Things to Consider When Offered a Job Transfer

 

 Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

 By: Joe Cline

 

If you have recently been offered a job transfer, you probably have a lot weighing on your mind. You may have been wanting or waiting for this transfer for quite some time, or perhaps it’s been offered as the only way for you to keep your job. Whether the job transfer itself would be good or bad for your career, there are other things besides your job to consider. If you are single without children, the decision may be easier, but for many of us there is much more to life than a career. Therefore, making a decision about moving isn’t always so easy.

Here are a few things you might want to think about before making your important decision.

Location - Geographic location of the new job may be a deal breaker for some. Many folks will not even consider living in a place that has high humidity. Maybe it rains all the time, or snows mounds of the white stuff during winter. We all have our preferences when it comes to living by the ocean, in the desert or up in the mountains.

Children - If you have children, you will need to consider their needs. Are they close to graduating high school? If so, you may want to let them go ahead and finish where they are. Or maybe you don’t have children yet, but plan on starting a family soon. You will want to consider where you would be moving to, and how great (or not great) the schools are in your area.

Cost of Living - Your job transfer may be a promotion that comes along with a raise, but if you are moving somewhere with a substantially higher cost of living, you may have less money to spend each month. On the other hand, you may move to a location with a much lower cost of living, which would make a transfer without a raise a profitable proposition.

Permanence - If you are single, have no kids and no other attachments to your current location, you may not care about where you are headed. However, you might want to think about where you would like to see yourself in 5 to 10 years. How long will you want to live there? Will you eventually want to come back to your current location, or does it even matter at all? All these questions should be considered because a move takes a lot of effort, money, and stress.

Housing Market - Just as important as the cost of living is taking into consideration the housing market in the area where your job transfer is located. Some employers will provide assistance with buying or selling a house, and even living expenses for a period of time. If your employer does not however, you will want to look into the cost of housing and how readily available it is.