  Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1540 Registered: 08-2006 |
My graduation date looms near, and I of course in our weak job market have to entertain the notion of leaving Michigan for work. To those that have, could you share your experiences, good / bad, what would you do if you had to do it again? i.e., sell the house here for a loss or rent it out? I have joint custody of a child and would want to maintain visits and school/ grades interaction of course, has anyone one successfully managed that? Do prospective employers still assist with relocation? | ||
Carolcb Member Username: Carolcb Post Number: 1468 Registered: 11-2006 |
Best of luck, Cambrian. | ||
Track75 Member Username: Track75 Post Number: 2581 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote:Great experience to live other places, I'd do it again BUT... not if it meant being away from my child. There's no substitute for daily/weekly parent-child interaction. You can't make it up later and there are no "do-overs". Relo assistance depends on the position/employer. Some buy your house and make you whole if it's lost value, give you a signing bonus, put you up for months while you house hunt. Others jobs it's "show up Monday at 8:00". Your placement office should know what is typical for your situation. Long-distance landlording is a pain unless you luck into a special situation with friends/family. Who handles the overflowing toilet at 2:00 a.m. call? Who handles evictions? Who meets and screens new potential tenants? Better IMO to sell the house and take the loss, assuming the out-of-state job is good enough to justify it. Otherwise, why move? But bottom line, I'd suck it up careerwise/financially for a while if that's what it took and stick around and raise my child. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 2122 Registered: 10-2003 |
Make sure the out-of-state job's advantages in compensation and benefits outweigh the possible higher cost of living. You get a lot of house in Michigan for a couple hundred K. | ||
Vetalalumni Member Username: Vetalalumni Post Number: 618 Registered: 05-2007 |
You are wise for taking advantage of this forum by seeking insight on this matter. If you really enjoy Michigan, and viable opportunities are available to you there, by all means do whatever you can to remain there. For me, the most lucrative opportunities in I.T. were outside of Michigan. I took no joy in leaving Michigan over 20 years ago, but I do not regret my decision. In that regard, there is not much I would do differently if I had the chance to do it all over again. When I first left Michigan, I would return several times a year for many different reasons. I must say, it became prohibitively expensive to return as often as I wanted to. There were and are so many good reasons to make frequent trips back to Michigan, such as vacations, weddings, graduations, funerals, reunions, and sporting events (GO BLUE!!!). Frequent travel, IMO, is over-rated and even inconvenient once you have established yourself elsewhere and have a family of your own. Before leaving Michigan, I sold or gave away virtually everything not critically important. This allowed me to focus on the future without unfinished business looming over me. I cannot address the joint custody issue due to inexperience. Relocation packages can be extremely helpful, especially for a "poor College student" like I was. Fortunately, my first employer after College provided a generous relocation package. Be aware of the tax implications of any substantial relocation package. Seems that relocation packages remain prevalent at the larger corporations, in the bigger cities, and of course for the executive positions. | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 565 Registered: 11-2006 |
cambrian, What field of study are you graduating from? That may be useful information | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1548 Registered: 08-2006 |
Engineering. This backed up with 10 years Manufacturing Engineering experience with the big three. | ||
Bobj Member Username: Bobj Post Number: 2347 Registered: 11-2003 |
The checking cost of living is an excellent idea! A friend of mine does that and he avoided some mis steps. He was about to accept a job in Southern california to be a CIO for $350K per year. A $100k raise for him. Then he decided to call his potential employer and tell them what his basic lifestyle was in MI (house size, cars, vacations, etc) and asked them to equate that to Southern CA. They came back and told him that he would take a drop in standard of living EVEN with $100K raise. They proceeded tho sell all the "intangibles" of living in California - weather, scenery, etc. He turned the job down. | ||
Vetalalumni Member Username: Vetalalumni Post Number: 620 Registered: 05-2007 |
The sunshine tax in California should be a very important factor for anyone considering that region. I've seen the cost-of-living (COL) adjustments as high as 140% of the mid-west salaries. Most of the multi-region corporations will have the COL factor applied to salaries. An highly-paid acquaintance transferred within his company from California to the mid-west and his annual salary was lowered significantly. He requested the transfer in order to help take care of an ailing parent. The cost (time and money) of commuting should not be overlooked either. As example, many employees working in NYC cannot afford to live in Manhattan and choose not to live in Brooklyn or Queens. The "kiss and ride" option on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) is very popular in that area. The employee working in Manhattan resides 50 miles away on Long Island and endures a 2 hour commute (each way) which includes switching trains up to 4 times. Some take advantage of the College courses offered on the LIRR, which is fairly clean and safe. The subways in the city are another matter. (Message edited by vetalalumni on August 30, 2007) | ||
Jfried Member Username: Jfried Post Number: 1057 Registered: 11-2003 |
Cambrian - don't buy into the general public opinion the media has created that there are NO good jobs here. Too many people don't even make an effort to find a job in Michigan just because of what they have heard. With your amount of experience and degree there is a good chance you could find a great opportunity here. A good start might be to check out the Michigan Talent Bank website http://www.michworks.org/mtb/u ser/MTB_EMPL.EntryMainPage or the talent pool that is being created by Ann Arbor Spark. There might be issues with the auto industry, but there is much more diversification here that most people know about. With a a background in mechanical you may find opportunities in aerospace, advance manufacturing, homeland security....etc. Good luck in whatever you decide to do. | ||
Islandman Member Username: Islandman Post Number: 860 Registered: 08-2004 |
Cambrian, I relocated to Miami, and it has been great so far. The job and the people I work with are awesome. Making much more money than I could have in Michigan. The only I came near to this income was in NYC, but cost of living is higher in both places than Detroit. The only downside is that my 3 children live in Michigan, but I had them for the summer and they had a great time down here. Maybe the living situation will change. I tried to find another IT job in Michigan, and did find one before this one after looking for over a year, but the benefits and salary did not compare. Living minutes from the beach is an added bonus.  I did use my own dime to relocate though, as I did not want it to be a sticking point that would have possibly given the position to a local candidate. Good luck! | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1317 Registered: 11-2004 |
My sister moved out to Cali a few years ago. The cargo company that hauled her stuff out there (bed, chairs, etc) ripped her off. They delivered the stuff four weeks late, damaged, no discount and threatened to take it back to Michigan if she didn't pay the full amount. They were real bastards. A friend took a job out east, packed some clothes, his cats and just moved. Left everything else behind. If I had to move, that's the way I would do it. | ||
Barnesfoto Member Username: Barnesfoto Post Number: 4081 Registered: 10-2003 |
Your kid(s) are only kids for a short time, but if you must move, get rid of all but what will fit in your car or truck, it's very liberating. | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1318 Registered: 11-2004 |
That's the truth right there. I moved around so much in college my belongings consisted of a basket full of clothes, a box of books and a small TV. It was quite liberating to be able to just pick up and go like that. No way I could do that today. | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1551 Registered: 08-2006 |
The fact my child would be here while I move is the toughest fact to get my arms around. A neighbor has 2 grown sons, and they both have X wives who moved with the kids out west, as a result they only see them for 5 weeks out of the year every summer. That's not for me. My kid is 13, so she'll be a grown up before I know it, maybe at that time if I still have restless feet. Good insight from all. Thanks for your words of support. | ||
Plymouthres Member Username: Plymouthres Post Number: 178 Registered: 02-2007 |
Cambrian- I appreciate your situation and can sympathize with you on all accounts. The hardest part is not seeing your kid, no doubt. Having experienced the same potential problem as you are now, I would say try to stay as long as you can before moving if you have to. You cannot replace the time that you will certainly loose by being away and kids, even though they say they understand, do not. That being said, are you sure that you have exhausted all the possibilities of a job here in Michigan with the experience that you have? I know that the economy is in the toilet here, especially when one's business is at all connected to the automotive end of things, but all is not lost. I took a buyout from a big two company in February and have had two jobs since then. The first one sucked so I quit until I could find something better. Granted, I didn't get a job overnight, but considering the negatives of relocating, I would think that you would exhaust all other options first. I can provide the name of a couple of recruiters if you need some connections: although I had no responses for the first month, my phone hasn't stop ringing with offers since! If you have what they want, you will get hired. Also, now that the layoff dust is settling, the car companies are all looking to hire SELECT individuals to replace all the talent that has left. I was approached by the company that I left about re-hire, but the rates were so low that I was better off staying put. Have patience. Your degree will help guide you, and I would suggest that if you leave the area that you check out the other Engineering fields carefully, as most, if not all, suffer from the same cyclical nature as the automotive business does. Life is not always greener on the other side, even though it appears that way! You still have to mow the grass when you get there, too!! I hope that this has helped. Good luck with your decision!! | ||
Jjw Member Username: Jjw Post Number: 444 Registered: 10-2005 |
Cambrian: 1. rent it until the market improves 2. child custody is a tough one with state lines. You may want to rethink the move or work out an agreement beforehand with your ex before you even begin about relocating 3. yes, employers will pay for the move, depending on the skill-level. (part of the package agreement) |
