She was conflicted when Isabelle was offered to relocate from Philadelphia to Austin for a product manager role at a thriving tech company. Leaving her hometown, where she had built a life over the past five years, was difficult. However, the new job represented an exciting advancement opportunity and a chance to expand her experience. After reflecting on her motivations and values, Isabelle took the risk and moved south. Getting involved with Austin's vibrant music scene, diverse outdoor activities, and welcoming community enabled Isabelle to flourish in ways she never imagined possible. Two years later, she is thrilled she trusted her instincts and made the life-changing move. Isabelle's story illustrates the rewards of relocation when it aligns with your aspirations.
The decision to relocate for a new job is multifaceted, beyond salary and job title considerations. At a basic level, you must evaluate practical factors like the cost of living, the housing market, commute times, healthcare facilities, and amenities in the new location. Will this new spot allow you to have the lifestyle you want? You must also consider career impacts—will this new role provide learning and advancement opportunities? Will it set you on a better professional trajectory? Beyond just work factors, your relationships, community ties, recreational activities, and overall well-being also factor in. Leaving family, friends, and your home to start fresh in a new place is a huge life change. While exciting, it also means dealing with the stresses of packing up your whole life and starting over in unfamiliar territory. With so many practical, professional, and personal pros and cons involved, deciding whether or not to relocate for a job is far more complex than just comparing salaries or job titles.
At a basic level, you must evaluate practical factors like the cost of living, housing, and commute times in the new location. For example, while considering relocating from Milwaukee to Seattle for a job opportunity, compare average rents and home prices between the two cities. In Milwaukee, you may pay $1,000 monthly for a nice one-bedroom apartment near downtown, but that apartment could cost $2,000-$3,000 in downtown Seattle. Or your commute time driving to work might go from 15 minutes each way in Milwaukee to 45 minutes or an hour sitting in Seattle traffic. Run the numbers and have realistic expectations about expenses, transportation, and other lifestyle factors between your home and the potential new location. Quantifying these tradeoffs makes assessing the practical impacts more tangible.
Spiral Dynamics provides a valuable lens for understanding the values and motivations driving human behavior and development. The core idea is that human consciousness evolves through different stages or “value systems” represented as colors. Each stage reflects core motivations and worldviews.
Understanding your core motivations through the lens of Spiral Dynamics can bring self-awareness to a relocation choice. The opportunity to better align your life with your values is part of the appeal.
The SDTEST poll “My top priorities when choosing a job are” asked respondents to rate the importance of various factors when choosing a job.
The rate of the priorities findings from the poll for 2022-05-23 – the current date you can see in the widget below on the tab Charts. The chart at the top displays the respondents' rate of the listed priorities. The chart at the bottom displays the respondents' responses to the SDTEST by colors of the Spiral Dynamics. This factual data is used to calculate the correlation with the ratings of priorities (0-10) that respondents indicate in their answers.
It is important to note that the correlation values change in the online widget depending on the number of response results. Therefore, the values indicated in the text may not match the actual calculations displayed in the widget. The full results of our VUCA poll are available for free in the FAQ section after login or registration.
Distribution | NonNormal | Normal | Normal | Normal | Normal | Normal | Normal | Normal |
All questions
All questions
My top priorities when choosing a job are
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My top priorities when choosing a job are | ||||||||
Answer 1 | - | Weak positive 0.0861 | Weak negative -0.0763 | Weak negative -0.0246 | Weak negative -0.0432 | Weak positive 0.1243 | Weak negative -0.0569 | Weak negative -0.0142 |
Answer 2 | - | Weak positive 0.0791 | Weak negative -0.0192 | Weak positive 0.0215 | Weak negative -0.0094 | Weak positive 0.0310 | Weak negative -0.0675 | Weak negative -0.0224 |
Answer 3 | - | Weak positive 0.0545 | Weak negative -0.0545 | Weak positive 0.0245 | Weak negative -0.0420 | Weak negative -0.0322 | Weak negative -0.0070 | Weak positive 0.0606 |
Answer 4 | - | Weak negative -0.0017 | Weak positive 0.0356 | Weak positive 0.0678 | Weak positive 0.0810 | Weak negative -0.0716 | Weak negative -0.0202 | Weak negative -0.0758 |
Answer 5 | - | Weak positive 0.0885 | Weak positive 0.0455 | Weak positive 0.0597 | Weak positive 0.0908 | Weak negative -0.0995 | Weak negative -0.0740 | Weak negative -0.0711 |
Answer 6 | - | Weak positive 0.0373 | Weak negative -0.0069 | Weak positive 0.0105 | Weak negative -0.0217 | Weak positive 0.0538 | Weak negative -0.0157 | Weak negative -0.0467 |
Answer 7 | - | Weak positive 0.1135 | Weak positive 0.0029 | Weak positive 0.0275 | Weak negative -0.0047 | Weak positive 0.0148 | Weak negative -0.0340 | Weak negative -0.0800 |
Answer 8 | - | Weak negative -0.0017 | Weak negative -0.0422 | Weak positive 0.0147 | Weak positive 0.0826 | Weak negative -0.0375 | Weak negative -0.0297 | Weak negative -0.0004 |
Answer 9 | - | Weak positive 0.0013 | Weak positive 0.0963 | Weak positive 0.0289 | Weak positive 0.1402 | Weak negative -0.0854 | Weak negative -0.0424 | Weak negative -0.1068 |
Answer 10 | - | Weak negative -0.1028 | Weak negative -0.0257 | Weak negative -0.0042 | Weak positive 0.0030 | Weak negative -0.0074 | Weak positive 0.0098 | Weak positive 0.0809 |
Distribution | Non Normal | Normal | Normal | Normal | Normal | Normal | Normal | Normal |
Priorities when choosing a job / Spiral Dynamics colors | Beige | Purple | Red | Blue | Orange | Green | Yellow | Turquoise |
A good relationship with colleagues | - | ![]() | ![]() | -0,0115 | ![]() | ![]() | -0,0711 | 0,0365 |
A good relationship with bosses | - | 0,0605 | -0,0166 | 0,0202 | -0,0411 | 0,0412 | -0,0577 | 0,0082 |
The right work-life balance | - | 0,0676 | -0,0345 | 0,0094 | -0,056 | -0,0627 | -0,0293 | ![]() |
Financial compensation | - | 0,0121 | 0,0422 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | -0,0449 | -0,0608 |
Financial stability of the employer | - | 0,0754 | 0,0521 | 0,0705 | ![]() | ![]() | -0,0728 | -0,0483 |
Appreciation for the work done | - | 0,061 | -0,03 | -0,0018 | 0,0244 | 0,0352 | -0,0424 | -0,0368 |
Employment guarantee | - | ![]() | -0,0011 | 0,0374 | -0,0331 | -0,0044 | -0,0497 | -0,0317 |
Education and vocational training | - | 0,029 | -0,0584 | 0,0111 | 0,0415 | -0,0451 | -0,01 | 0,0228 |
Career opportunities | - | 0,0346 | ![]() | 0,0388 | ![]() | ![]() | -0,0586 | ![]() |
Interesting content of the work | - | -0,0687 | -0,0275 | -0,014 | -0,0114 | 0,0107 | -0,0137 | ![]() |