Giving up job to move

Just wanted to find out how others who had to give up a good job in the US to move to the UK have coped with it.

I've worked with Amazon for the last 10 yrs, I absolutely love working for them and I make good money but... my heart it pulling me to Edinburgh. Seattle was the first city in the US that I ever visited (and I traveled most of the US) that I said "I could live there" and I moved from Florida.

Now after visiting the UK several times over the last 7 years, Edinburgh is only the 2nd place ever that I said "I could live there" and I want to. My partner is a British citizen so I know we can official make the move but... unfortunately the office in Edinburgh only has limited non-tech jobs so while I MAY luck out and get one when we decide to move in 2019, there is always the chance they just may not have anything available. If we were moving to London then it wouldn't be a problem but... London doesn't call to me, Edinburgh does.

So I'm faced with the possibility of following my heart and moving to Edinburgh and possibly quitting a good job. The practical/responsible side of my brain says "That would be a bad career move, you won't make as much, you'll regret it down the line." But the other side of my brain says "You'll always regret not trying."

When I moved to Seattle, I followed my heart and left another good job in FL and I haven't been happier. It was the right move. Moving to Edinburgh may very well be the same case. I've always told others "What's a good job if you are not happy where you live?" Not to say I'm NOT happy in Seattle but... I also dont want 10 yrs from now thinking "What if I had just taking that leap of faith?"

So...just checking if others have done that, how hard was it for you, how did you cope, etc.?

My circumstances were different, so no real advice there.

But what is your personality type?  Are you at your happiest when you are working somewhere you love?  So you have hobbies outside of work?  A family?

Just wanted to find out how others who had to give up a good job in the US to move to the UK have coped with it.

I've worked with Amazon for the last 10 yrs, I absolutely love working for them and I make good money but... my heart it pulling me to Edinburgh. Seattle was the first city in the US that I ever visited (and I traveled most of the US) that I said "I could live there" and I moved from Florida.

Now after visiting the UK several times over the last 7 years, Edinburgh is only the 2nd place ever that I said "I could live there" and I want to. My partner is a British citizen so I know we can official make the move but... unfortunately the office in Edinburgh only has limited non-tech jobs so while I MAY luck out and get one when we decide to move in 2019, there is always the chance they just may not have anything available. If we were moving to London then it wouldn't be a problem but... London doesn't call to me, Edinburgh does.

So I'm faced with the possibility of following my heart and moving to Edinburgh and possibly quitting a good job. The practical/responsible side of my brain says "That would be a bad career move, you won't make as much, you'll regret it down the line." But the other side of my brain says "You'll always regret not trying."

When I moved to Seattle, I followed my heart and left another good job in FL and I haven't been happier. It was the right move. Moving to Edinburgh may very well be the same case. I've always told others "What's a good job if you are not happy where you live?" Not to say I'm NOT happy in Seattle but... I also dont want 10 yrs from now thinking "What if I had just taking that leap of faith?"

So...just checking if others have done that, how hard was it for you, how did you cope, etc.?

Could you explore any opportunities about home working perhaps with occasional travel into the office in London every so often?

I just shook up the magic 8 ball and it says go for it. 

You gave up a good job before and found it was  completely worth it, that makes me think that you are a person who makes your own luck and will make any situation within reason a success.  The new place will be a success for you because you have already decided it will be. 

I don’t hear you moaning about making less money, or the weather, or moving to a tiny house with the washing machine in the kitchen, all of which would have raised red flags. 

That’s all good for you , but what about your partner?  There must be a story there as well.

I just shook up the magic 8 ball and it says go for it. 

You gave up a good job before and found it was  completely worth it, that makes me think that you are a person who makes your own luck and will make any situation within reason a success.  The new place will be a success for you because you have already decided it will be. 

I don’t hear you moaning about making less money, or the weather, or moving to a tiny house with the washing machine in the kitchen, all of which would have raised red flags. 

That’s all good for you , but what about your partner?  There must be a story there as well.

Totally agree with this.  Sounds like you'll bloom whereever your roots are planted.   

Totally agree with this.  Sounds like you'll bloom whereever your roots are planted.   

(You said the thing!  And the context was practically handed to you, it's so perfect!)

KFDancer -

While Amazon has been my favorite employeer I've ever worked for, I think I can genuinely enjoy whereever I work as long as I enjoy the actual job I'm doing. The hardest thing leaving Amazon would be giving up the perks like stock. I'm actually happiest when I'm someWHERE I love. I grew up in Florida and Georgia and hated it there. I moved to Seattle and have LOVED it here for the past 17 years. Everytime I go to Edinburgh (and the north of England since my partners family is all there) I just get that same "I'm home" feeling. We have no kids, just 2 dogs which we plan to bring. All of my family is in Texas and Florida and I only get to see them once every 3 years or so, so I'm used to not seeing family for extended periods of time. Skype has made it much easier!    Hobbies outside of work is... we love traveling. Going on road trips. So we can see ourselves every other week or at least once a month just getting in the car and driving several hours to go see something we havent see before. My parnter is also a musician in a Celtic rock band. I typically help run the business side of the band (booking gigs, running sound at the show, etc.). He plans to find a new band or other musicans to play with other there. My personality type is I love exploring. I love old architecture, I love learning about new cultures and experiencing new things. While I do like certain "comfort" things (specific foods or places to eat, knowing where my favorite stores are, etc.) I think I would find new comfort things. Its sometimes scary for me to give up things I've become comfortable with but after having to get rid of most of my life to move 3000 miles from Florida to Seattle when I was 25 yrs old, I think I could do it again. Most of what we own now is just stuff we keep around because we use it now and then but not things we are emotionally connected with. Those things would be easy enough to bring with us.


KissOfDeath -

That might be an option I'll look into. Luckily (!) I just ran across a poster in one of our elevators where they are wanting to train non-tech people who want to learn SW Development internally. That raised my spirits a lot so I've already reach out to them about it. If I could get into that program and get trained up, it would make transferring a lot easier. But I always like to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

jimbocz -

Well if the Magic 8 Ball says it, I'LL DO IT! I know it may be a little "new agey" but, I really try to believe that life has a way of putting you where you need to be where or not you know it. What seems like a bad thing at the moment many times ends up putting you in a better position later on when you look back. I can look back on my life and see numerous times where I thought whatever was happening was horrible but then I ended up getting a better place to live, getting a better job, getting a better partner (haha), etc. Yeah, I've read all about people earning less in the UK then they do in the US which, while it does concern me, I'm actually not as stressed about it because I have a big savings that would help us for a couple years to be able to take care of rent and allow us to focus on jobs.

I've been over there 3 times to visit my partners family and have stayed in their houses all the times so I'm luckily familiar with the standard size of houses there, smaller fridges, washer/dryer combos, small rooms, etc. We have a large house now so going to a smaller house would definitely be different but again, I think a home is what you make it. No, we wouldn't live in a 1 bedroom house with 2 dogs so I've already been scoping out 3 bedroom houses that we could realistically afford that would still be within a 30 minutes commute of downtown Edinburgh (we currently live 20 minutes away from Seattle (during non-rush house) and during rush hours it takes me between 1 and 1 1/2 hours to get into and home from work). 

My partner grew up in Newcastle & Leeds, all of his aunt, uncles and cousins still live there and they are all very close. I love them all and know they love me. They are all excited for us to move over and have told us that they would help us out in any way they could (getting furniture or housing us until we found some place, etc.). Up until this last trip, he always said he really didnt want to move back to the UK. I think he was mostly worried about getting his citizenship here. He also is a manager of a coffee shop which he's work hard to climb the ranks and get up to over the last 10 yrs. so I think he's a little worried about giving that up but on the flip side, it sounds like the company in a whole may be going under so he's already started looking for new jobs. haha He basically told me "If you want to move, we can move as long as I get my citizenship here incase we come back." I know he would be giving up stuff as well to "follow my dream" but he has also always said he would love to be close to all of his family again. His mom, dad, brother, sister, nieces and nephews all live in GA and he only gets to see them about 3-4 yrs as well and he Skypes with them a lot. Also his best friend just moved to Luxembourg last year so that thought that he could hope on a short flight over there cheaply for a week to see him is very appealing.

"Sounds like you'll bloom whereever your roots are planted." -

That made me smile. You are right. I think I wouldn't be worried if it wasn't for the thought of possibly giving up a good job with great benefits. THe benefits basically being the yearly company stock we get that has allowed us to travel over there so many times and that would make this move possible. I'm going to keep out hope that I'll be able to transfer with the company but... I think in the end, I would always regret NOT trying it. Its not like we would be stuck there and couldn't come back and I couldn't get rehired by the same company. I think having an "escape plan" is always important. But I think the adventure and possibilities far out weigh the fear. I mean, how many people get the opportunity to move to a different country that is calling to their heart?

I sincerly appreciate all the comments and questions. It makes it easier to process this. I'm sure over the next couple years you'll see plenty more questions from me. haha

Amazon has offices in Edinburgh, why don't you apply to transfer? 

I mentioned it earlier that the Edinburgh office is mostly tech jobs. I currently dont have any tech experience. I've worked in non-tech departments for them for the past 10 yrs. BUT, I recently discovered an internal program that I may be able to get training for software development. So, thats a maybe. If so, then I'm not as concerned. But if I can't, there are only a very small number of non-tech jobs in that office so it would be extremely difficult.

Yes, I am in the same boat.  I am a lawyer, so unless I get licensed as a solicitor in the UK, I will need to find a new career. Dunno if I'll find anything there near my US salary. But I love my husband and we are happier as a couple over there. I just want a decent paying job with nice colleagues. I've had enough of the workaholic, stressed out existence.

That would be cool if you could stay with the company. And you are right about the adventure part. It sounds like you will do really well Amazon or not!


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Well if you do get licensed, check out Amazon as they have Corporate Counsel positions open even right now. I actually work in our Legal department now as a Legal Assistant. haha From what I hear from the lawyers who for us, they all say its SO much more of an enjoyable job then working out in the "wild". haha

KissOfDeath -

That might be an option I'll look into. Luckily (!) I just ran across a poster in one of our elevators where they are wanting to train non-tech people who want to learn SW Development internally. That raised my spirits a lot so I've already reach out to them about it. If I could get into that program and get trained up, it would make transferring a lot easier. But I always like to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

You'll find it's not weird at all to have somebody doing remote working in a larger company like that. Even if the office mostly has a specific type of role based there, you may find they don't mind that being your base location to do the job you currently do as long as you are happy to fly down (which is actually relatively easy) to the London office for key meetings/etc. that you can't just dial into. I am totally on board with the "hope for the best but prepare for the worst" mentality as I do that all the time (and I'm told I'm too negative/pessemistic! but I'd rather be like that then let down severly), but I totally think that because you have soooo much time to work with, you can start doing your research nice and early and planting the seeds/making the right connections. If nothing materialises, then you've not really lost anything. You may end up finding that you can internally transfer to a new role they have going or, as you said you saw, get retrained with additional skills that will help increase your knowledge on other areas which will make you more desirable as you'll be more flexible. You might even find if you discuss with your manager in your 1-2-1 what your 2 year plan is, they are willing to get onboard and help you explore all alleyways.

Wishing you the best but, as it's already been said repeatedly, I think you'll be fine! You clearly have thought this through, not mentioned the usual "red flags" as Jim pointed out, and you'll adjust wherever you set your roots down (as KF mentioned).

You’ll do great with Amazon in America on your CV. 

Personally, I think the best thing about living here is the time off that you get and the possibilities to road trip in the UK and Europe.  I regularly go to France for a day at the beach and drove all the way to Prague a few years back.  You and your partner will love it.  Oh yeah, Celtic  Rock bands are everywhere.  I saw one just a few months ago at a festival where they burnt a giant wicker man, the band was 30 people wearing kilts wailing on drums.  Listening to them go while the wicker man was burning was pretty cool. 

Well if you do get licensed, check out Amazon as they have Corporate Counsel positions open even right now. I actually work in our Legal department now as a Legal Assistant. haha From what I hear from the lawyers who for us, they all say its SO much more of an enjoyable job then working out in the "wild". haha

Thanks!  I bet it's more enjoyable!  I'm burned out for sure. 


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