Sorry it's long...I need help! Alright guys, here it is. Some of you may have noticed in the past year or so that I've mentioned my job may transfer me to Oklahoma. This is becoming much more of a reality now, as I think I've delayed this just as long as possible. I'm horrible with making big decisions, as I constantly change my mind. I need some help and advice from you guys. Here is the situation..... I'm 25 years old, married, no kids, and I've lived in the Houston area all my life. I work in IT and I've been a contractor for this major oil/gas company in Houston for the past 3 years. I actually work full-time for a contracting company, so I recieve benefits and stuff like that. Well the company that I'm contracted out to has transferred most of their IT department up to a small town in Oklahoma, just outside of Tulsa. They've made me an offer to come on as a full time employee with them in the past, and I turned it down because I didn't want to move. From what I've been told, they're about to make me another offer, and this will be the last one. The salary offered will be about $15,000 - $18,000 more annually than I get now, and I would start off with 3 weeks vacation a year. It will also give me a job in a major corporation which should be much more stable than just working for a contracting firm. Also, it will provide me with a much greater chance of advancement in my career than my current situation would. The problem of course, is that the job is located in Oklahoma. I have all of my family and close friends here in Houston, and it would be really tough for me to leave ano not know anyone except for my wife. I have nieces that are young and I want them to know me as they grow up. Speaking of my wife, she would obviously have to quit her job, so we would actually have less income until she is able to find something else up there. Her job isn't that great, but it's decent. The headquarters for the company I work for will still be in Houston, so there is always a chance to tranfer back in another job role. But like I said, I work in IT and the large majority of IT positions are located up there. If I turn down the job offer again, chances are they would still keep me on as a contractor here, at least for a little while. At that point I could rely on my contract company to find me something else. It should be noted though that I have not recieved any type of raise in the past 4 years from my contract company, so the chances of me advancing much more with them is slim. I have looked for other positions in the Houston area, but most are just short term contracts and I really want something more long term. So what do I do? Take the money and the career advancement, and just deal with all of the other adjustments? Or do I take my chances here and hope I find something else in Houston?
I voted stay in Houston, but I think it depends 100% on you, and your wife's, ability to acclimate to new surroundings. Are you the type of people who easily adjust to new places, meeting new people, joining the "community", etc. If so, go for it. If not, stay in Houston. Also, don't know if the oil & gas guys would do it, but if you decide to stay you should definitely talk to them about why you made your decision and see if they can refer you to another company looking in Houston.
Haha....funny you should say that. RM95 always likes to refer to my wife as Monica, just because our situations are so eerily similar.
I'll just say that I'm all for new experiences and new environments. I say take the job and check out a place that's not Texas. You might suprise yourself. But that's coming from an Air Force brat that's lived around the world.
No, we're not. We're both fairly private and meeting new people is definitely one of our weak points. We've had the same small group of close friends for many years.
Tough call. It just has to be OK, huh? Why couldn't they offer you somewhere cool? Good luck with your decision. I'm sure you'll make the right one either way.
SHHH - I'm not supposed to admit this - If you stay in/near a big city, Oklahoma doesn't suck so much. But you didn't hear that from me.
FYI....i didnt read anything about the reason for poll or anything just looked at question and chose texas....i hate OU....errrr Oklahoma
Harrisment, A friend of mine is engaged to a girl from Tulsa and I think that's where they'll be living when they get married. If you want, I could get his e-mail address and see what he thinks about the town.
I KNOW! I really hate Oklahoma. I really freaking do. With every fiber of my being. I hate the state, I hate the schools, I hate a crapload of people that live there too. But I've had to stay in that god-forsaken state a couple of times, and staying near a big city is much much less horrible than living anywhere else in that state. So IF he does take the job and he moves to you-know-where, it's going to be slightly less sucky if he stays in Tulsa.
Don't do it unless you love working for that Oil Company - their culture, policies, and your boss/es to be. I believe that living in big cities is the key for flexibility in IT. If you need to quit that job or are let go, now you are looking for jobs in Tulsa, and will probably have to uproot your family again. What do you do in IT anyway? I might know of a good place for you to apply to in Houston.
Yeah, I see what you're saying. I don't think getting layed off would be something I'd have to worry about anytime soon, but if something did happen it would be much more difficult. I'm doing web server support. Basically supporting internet/intranet/extranet sites running on IIS, along with load balancing, security, monitoring, server maintenance, and everything else that goes along with it.
If you're ever going to do something different in your life, now is the time to do it. I really respect your desire to stay close your family, and my guess will be that you will want to raise your kids (if/when you decide to have them) near them as well. So now is the ideal place to go off, bank some coin and enjoy life. I experienced similar circumstances when my wife & I graduated from college. I accepted a job that was halfway across the country from both of our families, and let me tell you it was the best thing that could have happened for our marriage. Since we knew absolutely nobody when we moved to Texas, we were forced to depend on each other, which strengthened our relationship significantly. Feel lucky that you are only one state away, as we were (and still are almost 10 years later) almost 2,000 miles away. Having spent a bit of time in Oklahoma, I agree with the sentiment that OKC and Tulsa can be pretty good places to live.
I've moved over 30 times in my life and at times I've enjoyed moving. But moving to a new city as a post-college adult proved to be far more difficult than I expected. Even though I make friends fairly easily it took some time before I was able to establish friendships in Houston. At the same time, I quickly lost most of the friendships I had had in Chicago. I think I would be willing to move again but I wouldn't do it for the money.
