Moving Away for Work

This is a topic which is very personal for me.  I had to make the decision after graduating from my social work program.  I had returned home from the city where I went to school disappointed because I could not afford to stay.  I then spent three months applying to social work jobs in my area tailoring my cover letter and resume to suit the nearly one hundred postings I had applied to.  It was disillusioning.  I had spent two years giving my life to this program only to find that I was only being considered for jobs that wouldn't even cover my student loan. 

So I came to a crossroads and had to make a more drastic decision, should I apply to jobs across the country if it meant finding a more suitable full time social work position?  At that time I felt like I really didn't have a choice since time was ticking away and I was still without a job.  I applied to postings in almost every province.  I thought it would be an adventure.  I waited and after a relatively short time I began to get calls from out west to all the jobs I had applied to and I continued to get calls even after I accepted an offer.  I believe it was only two weeks between the time I signed and faxed the paperwork and I left home for good.  I was hesitant as this was a front line child welfare job but I figured I had to start somewhere.  I would just tough it out as long as I could.

Moving, having a terrible sinus flare-up from the flight and then starting the next day was kind of overwhelming.  I was especially overwhelmed when I got a basic lesson on the child welfare database and then was given files.  I had no idea how to interact with my clients in this environment since I had not done my field placement at a child welfare agency.  But I watched my coworkers, asked a lot of questions and I steeled myself.  Within one week and definitely for sure after one month, I knew that this was not the social work permanent job for me.  How disappointing.  But I had to keep going and I told myself to hang in there.  That's the problem with social work jobs, they do not offer you a one or two week trial period to decide whether or not you will like the job.  There is also no job shadowing if you are a candidate unless you are a field student.  Looking back I would not have taken the job, especially knowing now how hard of a physical, emotional and mental toll it would eventually take on me.

However, I can say that this position gave me connections and that I moved on to a new social work job within the umbrella of child welfare.  Unfortunately, that has not worked out either and I am looking to try something different but that is a post for another day!

Besides the technical job related aspects of moving I have not yet mentioned the emotional.  It takes a lot of guts to move across the country by yourself (as many people have told me).  In many situations, especially when I was feeling low I knew that the only person I could count on was myself.  It was very frustrating at times as I wanted to hand over the responsibility to a partner and say YOU HANDLE IT!  But I couldn't because if I did not take care of all the little things then I wouldn't survive.  It gives you a lot of personal strength to face new challenges and adversity on your own.  You come to trust yourself, and eventually your instinct will lead you out of hard situations.

Then there is the loss of family connections.  Sure, you can still connect by phone and email but it's not always the same.  You want support on the bad days and you want to show off your triumphs on the good days.  If something goes wrong they feel bad about being so far away and you feel the same!  There are missed holidays and birthdays even though they remain in your heart.  But it does make the time you do get to spend together during visits even more special.  It also makes you envious when you see how much support your co-workers get with their own families close by.

However, moving is not all bad, you get to live in new environments, meet new people and learn different ways of doing things.  You feel more cultured and more knowledgeable about the world.  I also would not have gotten Bella if I had not moved out west.  She is truly my western dog while the dog that remains with my parents is my eastern dog.  I wonder if they were ever to meet if it would be a natural disaster!

Anyway, I cannot deny that there are many work opportunities out there for those willing to make the sacrifice and pick up their roots.  But think carefully about the position, is it something that you really want and honestly feel like you can do?  What about the environment?  Is it in a city or small town?  If you've visited it for the interview can you honestly see yourself living there?  What about losing your family and friends, would you be alright with only seeing them a few times a year or less?  If you truly feel like the financial and career rewards are worth the move and you have evaluated how it can possibly fill your other needs (like environment, spiritual etc) then go for it.  But let me warn you, you will get lonely at times and feel even worse when your family tells you how much they miss you.  You will wonder if you made the right decision.  Listen to your heart and it will tell you.  And if you don't like where you are living you can also move back and there is no shame in that.  You have to live where you feel like you belong and where you feel you can make a life.

This topic is close to my heart for another reason.  My brother is considering moving further away for work.  All I can hope is that he considers the decision carefully and does not jump in like I did as I have had to pay for my naive mistakes.  I wish him the best of course, and if he decides to live near me I have no complaints!