Wonder if anyone has experience of this dilemma (some of you must do!). I'm fortunate enough to live in the North East of England and have a job at a reputable consulting firm. All of my work is out of town (financial services), so base location shouldn't matter in this instance, but consultants are still heavily London centric, which leads nicely into my question...I don't plan on being a consultant forever (although will see how it goes for a good few years), has anyone been in the position where they've had the problem of their work not being available locally, but not wanting to move. What is more important, a rewarding job but in a strange location (which you will adjust to), or a job which doesn't offer a high level of stimulation, but you stay in the area you love (in a lovely big house you could not afford in London)?To throw a little spanner in the works, I have a son with learning (and a number of other) difficulties and having stability in his life is going to be crucial, by the time he hits school age we want to be settled in our forever area, hard to plan I know, but very important.So, what's it to be, location or career (and before anyone mentions, I am away you can have both, just harder to come by in the NE of England, especially in Financial Services).Cheers

Go for location, dude. As Kirsty Alslopp says, LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.I know benefits bums in the north of england who have bigger and better houses than partners in financial services firms in London. And they go on more holidays, too. London life ain't all it's cracked up to be, unless you're a "sxx and the city" diva.

That's the way I'm leaning, but I've always been very career driven so it'll be hard to take a step back...The contract market in Newcastle is OK actually, but it's very much a generalists market up here. BA's / PM's will rarely have a niche skill which will open doors, just isn't the demand for a specialism up here.Suppose the alternative is to live in the middle of Edinburgh and Newcastle, close to home and Edinburgh has a big financial services presence, both contract and perm (although it's still not London). These decisions are a few years away, but always worth planning longer term I suppose.Out of interest, where did you end up settling. A partner in a firm... London I assume?

Near the national park would be nice!I ended up on the outskirts of Guildford, but remember that things were very different back then. The trains were still civilised and you could buy decent homes for sensible prices. If I were looking to do it again, in this day and age, then I would basically get out of the south east. Edinburgh's got a lot going for it these days.

Live near wife's family (or good friends) so she and your son have a support network. You could be on the road, or commuting to London, a lot of consultants don't live in the capital but commute daily / weekly.Personally, I am in London, although I hate commuting so stayed central enough and am happy to stay where we are for a long while yet (have you seen the cost of moving these days?). We have no family nearby and it makes life tough on that front. Childcare is horrifically expensive in the nice parts, although there are some amazing (state funded) specialist schools if that is what your kid needs. So place and associated jobs market are only two dimensions to consider. I think you should also be looking at people and family needs.

Absolutely Rollercoaster, that is a big consideration of mine, as I am sure it is most parents...Being around a good school is crucial and will form a big part of where I ultimately end up. Having parents close by is also a great help, they are both retiring next year so will be taking him on when we are both at work (nice saving here...), obviously can't have this if I am 300 mile, or even 30 miles away.

When you say you're looking for a good school......do u mean...THE SCHOOL OF ROCK!!

Hmmm...I should open a day care...

[quote]The contract market in Newcastle is OK actually, but it's very much a generalists market up here. BA's / PM's will rarely have a niche skill which will open doors, just isn't the demand for a specialism up here.[/quote]Really? I think it's quite in decline, only a couple of places taking people and rates pretty low at the moment, perm is the only real way to go up here...

Yeah, I'm always getting approached for positions, pretty naff work but still lots of opportunities. One this week for Virgin paying 450 a day, pretty reasonable actually. It's poor in comparison to Edinburgh/Leeds, but the pool of contractors up here is pretty small too. Know a few guys who've not been out of work for 8 or 9 years in the BA type roles.Are you from Newcastle, or close by?

[quote]Yeah, I'm always getting approached for positions, pretty naff work but still lots of opportunities. One this week for Virgin paying 450 a day, pretty reasonable actually. It's poor in comparison to Edinburgh/Leeds, but the pool of contractors up here is pretty small too. Know a few guys who've not been out of work for 8 or 9 years in the BA type roles.Are you from Newcastle, or close by?[/quote]I guess it's down to perception in terms of rate, I wouldnt do 450 a day off the back of leaving Accenture as an M3...

[quote]Yeah, I'm always getting approached for positions, pretty naff work but still lots of opportunities. One this week for Virgin paying 450 a day, pretty reasonable actually. It's poor in comparison to Edinburgh/Leeds, but the pool of contractors up here is pretty small too. Know a few guys who've not been out of work for 8 or 9 years in the BA type roles.Are you from Newcastle, or close by?[/quote]And yes, I'm in Newcastle, left consulting and now working perm in FS for similar reasons you described in the first post.

Fog on the Tyne

[quote]Fog on the Tyne[/quote]Haway the lads, am gaan doon toon for a reet good teemYou can see I've fitted in with the Geordie lifestyle well...

[quote][quote]Yeah, I'm always getting approached for positions, pretty naff work but still lots of opportunities. One this week for Virgin paying 450 a day, pretty reasonable actually. It's poor in comparison to Edinburgh/Leeds, but the pool of contractors up here is pretty small too. Know a few guys who've not been out of work for 8 or 9 years in the BA type roles.Are you from Newcastle, or close by?[/quote]And yes, I'm in Newcastle, left consulting and now working perm in FS for similar reasons you described in the first post.[/quote]Out of interest, if you're able to share, which firm do you work for? FS work is a little thin on the ground in Newcastle (Virgin in Gosforth, Barclays have a presence in Sunderland, Brewin Dolphin, Newcastle building society, struggling to think of others than have a HQ/large operational site up "Norf"?).

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