Interview tips

[csb]

When the Relocation Expense Plan is authorized, the following expenses generally associated with a major relocation are applicable, depending on the circumstances of the relocating employee.

A. Moving of personal property and household goods.

B. Limited reimbursement of costs to search for a replacement dwelling at a new location.

C. Reimbursement for certain costs on sale of present residence.

D. Reimbursement for certain expenses associated with purchase of a replacement dwelling at new work location.

E. Fixed lump sum payment to cover incidental moving expenses.

F. Payment of actual interest differential costs for three years on home mortgage loan.

G. Offer by Department to purchase present residence under specific conditions detailed in plan.

The purchase residence thing is that WYDOT will buy the house if it hasn't sold in 90 days.

 

[Ble_PE]

^Thanks for those csb. I've actually pulled up our internal relocation policy as well, and there is quite a bit of latitude given to the hiring manager it seems. Specifically for the reimbursable type of package, there is also a lump sum that can be added to that to help with the incidentals. I'm sure the company I'm thinking of switching to has a similar policy as they are a large, multi-national corporation as well. My problem right now is that I don't have a lot of time to call the recruiter due to the shit-storm I'm dealing with here at work. I'm thinking about starting the conversation with an email, which is how most of this has been handled anyway. Good idea, bad idea?

 

[csb]

E-mail works, I think . Then it's all in writing.

 

[Road Guy]

Is it an internal recruiter or a headhunter?

 

[Ble_PE]

^An internal recruiter.

 

[mudpuppy]

My company's relocation plan is they contract with a logistics company that handles everything. There are some limits to what they'll do (they will one move one car for instance), but I found it to be very generous overall. They also provide a lump sum to allow you to scope out the new place to find a house. Back in 2001 I think the lump sum was $2500. They also figure out how much tax you'll have to pay on this (since paying the moving expenses is considered income) and give you a check to cover the taxes, and then give you a check to cover the taxes on that check. Like csb's employer, they'll also buy your house if it doesn't sell. In fact I've known people here who switched jobs just so they could get rid of their house.

But we don't have any offices in Hawaii.

 

[csb]

WYDOT is so fancy, we'll even provide you a trailer to live in if it's a really remote location.

 

[MA_PE]

They also figure out how much tax you'll have to pay on this (since paying the moving expenses is considered income) and give you a check to cover the taxes, and then give you a check to cover the taxes on that check.

what about the taxes on the last check?

 

[Ble_PE]

In a related note, we were talking with mini-ble1 about the possibility of moving the other day and he made me want to cry for one minute and laugh the next. The first thing he said was "but what about our family?" with tears in his eyes. It broke my heart trying to explain to him that we would still see our family from time to time. I tried to excite him a bit by telling him about the place and told him it was an island and that it was surround by the ocean. Then he told me "daddy, I know what an island is." All I could think was "well, excuse me."

 

[Road Guy]

Maybe you can watch the movie blue crush with him?

 

[engineergurl]

Play up the Lilo and Stitch?

 

[Ble_PE]

^Yea, we've talked about putting that on sometime. I just got Netflix up and running at my parents house, so I'll have to check if it's still on there.

 

[Dleg]

Well, I know what I would do. I'd move the family to Hawaii.

 

[engineergurl]

If it's anything, Mr. Armyman said that when they move the rigger position from Alaska to Hawaii, he would put in for it... so maybe we could EVENTUALLY be neighbors.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

My company recently posted a job opening I am debating applying for (deadline is Friday).

Pros:

It's in our downtown main offices and a lot more "secure" from a long-term stability standpoint

I can get away from some of the $hit I've been dealing with and can still continue working towards vesting in my retirement

It would be a transfer. I would still need to go through the application/interview process, but I wouldn't have to test for the position

Cons

It's downtown (worse commute and I would have to pay for parking either way)

I would be designing and responsible for contracting out parking lots.

I don't know what my "outside" opportunities would be (if it would mean becoming a cubicle rat), whereas my current position I can sneak outside whenever I want.

Despite knowing a lot of people in the company, I don't know very many in this new department.

The two big hangups for me would be the longer commute and the fact that I would be essentially responsible for parking lots. I have barely opened CAD a handful of times in the last 5 years so I would have to relearn all of that. Designing parking lots is not much fun (I did it at my previous job). The commute would suck. I would have to drive downtown (the Camaro is not downtown friendly) or would have to ride the train. Either situation would require me to pay for parking.

On the flip side I would be able to network a little more within the company which could lead to more opportunities down the road.

Thoughts?

Interviews for this will be the first week in May. I finally got an email late last week asking which time slot would work best between Monday afternoon, Wednesday morning, or Thursday afternoon.

 

[Dark Knight]

^^^May the force be with you.

 

[engineergurl]

Rock it like a hurricane!

 

[Ble_PE]

Blaze it up Dex!!

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

I'm still not sure I want the job. Things have gotten a lot better here and the commute/location/flexibility work a lot better with the family schedule. If anything, I may just use this as a "refresher" for when another similar project is supposed to fire up later this summer on the south side of town.

 

[Road Guy]

Can you take that little train to the office?