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I'm 38 Single Male in San Diego. I just got promoted. I'll find out the $ amount later this week. This is a big deal promotion for me. I finally feel like where I'm suppose to be with this promo. The pay range within this level is nearly 100K. So I'm expecting to be in the bottom 10%, which would still be a 10-15% raise.
I love my current job. I love my company. I love living in San Diego.
I won't be able to get promoted to the next level for at least four years. Senior management level. I expect I'll need to switch teams to get more supervisor level experience. As is, I won't have any reporting to me in my role. I think I'll need to switch teams in 18-24 months unless big changes happen. Switching teams and roles is very easy and common.
BUT...I don't think I'll be able to advance my career the way I need to in San Diego. The most logical location would be my companies HQ in Seattle. I can see myself staying with them very long term. Or If I want to hedge my bets, I could relocate to LA. Seattle is the best fit career path wise within the company. LA is better than SD career path wise...more so external than internal. Just in case I want to switch companies in 3-5 years.
I'm very torn as I would like to settle down soon. So as much as I love SD, I don't think I can stay. Go all-in in Seattle? Or hedge my bet with LA?
It's a question of how high you want to go on the ladder. Relocating won't bring much gain right away, it's later on that the bigger paychecks would hit home. Those come with more stress though from more responsibility, and both those cities would be more stressful than San Diego.
I don't know if you're in an industry that's going remote, but if you are, more and more you can find opportunities that way, not quite right now, but eventually roles will open up more with that.
You're too career oriented. You need to slow down and smell the flowers along the way. Otherwise, you'll retire a lonely old man without a wife. You must be sick & tired of San Diego where it's warm & sunny year-round and considering going to Seattle where the sun don't shine 9 months out of the year.
You know the % of getting married after 40 drops like a rock for a single male? It takes 6 months to plan a wedding but you want sometime to get to know her before you propose, so you basically got less than a year to meet the woman of your dream. What are you waiting for?
Even if you can, do you want to be a grandfather raising children and can't save for your own retirement? Unless you want to marry a previously divorced woman and accept her mistakes (children) who will never acknowledge you as their father but expect you to pay for everything, keep doing what you're doing by focusing on your career without regard to your love life.
Did it help my career? Yes. I think I would have climbed some without it, but it did boost it.
Here was the logic - I was living with my parents during 2020 as my lease ended and no reason to stay in an apartment. Job was in Atlanta and I was from Colorado. I took it, moreso accepting a move than necessarily thinking about the career. My thought was that I never moved for college and I just was working in Denver and grew up in COS. I went into it thinking it'd be about 4 years and see the other side of the country and then something else would happen. I had no strings so why not.
What panned out was I stayed there for about 2 years and then jumped on the WFH bandwagon as soon as it appeared. I watched my paycheck from the bump get eaten alive by cost of living in Atlanta, which was the hottest inflating place in the nation for quite some time. And I got just as big of a bump threatening to leave with another offer during a hot market as I did for relocating. You have to play that card when it comes again. The company was better than the old one, but by no means something I'd feel a sense of belonging and commitment to, they were willing to screw people over when they needed to. Moving makes sense to be on the industry pulse, not for a specific company.
Was it worth it? IDK. I did get a LOT of new exposure and new experience - felt like I didn't need to go anywhere because it was all new and novel, but I do kinda regret the lost social connections from moving there and then moving back - I'm just not going to maintain the Georgia friendships being so far apart. I'm in a good place career wise so that helps, but am a little sick of building friend networks. I'm only 30 though.
There's 2 good paths to career outlook, building a work social network in a major metro and hopping or climbing as opportunities appear, expecting income to outpace COL. Or going remote or staying put in a location and keeping COL lower while taking the longer approach to career building. If you're good you'll still move up, but it's slower if you're not in HQ and there's more of a ceiling. I decided I'm fine with that. I would rather live somewhere relaxing and not spend as much.
I've known people who relocated - and it just didn't work out (job didn't work out, divorce, had to come back to care of sick parent, etc.).
Of course, I also know people who relocated and never looked back.
As for COL - I believe SD just made the top of the list recently. However, Seattle isn't exactly cheap either. Still among the most expensive. So it all depends on your situation. As an example, if you own your childhood home in SD
All that said - it's certainly easier to relocate when your young and relatively unattached. Personally - I'd say take more risks when you can (younger). I wish I did.
I'm 38 Single Male in San Diego. I just got promoted. I'll find out the $ amount later this week. This is a big deal promotion for me. I finally feel like where I'm suppose to be with this promo. The pay range within this level is nearly 100K. So I'm expecting to be in the bottom 10%, which would still be a 10-15% raise.
I love my current job. I love my company. I love living in San Diego.
I won't be able to get promoted to the next level for at least four years. Senior management level. I expect I'll need to switch teams to get more supervisor level experience. As is, I won't have any reporting to me in my role. I think I'll need to switch teams in 18-24 months unless big changes happen. Switching teams and roles is very easy and common.
BUT...I don't think I'll be able to advance my career the way I need to in San Diego. The most logical location would be my companies HQ in Seattle. I can see myself staying with them very long term. Or If I want to hedge my bets, I could relocate to LA. Seattle is the best fit career path wise within the company. LA is better than SD career path wise...more so external than internal. Just in case I want to switch companies in 3-5 years.
I'm very torn as I would like to settle down soon. So as much as I love SD, I don't think I can stay. Go all-in in Seattle? Or hedge my bet with LA?
The higher up the corporate ladder you climb, the more competitive it becomes, and the lower the odds of continuing (based on raw numbers). Since you are wanting to settle down, don't bet everything on a hypothetical possibility of a position 4 or 5 years from now which may not even exist by the time it would be your turn. At this stage, pay attention to what others are doing around you - what's the norm in your company for those promoted to your position - how long do they typically stay? If you jump too soon relative to the norm, it may be perceived as a lack of commitment.
I’ll be at the highest non senior manager level. I could stay at this level for a very long time. Many people do. Those who have been at this level for 7+ years likely net over 200K+. However, I don’t see much opportunity in my current team unless there’s massive change. It’s possible but highly unlikely. I won’t get the needed experience to advance on my current team either. I’m not in a rush to switch my job. However, I do see limited opportunities staying in San Diego. Internally and externally. I’m in risk management. Not many corp centers here.
I love SD but I’m here by choice. I don’t have a hometown. I moved around as a kid. And as an adult. Ive been here for about four years. I have friends in LA and OC too so I’d consider SoCal my base.
LA has next level positions externally. VP or Director level. I don’t like LA much but I could afford to be in the nicer areas. And it’s not too foreign for me.
Seattle would be a big time move. Definitely going all in with this company if I do. Which doesn’t scare me company wise. It scares me going all in with any one company. But if I were, this would be the one.
San Diego is definitely the most expensive of the three. I’m pricing things and it’s SD, LA, then Seattle.
I love the beach but when I’m not at the beach I hate warm weather. Rain and colder weather doesn’t bug me much. So Seattle weather wouldn’t phase me.
I’ll know my promo $ tomorrow. We’re having a town hall next week regarding returning to office status. And we’re having a in person team summit meeting next month.
I’m hoping my decision becomes clearer after those events.
I'm 38 Single Male in San Diego. I just got promoted. I'll find out the $ amount later this week. This is a big deal promotion for me. I finally feel like where I'm suppose to be with this promo. The pay range within this level is nearly 100K. So I'm expecting to be in the bottom 10%, which would still be a 10-15% raise.
I love my current job. I love my company. I love living in San Diego.
I won't be able to get promoted to the next level for at least four years. Senior management level. I expect I'll need to switch teams to get more supervisor level experience. As is, I won't have any reporting to me in my role. I think I'll need to switch teams in 18-24 months unless big changes happen. Switching teams and roles is very easy and common.
BUT...I don't think I'll be able to advance my career the way I need to in San Diego. The most logical location would be my companies HQ in Seattle. I can see myself staying with them very long term. Or If I want to hedge my bets, I could relocate to LA. Seattle is the best fit career path wise within the company. LA is better than SD career path wise...more so external than internal. Just in case I want to switch companies in 3-5 years.
I'm very torn as I would like to settle down soon. So as much as I love SD, I don't think I can stay. Go all-in in Seattle? Or hedge my bet with LA?
So the problem with San Diego is you either accept permanent career downgrade to enjoy the lifestyle or you have to leave. I made that choice 20 years ago. I am originally from NYC and wife is from SD and her whole family is here. I wanted to move back to NYC area for career opps because even then I saw the limitations of my career options here. I don't love SD or the beach, but I do have a nice life here. Personally I don't like LA, and would much prefer Seattle if that was the choice. I do like Orange County though.
Ultimately decided to stay in SD, and while I have no regrets, and I've generally been able to stay employed, it's not been easy. Been through many failed companies, unstable jobs, layoffs, etc. It is just not a great place for a career outside of a few narrow areas (government being the big one).
The employers here are for the most part either bush league, unstable, or one of just a few large corps that generally have been contracting. Making 200k+ in a stable long-term job is very, very tough.
There is no right answer, but it seems like you are going into the decision with your head on straight.
Personally, I'd stay in San Diego as long as you can make it financially.
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for a job. 
