{"id":49868,"date":"2018-11-14T05:00:49","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T13:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/?p=49868"},"modified":"2018-11-14T05:00:49","modified_gmt":"2018-11-14T13:00:49","slug":"consider-relocating-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/consider-relocating-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Consider Relocating for a Job?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix was short. In the hour since I\u2019d departed balmy, 75-degree LAX, I reviewed my resume, mentally practiced my elevator speech, and reread the job description for the position I was flying out to interview for. Despite some general nervousness, I felt good: energized, charming, and ready to turn it on to impress my would-be employers.<\/p>\n

And then I stepped outside into the already 107-degrees-at-11am heat and I thought I was going to die. I was ferried from air-conditioned car to air-conditioned building, and by the time we stepped outside again to go for a late lunch, the temperature was 117 degrees. While I was driven around Phoenix, I remarked to my potential coworker that the city felt like a ghost town. He told me that when it\u2019s really hot (4 to 5 months out of the year), people just don\u2019t go outside during daylight.<\/p>\n

Despite this and other warning signs, when the employer called me to extend a job offer, I just mentally plowed through all of those red flags and said, \u201cSIGN ME UP!\u201d<\/p>\n

I was there for six slightly miserable, totally tumultuous months before the startup I was hired for imploded and I packed my bags and moved back to LA. But heat and disappointment notwithstanding, I got a lot out of the experience. \u201cFun\u201d isn\u2019t the right word to describe it, but it was a career and life adventure I\u2019m glad I had and, under the right circumstances, would totally do again. If you\u2019ve ever wondered about moving for work, consider the following before packing your bags.<\/p>\n

1. Can you afford the move?<\/h2>\n

Unless you\u2019re going to do it yourself with a U-Haul, moving costs are insane. Just to move the contents of my 1-bedroom apartment to a new place in Phoenix was $1,600. A cross-country move for a full house can be $5,000 or more. Some companies will offer relocation assistance, but it\u2019s usually only for moving out, so if, at some point, you decide to move back, those costs are on you.<\/p>\n

Even if your relocation is covered, another thing to consider is the cost of living in a new city. You probably know that apartments\/real estate varies widely based on where you live, but so do expenses like gas, car insurance, utility costs, insurance, and health care costs. Online tools like the PayScale calculator<\/a> will give quick estimates of how your cost of living might change \u2013 it\u2019s not encyclopedic, but it\u2019s a start.<\/p>\n

2. How\u2019s the job market in the new city?<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s probably a reason why the employer is having a hard time finding local talent.<\/p>\n

In many cases, it\u2019s because people in the area lack the specific skillset or experience. In my case, it was because I had experience leading pitches for biotech companies. The flipside to this is that if an agency is having a hard time finding a candidate, it\u2019s because there\u2019s probably not a great need for it in that locale. It\u2019s great to feel wanted, but this can mean that if the job doesn\u2019t work out, you may not have a lot of other employment options.<\/p>\n

3. Why are you taking the job?<\/h2>\n

Are you yearning for change? In other words, is this a great opportunity\u2026or are you simply scared that you won\u2019t be able to find another job?<\/p>\n

If you think you have to move just to make a living, you probably have more opportunity in your backyard than you think. You may have to hustle to find and then win new clients, but don\u2019t forget: there are nearly 30 million small businesses in the US<\/a>, and most of them need advertising and marketing. If you love where you live, dedicate yourself to making your career work.<\/p>\n

4. Considering your goals, will the job be worth it?<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re underwhelmed in your current scenario \u2013 in either work or life \u2013 and a fancy agency comes to court you, it can be easy to get carried away and sign on the dotted line without much thought. Will it:<\/p>\n