So You're Going to Change Jobs

by John S. Blair

Changing jobs can be a trying and costly experience to those individuals that do not look before they leap into a new employment experience. Career advancement in the park and recreation profession often means change in employer, location and responsibilities, and all too frequently, a hasty decision can mean an uncertain and unhappy future.

"When your yearnings exceed your earnings, you've got all the incentive you need . . . maybe."

If you're contemplating changing jobs, there are several things you should consider before making the move. Ask yourself why do I want to make a move? If the answer to your question is any of the following reasons— better location, better pay, interesting work, personal reasons— then you may want to consider the following:

• Better location — Be sure that you can adapt to the changes in lifestyle and mores of the region you plan to move to. Michiganders lead a different lifestyle than Arkansians; Californians differ in their lifestyle patterns from Illinoisans. A man moved from a big Texas city to a small North Carolina town to escape smog and hurry-hurry of the city life. His new work was more interesting, and his pay was higher, but he found he missed the excitement of the big city. He moved back to the Texas city within a year.

In addition to differences of lifestyle varying from region to region, living costs also vary. Generally, living costs are higher in the larger Northern cities, lower in Southern metropolitan areas. For example, it costs 17% more to live in high-cost Boston than in low-cost Dallas. Within a region, the cost can also vary. It will cost about $1000 or more per year to live in metropolitan Chicago than in a small town in Illinois.

Moving expenses can be a financial drain if they must be paid out of your own pocket. At distances over 500 miles, the smallest of moves can easily cost $600 and cross-country moves upward to $3000. Most companies will pay a share of costs for the entire move; government agencies are more limited in their legal ability to pay by immediately hiring an employee and placing him on two-three weeks travel per diem. Ask your prospective employer what arrangements he can make for paying for your move.

• Better pay—Be sure that the pay increase is enough to cover relocation costs that are not reimbursable and that it will at least cover the next year's cost of living increase. In 1973, the cost of living, nationwide, rose 10.3% and from January 1, 1974 to September, living costs climbed 6 per cent. A rule of thumb is to consider those opportunities that offer at least a 20% pay increase.

Ask your prospective employer about your fringe benefits; not all fringe benefits come in the "standard package." For example, if you enjoy golf, free green fees on a city's course can mean a small but significant savings. The important thing to remember about fringe benefits is that they are not taxable and can add several thousand dollars to your base salary. It is not uncommon in the parks and recreation field for a house and car to be a part of the employment package. A man in Virginia recently applied for a position as camping activities program

Illinois Parks and Recreation 26 March/April, 1975

director for a labor union. The base salary was $12,000, but fringe benefits included a house, utilities, subsistence allowance, medical and life insurance. With fringe benefits added, the job opportunity approached a pay of $20,000 of which only $12,000 was taxable income.

• Interesting work—Be sure the employment function described is what you will be doing. Some employers inflate the responsibilities of a position, especially if they are interested in hiring you. Ask your potential employer to describe all the negative things about the job. If he balks at the question, gives an evasive answer, or becomes offended, thank him for the interview, but pursue your employment search elsewhere; chances are you wouldn't enjoy working for someone who told you only one-half the story. Your prospective employer owes you a true assessment of the job, just as you owe him a true assessment of your skills. After all, he's going to be investing his money in you, and you will be investing your career in him.

Ask about the financial stability of the organization. If it is a government job you are pursuing, ask if your salary will be paid from a general fund or from special funds such as a grant. Grants can end as quickly as they were created and so could your salary. If working for a private enterprise, do your homework in Dunn and Bradstreet. Recently, a director of a large city parks department quit his $30,000+ job to go to work for a leisure products company. Eight months later the company declared bankruptcy and he was unemployed.

• Personal reasons — Double check yourself—are you a victim of the "oh-my-gosh I'm 30, 40, or 50 years old" syndrome. An assistant director of a large park system asked for any leads to a directorship's job; he concluded his request by stating—"you know, I'll be 40 in a couple of months." Another man announced that he was going to quit his job of four years and seek a higher paying position. His rationale was that he would be 30 in another month and he was afraid he would miss the boat to success if he didn't make a switch. Pressing the job hop panic button because of a birthday is irrational, but every day thousands do it. There is always employment opportunties for good qualified people regardless of age. Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame was in his sixties when he departed on his venture.

Above all, do not quit your present job until you have accepted an offer elsewhere. The employment process can take as long as six months from the time you locate a job to the day you report for work. The average person doesn't have six months salary to tide him over until he locates his new job.

Fairly assess your skills and don't over estimate your worth. The park and recreation profession echoes continuous sounds of failure of those who decided they would become consultants to prove how valuable to society they are. For every ten that try, one makes it.

In conclusion, investigate and thoroughly evaluate your potential job opportunity before making a move. Fairly assess your skills; be honest with yourself, then if you are satisfied that the move is for the best, proceed without haste.

"Everyone of us in the world have our audience to play to; we study them and we try to do it so it will appeal to what we think is the great majority. We all have our particular little line of applesauce for each occasion. So let's be honest with ourselves, and not take ourselves too serious, and never condemn the other fellow for doing what we are doing every day, only in a different way."
—Will Rogers

(Editor's Note: John Blair is Executive Secretary of the National Society for Park Resources, a branch of the National Recreation and Park Association) .

Illinois Parks and Recreation 27 March/April, 1975