Soul Searching

I’ve debated about whether or not to post this, but I don’t think this topic will be very surprising to my regular readers. In fact, I have already talked to many of you about this. Hopefully no one from work reads this blog other than the 4-5 people that I have specifically told about this site. I am still a little sensitive with this topic around my work friends given how quickly the office rumor mill spreads.

I am in need of assistance, so if you stay awake through this long post and would like to offer advice, feel free to comment, e-mail, or call me.

Here it goes. I am strongly considering moving away from Hartford. While I may have joked about this in the past with some of my college friends, I was never really serious about leaving until now.

I would not allow myself to seriously entertain the thought of leaving CT until I had my FSA diploma in hand. Now that I have accomplished that goal, I am considering what I want to do with my life. I absolutely love my job, despite my occasional complaints. I have been challenged, tested, and provided great opportunities in my job and I enjoy working for my current employer.

I have also made some great friends in the 3.5 years I have lived in Hartford. Although I joke that no one who shares my passion for hockey, I have met some great people here and had some great times. However, I just don’t know if this is the best place for me at this time of my life.

I had dropped some subtle hints at work over the past few weeks that I would be open to a transfer to the Philadelphia office when I am up for my next rotation later this year. The original plan was to rotate out of my current role in the early fall. However, I learned last week that I might move on to a new role sooner rather than later, depending on some other internal job moves. Once my manager mentioned to this, I decided to be a little less subtle and express my concerns directly. I did not want to have my next rotation happen as quickly as my last one where I was called into the actuarial program director’s office on two hours notice, given a job offer to consider, and told to make a decision over the weekend. I need plenty of time to see what is available in Philadelphia.

Here is the problem. Moving to Philadelphia is likely a ‘career limiting move’ with my current employer. We have way too many people at my current level in Philadelphia and far fewer advancement opportunities. In contrast, my employer is desperately seeking actuaries with 3-6 years of experience in Hartford and is hiring experienced candidates from outside the company to fill some of the roles. There is much better opportunity for advancement if I stay in CT since the division based in CT is our primary product line. I have much better rotation opportunities for me in CT compared to Philly.

Another problem with moving to Philadelphia is that I would be starting over. While I know some people from the office there, I don’t think they would be the people I’d become close friends with. I don’t like to drink and party nearly as much as them and they are already well acclimated to the area. I’m afraid of having to start over and make new friends in a new city. I’m not the best at making new friends right away. An advantage of Philly is that I have a very close friend in D.C. (two hours away) and my brother might be moving the D.C. within the next 12 months. I also have some family in the Philly area. Hartford is not too far away either (4 hour drive), so I could still visit my friends here on occasion.

My current manager in Philadelphia is very supportive of a transfer to Philadelphia. I think he just wants someone to watch Michigan football with since he is surrounded by Penn State fans! He spoke with his manager this morning about my desire to move down there and both of them want me to start talking with various people about job opportunities as soon as possible even though I am still deciding if I really want to move. I am confident that I could make it work, but I don’t want to burn any bridges in CT just in case I want to come back to Hartford a few years down the road. Also, given the limited advancement opportunities in Philly and the glut of people at my level, I know that I will instantly make some enemies if I move there, if for no reason other than I am one more person to compete against. Furthermore, I am less interested in the work I would be doing in Philly. This move would be solely for personal reasons.

However, the more I think about the potential work consequences, the less I care. I am 25 years old. There is plenty of time for me to focus on my career in the future. If I burn bridges because I pushed this move, then I can always find another company to work for. What’s the rush? Arg! I keep going back and forth with this.

I have discussed this with a couple of my friends in CT and a couple friends from college. I thank all of you for listening to me and providing your insight. Hawkeye pointed out that I should wait a while and re-evaluate in the summer. Everyone just seems more depressed/bored in the wintertime, and maybe that is contributing to my unrest here. Things usually improve as it gets warmer out, so maybe I just need to be patient. CableGirl, my friend in D.C. who does not visit this site (she’d rather talk on the phone than read about my life on the internet), made some very strong points for moving away when I spoke to her on Sunday night. She has mentioned for a while that I should move to a bigger city and that I am too young to be in Hartford. On Sunday she told me that I should ignore all job related reasons and choose to live where I would be happiest, and was very forceful with her words. The career can wait until I am older. She had a good point. I know Mpls Ju has made the same arguments in the past when we have discussed this topic.

I am still quite torn with this and may need to make a decision within the next month. Grr…