GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 05 Apr 2006
Affiliations: HHonors Diamond, BGS Honor Society
Posts: 5916
Schools: Chicago (Booth) - Class of 2009
WE:Business Development (Consumer Products)
Should I stay or should I go now?
[#permalink]
11 Apr 2010, 10:04
So, I've got a choice. Lets see what gmatclub thinks.
Option A) Stay in Chicago keep my current job
Option B) Move to DC, change jobs
Lets start with option A.
OPTION A:
PROS:
* I keep my current place, which I don't love, but also don't hate. Its comfortable (albeit a bit small).
* Wife gets to keep job (which might be a con her in opinion though, hah)
* I have more friends in Chicago than I do in DC.
* The Chicago booth network is obviously larger in Chicago than in DC. (DC network alumni size around 1200 people, Chicago more like 12,000)
Career Related:
* My current job affords me the ability to travel the world for next-to-nothing. This perk is balanced by the fact that having a kid makes it difficult to do with any real frequency, but international business class trips are very very nice.
* My commute is a comfortable 20 minutes each way.
* I have excellent work-life balance. No weekends, home by 7pm 98% of the time.
* Although the job offer includes quite a lot of relo, there's obviously $0 cost to staying in Chicago and a non-zero cost to moving. See the option B details for specifics.
CONS:
* Chicago has few 'weekend trips' -- its flat and there's not much to drive to from here.
* Chicago winters suck.
Career issues:
* the industry I'm in is not one I'm interested in long term.
* the industry I'm in offers greater risk and lower reward. Yes, you read that right. Higher risk, less reward.
* the job I have has limited upward mobility. Compared to the DC job, a similar position is, at a minimum 18 months away, and more realistically 2 to 3 years away, perhaps even 4.
OPTION B:
PROS:
* Generally, better weather. This is balanced by the fact that summers in DC can be pretty hot and humid.
* I have family in DC that would be a huge help with raising kids (babysitting, can help when we are overwhelmed, can take baby when wife and I want to take a vacation, etc) as well as the obvious benefit (to my children) of having them in my childrens lives.
* I would access to a 'vacation' home in the suburbs of VA. As it's a family property, I could utilize it whenever I wanted. It has a pool, some ridiculous number of acres, a huge fireplace, etc. There's nothing to do except bbq and drink, but thats kind of the point. It is great way to 'get away' for a weekend for a grand total of $20 in gas and $2 in tolls . This is basically a "quality of life" perk - I'd be able to live as if I owned a vacation home, without any of the associated costs.
* Family has property in the Bahamas as well. For a number of reasons, getting there from DCA/IAD is a lot easier than from ORD. Decreased cost and increased options yielding greater utilization, and its a beautiful place to go.
* Tons of weekend trips: skiing in VA, beaches nearby, sailing, etc.
Career Related:
* Higher pay, better title, more responsibility, better (more stable) industry, incredible 401K plan, good benefits, more vacation
* More interesting position overall, more aligned with my long-term goals
* Supposedly very work-life friendly - work from home if you want, off-hours are OK, etc
* Very comprehensive relocation package: all moving costs, house-hunting trips, cost of selling home in Chicago, closing costs buying home in DC, extend-able temporary corporate housing, meal allowances, rental car, etc. The big thing here is that this is, in effect, a subsidy on the sale of my home and the purchase of a new one.
* I can switch offices whenever I want. One is in northern VA one is in southern VA. The benefit here is that southern VA has very low cost of living -- if one day I wanted to go that route, it would effectively double my salary according to cost-of-living calculators. The downside is that there's a reason its cheaper, there's very little there by comparison -- and its southern VA, which to a northerner like me is basically the bible belt.
CONS:
* Traffic in DC is notoriously bad. Hour long commutes are not unheard of and there's no guarantee I could afford a place that wouldn't require this.
* Cost of living is higher, driven in large part by housing. This is balanced by the fact that the new job comes with a good pay raise.
* Summers can be brutally hot
* Wife would have to quit her job/loss of her income (again, she thinks this is a pro)
* Repayment of sign-on with current employer. This is a non-trivial figure that I may or may not be able to negotiate down.
* Likely would need to purchase a 2nd car, added one-time and recurring expenses.
Career Related:
* Taking another job so soon (<1 yr) never looks good on resume
* Long term, Chicago is a bigger business hub than DC, similarly the Booth network is just larger in Chicago (although at >1000 in DC, its not tiny either)
* Job would require me to split some time between two offices. The two offices are 2 hours apart. The company provides either a rental car or company shuttle (with built in power / wifi / seating w/ desks, drinks ). Although that's nice, doing the commute periodically would be irritating. It possible I would have to do it as much as twice a week. This is balanced in part by the fact that if you dont have to drive and can just sit and work w/ wifi, its not 'wasted' time. Moreover, since the firm has flexible hours I got the impression people who did this did it in off-peak increments (e.g. get there at 10am, leave at 3pm). This is to be confirmed.
So, that's just about everything. What would you do?