Opportunity to work in NYC for four months- questions and concerns

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I have an opportunity to work and live in NYC mid-July through mid-November at one of our sister offices covering somebody’s maternity leave. They prefer someone internal to hiring a temp. The job will be somewhat more responsibility than I have now because it will be more client-facing than what I do currently and I’ll also be working directly with the owner and president of the agency. Sounds like a great opportunity and what better city to have it in. I don’t have a husband or kids so I’m an even more ideal candidate for it.

Here’s where it feels like it gets dicey. They’re leaving it up to me to make all the moving/living arrangements. I’ve been asked to submit an expense sheet as part of the negotiations, and my boss has warned me to think of every possible angle so that I “don’t end up upside down because of this opportunity.” The thought that someone would even let me get upside down gives me pause. I’ll already be on the hook for a wardrobe: I wear jeans every day currently- I do a lot of running around, hauling AV equipment, shipping big equipment as part of my current ad agency job (those are the least of my responsibilities, but they require me to dress accordingly), and I won’t be able to dress that way in NY, and I kind of feel (embarrassedly) that its up to me to look good for this job I’m being offered. Maybe I would be totally within my right to ask to be reimbursed for clothing, but I kind of don’t even want to admit to my new bosses that I don’t have much in the way of an NYC creative agency wardrobe.

I’ve created a spreadsheet of expenses that includes:
• Housing- I have ballpark costs for both corporate housing in the city and an extended stay hotel in Seacaucus)
Groceries- I used a cost of living calculator to estimate the difference I’ll be paying for food and personal items (+17%) and would expect them to offset that additional cost
• Transport- I’ve included the cost of a metro card plus a wild-assed guess on a monthly average miscellaneous cab fare of $75 (and I subtracted my current monthly gas costs from this total)
• Expenses at home- I included pet care/boarding and renting a garage for my car during the time that I’ll be gone
• Taxes-I talked to a CPA who told me that I will pay an estimated additional 5% in state and local taxes during my time in NYC, so I added that
• Eating out-I included the average number of times that I eat out here at home, both for business and for pleasure (3 dinners/wk- 1 work and 2 pleasure, 4 breakfasts- if I have a long commute I think this is reasonable, 7 coffees, and I’m pretty sure they cater in lunch every day, but I included 2 lunches) and determined the cost of living difference for this (+35%) and included that difference in my request. Now I realize they can turn this down, but I would hope that they wouldn’t expect me to stay in a crappy little studio apartment in Seacaucus for 126 days without expecting to be able to get out somewhat the way I do now.
• Travel- I’m hoping that they would agree to at least one trip home to visit family and check on my apartment, home responsibilities, and pets (I’m asking for two), and also move-in/move-out plane tickets, cab fare and shipping costs for clothing and whatnot

I have no idea what else I could possibly need to include. It’s kind of that “I don’t know what I don’t know” situation.

I also don’t know if what I’m asking for is excessive or conservative or if I should also be including clothing in my estimate. I do realize that this job opportunity is something that I could include on a resume so I am not underestimating the benefit it could potentially give me for the future, but it’s also quite an upheaval in my life to do this for them.

I’m flying out tomorrow to meet them and hand over this expense estimate sheet. If I like them and they like me then negotiations will commence. I have not historically been a super strong negotiator, so this will be an experience for me.

Opinions/suggestions/critiques/words of caution are welcome.

2

I would ask that the assignment be considered a long term business trip where all direct expenses (transport, housing, pet boarding, car storage, etc.) would be submmitted and paid from an expense report. A corporate credit card for use on these type expenses would be the ideal. I personally prefer a per diem arrangement for routine expenses like meals, tips, etc. That will help cover not only meals eaten a a restaurant, but also groceries for meals eaten in your residence. The current GSA per diem rate for NY, NY is $71 per day. Business meals would be expensed. I would also ask to be flown home one or 2 weekends per month to attend personal business locally. A clothing allowance would be reasonable if the company expects you to dress differently for those 4 months. Increased state taxes is a little tougher, not sure how that would best be handled - a bonus after the trip, maybe?

Sounds like a great opportunity, hope it works out!

3

I know nothing about expense accounts , etc. But it occurs to me that, while you are totalling up the numbers, you might want to consider how much more your expenses will cost your company than if they decide not to offer you the job. Would they be tempted to save money by hiring a temporary person locally?.
It sounds like you have a great opportunity!..is there a danger that you could lose it by making yourself too expensive?

4

Extended stay in Secaucus for a NYC job? No. Hoboken or downtown Jersey City? Yes.

Why would you want to stay in Secaucus? If you stay in Hoboken, you can be in NYC in less than 5 minutes, literally. Same thing with downtown Jersey City. Why stick yourself with a long commute and be stuck in a glorified hotel room with nothing to do except stare at your Mr. Coffee and Route 3?

Pets are allowed in most places in this part of the country, so why board your pets?

Try here: https://www.furnishedhousing.com/county-NJ-Hudson++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.html

Not having clothes for work is kind of odd. I can’t imagine an employer paying for clothes that an adult would be expected to wear to work. Some agencies have unusual dress codes. A friend of mine worked for an agency where only black and white clothes were allowed, and I’m pretty sure they would have been laughed at if they asked their boss to pay for office attire.

People in NYC buy their breakfast at a cart. Personal items don’t cost more here. Duane Reade is fairly cheap. Shipping costs for clothes is strange. I love clothes, but I could get enough clothes for 4 months into two large suitcases. Any new purchases could be sent home via UPS in a box for cheap. The shopping in NYC is insane. It cannot be beat. You are going to go home with more clothes than you came with.

5

That’s why I am kind of hoping they’re not leaving it up to me to find housing, because I don’t know a lot about this city! I will definitely check out the link you provided.

I can definitely bring my bird with me, if I sublet or stay at a place that would allow my sometimes noisy bird. However the 30 gallon aquarium will have to stay put and be cleaned and cared for while I’m gone.

As for the clothing part, I’m In the city now and had my first visit to the agency yesterday. I was definitely overdressed. I could get away with a very small additional clothing/shoes purchase to fill out the wardrobe that I have now. I was a little nervous that I needed to buy all new business clothes, which are not part of my work wardrobe now, but that doesn’t appear to be the case, which is a relief.

I submitted my expense estimate to them and they are definitely taking it all into consideration. They asked for a decision from me by Friday, and I asked for the same from them. We shall see!

They have expressed a specific need for me as compared to an outside temp person because I have basic knowledge of the operational side of things as well as of the companies and the players within. I definitely have a lot to learn about the specifics, but just the basic working knowledge gets me nearly halfway there.

I’m still a little bit on the fence about this opportunity. There are political considerations when I return to Ohio regarding my current job and the possible continuation of this job in Ohio- much of which I may not have control over. I need to have conversations with my own leadership about how things will play out when I return.

6

I hear what you’re saying, but my desire is not to move to this city and live like a monk in order to save a multimillion dollar corporation some money over local help. If they feel that my help is truly needed over a temp, then I would hope they would try to at least help me to feel comfortable and normalized while I’m here. Otherwise, I have no problem with them just going with local help. I don’t want to be miserable in a place that I could otherwise enjoy because I’m forced to go straight home to an unfamiliar apartment every day and eat sandwiches. I think they owe it to me to at least keep me close to the lifestyle that I have where I live now. And I’m not saying pay for all of it, just for the cost-of-living increase. This is a very expensive city, and I don’t want to go broke just to have a great work experience. Maybe if I was 22 without any debt it would be different, but I’m practically an old lady! :wink:

7

The only thing I would have mentioned is that it’s going to be more expensive to feed yourself in a strange hotel room without your kitchen equipment, stock of staples, etc. So you’ll need to eat out and/or eat more expensive TV dinners, etc. more often than you probably would at home. But you can’t ask for money to buy new clothes.

On the other hand, you get to run around New York city for three months! If it was me, I’d plan on severely losing money on the whole deal, just because I was spending money on going to shows, museums, bars, etc.

Finally, there’s the question of whether this is a big career opportunity or not. If you’re realistically looking to move up in the company, and working right in front of the big boss could be helpful in making that happen, then even losing a little money on this might be a very good investment in your career. But if you don’t see any higher-level positions for you with this company, you definitely don’t want to sacrifice for the company’s sake.

8

It can definitely turn into a higher level position IF my home company can get approval to make it into a higher level position that I can drive from Ohio. I would probably not be able to continue to do most of my current job responsibilities if the new workload is what I’ve been told. I’d be really disappointed if I didn’t get local leadership backing to basically create an Ohio-based version of this position. Since this job utilizes resources from my Ohio office, it’s not even like it wouldn’t make sense. I think it just all comes down to who pays my paycheck, because there are still different P&L structures for each of the offices, which matters. And that kind of stuff is way over my head- I just know enough about it to be cautious!

(And p.s. I will definitely lose money on culture/shows/shopping- there’s no doubt about that. I just don’t want to be taken advantage of on the work/living compensation side. They have been just vague enough to raise a red flag in me that they’d give me nothing if I didn’t ask for it)