Driving home for more than Christmas - The option of coming home to work

MOVING back to one’s hometown often comes with mixed emotions. It brings a feeling that you never quite made it out on your own, or perhaps that your city doesn’t have thatone exciting thing you do all the time where you live now.

Moving away from family is the price we are willing to pay to get the training we want, to attend our preferred university, or to take that challenging position in an unfamiliar city.

The ties of family and friends are strong, but the call of one’s professional career in chemistry can be stronger, especially as mentors open their networks and encourage their students to meet new people, learn new skills, and travel.

When does the call of home become loud enough? It’s a hard decision to make. Many of us, in idle moments, will find ourselves dreaming of home when talking to an old friend on Facebook or when we see the familiar skyline of our hometown in the news.

Over the years, the call of home will change its tune from the desire for fun and community to a desire to look after one’s parents as they age and need more help.

Sligo has welcomed back many locals over the year who had moved away for various reasons and now find themselves coming back for a myriad of reasons including a better work-life balance and the desire to raise a family away from a major city and instead opt for the pace of life where they came from.

One of the trade-offs that you may encounter in moving home is the potential change in salary.

If your hometown is in a smaller city, you may have a lower cost of living, but the salaries offered may also be lower. Although employers may be interested in taking advantage of your expertise gained elsewhere, they may also expect you to take a “hometown discount.”

Seeing how one’s future salary is often set by one’s present salary, there is a real dilemma to be faced between more time with one’s family and future income.

Nevertheless, many are willing to make that trade-off when the time comes. Until then, we will keep thinking about it and making that journey home.