Job relocation offer

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

What's everyone's opinion on this? I'm trying to get an opinion from someone that doesn't know me or work with me. (coworkers want me to relocate vs friends want me to stay) I've been given the option to relocate or take the severance (~40K).

Option 1) Stay, take 40K, and go to school full time. Santa Clara University MBA program(Admitted) and accelerate it to 1.5 years.

Option 2) Relocate + job + apply to a lower tier school down there. They will pay for my moving and reimburse for my school and such.

I just wanted to add that I have a great reputation with the company and I am doing pretty advance stuff for someone early in my career. Company policy is severance = can never work for the company again.

What would you do?

[furlanitalia 1]

I think it depends on whether or not you'll come out of Santa Clara with a job. If you feel you'll be able to get one then that might be your better option, but if there is a possibility that you would be more secure with staying at your current job and relocating then I'd go with it that. How far is the relocation?

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

The relocation is down to thousand oaks in socal. I figure if I go to a good/reputable school around here - it would be easier to network and find work in the bay area. My gf is my only attachment and she is moving to grad school for 2 years :(

There is no job security, we're in the health-care industry and we're getting hammered. I fear relocating and getting laid off and being stuck down there. I would have to stay there and finish school with no support system.

It's actually my co-workers down south that want me to relocate. My department up here has been given the axe. :(

[LkptTiger 1]

Really depends on how much you enjoy (or don't enjoy) your job right now. The fact that you might be something of a prodigy is irrelevant.....there are plenty of things that I'm pretty good at that I would NOT want to do 40+ hours/week. $40,000 to NOT do something that you DON'T like doing (if that's the case) sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me - especially if you can use that cheddar to strengthen your position in the job market (school) and help your chances of landing a career you love down the road.

[WSjo22 1]

might be able to add a little insight, I recently had a conversation with my gf's dad who is a top executive at the biggest steel company in the country..... He faced the same scenario as you, was at this company doing very well(they also had the same severance policy) and got an offer that he couldn't refuse.... He said you have to look at how the decision is gonna effect you 15-20yrs from now when you're taking care of kids and all that fun stuff, an extra 5-10k now to leave might not really be worth it in the long run for your career.... Needless to say he got lucky, he took the job and did some good things and the original company came calling again and he's back working for the company he started with doing 10x better than he would have... Think about it like this, they're a business looking to make as most money as possible and if you can make them more money than the next guy they can easily forget about that severance policy cuz for most company's all that matters at the end of the day is that bottom line

[chippa13 1844]

might be able to add a little insight, I recently had a conversation with my gf's dad who is a top executive at the biggest steel company in the country..... He faced the same scenario as you, was at this company doing very well(they also had the same severance policy) and got an offer that he couldn't refuse.... He said you have to look at how the decision is gonna effect you 15-20yrs from now when you're taking care of kids and all that fun stuff, an extra 5-10k now to leave might not really be worth it in the long run for your career.... Needless to say he got lucky, he took the job and did some good things and the original company came calling again and he's back working for the company he started with doing 10x better than he would have... Think about it like this, they're a business looking to make as most money as possible and if you can make them more money than the next guy they can easily forget about that severance policy cuz for most company's all that matters at the end of the day is that bottom line

You have to remember, with the economy the way that it is, there are plenty of people qualified to take any openings and willing to do so at lower salaries.

[Jason Harris 31]

If you look at this as an investment, I think Option 1 is the no-brainer. You'll be able to pay for much of your schooling with the severance, and will be far more marketable in a year-and-a-half.

[Aggie 9]

In the end, I don't think that where you get your MBA is that critical, as long as it is from an accredited program. I would weigh out the positives and negatives of both choices and pick the one with the most positives. For both of your options, it seems like you will be getting your MBA, which is a good thing. Get your advanced degree(s) before you get married and have kids!

You could always go back to UC Davis! B)

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

Hello fellow Aggie! :) I like that stick B), I'll be back in Davis - my gf got accepted to grad school there.

Thanks for the insight guys, seems like it's mixed here as well. I've decided to take the severance and accelerate my MBA program - I still have 1 more day if I decide to change my mind. I figure I could network where I ultimately want to be - the bay area.

I believe I may have found an internship at a medical device start-up :)

[NuggyBuggy 0]

What's your company's relocation package like ?

If it were me, in uncertain times, I'd move to Thousand Oaks, do a part-time MBA at UCLA (preferably, straight down the 405 and arguably a better school, certainly a nicer neighbourhood) or USC, and continue working my way up that ladder. Who knows what the market will look like in a few years ?

And if you don't already know how, I'd learn to surf and spend my spare time at County Line or Oxnard.

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

It's 6K for relocation + cost of flight + month of corporate housing. The kicker is I have to stay 2 years, otherwise I would have to pay them back.

The biggest draw back is the uncertainty of the economy, this doesn't mean I won't get laid off down there as well. I could be stuck down there with no job and being forced to finish my degree down there. My company practically runs that city.

I would have a better opportunity to network here because of the biotech and tech industry.

I thought of finishing half of my degree at Santa Clara, moving down and gaining skills/certifications and coming back up to finish my MBA. Of course, I could just finish my MBA early straight up and move up the ladder of some company here.

Decisions Decisions! I hate it

[Chadd 916]

The biggest draw back is the uncertainty of the economy, this doesn't mean I won't get laid off down there as well.

Nothing is ever certain. Mergers, new regulations, scandals, etc... can kill a company in a heartbeat. Do what you WANT to do, not what you feel is safer or better. If you don't want to move, don't do it. You may struggle for a bit, but you will have done what you wanted and not what you feel you were forced to do. Just bear in mind that doing what you want means that you have nobody to blame if things don't turn out the way that you expected.

[Jordan 13]

I've decided to take the severance and accelerate my MBA program - I still have 1 more day if I decide to change my mind. I figure I could network where I ultimately want to be - the bay area.

You will do better in the long run with your MBA, and you will have more options open to you when you graduate than when you started. You won't regret it.

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

update: I'm relocating.

I learned that my company is the equivalent of Google/Yahoo/Microsoft in the biotech world. I asked myself if I would relocate for those companies, and I said yes. I can do half my MBA up here and the other half down south. My company pays 10K towards tuition, so I would call that a 10k raise. I've been working here for 1.5 years and my 401K is already 20K.

After I finish my MBA - I'm assuming it would be easier to find another job with this experience and a MBA down there. I'm going to treat this as a learning experience - similar to college.

Hopefully I don't regret this :).

Any of you SoCalers wanna play hockey with me when I get there :).

[chippa13 1844]

Check the fine print on the tuition reimbursement policy. The company may stipulate that if they help pay for your education then you have to stay a certain amount of time or return the cash.

[furlanitalia 1]

I agree with Chippa but congrats on the decision, sounds like you're happy with it and hopefully things will work out for the best!

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

Chippa, that's the best part! I double checked the writing and I do not have to stay for any length of time for the tuition reimbursement! :)

Relocation expenses is the only thing that has stipulations. 2 years is the requirement. I figure if I'm not happy, I can move back. The tuition and reimbursement would cancel each other out.

[fatwabbit 93]

hey man, congrats on the move. Its never easy to decide these things, especially when it involves relocation.

When I was offered my current job in Perth (originally from Singapore), the Regional Manager called me to have a chat with him. After the normal chitchat, he told me he wanted to offer me this job... 'dont give me your answer now, go home... think about it, talk it over with the wife and family, find out more from your friends... give me the answer tomorrow'.

Needless to say i was smiling like a cheshire cat, and gave him the answer on the spot.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

The biggest draw back is the uncertainty of the economy, this doesn't mean I won't get laid off down there as well. I could be stuck down there with no job and being forced to finish my degree down there. My company practically runs that city.

Amgen, huh ? If so, I used to work for them. When they closed down our institute, I too was offered relocation - to TO or Boston, but family reasons had me staying put. But I wold be a far richer man if I had stayed on and been able to wait for my options to vest instead of having to cash in a small portion of them when the stock market was in the toilet.

They're consistently ranked one of the best companies to work for (at least one year, they were #1). They have good benefits, and at the time their policy was that they would pay for courses related to *any* job that exists their.

[ExitTwoEighty 7]

Amgen, huh ? If so, I used to work for them. When they closed down our institute, I too was offered relocation - to TO or Boston, but family reasons had me staying put. But I wold be a far richer man if I had stayed on and been able to wait for my options to vest instead of having to cash in a small portion of them when the stock market was in the toilet.

They're consistently ranked one of the best companies to work for (at least one year, they were #1). They have good benefits, and at the time their policy was that they would pay for courses related to *any* job that exists their.

Hey NuggyBuggy,

You're correct :) Do you have any suggestions to have a successful career here and in this industry in general?