A bit off-target for my blog, I have seen this basic question come up at least four times in recent weeks. Many job seekers, increasingly hungry for work, have begun to adopt a, “I’ll work anywhere there’s work…” mindset.
This mindset certainly seems reasonable if you’re in Michigan. For the first time in 10 years, Michigan is expected to have positive job growth. Imagine. A new University of Michigan economic forecast, just out, is now being discussed. For a state that’s lost 855,000 jobs in the past 10 years (since June, 2000), 230,000+ last year alone, state job growth is forecast to increase for the first time. With only 20K new jobs expected next year, moving anywhere, somewhere, certainly seems a requirement for many.
The question may be where? And, how do you decide?
Should you consider the unemployment rate before jumping? The short answer is Yes. Among other things…
In my own search for work, I decided take a structured approach toward evaluating where to search. My wife and I gathered a number of statistics to support the process. For instance we obtained information on taxes, costs of living, unemployment, foreclosure rates, and likelihood of natural disasters. These were considered ‘needs’ and fully weighted (e.g. 1=1).
We also evaluated (somewhat subjectively) our ‘wants.’ These included an affinity for mountains (I’m a motorcyclist), inland waters/ponds/streams (my wife likes to fish), and so on. These criteria were half-weighted (e.g. 1=.5).
Much of the information is publicly available from places like www.city-data.org, www.bls.gov, www.wikipedia.org, as well as major online media outposts.
Everything was compiled into an Excel spreadsheet. When we looked at the ranked results, we were surprised. The top 3 states to look at were Utah, Virginia, and Colorado, in that order. Who would have thought Utah? We sure didn’t. Keep in mind, your results would vary based on your preferences.
One driver behind taking a constructive approach, were the calls we’d receive from friends, colleagues, and family pulling us in different directions. Rather than diffuse my resources too much, this has let me take a more sensible approach.
So, should you check out Unemployment before moving? Absolutely (and, a whole lot more)!!!
(photo credit: Sergio Roberto Bichara)
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