Mark Tegtmeyer ⋅ Denton, TX PepsiCo - Frito Lay ⋅ 11 years experience

Rodney,

Couple suggestions. First, do you need to immediately get back to the US? If not, apply for a position in Germany for a major US based company. You may be especially attractive because they wouldn't incur the relocation charges for moving a CONUS worker over to Germany, then in a few years you could internally transfer in the company and they would be much more likely to pay for relocation because it would be a retention cost associated with a great employee.

Alternatively, approach the relocation costs as part of your negotiations. Again, you're going to have to focus your job applications on global companies. Smaller companies, no matter how willing, are going to have no idea how to relocate someone from abroad. To negotiate a relocation, you should be prepared for what concessions you're willing to make. Would you be willing to give up $5k in salary for the peace of mind of having a professional relocation service provided to you by the company? Or is it better just to front the relocation expenses yourself if that's the trade-off?

Last thought, you need to clearly define what 'relocation expenses' mean to you. If you're not sure, you're not going to get it. For some companies, it entails them buying your house if it doesn't sell after X months. For others, it's a $XX stipend per month until you find housing. Are you asking for all of this, or just the bottom line cost for shipping your household goods from Germany to the new city?

Good luck!

Jennifer Sardam ⋅ Alexandria, VA U.S. Army National Guard, Sergeant ⋅ 17 years served

Rodney, your question came to mind tonight while I was working on my own job search, on Twitter of all places, because I believe in leaving no stone unturned, and that a lot of job leads can come from social media.

Anyway, I saw a Twitter profile called "Will Relocate," and apparently it aggregates listings from job sites (Indeed.com, etc.), where the companies have posted in their position descriptions that they are willing to relocate the right candidate(s).

Here's the link, if you are interested. http://twitter.com/willrelo

Aaron Spool ⋅ West Orange, NJ CIT ⋅ 11 years experience

Rodney,

I'm in the finance industry and I've seen plenty of relocation packages...but the advice above is right...get a European job and transfer. DB is a great place which I would highly recommend looking at.

Best of luck.

-Aaron

Jennifer Sardam ⋅ Alexandria, VA U.S. Army National Guard, Sergeant ⋅ 17 years served

Hi, Rodney. When I lived in Wyoming, I was hired on by L-3 Communications. I could not afford to move myself from Wyoming to Washington, DC, for the position, and they paid for my relocation. I don't know if that is indicative of every business unit within L-3, but many large defense contractors, if they see enough value in you being the right individual for the job, should have no problem with this request.

Rodney Ferguson ⋅ North Hollywood, CA U.S. Army Reserve, Sergeant ⋅ 17 years served

Bob,

Thanks for your reply. One thing we are already looking at is selling what we have here and starting over totally from scratch once we do get located Stateside. My wife, Wendy, has given me some ideas of areas that she would possibly like so that is giving me a start at least as to look what jobs are available. For Wendy this will be her first time in America so I want to make the transition for her as easy as possible. She's originally from Ecuador but has lived previously in Portugal before joining me here in Germany. I'd appreciate any additional advice/pointers that you and anyone else can provide.

Thanks again!

Rodney Ferguson

Robert Spicer ⋅ Cleveland, OH Lubrizol ⋅ 31 years experience

Dear Rodney,

Many companies offer relocation, but it is a matter of "cost to benefit" for them. Companies will always choose the least costly way to get what they want. If local applicants are satisfactory, paying for an applicant to relocate becomes unattractive. Unless your skills are extremely rare, your chances of paid relocation are not good.

You may have to actively list your primary overall goals. Then build a strategy to accomplish the top goals. Often when you really understand the important goals your decisions become easier. You might need to sell your house items to minimize the relocation costs. This might make you a more attractive candidate to an employer.

What makes you more attractive to an employer is what gets you the job. High relocation costs reduce that attractiveness.

I hope this helps. This is a wide topic where I have only narrowly addressed.

Bob Spicer