Hi All,

I just wanted to gauge a few second opinions on the offer I received from the company, personally I think it is pretty/very good offer but thought I'd reach out for a few second opinions in case I am missing something obvious;

• Salary – On par with expectations inc health & dental
• Holiday – 25 days + US national holidays
• Notice Period – 6 months for both parties (I think the security of employment far outweighs the complications for the long notice period if it look for jobs elsewhere in the future)
• Visa costs – Covered
• Shipping costs – 1 container
• Flights – Covered (economy)
• Accommodation – 3 months paid accommodation on arrival
• Optional;
  • Pre move flights + 1 week accommodation (Basically if we want to fly out for 1 week a couple of weeks/months prior to the move to look at living area's and locations - not sure this is needed as we have a pretty good idea now - Kids not included which is fine)
  • One family return flight to UK per annum (economy)
  • For 2 years – Return flights to the UK if we decide to move back

Appreciate any comments & help,

What's the number? Your expectations might be way off, you are asking for a second opinion after all.

Decent.

Would check if this is actually contractual and enforceable.

They would have to pay for these, so not really a benefit.

Fine

Standard.
Economy a bit shit.

Decent.

What does optional mean? Do you get them or not?

I would say it's a pretty bog standard offer subject to the salary being reasonable. Not terrible, but certainly not in "very good" territory.

They've clearly done a bit of padding by listing visa costs as part of the offer as if it was a benefit to you. That's just an unavoidable hiring cost to them. A bit like saying "we will give you a computer to work on".

In generally I'd say it's pretty good. Agree that your salary expectations may or may not be right. I generally say double the UK number and change the sign to $ for approximate equivalence (e.g. 100k GBP is about the same quality of life as 200k USD). But it also depends on location. If you were making 100k in Leeds and they put you on 200k in NYC then you'll take a big dip in qol.

Holiday is quite generous by US standards.

I am very surprised at the 6 month notice period. Most people are employed at will which means they can fire you for no reason and you can leave with minimal notice. People generally give 2 weeks as a courtesy. I have seen this even for relatively senior execs.

Honestly I am not going to give my salary as its naturally a little private, I'm sure you'll appreciate that, but it is on par with similar jobs in the area.

Notice period - Will be contracted for both parties.

Visa costs - They haven't listed as a benefit but when looking at other posts it always gets mentioned so easier to nip it in the bud.

Economy - Agreed but not a deal breaker

Optional - Means they have offered them and it is up to us whether we want to include them or not. The obvious answer is yes we would.

Appreciate the comments so thank you, salary I understand but it is comparable with similar jobs in the market sector. Obviously we would want more (who wouldn't?) but it puts me in the 75th percentile so we are fairly comfortable with that part.

The notice period is to protect both parties, they don't want to be left out to dry if we just jump ship as soon as we get green cards etc and it also protects me that they cannot just change their mind at the flip of coin. We discussed it as a mutually beneficial position.

The holiday we are lucky with as they offer the increased holiday as a perk to try and keep staff retention and higher new employees. It's also a little bit of the European mindset (UK HQ) and generally in our field holiday within the US is increasing.

I agree with the others, esp PP'ed - the salary depends on where you currently are, where you'll be living in the US, as well as what your current living situation is, as well an numerous other factors in terms of what you need and expect - schools, type of home, length of commute, etc.

All that said, I wouldn't recommend moving anywhere in the US for less thsn $150k, or a high cost area (NY, DC, Boston, LA, SF, among others) for less than $250k. And I've been using those numbers for a while, and they really are bare minimums so $175k & $300k are probably more realistic given recent housing cost inflation, though both may be reduced if your wife has a realistic chance of working too. Though bear in mind that childcare/ after-school care is absurdly expensive.

Also what do you mean by "a container". A "standard container" is usually considered to be 20ft, which is half of a standard UK ar-tic, which is 40ft long, and more common size of container used for commercial shipping.

A 40ft container is more appropriate for a 3-4 bed home and a family with children, otherwise you'll be do a lot of clearing out and disposing of stuff ahead of your move. We almost filled a 20ft container with the things from our 2bed, 70m², terraced home in London. We had a fair number of books and records, but there were just two of us and so there were no toys.

I understand you not wanting to give your exact salary, but I'd at least tell people whereabouts you're moving to and how many in the family so they can give you an idea of what salary would give you a good standard of living. 75% percentile may not be as good as you think it is, I'd actually say that's quite low for somebody moving internationally and the US is incredibly expensive. If it's a high cost area then I'd use porkedpie 's guide but triple it personally. I'm in Boston and it's crazy expensive here, a recent study said $320k was the salary needed for a family of four to have a 'reasonable standard of living' and I actually think that's a bit low. Madness! But if you're in a cheaper area then Pulaski 's $150-175k is probably about right for a family.

I assume this is a permanent move? So your package is ok but I'd say ok rather than good, the economy flights are a bit of a worry as what else are they skimping on - i.e. what are they giving you for the 3 months accommodation? Would be worth finding out before accepting just to make sure it's not a grotty one bed hotel room! If it was a fixed term assignment then you'd expect a lot more.

Other things to consider - car to start with, even if just for a month for you to get around. Relocation agent/realtor. Taxes done for at least the first couple of years. Check the details of the health insurance (you say health and dental but could still be paying a large amount each month, check it's 100% covered or find out what your likely costs are if not). Green card sponsorship if you do want to stay (get it in writing and make sure it covers incidentals i.e. extra vaccinations required). Kids should be included in your recce trip particularly if they're school age so they can look at schools (as should food for that week). Longer housing (may take you much longer to find a rental than 3 months and temporary accommodation will be expensive). Any pets to transport? If so, them as well. And relocation, in case things don't work out. Them paying to relocate your family if they make you redundant or similar is essential as it could easily cost $40-50k and the notice period is likely unenforceable (just Google to see if your state is an 'at will' state which means they can get rid of you with no notice required at all). Lump sum to cover incidentals i.e. having to buy new electronics - £10k is fairly standard, make sure it's grossed up so you don't pay tax on it. Excess luggage paid for (you may need more bags when moving if everything else has been shipped in a container a few weeks previously). Travel to/from your home country should be excluded from your vacation allowance if you're getting flights paid for.

Good luck.

It's an anonymous forum...

Salary probably the most important part of the offer and if you won't share it, nobody can give you much advice about whether the offer is a good one. How do you know it's on par with similar jobs in the area? Where are you getting that information?

But as another way of doing it, OP could tell us how many in his family, where they're going to, and what kind of lifestyle they want (i.e. small apartment or large detached house, skiing every weekend or not, etc). Then people in the area can suggest a suitable salary so he knows if the offer meets that or not.

Yes that would work also

Car rental for first couple of months would be extremely useful.... you'll need a car no matter where you go and having to get one immediately is something you should avoid if able.

You mention flights back if YOU pack it in, but you should get an agreement that company will ship you and your belongings back if THEY pull the plug within say 18 months.

What is the salary? Without that not even worth a second thought

Bear in mind that median personal income (not household income) for those working full time in the US is currently around $65k, which assuming a roughly normal distribution and that few people earn less than $20k, puts the 95th percentile at around $100k, and there is nowhere in the entire US that I would recommend trying to live on $100k as an expat transplant with family.

If you mean 75th percentile for your role, that is about where I was hired over 20 years ago, and I later came to realise that I had been lumped in with a lot of underpaid coworkers to produce that 75th percentile statistic. You can prove anything with statistics, and 75th percentile doesn't mean much, because you're not paying your rent, car payment or grocery bill with a percentile.

This is a good alternative. We already know that whatever number the OP says, someone is going to say "I wouldn't eat breakfast for less than $400K"...

At this point I'm wondering what the OP expects as what we've been asked to comment on is a list of about half a dozen things, each of them marked "covered".

Not only do we not know what salary has been offered, we don't know where he will be living/working, how many kids he has, whether his wife is planning on working (or what she does and whether working will be possible i.e. does she need a US license to work, e.g. in a medical occupation, or as a beautician/ hair stylist, which doesn't require a license in the UK, but absolutely does in most US states). About all we have is a short list of factors that the OP apparently this are good enough, so who are we to argue?

As has been stated many times on this forum, to get good information you have to give good information. There is so much information we could give the OP, but he needs to give us a bit more to work with!

At this point I feel I have given as much as I care to give unless/ until the OP gives us a bit more context for the advice.

At the moment I'm inclined to say "Yup, looks good enough to me", and move on.