I'll try to make this as easy as possible. 30 years old, single male living in the southern US, was making $85,000 a year in a management position before unexpected job loss. Was an idiot and went to a private university and even with a 25% academic scholarship still borrowed $150k. Have whittled that down to $57k as I write this(only debt I have). Want to be debt free as soon as possible. I work in the media/entertainment industry and have 3 job offers.
The Mountain West Job
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$75,000 annual salary, $55,750 net annual($4,645 monthly). $1,500 relocation assistance via expensing. Median 1BR apartment rent of the area is $900.
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Job is located in a city west of the rockies with a relatively low cost of living. Of the 3 cities I have offers for I know I would be happiest here. Moving here would be low stress and easy.
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The job itself is the least prestigious of the 3, its with a smaller company, and I feel would open the least doors down the line
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The job itself would be new territory for me, so there is no guarantee I will be successful. It's a change and I won't be able to apply the forward equity I have had with my past jobs with it to claim "X number of years of experience" doing it. On the flipside, it diversifies my job experience portfolio.
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I would have 2 direct reports under me so it would give me more management experience for the resume
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I'd be able to make the most progress on my debt here.
The Eastern Seaboard Job
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$86,000 annual salary, $62,725 net annual($5,225 monthly). Median 1BR apartment rent of the area is $1500. $3k pre-tax relocation assistance.
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The job is located in a Northeast City with relatively high cost of living but nothing like New York City. However the cost of living is closer to NYC than the Mountain West job.
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Of the 3 cities I have offers for, its the least appealing place to live for me. Just screams "boring".
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The job is the same exact job I had previously, only in a larger market, so I know I would be successful at it. I can apply my forward equity in my past jobs with this position to gain even more experience at it.
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I would have no direct reports so I would not be able to add management experience to the resume
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I'd make about the same progress on my debt, perhaps slightly less, than the Mountain West position
The New York City Job
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$90,000 annual salary, $61,075 net annual($5,100 monthly). $5k pre-tax relocation assistance. Median apartment rent of the area.... lol.
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New York City terrifies me. The cost of living is ridiculous, I'll be taxed out the ass, and the fact I am not a city person at all. I've lived in a city before, downtown, and hated it. Relocating sounds like a stressful nightmare, especially finding a place to live.
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It would be difficult to make a lot of progress, if any, on my debt.
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I would have to sell my car which is not appealing to me. To me having a car means freedom, I hate the concept of relying on public transit even if it does really work as well as people say
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The job, however. It's by far the most appealing of the 3. You've all heard of the company I would work for. This job would open the most doors and be an amazing additon to my resume. Plenty of room for growth and advancement.
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The job itself is very similar to what I have done in the past with a few changes, so I know I would succeed and can apply my forward equity to it.
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I would have 2 direct reports under me so it would give me more management experience for the resume.
Basically here is how I size up the situation right now:
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The Mountain West job is the best short term decision. Lowest cost of living, a place I know I would enjoy living that appeals to me and excites me. Unlike the other 2 cities, I wouldn't be sitting there counting down days on the calendar until I have worked there long enough to where I feel like I could start looking around to move again without feeling guilty about it. I could easily see myself planting my roots there. However, the job itself is a change and the least appealing/prestigious and there's no guarantee I will be successful, and while it would be a nice resume addition from a diversification/management experience standpoint, I don't see it opening as many doors, but you never know.
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The Eastern Seaboard job is the safe but boring pick. The net income is highest, but the cost of living/rent prices probably makes the Mountain West job the one where I would have the most money leftover to pay down debt and such due to lower cost of living. I have 5 years of solid experience doing the job, I know I would be a rock star at it. The location, while a metro area, is a lot more open and not a sprawling metropolis like NYC is, so I would be more comfortable. However it has far less upside than NYC but without as much of the downside. Again, the safe but boring pick. I'd be able to add onto the years of experience I already have doing this job and with that experience hopefully be able to jump to a market more appealing to me doing the same job or better making more money in a couple of years.
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The New York City job is the high risk, high reward pick. NYC has a lot of downside for me personally, but the opportunity presents a lot of upside. I'd probably have to make a lot of sacrifices and drastically lower my standard of living to what I am accustomed to, and my progress on my debt/financial future would come to a grinding halt, but the job itself is awesome and exciting. The company is highly respected and would be great for the resume. I could see it opening so many doors down the road. This job sounds like one where I'd have to sacrifice a couple of years of my life and live out of my comfort zone and hope that it ends up paying dividends down the line. At 30 years old, still single with nothing tying me down, its probably now or never to do something like this. However I don't know if the pay is enough to make all the stress and sacrifice worth it, especially as a 30 year old still trying to pay off debt and get ahead financially. At the same time, there's no guarantee this job will do anything for me in the future as well. I assume it would be a great resume addition, but you never know.
Submitted September 16, 2018 at 03:00PM by unemployed949 https://ift.tt/2xncOay
