I want some serious opinions on a personal matter. If folks want to have some fun in the thread that's great... as long as I get some serious opinions alongside the jollity because this is actually a really important issue to me. Possibly I'm just creating the thread as a brain dump to help me externalise all the stuff that's worrying me, I'm not sure. I got some good advice on here once before when I was considering leaving a job I really liked and I reckon I'll probably get some good advice on here again.

I've got an offer to work in Norway for a year and the offer is: name your price. Obviously they'll have a ceiling in mind but suffice it to say that I can probably get over 1.5 times as much as I'll get in the UK. The money will be GOOD. It seems like a golden opportunity but I'm not sure, I've moved away for work before and it was an absolute disaster. Here's the pros and cons that are going through my head in no particular order:-

  • The money... obviously.
  • I don't have any intention of creating a new life in Norway. I like my life where it is in grotty old Southampton. It's like the slightly smelly duvet I curl up on the couch with - it's grotty and noboody else can understand why I like it but I do and it's mine.
  • I doubt it will actually be for a full year. At the risk of being pompous I've got a track record of delivering big wins quickly. I think it's because I'm good at understanding businesses and the way they work as well as understanding tech so I'm able to spot the oppportunities and deliver on them without getting bogged down in distractions. They basically have a shopping list of benefits they'd like in descending order of importantance. I'm think I could offer to commit to them for 6 months, deliver the top stuff and then come back or stay on depending on how much stuff left outstanding and whether or not I'm happy out there.
  • I know and like the company I'd be working for. I've done a couple of stints out there previously (but those were only a few weeks at a time) so I know the situation I'd be walking in to and know it's decent. I wouldn't really class them as freinds and I can't really see myself going out and getting drunk with them but we get along well and I like them.
  • I don't know anyone in Norway other than the people I'd be working with and I don't have a partner so I'd really be on my own.
  • It would mean leaving my support network behind. This is important to me. I'm not someone who makes freinds easily and I really value the freinds I've got. Experiences in the past have taught me that when I need them to be there I REALLY need them to be there.
  • I did move away for work before and it was a disaster... and that was only within the UK! It was pretty serious, though, and put me in a massive depression. My family were actually quite worried I'd do something stupid to myself and actually ended up intervening to bring me home. At the risk of being melodramatic they were probably right to be worried too. That's scary but I'm not sure this is the same. That time I was recruited for a development company that also had a shop front selling components. When I got there they didn't actually have any development work for me so shoved me on a till in the shop. I was paid as a developer but it was still horribly diss-spiriting. Also the boss was an out and out psycho who everyone was terrified of and two weeks after I got there the bailifs turned up and walked out with the till because he hadn't paid his parking fines. That job was a total knightmare and I know this one won't be like that but it's still a scarey memory that's stayed with me.
  • They'll sort me out a decent apartment and car for the duration of my stay so I'll be "living for free" but that's not quite true. I've got a house in Southampton and a mortgage that's still going to need to be paid. I might be able to rent it out while I'm away but as I'm gone for a year or less I may not be able to. Realistically it'll probably be a case of finding a freind who needs somewhere rather than formally renting to a tenant.
  • The job's in Gjovik which has the biggest climbing wall in Norway. I love climbing and, realistically, if I'm going to form a social circle outside of work that's where it's probably going to happen.
  • There's a ski resort just up the road so I'll get plenty of snow-boarding time.
  • It's doing Axapta development which isn't really where I see my career going but at the same time there's always Axapta contracts cropping up and it would be a nice skill to have on my CV. I've done some Axapta development before and know I've got the skills but they were all small side projects so don't really make it onto the CV. This would put it squarely on there.
  • I've got two cats. I love my cats. They're fluffy and warm and like cuddlin'. I think I could take them with me but I'm not sure and need to find out. If I had to leave them behind that would be a huge negative.

I think that's the lot and as I read that list back I'm realising that this comes down to an emotional vs a coldly logical mindset. The logical thing to do is to go. I'd make loads of dosh and substantially improve my profile profile. The emotional thing to do is to stay in my comfortable little rut where I know I'm safe and warm. I like my rut.

So what to do?