exactly this, I figure I had to shove in my 2 penneth worth. For me leaving everything I knew and had established in Coventry to move 100+ miles away in Manchester meant simply doing a better job with a relatively small pay increase. It did mean for the first few months I felt like I was regretting the decision, after a while it got to the point where the job itself was rewarding enough for the move. I know where people are, and they know where I am so it's not as though I'm completely out of the loop and I've not exactly left my friends behind.

Yes, there are still times now where I wish I was still back in Coventry, but that's because of the people rather than anything else. But moving because of money wasn't the issue, it's simply doing something that inspires you to better things...that's what it boiled down to, and I wasn't getting that chance anywhere in Coventry. But if the job fairy offered me the same position elsewhere where silly amounts more money, then yes I think I would consider it then actually go. Not because I'm a fan of moving around the place (because I bloody hate moving!), but rather because with the money would come a level of stability that in an increasingly expensive society is necessary. As for leaving the country...I'd considered, when working for my previous employer, to attempt for jobs in New York (where they have offices, and incidentally someone I know has moved to do just that!). It's just about expanding ones horizons and going where you need to go to make yourself happy. If they pay you a shitload to do so, then fair enough!

[necessitysslave.livejournal.com]

I was about to say around 25-30% (based on previous moves as I've relocated twice) but jorune's comment struck a real chord. Both moves were (supposed to be) positive career moves and although I did not like moving away from cov and all my friends there I thought the increased money (we were on a very tight budget to the point I would have been better off on the dole) and the fact that as part of the relocation I got all the costs of moving into my first house paid for (except for the cost of the house obviously).

I have concidered moving to another country before, the end result was does the payscale still count as an improvement after you factor transport to the UK every so often. I have a fairly close relationship to my parents and we have quite a bit of family responsibility to R's family so I'd need to be making 4-6 trips back to the uk in a year (I'd have to cut this down a bit if it was a very long way away). Another point to note if you are thinking of moving abroad is what holiday regulations are there. someplaces do not have anywhere close to the number of days holiday that England tends to have.

Well thats my $0.02

[tya.livejournal.com]

It's already a "no brainer", even if I'd got to pay every travel and moving expense myself, but I wouldn't go any further South. Ever.

[jp-lj.livejournal.com]

I've done the country relocation and the pay relocation so I figured I'd stick my oar in :)

After uni in Manchester I did a pretty random up and move to Sweden.
Ok, so I had a Swedish girlfriend - now wife - but it wasn't planned as more than 'that might be an interesting thing to do'.

Then I got a job there and all was good. Later decided I wanted us to go back to the UK, to be near our friends again in Manchester. Applied for a job there, got it. But I also was pointed to work in London by my boss in Sweden.

I followed it up because it wasn't the work I wanted to get away from - I would be taking a worse job to go to Manchester - but I didn't think it would lead to anything. They offered a reasonable amount of pay but still the focus was on Manchester....I asked for an extra 50%. They called my bluff and off to London we went.

So a 50% pay rise + work I wanted was enough to get us to not return to Manchester (although still nearer friends than we were in Sweden, of course so it was a half-way point.)

[sebbo.livejournal.com]

Not much. And i'm looking for something new and different, not the same. At the same time I wouldn't be willing to take a pay cut to do so, as I believe that given the type of jobs i would be looking at a payrise would be appropriate.

With regards to location... well, i'm flexible. I'd be happy to go anywhere where they speak english, german or something that i could pick up without too much hassle (i.e. they may have a large proportion of the population speaking english or german, but it would be preferable to learn the local language). I wouldn't need more of a payrise than I would expect from moving jobs within the same location, so i guess this means I'd require no finanacial incentive for the geographical move itself (this would be adjusted for cost of living).