To move, or not to move – that is the question that torments you.

A dialogue with yourself:

Moving You: “The local economy is too small. It will be nearly impossible to find a job here that pays what I am worth. I might have to move to a bigger city to access better opportunities.”

Staying You: “On the other hand, what if we stay, get a plain job, and keep our life simple until things get better?”

Moving You: “If I go, what would I do with the house?”

Staying you: “We are upside down tens-of-thousands of dollars. Selling would be suicidal.”

Moving you: “Should I let my mortgage go?”

Staying you: “That will destroy our credit.”

Moving you: “Rent it?”

Staying you: “The tenants will destroy our house.”

This dialogue plays in your head every day, every hour, every minute. You explore every possible angle, and change your mind just as many times. In the end your body and your psyche take a huge toll. You go to bed stressed.

The thought of moving to seek better employment opportunities is so powerful and distressful that it can induce two contradicting emotions at the same time: (1) make you appreciate your surroundings more than ever before. Suddenly you start valuing the very simple things around you, out of fear that you will lose them in the near future; and (2) make you detach yourself from everything around you. (Why spend energy and time to meet new people or contributing to the community if you could potentially go away?)

I will not try to convince you either way. My only suggestion is that you create a plan for both scenarios. Ask yourself what would happen if you had to move; then create a list of all the things that you would do. Ask yourself the same question if you stay.

If you are seriously considering moving, here are some things to keep in mind:

During this economic downturn companies have had little motivation to hire someone from out-of-town, because they have a sufficient pool of people to draw from locally to fulfill their positions. Yes, I know you have a unique set of skillsthat they lack. But companies often fail to see it beyond geography. To them the “Moving You” equals moving expenses and an uncomfortable commitment to keep you hired (they may feel an obligation to retain you, because they brought to their town in the first place.)

With that said, the picture seems to be slowly changing. Companies are looking harder for new talent. Check out this graph to see which states have more jobs available. If you are using a nationwide job searching strategy, you may want to focus on the states that are on the right side of the dotted line.

I wish you success in your job search (luck is for the unprepared.)

Click on image to enlarge.