How Location and Various Other Factors Affect the Evaluation of Your Job Offer

Summary: Most of people make mistake while evaluating the location. They reject the offer outright before even making a site visit. They lose this opportunity due to their pre-conceived notions. Without exploring the possibilities and advantages of new job you decide to not go for.

Location

In my opinion, location is the single most important factor in job change for senior executives. That may be because I live in Atlanta, a city whose beauty, lifestyle, and friendliness make it very attractive; I constantly hear the same view from others, who will say, "Keep your eyes open for me. I don't want to leave Atlanta." Of course, there are many great places to live in the United States, and most executives will give up a lot in order to live where they are happy. Location is important not only for recreational purposes after the workday ends, but also for the well-being of your family.



A common mistake when evaluating location is to reject a position out-of-hand without ever making a site visit. For example, someone who considers Atlanta to be an acceptable location, while casually dismissing Birmingham, Nashville, or Charlotte, is foolhardy, unless the candidate has visited those cities numerous times. Many candidates close the door on certain locations because of preconceived notions. Pittsburgh, for example, received bad press back in the 1950s, but today it is highly regarded for its quality of life and has excellent opportunities in health care administration. You should remain flexible within a general region (such as the Southeast) and population size (such as 100,000) and fill in the particulars after the site visit. In evaluating location, consider the general economic conditions of an area, demographic trends, quality of the school system, how you fit into the community, and the types of cultural activities.

Location is also the factor upon which a spouse exerts the greatest influence. My area of expertise is not marital relations, dual-career marriages, or the effect of corporate life on a family, but I can offer a few guidelines from my experience working with candidates:

1. Involve your spouse in the job change decision from the very beginning. If you have not communicated well in the last few years, the disruption of a job change could lead to a divorce. If you involve the other person, the job change may actually strengthen your relationship.
   
   
2. If you are part of a dual-career marriage, one of you will have to compromise. In dual-career marriages, one of you may have to sacrifice this time, and the other may sacrifice the next. The problems encountered by dual-career marriages in making job changes are geometric, not arithmetic.
   
   
3. When it comes to location, the whole family's opinion should be weighed heavily. Your children's lives will also be affected, so involve them in the process. After you and your spouse gather information and impressions from the site visit, make sure you discuss the proposed relocation as a family. You all may be pleasantly surprised with the new location.
   

Additional Factors

In addition to money, opportunity, and location, candidates sometimes consider the following lesser factors:

• Retirement plan. Look for vesting scales only if you are required to contribute. I recommend that you establish an IRA for yourself because you will probably move again.
  
  
• Dental insurance. If your family includes potential customers for the orthodontist, dental insurance might seem important. Include it in the evaluation of money.
  
  
• Relocation and expenses of selling your house. Consider under the money factor. Your new employer may be very cooperative.
  
  
• Need to be close to relatives. Realistically you have to be willing to relocate to advance in the health care field.
  
  
• Private school for the children. Evaluate as part of location.
  
  
• Travel requirement. If you are considering a job requiring a lot of travel, consider these thoughts:
  

1. If the company says the job requires 50 percent travel, ask how this percentage is calculated. Does it mean that out of seven nights a week, you are on the road for four of them? Or that half of the staff is in town 100 percent of the time and the other half travels 100 percent of the time? Or does it mean that you are gone 50 percent of the time on day trips and can sleep in your own bed at night?
   
   
2. Verify the information with others who have had the job.
   
   
3. Investigate how the company treats travelers. Can you keep the frequent flier mileage or must you give it up? Are you on a low per-diem? Do you have to travel Sunday night or can you take an early fright on Monday morning?
   
   
4. Does your spouse accept the amount of traveling you have to do? Is he or she independent enough so that the travel will not be a problem?
   

If you have never traveled extensively in your work, talk with some friends who have. Most heavy business travelers, myself included, don't really like travel, but we tolerate it well.