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Take Regional Grad Offer or Apply for London?

Hi all,

I've recently received a grad offer in Manchester from a Top 4 firm after a summer internship. I will be taking the ACA and it will be for three years.

I am delighted with the offer! Although I do see myself working in London or the south-west in the future, as I'm from the Bath/Chippenham area.

Some things I wanted to ask:

1) Is it easy to move from regional office to London once in the job?
2) Is it worth applying for London grad jobs (considerations: rent, great networking resources ) or taking the offer in Manchester and eventually moving?
3) I would like to stay closer to home but don't mind relocating; what would be the differences between Reading office and Manchester office, for example?

Many thanks for your help!
Reply 1
Avatar for Klovu
Klovu
OP
7
Original post by J-SP
Why did you apply for a role in Manchester given your preferences for where you want to live/work?


Thanks for the reply,

Converted from a spring insight programme!
Original post by Klovu
Hi all,

I've recently received a grad offer in Manchester from a Top 4 firm after a summer internship. I will be taking the ACA and it will be for three years.

I am delighted with the offer! Although I do see myself working in London or the south-west in the future, as I'm from the Bath/Chippenham area.

Some things I wanted to ask:

1) Is it easy to move from regional office to London once in the job?
2) Is it worth applying for London grad jobs (considerations: rent, great networking resources ) or taking the offer in Manchester and eventually moving?
3) I would like to stay closer to home but don't mind relocating; what would be the differences between Reading office and Manchester office, for example?

Many thanks for your help!


I'd take the Manchester offer and wait and see what happens over the next few years. It's very easy to over-estimate the importance of networking and locality. First on the locality, having spent 20 years living in the Chippenham/Bath area myself, I'd much rather travel back from Manchester once a fortnight to see family and friends in Chippenham than commute daily from Chippers into London. It's not the straight journey difference you need to consider, it's which journey you are committing to do 10 times per week (including all connections) and which you are doing once a week/fortnight/month.

Also, networking - how many times will you actually put yourself out there and do some networking? When you start a new job, you'll be lucky if it's more than a couple of times per year. Plus professional networking nowadays is far less face-to-face based. Again, on balance, the principle is so far from the reality that it shouldn't interfere with a good offer of a real job, with real money and real prospects.

It's a bit like the 'dilemma' when one employer is offering 2k more than another. you have to consider the reality that that's only £1600 net, and so if it is likely to cost you (250 days at work per year) more than £6 a day in travel, food, station parking etc then it isn't actually worth chasing the money.

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