<p>As some of you know, Happykdad (and about 50 others) was laid off at the end of February, and now is looking for new work in Biotech. Today he had yet another phone conversation with a recruiter who asked if he would need/want a relocation package. If he were to make it to the next round of interviews, and ultimately receive a job offer, what should he ask for as to relocation help? </p>
<p>If he were to move before October, I would stay put so that we don’t have to worry about Happykid’s in-state status getting messed up for her senior year of college. However, at some point we’d have to deal with our home here, and I would move to wherever he has landed. Does the need to maintain separate residences (albeit for a short period of time) affect negotiations?</p>
<p>Thanking you all in advance for your advice.</p>
<p>We’ve done 3 cross country moves. For one move we had a small amount of reimbursement, one was completely company paid, and one largely paid. The move with the least amount of remibursement was the one where I was out of a job, so my new employer probably felt they didn’t need to offer me much.</p>
<p>Here’s a probably partial list of what expenses you may have in a relocation:</p>
<p>Sales expenses on your current home
Purchases expenses on a new home
Househunting trip(s)
Packing and shipping your household goods
Possibly shipping your car(s)
Your travel from your old location to your new location
Temporary living expenses, since your stuff will probably arrive 1-2 weeks after you do</p>
<p>The minimum I would expect would be covering the cost of packing and shipping your household goods and your travel from the old location to your new location. It is probably too much to expect a new employer these days to pick up the sales cost of your old home. One tactic would be to set a not-to-exceed amount so that the new employer knows you have an incentive to watch the expenses.</p>
<p>In our move 5 1/2 years ago from the west coast to NJ I got a relocation budget of $25,000. We used all of it, and none of that covered the sales or purchase costs of our residences. But we were a family of 4 at the time with a dog and a cat, and we had a couple of house hunting and school hunting trips.</p>
<p>Our S was hired by the federal government. They paid for at least one trip to find a place to live from LA to DC. They also paid for him to ship his boxes and store them in DC. They also paid for him to DRIVE his car from LA to DC, as well as lodging and per diem along the way but would NOT pay for him to fly and ship his car. They also paid for some things to be shipped from HI to DC. Don’t know the total they paid but am sure it was way under the $25K above. He did NOT own any property that needed to be sold, but he did buy and sell things on Craigslist in connection with his move, which he did not claim.</p>
<p>When we moved from Illinois to Georgia my husband was offered a relocation package.
It included the following, they put him up in a condo for months, had our house appraised offered to buy our house if we couldn’t sell it in 3 months at the appraised value, got us a real estate agent in both locations,paid the closing costs for both our house we sold and the one we bought, hired a mover who packed up and moved all our stuff… The point I’m trying to make is that everything is up for negotiations. It just depends on what the company is willing to do. In the end getting the job is more important. However some companies do realize that offering relo packages reduces stress and helps their new employee “hit the ground running” instead being bogged down in the relocation itself. Good Luck.</p>
<p>When my kids accepted new jobs they were offered a small one time relocation/hiring bonus.</p>
<p>When we were located by my H’s company 5 years ago, we were offered assistance in selling our home, buying a new home, moving and packing our stuff. As far as temporary housing, trips looking for a new home, they gave us a lump sum that we could use any way we wanted. Company did not care one bit about any children we had at home or in any type of schooling. We had to take advantage of the home buying assistance within one year or the offer went away. Many people in H’s company live in one location and work in another because of children and spouse’s employment. I think our relocation package was around $30,000, at least that’s what we were billed for tax purposes. H is a low level manager, I think packages are better the higher in the company you are.</p>
<p>Also in the state we used to live in, once your children are in college and have in state status that is grandfathered for as long as they were in school. I would think that many parents move out of state once the kids go to college, that’s what we did.</p>
<p>^ good point about the kids grandfathered in state status for college. That was one thing we checked when DS decided to stay in state for college.</p>
<p>Did the recruiter really word it that way? Who wouldn’t ‘want’ a relocation package? I can understand the question about whether one ‘needs’ a relocation package and if so, how much it needs to cover, because it could affect a company’s decision as to whether to hire him or not - i.e. if candidate A doesn’t need a package at all but candidate B ‘needs’ a hefty relocation package, they might go with candidate A. However, I don’t think many people would turn down a relocation package if offered.</p>
<p>Your H needs to be careful in this area of what he requests since it could affect his prospects. </p>
<p>As far as what a relocation package could cover, it could be anywhere from nothing at all to quite extensive and usually would depend on the position being offered.</p>
<p>I agree-asking for a relocation package could really affect his job prospects. When the market tanked a lot of companies stopped offering packages and pretty much stopped hiring from out of state because of people wanting packages. Make sure they understand it’s not a requirement but at minimum you would like to be packed and moved of possible.</p>
<p>^^^ That’s sort of what I was thinking. Even though we don’t want to move, if the best option is not in the immediate area I don’t want a request for help with the move to break the deal. I didn’t speak with the recruiter myself, so I don’t know how or why he asked. I was kind of surprised that it was even an option at all given the current job market.</p>
It’s a legit question because some people won’t consider a position that doesn’t have a particular level of a relocation package - whatever level they feel they need. For example, some people don’t have enough money to move to a different area and can’t make the move if there’s no relocation package offered so they wouldn’t consider an offer that doesn’t include one. Knowing what the candidate requires helps the recruiter sort through any potential employer offers.</p>
<p>Some people want some pretty heavy relocation packages such as paying for closing costs on the house they sell, professional moving company, several (or more) months of temporary housing at the new location, and more. Some people might even think they ‘need’ this. Some others are just looking for a moving company and a week or two temporary housing and some are just looking for mileage to drive out or air fare to fly out plus maybe some per diem for the few days it takes to move. Others say they’ll just handle the move themselves and take anything that’s offered but would move even if nothing was offered. Some companies have ‘standard packages’ for this.</p>
<p>I would tell the recruiter that what is more important is the right fit. I wouldn’t want to move unless I thought the job had a good future. Once we got passed that, then we could discuss the compensation and overall benefits. </p>
<p>Everything is negotiable. It really depends who has the upper hand and what level your husband is at. I wouldn’t move without a relocation package because relative to everything else, it shouldn’t be the biggest cost factor and it is only a one time cost. </p>
<p>If I was recruited to relocate, I would ask for minimum number of years employment (guaranteed payment). For me to up root my family, leave my familiar environment, I would want some sort of assurance that I wouldn’t be fired after a year. If I was in a strong position, I would negotiate for them to move me back if they should terminate my employment prior to X year.</p>
<p>I got my company to ship our grand piano because it was D2’s instrument. They asked why D2 couldn’t have played a flute. But I didn’t get 50 million.</p>