Relocating the whole family?

I’m tired of the deep south. It’s too hot here for over 50% of the year, and the state is chock-full of racists and bible thumpers- both of which are accepted as a matter of course. Living somewhere with more than two dimensions (college football, church) to culture/ social life would be great.

Knowing that the economy is somewhere between shaky and terrible overall, and that the likelihood of finding a new employer who will go “oh, sweet! Come work for us, we’ll deal with all that nasty relocation business for you…” is virtually nil these days- how do you go about moving an entire family somewhere else?

I am starting to see openings for my field/career level (for which I am totally qualified) in cities that are way better than my present one in every conceivable way, just not sure how we’d do the move thing, if I ever did take one. To make matters worse, I actually somewhat like my current job, the only issue is that it’s stuck in the middle of a place I have no interest in living.

Love to hear some feedback from those who have done it- and I know step one is “get an offer of a new job, worry about it then-“ I guess I just want to hear how it goes from some who have been there.

So, what is your field/career level?

Jake wrote: Knowing that the economy is somewhere between shaky and terrible overall, and that the likelihood of finding a new employer who will go “oh, sweet! Come work for us, we’ll deal with all that nasty relocation business for you…” is virtually nil these days- how do you go about moving an entire family somewhere else?

Stuff family and belongings into a U-Haul, stick the dog on the roof, then point truck in the right direction and hope that you'll get there?

That's what one of my colleagues did, she and her husband moved from Florida that way. Seemed to have gone OK and I think the company contributed to their moving costs.

I haven't done the relocation thing, but nearly did a few years back. Have 3 little kids, been in PA my entire life. Had a chance to move to Denver, and just ultimately decided to stay here. Been to Denver several times to visit and love it, sometimes wish we had gone, but in my heart I knew it was right for my family to stay.

Only suggestion I'd have is to first research the area you're planning to move to first to be 100% sure the grass really is greener. Be sure it's what you and your family really want.

Do you like to work outside? Do you like remote places only accessible by ATV? Driving diesel pickups briskly, drunk off your ass on narrow winding roads? Maybe fracking is right for you. Come to NEPA. You can make six figures on an elementary school education if you can stand outside in the freezing cold and make sure the locals don't steal all the copper wire from the drilling platforms. You can earn while helping the next robber barons get rich raping the environment and maybe contribute to the fall of man by helping the techtonic plates under the most densely populated areas of the US shatter and slide into the sea! We have all the familiar church, football and racism but a colder clime and some small cloisters of science, soccer and tolerance if you must dabble in fringe culture. Trailer parks are filling up faaast! Apply now!

stuart in mn wrote: So, what is your field/career level?

Ten years’ experience in supply chain. Have worked in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing environments, and so have played both games: the “hey we need to get better pricing, let’s negotiate!” way, as well as the “hey, we need to optimize our production environments!” way. When things are going great, you get to do both.

In an environment like exists now, where efficiency is the name of the game, I have a skill I can sell.

Also: LOL, GPS.

I moved from Texas to Hungary. When I left Texas I was saying some of the same things you are now.

Step 1: Boeing or, if you've got a degree Supply Chain Management

and Boeing pays for relocation (most of the time)

Michigan is booming job creation wise right now, come join us in the best state in the union.
Job diversity is increasing
Cost of living is reasonable
Four real seasons without being too hot for too long or too cold for too long
Unbelievably good car culture
Lots of water

What's not to like What’s this?

the oil fields of North Dakota might need someone with your skillset... the racism is under the surface where you don't have to see it, same with the religion, and it's only cold 5 months out of the year..

Jake wrote:

stuart in mn wrote: So, what is your field/career level?

Also: LOL, GPS.

I don't think GPS was joking....well maybe about the tectonic plate stuff, but then again?...

Jake wrote: Love to hear some feedback from those who have done it- and I know step one is “get an offer of a new job, worry about it then-“ I guess I just want to hear how it goes from some who have been there.

My parents did this back in 1980 after my father used his veteran status to get a civilian govt job in defense logistics. He moved up in the Spring into a small apt while my mother and I stayed in Atlanta so I could finish the school year. At the end of the year, my mother who worked for the IRS in an Atlanta suburb, transfered to the IRS facility in Philly and moved in with him while I stayed with my grandparents in Atlanta and they found more permanent lodgings. In the middle of the summer, my mother came back to Atlanta, we packed everything into a moving truck and moved into a townhouse apt in a Philly suburb.

novaderrik wrote: the oil fields of North Dakota might need someone with your skillset... the racism is under the surface where you don't have to see it, same with the religion, and it's only cold 5 months out of the year..

The other 7 months it's effing freezing...

HappyAndy wrote: but then again?...

SSSshhhhhh! http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-01-03/news/30586222_1_largest-quake-minor-quakes-fracking

Don't worry, that couldn't possibly happen here in PA. England is really far and Ohio is just like being "over there". One does wonder what happens to skyscrapers, bridges and tunnels built in the 1800s around NYC or PHL if a 5.8 decides to just happen here in good ol Sullivan County, PA. One shouldn't notice any coincidences though. No correlations to be drawn. Nothing to see here. Move along now.

BTW define 'the whole family' Does the spousal unit work, do you have rug rats? Do you have grade schoolers etc? The fewer the family members and the younger they are the easier this is to do. I did it, but I was single and it was moving continents not states. I up and left England at 25 and moved to Michigan, I haven't looked back.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: BTW define 'the whole family' Does the spousal unit work, do you have rug rats? Do you have grade schoolers etc? The fewer the family members and the younger they are the easier this is to do. I did it, but I was single and it was moving continents not states. I up and left England at 25 and moved to Michigan, I haven't looked back.

Myself - full time worker, wife - full time mom, part time self-employed (she's a portrait photographer, so there'd be a rebuilding phase while she finds new clients and gets established, but she can do this anywhere), 3 kids, oldest in first grade.

Not sure I'm miserable enough to move to North Dakota just yet- I have already knocked that one around and we've collectively decided that's a bit too far in the other direction, climate-wise.

I would recommend this company and this location; http://www.ika.com/owa/ika/hr.jobs_detail?iID=14

We vacationed in Wilmington a couple times when I was a kid. I'll check that out- wouldn't be the first time I changed industries entirely.

Thanks for the heads up!

In reply to Jake:

What about moving to Huntsville? A lot more tolerant with a lot more social life and stuff to do. I mean won't get you away from the heat but not nearly the bible thumping. Not as big a move either.

Racism is everywhere in the world though. I have traveled to a lot of places and it is always there.

Of coarse this is from a Southern boy but I hate football and don't go to church.

Jake wrote: We vacationed in Wilmington a couple times when I was a kid. I'll check that out- wouldn't be the first time I changed industries entirely. Thanks for the heads up!

You think it doesn't get hot in Wilmington? Of course you will be swatting so many mosquitoes that the wind will feel good. I like Wilmington BTW.

I have done it four times. OH->SC (no kids), SC->RI (one kid), RI->FL (one kid), FL-GA (two kids).

Kids are now in elem and middle school, so I hope not to do it anymore. My sixth grader is in his fifth school. That sucks.

Only the second and last time did my employer help with move expenses. Other two were for a) fresh out of school and wife was offered a job and b) new opportunities needed, so we cut bait and moved in a Ryder truck.

Go for it. It's liberating. You get rid of all that crap you store away and cannot justify hauling around.

If you have experience and can make connections with a fairly large employer, they will quite likely have relo packages available. Don't worry about sounding greedy, they can only say no.

Racists are everywhere. Good people and idiots exist everywhere, too.

Parting shot: never buy a house until you have at least a year on the ground in your new location. No matter how great a deal may seem.

In reply to spitfirebill: I know Wilmington is/would be hot. It's not landlocked, though. Misery is August/September in central Alabama. I tell my business associates from up north that we just trade places with them. January and February you don't spend a lot of time outside in Wisconsin, same deal with late summer in AL. Our skeeters are no slouch either, but I bet coastal/swamp ones are worse.

In reply to 93EXCivic:

Huntsville would be OK- it's true that it's quite a bit nicer than the rest of AL in general. Turns out that having a huge concentration of current-and-ex-rocket-scientists around makes things better. My previous job-hunting there has been hampered by my lack of a security clearance, though. Since so much of the industry there is defense contracting, that gets your resume culled just as fast as anything else- even though I live far enough north of Bham to commute to Huntsville for a while without it really hurting too bad. Maybe I just need to refresh that effort and see what happens.

Thanks for talking through the stuff here with me, everyone. It's been fun.

In 1981 I accepted a job with Rohm and Haas and had to relocate to Montgomery, AL. My boss was an idiot, looked at a map and said you can live in Bham or Montgomery or any town in bewtween. He wanted me in the middle of my territory. If he had let me, I would have moved to Hunstville. If I had, I would have stayed when they laid me off 4 years later. Instead I got the F out of Monkeytown and came back to SC.

I would love for an employer to move me around all over the place. Especially if it was every couple of short years. I'm young and without children, and would love to say I lived a few places in my younger years. Instead, I've got to move someplace hoping I'll find a job, and answering the question "why in the world did you move here?"

Today's WSJ has an article about a banker that is quitting his job and riding a motorcycle from New York to South America (where - not stated).

Apparently it is harder than you think to work ALL THE TIME and take home $200,000 - $450,000 a year. Totally sucks.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203400604578075584130134980.html

I quote: "Todd Lawrence, 31, a former Citigroup senior associate in Australia specializing in mergers and acquisitions, says he quit his nearly $300,000-a-year job in December when he realized that after seven years, he would have to put in another three to five years just to advance beyond doing paperwork or proofing pitch books.

"Everyone goes into banking with wide eyes, but once you sit down at your desk, that fades pretty quickly," he says. "You're really just living skin deep. You've got nice suits and nice cars."

In reply to Jake:

There are a few jobs that don't require security clearance but they are hard to find. I have a job which doesn't require it (which I am glad of cause I don't want to work in the defense industry really but it limits me in the future). Some companies will work with you to get your clearance though. You may want to look at Navistar (used to be International trucks). They don't require security clearances.

I've moved from WV to FL, from FL to upstate NY, then from there to ID, then to FL, then to upstate NY again, then to CT, then to WA, then to CT, then to VA, then to AL (all that while in the Navy, so it was paid for). Since then I've only made one move and that was AL to MN and I made sure relocation was part of the employment offer.

Never just upped and moved on my own other than when I was single, seventeen and all my stuff fit in an '87 Camaro.

Summer in MN made me wonder why anybody would ever live in the south. Winter then comes along and answers the question.