Looking to Relocate For a Job Opportunity? Ask Yourself These Four Questions

Two years ago I graduated from college. Two and a half years ago my then-boyfriend-now-husband was offered a position at a tech company. The kicker being it was on the other side of the country.

After going to college within two hours of home, were we really prepared to pack up and move to the other side of the country? After a week or so of debating and weighing the pros and cons, we decided to go for it. We asked ourselves a myriad of questions before we made our final decision, and in hindsight, some turned out to be much more relevant than others.

If you are on the fence about relocating for a job opportunity, I suggest you consider these questions and your answers very carefully: 

1. Do you have a support system?

Yes, you can move on your own and start over in a new place where hardly anyone knows your name, but it’s a lot easier when you know you have people behind you who support your decision. 

Making friends outside of work and school is hard. We connect easily to the people who are connected to us by a place or time, but once you start looking to make friends outside of those places it is much more difficult. While most people are friendly, it seems like the older we get, the less people actually want to be friends. 

Having an established support system (even on the other side of the country) to keep in touch with will provide you support when you are really worried about things but also will (hopefully) give you the kick in the pants you need to get out of your apartment and make friends.  

2. Can you afford to be homesick? Could you get back to your family quickly in an emergency?

Living so far away from our family and most of our closest friends is really tough sometimes. We aren’t able to celebrate many milestones in person and miss out on a lot of bonding time. Occasionally, I want nothing more than to hop on a plane back to the land of the familiar.

It is a luxury to be able to travel at the drop of a hat, and if you the type of person that is really close with and dependent on your family and friends, you’ll need to budget that into your lifestyle. 

Additionally, consider the expense of a family emergency. How far is the flight or drive between your new home and your old one? This was something my mom brought up before we made our final decision. 

Luckily, because she brought it up well ahead of time, we have set up an emergency travel fund that we can use in case of an emergency with our families. Unfortunately, we had to use it this year when my mom suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm (see - anything can happen at anytime). Because I was prepared, I was able to be at her side within 12 hours of getting that phone call, and I am extremely grateful that it was something I was ready for ahead of time. 

3. Will it be worth it?

Is the job something you really want to do and are interested in? It’s one thing to accept an offer where you are already established and could easily leave the job if it wasn’t what you really wanted. Once you’ve moved and set up shop somewhere else, it could be a lot more difficult to leave your position.

In our case, the company relocated us, however, if we had decided that it wasn’t going to work out, the second relocation expenses would be on us (something we weren’t truly able to afford at the time).

Another thing we considered was the type of jobs in our current area. The type of position my husband was looking for wasn’t readily available and the advancement opportunities and challenges within the position also weren’t favorable. If you are serious about your work, relocating might be worth it just for this aspect - it has been for us so far. 

4. Have you ever been to the place you’d relocate to? 

Please do your research on your new area. If you can, make a trip out before you make your final decision and give yourself some time to scope at neighborhoods and interact with locals. Look at things like the rent prices across the area, the commute to work, and the public transportation (especially if you won’t have a car). These things are logistical, but if you really dislike the place you live, your commute, etc., it can leave a sour taste in your mouth for your new city before you’ve even had the chance to experience it.  

Ultimately, what you put into the pro and con categories will depend on your situation. As you get older, packing up and relocating for a job will be a bit more of a hassle when you have a family with established routines, so right after college is a good time as any to set out on a new adventure. Just make sure you are prepared and good luck!

Day 30 - I Found My Niche

Have you ever worked on something that you become so passionate about that you can’t put it down? You know, the projects and pieces of “art” that don’t feel like work. After writing 29 blog posts over the last month, I can answer this question confidently saying “Yes - I know exactly how this feels.” During this entire journey, I looked forward to writing each post. All of the people I talked about are incredible and have taught me two major things:

1. Hustle and

2. take the risks to go all in.

As for learning to hustle… Writing has been fulfilling, but not easy. After a full days work, I used every last inch of my spare time writing. The comments and encouragement made the difference so don’t ever think your comment, no matter how small it may appear, didn’t matter- it did (and continues to matter). Writing each story about the people in my life that always went above and beyond in their work has inspired me during the most difficult days over the last month. If I learned anything from the people I’ve written about, it’s that if you want to achieve your most ambitious dreams you need to be willing to put in the work.
As for going all in… If you’ve been reading the posts in this series you’ve heard of mentors, friends, and family members that went all in to support me and believe in me. You’ve heard about the brave people I am lucky enough to call friends and family that went all in on their dreams. Writing their stories was exactly what I needed to summon the courage for what I am about to share with you. It’s time for me to go all in.
I want to dedicate my career to helping others find their niche, and here is how I plan to start.

#1 Launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund the first book dedicated to ending employment unhappiness

. The incredible stories I have shared over the last 30 days need to be shared with the world. I will take all of the posts that I have written and string them together by infusing advice from experts, new approaches to career exploration, and inspirational stories from others that have found their niche. The working title is The Niche Movement: The New Rules to Finding the Career You Love. Want to learn more?

Check out the campaign! It is live on Kickstarter until August 12th!

How you can help: While so many of you have helped so much just by supporting this blog series, I thank you in advance for any support you offer as I begin this exciting journey.

• If you feel moved to donate (and are financially able to do so), that is the best way to help.
• Equally as helpful, would be sharing the campaign with your network. To make this easy for, I created this page with four different ways to share including pre-made social media posts and other good links.
• Lastly, we are already working to be featured in a number of publications over the next 30 days, but if you have any contacts in the press/media please let me know how I can best reach out to them with this story.

#2 Help people identify career opportunities they are not finding through conventional career sites and job boards.

The Niche List will be an email subscription that people can join for FREE to receive a curated list of jobs in the startup community and with companies that have a great culture but are not on traditional job boards or recruiting at career fairs. I will also include career advice and identifying additional resources for those in the job search. If you or anyone you know is job searching, signup here.

How you can help: If you know someone job searching, send them the link!

#3 Launch a series of innovative career exploration events.

Starting this fall, I will be collaborating with a variety of organizations to host events and help people find their niche. The events will flip the career fair model, and help this generation find a job they love. Last week, we confirmed the date and location for the first event. We will be collaborating with the team of Bold: Get Noticed, Get Hired on September 17th at Venture for America in NYC. More details will follow in the next month, but this will be the first of several Niche Movement events and programs we hold.

How you can help: If you are interested in collaborating on an event or know an organization that might be a good fit for a sponsorship (we’ll be attracting recent grads and young professionals), you can connect them with me so that we can work together to help people find the career they love.

#4 Help organizations spread their message with high quality social media strategies, photo and video.

This one may seem like a weird fit as it doesn't mention career exploration in the title. However, I firmly believe that businesses, individuals, and organizations on a college campus, all have a message. That message is amplified when you match high quality video/photo/creative with a well crafted social media strategy. If people are going to find the jobs they love, then organizations will need to tell their story to attract those individuals. I want to use my talents in this area to help people and organizations craft and amplify their message to the world.

How you can help: If you know a business, individual or organization that could benefit from high quality video, photo, or social media content matched with strategies to build a sustainable social media presence please connect them with me. Do you believe we can rewrite the path to employment happiness for this generation? If so, join me in creating the first of many potential solutions for young people to find the work they love. https://bitly.com/nichekick

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I truly want to thank all of you who have rallied around this. I met every word and I can’t believe where this journey has continued to take me.

I have to give a huge shoutout to Camille Sennett, a Rutgers alum, that now works at West Virginia University. Camille is an amazing young professional who is not only a Niche Movement contributor, but the backbone of this Kickstarter campaign. In less than 4 weeks, Camille took on a marketing and press plan that will hopefully lead this to successful campaign. If you’re looking for a go-getter who is self motivated and creative writer then please connect with her.

Second, I can’t leave out my wonderful wife Courtney. She was there every single morning and night as I wrote. She was my proofreader, my soundboard, and the fuel to my fire. Thank you.

Day 28: The Remarkable Story of The Passion Project Turned Start-Up

Have you ever met someone that is living their passion? Literally, someone that wakes up every day and everything they do is aligned with a purpose they care deeply about. As I inch closer to my grand finale (just two days away) I have to share a story about someone that I admire, someone that is a living breathing example of The Niche Movement. Amanda Morrison must of woke up one day and just decided she was sick of seeing people ‘sit home’ in one of the most culturally rich cities in the world (NYC). So she decided she was going to use social media to show everyone all the amazing things that happen in life when we make that choice to ‘not sit home.’ And the beta version of what is now a thriving campaign, #DontSitHome, was born. I am getting a little ahead of myself though, let’s first go back to the beginning… On the first day of school I bumped in to an old high school friend, Ashley, and she asked her for a spoon so she could eat some soup she heated up. I gave her a spoon and Ashley escorted me up to the 4th floor of the residence hall to introduce me to her roommate - Courtney Stone. If this was How I Met Your Mother, this would be a pretty momentous occasion...but it’s not so I digress. Courtney was already settled into her room because she was on the tennis team and got to move in a week early. I stayed and hung out in their room and on their floor for pretty much the rest of the day because I didn’t want to spend time with my roommate or be “that kid on the quiet floor.” At whatever point that I felt like I outdid my stay, I went across the hall and met their “neighbors” Kristin Coleman and Amanda Morrison. Amanda was from Hillsborough, NJ and played softball for FDU. Next, I met Sameer, CJ and several other guys on that floor.

Eighty-percent of my first year at college was spent on the fourth floor hanging out with Sameer, Courtney, Amanda and several other friends. Our friendship extended into that summer where Courtney, Amanda, myself and my friends all went rafting. Throughout the next three years we all went down separate paths while still staying connected - Amanda had her successful softball career while earning a degree in Legal Studies and Pre-Law, Courtney started a peer educator program and became president of her sorority, and I started a marketing club and Habitat for Humanity chapter. Courtney and Amanda reconnected senior year when they both studied abroad in Costa Rica.

After graduation, we would run into Amanda periodically at the bars in Morristown and catch up where we could ask questions like “How’s your job?” and we would all would have very boring answers. In 2010, Amanda landed an amazing job as an Intellectual Property Coordinator at a prestigious newsgathering organization. From the outside looking in, you would see that Amanda was onto a successful career. However, when she moved to Hoboken, something changed for her.

In her group of friends, she was the one coordinating fun outings and sharing the up and coming events happening in the New York City metro area. Everyone around her would say things like “How did you know about that?” or “Wow, that’s awesome, I would never think to do that.” Amanda started to think about this feedback and drum up some ideas that matched her adventurous lifestyle and passion for meeting new people. In October 2012, right before Hurricane Sandy, Amanda launched her blog and shared her first Don’t Sit Home post. This is where it gets good...

Finding deals, events, and the newest spots to check out in NYC came easy to Amanda. Over the next several month’s, Don’t Sit Home grew. And it grew fast. She harnessed the power of social media to spread her adventures in real time on her Facebook and Instagram accounts. After Hurricane Sandy she was volunteering and using her Instagram handle and iPhone to provide real-time journalism and updates to her followers.

Within a few short months, Amanda became known as the Don’t Sit Home girl. A few months after that in April 2013, she was hosting a launch party in Hoboken as she hit 3,000 Facebook fans. Today, Don’t Sit Home is at 8,743 and all of that traffic is coming from organic social media strategies. Check out this picture of Amanda playing kickball with Olympian Ryan Lochte!

The amazing thing is that Amanda was building something bigger than herself all while working full-time. Her evenings and weekends were spent living life and finding the next experience to share with her followers. She may not have realized at the time, but Amanda was on the verge of disrupting one of America’s oldest traditions, the old lifestyles and entertainment publications of years past. She reinvented the way young professionals were finding out about things to do and places to go in NYC and Hoboken. Not only was it incredible content, but it worked! It has definitely inspired Courtney and I to be more adventurous and not sit home. I know we aren’t the only ones.

From kayaking to concerts and everything in between, Don’t Sit Home is your guide for finding fun if you are in your 20’s and 30’s.

The big announcement came on May 20th of this year when Amanda messaged Courtney and I to share the news that she ripped off the bandaid and quit her prestigious job with one of the world’s oldest news publication to launch Don’t Sit Home full-time. Talk about diving into your passion! We were not surprised at all to see her take the big jump, and we see nothing but success for Amanda’s future with Don’t Sit Home. She is disrupting industries like event planning, event photography, journalism, and entertainment publications. Scaling the Don’t Sit Home movement is what the world needs and wants, and Amanda is the perfect person to do it.

What They Taught Me:

I know it would be naive of me to assume that every single day is perfect and filled with fun for Amanda. I know that what she is doing requires a lot of hard work and dedication, but like most experts, Amanda makes it look easy. She has taught me that you can not only love what you do, but you can actually have a blast doing it. That’s what has made the Don’t Sit Home campaign so successful, Amanda’s genuine passion for opening people’s minds to experiencing the world around them.

How They Inspired Me:

Everyone says follow your dreams and do what you love. Heck, I say that! Amanda doesn’t need to say those things, she is showing all of us how. Just like I talked about how Nina has shown me to trust your gut and take risks, Amanda inspires me to do the work you love. She inspires me to put the work into The Niche Movement because I know that it will all be worth it. I may never play kickball with Ryan Lochte, but I know that my rockstar moment will come if I continue to put the work into it.

#NicheTip:

I often meet young people that don’t think it’s possible to start their own business or follow their passions. Next time you are doubting yourself, think of Amanda. If you have an idea that is new and creative, and you are passionate about that idea, then you need to go after it. Know that you will need to put in a lot of hours, but if you are willing to work hard then there is no reason you should give up on an idea before it even has a chance to breathe.

Day 26 - How a Movement Gains Momentum After Year One

In the first few months when I launched The Niche Movement, I initially wrote a handful of blog posts from “Leadership Lessons from Jay-Z” to “Skip Your Career Fair 30 Under 30 List”. In the beginning the blog posts were infrequent and I only wrote “when I had time.” Looking back on my “How I Found My Niche” series, I’m realizing blogging doesn’t take require more than 45-60 minutes of your time. Sure, writing day in and day out, it can add up, but when you have something you are passionate about, writing comes easy. In January 2014, a year after launching and building a tribe nationwide, I wanted to provide more content to The Niche Movement’s audience. After doing some research, I noticed that sites like the Huffington Post and Post Grad Problems provided content that was built on other contributing editors and bloggers. Second, on a weekly basis, I have people that stumble across the Niche Movement that want to help or have an idea that will resonate with twenty-somethings. Lastly, I wanted to give others a chance to share their real-world experiences and advice that aligned with the purpose of The Niche Movement.

In less than 6 months, we now have 12 contributing editors and have a total of 55 blog posts. In this time we have established a blogging schedule where we release at least one new blog post per week and have tripled our audience outreach.

The one contributing editor who has been the backbone of this new initiative and success has been Amma Marfo. Amma is is the Assistant Director of Student Activities for Involvement and Assessment at Emmanuel College in Boston, MA. Her values are completely in line with The Niche Movement and what I personally believe - specifically finding a career path that suits students skills and talents.

Getting to know Amma over the last several months, I have learned that she is a lifelong learner and avid reader/writer. At the top of her resume, aside from her full-time job at Emmanuel, is her accomplishment in writing her first book called “The I’s Have It: Reflections of Introversion in Student Affairs.”  See, Amma has a very eloquent writing style and has the amazing ability to take a recent book she has read and extract out the important or relevant pieces that will provide real world advice to college students. She has packaged her six blog posts into a “See What Sticks” series on our site.

One of my favorite See What Sticks blog posts Amma wrote was “Questlove’s Guide to Success at the Office.” In this post, Amma shared Questlove’s story for his love of music that has translated into a love of life and career advice. The biggest advice that Amma shared in this post that correlated to Questlove’s journey is that it may not be your first job out of college that will allow you to build your masterpiece but you will learn skills that will help you create it in the future.

After reading and sharing posts like this one with our audience, I cannot thank Amma enough for her sharing her wisdom to help recent graduates succeed in the real world. As I reflect on the decision to create a contributing editor style of writing for the Niche Movement’s blog, I am so thankful that talented writers like Amma are using The Niche Movement as a venue to inspire others. I created a platform for others to share their ideas, wisdom, experiences, and real-world advice and it is people like Amma who are taking this platform to the next level. Amma is not only helping build her brand, but she is offering much needed advice to an issue that too many young adults need to hear.

In addition to Amma’s writing skills, she also shares the same amazing qualities that several of the people I have already introduced possess: she is a connector, genuine, insightful, and most importantly, cares about other’s success. Because of these super powers, I invited Amma to be featured in our May #NicheStory interview and she graciously accepted. During the interview, we talked introversion as it relates to the job search and networking - a subject we are both passionate about. The great piece of advice Amma offered, is that people who are introverted are generally great at listening and storing information away for a future time. Introverts need to take advantage of this skill and use it to their advantage while in interviews and networking settings.

As we get closer to day 30 in this blogging journey you have seen how an idea that was created with a passion for helping college students has grown into what it is today. When you take a step back, The Niche Movement really began simply with the meetings in my office with students that needed career advice. Then it grew when I would go to a campus and speak to students, and grew more when I had our first virtual cohort. However, adding this component of contributing bloggers has amplified the message in ways I could have never done so alone.

What They Taught Me:

The experience of bringing Amma and other talented writers on board has opened my eyes up to a much better content creation model. Now when students go to the Niche Movement for advice they can find a wide variety of perspectives and ideas around the concept of finding their niche. Amma particularly offers our audience that identifies as introverts, excellent advice and helpful tips.

How They Inspired Me:

Amma has inspired me to write and to write often. As I near the end of my 30 day blogging journey, I have not only created a habit but a passion to write at least once a week and not just for the Niche Movement but for other blogs and for bigger projects. Getting to know Amma this year has been an opportunity that has helped me get closer to finding my niche, and has lead me to a new and exciting project I will be announcing on day 30.

#NicheTip:

If you have a passion for something or a vision, don’t rely solely on yourself to execute that vision. Find ways to include others in the process and you will not only be creating opportunities for others, but most importantly they will bring new life and diverse perspectives to the table. Your audience will appreciate the well-rounded content you provide. A movement may start with one person, but it only gains the momentum necessary to create change with the help of others.

Day 15 - How to Make the Most Your Days

This past weekend I spent time away with my parents and Courtney in Lake George, NY. Other than an occasional Instagram post, I completely shut off – it was much needed and helped me focus and clarify where I am going with The Niche Movement. With that said, as I spent time with my parents, I continue to observe the importance of having really great family around you. Like I mentioned in a few of my previous posts, I am an only child, but was lucky to be surrounded by several great cousins that treated me like their little brother. One of them I am introducing into the "How I Found My Niche" series is my cousin Jennifer O’Connell Caputo.

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As the youngest cousin, I always looked up to Jen like a big sister. Jen was always a great athlete especially, in field hockey. I played a lot of sports growing up like , soccer and golf and I always tried to excel as much as possible since Jen became a star athlete in her high school and went onto to play field hockey at Rutgers University her first year of college.

Jen went on to graduate from Rutgers with a degree in psychology and landed a great job with a consulting company as a HR recruiter.  A few years later, I was in college and started to see Jen build a great future for herself. Her hard work and talent started to pay off and was promoted several times. She also met her husband Kevin at work and got married in August of 2003.

Believe it or not, the first (un)official date for Courtney and I was at Jen and Kevin’s wedding.

As I became more involved at FDU and started to build my “resume” to prepare myself for the real world, I was always able to turn to Jen for advice. Throughout my early twenties I turned to Jen for advice on jobs, interviewing, relationships, and family advice. Aside from Jen’s caring personality, one of her best skill sets that I admire most, is her ability to connect with anyone around her and start a conversation and keep it going.

As I have grown older, I still look up to Jen for several other reasons. She has a wonderful family - 7 year old twins, Joey & Addy.  She stays active by taking cross fit classes at 5:30 every morning and runs occasional GORUCK and mud runs. And she still works full time for the same company she started with after college. The reason I mention all of this is because I know Jen leads a busy life. However, the reason I look up to her today, is that she makes the most of her days. She makes time for her family, friends, and manages a hectic life of work and raising twins, all while having a successful career.

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When I look back, here are just a few ways Jen has always been there:

- supporting our fundraising efforts when I ran our first Habitat for Humanity trip in 2006.

- as a bridesmaid to Courtney in for our wedding in May 2010.

- to celebrate our house warming party in June 2010.

- to set up meetings with her company as Courtney and I launch our own projects in our careers.

- to throw some of the best family gathering and parties I've ever attended.

The last shoutout I have to mention is that Jen also organized a Hurricane Sandy Relief fund and raised thousands of dollars and collected 10,000+ toys in a matter of 4 weeks to donate to the community of Seaside Heights and the surrounding districts. All while taking care of her day to day responsibilities mentioned above.

She is truly an amazing person.

Thank you for everything Jen.

What they taught me:

As I get older, the time spent with family and close friends starts to become more precious and valued. Just like my cousin Jen, I am trying to live my life to the fullest and become successful while still making time for my family and friends that are near to Courtney and I. She has taught me that it is ok to be “busy” but when you are with your family (especially, parents) to shut off and be in the moment with them. It's something you will never get back, trust me.

How they inspired me:

Jen has inspired me (and Courtney) to set the bar high for yourself. Hard work does pay off but she has always instilled in me to have your work respected and receive what you are worth.

#Nichetip

The closer you get to finding your niche, the more your career may pull you away from what really matters - your friends and family. It is important that you make time for those around you and that when you are in the moment, to be present.