Job or Location?

'What Matters More - the Job or the Location?"by Marcia Bench, Founder/Director, Career Coach Institute
I used to get this question a lot. Clients would come to me in crisis mode, miserable in their job, and looking for a way to make the pain go away. When people feel they are in a crisis, they often look at making big changes like moving across the country to a place that sounds exciting and fun (what they feel they are lacking in their current situation), thinking that will solve all their problems. What happens is they get themselves into a situation that results in even more chaos and are several steps further from their goal. So, as coaches, it is our job to understand what it is they really want or rather, help them understand what they really want.
So, the next time a client poses this question to you, how about asking her these questions.
If you move to this new location for a job, what will your occupational opportunities look like in 5 years? What prospects would you have in 5 years if you did or did not take the position?Many clients in crisis mode think only in terms of the present and are acting from a desire to make things better right now. Do a projection worksheet with them and really help them to identify their occupational landscape. This is a good time to have them clarify their goals and determine if this is getting them close to or further away from them.
What will the financial repercussions be to making this move? When you take into consideration salary, benefits, moving expenses, cost of living, possible loss of income (even if only short-term) of your spouse (if you have one), etc. is it financially the right move for you?In the heat of a crisis, numbers can get pretty blurred. Take time with your client to do a financial audit of what they have and what they would have now and 5 and 10 years from now if they did and did not take the job. How important is that to them?
How much do you really know about the location? Being tempted by warmer winters or the sounds of frogs in a sleepy little town is understandable, but do you really want to live there? What would you be giving up or gaining by moving to that location? Would you be leaving a support group of friends and family or would you be moving toward one? When clients are unhappy, they tend to focus on the negatives and forget about all of the wonderful things and people they have in their life. Help them to get to a place of strength where they are able to see clearly what is in front of them. Once they are there, they will be in a better position to make the right decision for them, now and in the long term.
This is one of the many complicated issues that clients present