Common Job Interview Questions

Will you relocate?

When this happens, it's a good sign they like you, and may be thinking of your next promotion somewhere over the rainbow.

There are 2 ways to think about this top 10 interview question--short term and long term.

You may have good reasons why you can't relocate today.

• you have a child in high school close to graduation
• your spouse has a career
• you are caring for an elderly parent
• family or personal health issues

Their 3 grown children lived there and they really enjoyed the culture of the upper Midwest.

I ran into them recently, and to my amazement, they told me they would be very open to relocating out West.

What happened?

Two of their grown children unexpectedly moved to the same city in Utah.


True Relocation Story 2: Early in my career with Fleetwood, their growth was very robust. They had 25+ manufacturing plants across the US and their headquarters was in Riverside, California.

New plants were opening and other plants were expanding. (oh, how we all long for those days! Amen)

Fleetwood had a strict policy of promoting from within. At this time lots of people were being offered promotions.

Despite a lucrative compensation package, many people turned down these promotions because they did not want to relocate.

It soon became apparent to Fleetwood executives that their growth would be hindered if people refused to relocate.

A policy came down from on high that no Senior Staff would be hired unless they were promotable and they agreed to relocate now or in the future.

All Senior Staff candidates were recruited locally. We did not advertise that applicants must be willing to relocate because we wanted to make sure all applicants were sincere about future relocation.

So, we added the relocation question to our top 10 common job interview questions. Every candidate was asked whether or not they would relocate.

Unknown to them, this was a MUST HAVE requirement.


True Relocation Story 3: A job seeker's father passed away leaving behind her mother in her early 70's. She told numerous recruiters she would not relocate because she was watching over her widowed mother until her eventual demise.

Two years later, her mother remarried and moved to Virginia--600 miles away! Their entire family was stunned.

Not in a million years would this job seeker had seen this coming. Now... suddenly, she had nothing holding her to the area.

But, she had told scores of people, I'll never move.

Develop the mindset that you will cross the relocation bridge when you come to it.

If you can't or won't move today, fine, you need to be truthful and say this in the interview. But, quickly add that you will consider it in the future.

Five years from now you could be a completely different person under an entirely different set of circumstances.

Tip: the more flexible you are, the more attractive you will look to a prospective employer.

Growing companies need the flexibility to draw from their bench.

You may be needed to turn around a struggling operation, or to manage one of their flagship operations in a remote location. So, think 3-5 years ahead when asked common job interview questions like this.

People who are willing to relocate are more likely to take quantum leaps in their careers.

I don't know of any company president who hasn't moved a few times.