Hasta La Vista London

[DannyF1966]

Mind you I avoid Skipton when the contracts appear. I find it an absolute pain in the rear to get to so don't bother...

Just before I started contracting and was looking for a permie role, I had an interview at the payday company in Skipton. Pleasant enough drive to get there, lovely sunny day, but wouldn't look forward to doing that commute every day.

[oliverson]

Oh Oliver what a mistake! And you know, now that you've been out of the London game for 5 minutes it's going to take some effort to get back in!

Fortunately that hasn't been the case as I have a final round interview next week with probably the most prestigious IB on the planet (the first round was initiated before Xmas - talk about moving 'fast')

This is really hard for me because on one side of the coin I'm really happy with the current situation. The feelings of making a mistake coming home are subsiding and the people I'm working with are decent. Even the project is becoming interesting. As far as contracting in the north is concerned, this really is as good as it gets for me. However, how can you turn down this opportunity? It's eating away at me. No sooner do I dip my toe in the market again than it gets bitten off by an almighty fish. If I land this one then it's the biggest catch for a contractor with my skill set , if I turn it down will I always be wondering? Am I really so shallow that this has any relevance whatsoever? Have to make a decision by tomorrow lunchtime.

It occurs to me that I can't be alone in thinking this way so I would appreciate comments/advice especially from those who have been in this situation please.

[Bluenose]

It occurs to me that I can't be alone in thinking this way so I would appreciate comments/advice especially from those who have been in this situation please.

If they are willing to pay a 30% premium over the market rate then go for it. If they are not willing to pay a 30% premium the job needs to be in a cutting edge technology area for me to consider.

If neither of these conditions are met then I would avoid. Working in one of the top 3 - JP, Goldman or Morgan Stanley is not a great experience anyway, regardless of what the badge says, infact I would go as far to say that I would go out of my way to avoid working at pretty much any IB these days and I have been working in the sector for well over 15 years.

The main reason for this is pay erosion and other industries willing to pay equal and in many cases much more than IB's.

The places to work in the City on the client side are in Insurance and Asset Management, not in an IB.

[oliverson]

If they are willing to pay a 30% premium over the market rate then go for it. If they are not willing to pay a 30% premium the job needs to be in a cutting edge technology area for me to consider.

If neither of these conditions are met then I would avoid. Working in one of the top 3 - JP, Goldman or Morgan Stanley is not a great experience anyway, regardless of what the badge says, infact I would go as far to say that I would go out of my way to avoid working at pretty much any IB these days and I have been working in the sector for well over 15 years.

The main reason for this is pay erosion and other industries willing to pay equal and in many cases much more than IB's.

The places to work in the City on the client side are in Insurance and Asset Management, not in an IB.

I just left an Asset Management firm :-( Thanks for your input.

[unixman]

The OP is a special case in that he already lives near Skipton. It is less a case of "goodbye London" and more "hello, home".

One slight advantage of actually moving out of London/SE is that your house will suddenly expand to 3,4,5 or 6 times the size. Much of the greenery you see out of the Window is your garden, and you will have a kitchen of the size and type that a footballers wife would be envious of.

And there is actually some tarmac to run your M3 on.