I'm starting to look for my next job, and while I am willing to move anywhere I would prefer to move to a specific midwest city where I have lots of family.
I'm hesitant to tell the interviewers from there that I have family in that city, because I fear they may see that as leverage to lowball me or not offer relo pay.
If I'm seen as a free agent for the entire country, then they'd need to be competitive. But if I'm limited to one city, they might know they are the best gig in town.
BUT, am I seen as a flight risk if I don't reveal any particular incentive to move 9 hours away besides just the job?
I appreciate any insight on this!
I see your points on both ends. You need to "pass the bar" that they could see you staying in a city, but you also want to make sure they feel the need to be competitive on compensation. I would speak about relationships in the city but don't look too overly gung-ho. Interested to hear other opinions as well.
Just say you're familiar with the area as you have some extended family in the city. You don't have to fullout say "yeah I really want to be with my family and friends and really want a job here, at THIS location since it's the best company in town".
Just show interest in FIRSTLY the work / team / job, then the location.
That is what I went with in one interview- the interviewer asked how I felt about the location, and I said I liked the city and have some family there.
I thought it was a good middle ground, but I left the interview thinking that it might not be convincing enough for why I'd want to leave a F200 company in a huge city (DC, Atl, Dallas, etc) and go to a F1000 company in a Midwest metro (not Chicago).
Hmm...
At the end of the day if you're ACTUALLY leaving a better job to go to what might be considered a lesser job then you're in a tough spot because it would be obvious you're moving for other reasons.
If your new job is even mildly different / better than the old job AND moving to home is a plus then always focus on the differences between the two jobs. You can go with something like:
How do you feel about the location:
"I would say I'm almost location agnostic. Right now I really value growth, development, and learning, and feel X COMPANY can offer that. Whereas I enjoying my team / role at PRIORCOMPANY, they weren't really able to provide SOMETHING NEW JOB PROVIDES (EXPOSURE, TRAINING, CULTURE, DEALFLOW) THAT OLD JOB COULDN'T.
TBH I don't think many companies will go into the whole "we will underpay because his family is here and we're his best option" tactic, especially if you're in a Midwest metro area, they may be a "good" option but probably not the "best" option across the board of all possible criteria...
Might be a different story if you were looking at the ONE finance job in the middle of Amish country PA...
That is a great blurb- I'll definitely be using that. In some respects it can be seen that I am leaving a better job because I'm an FLDP at an A&D company. I can't stand the A&D industry though, so I'm itching to jump to a different industry.
I am thinking that since my target city is still fairly big (pro sports teams, etc), I have plenty of options there and it doesn't tip my hand too much to reveal I truly do want to move there. I feel like I have a hard time sounding convincing when I tell them that I'm totally mobile, but I've chosen their random $6B consumer goods company. I always do my research and give great reasons for why I want that company, but at the end of the day, no one is going to pass over the whole country to work for a company that makes widgets.. unless they get some big promo, or unless they want to be in that city for other reasons.
I agree with your sentiment but for your last paragraph I also think it's important to put THEIR view into context.
You'll likely be interviewed by someone in that location. Coming from a WSO heavy background where everyone thinks its NYC or bust, I can see why some people apply that to real world. But there are plenty of reasons to not want to work in NYC / major metro, it's just not some peoples' cup of tea.
The interviewer living in Minneapolis won't say "why would you want to work in this frozen over hell instead of NYC or Cali" because at the end of the day they work there and odds are they like the location / their life there. Shouldn't always assume everyone is trying to make that jump to NYC.
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