I have been looking to relocate to Charlotte, NC area and was contacted today by a company recruiter. Within an hour, the Senior VP and hiring manager also e-mailed me and asked me to contact them. They seem anxious to move the process along and after a 1/2 hour phone interview offered to pay to bring me down for a formal face to face. They know that I am planning on moving already, will this keep them from being willing to negotiate or offer a relocation package? I am relocating a family of 5 and few months of rent and packing and moving things would make or break my decision, do I tell them that?

I have never been in a situation where relocation has been an issue and don't know what to expect or ask for when talking to them. I certainly do not discuss my family during an interview but otherwise they won't understand the actual expense that I am looking at.

Sorry no one has answered your question sooner. I just found this now.

Since the company knows that you were already planning on relocating to NC (how did they find that out?), it is going to become harder to negotiate this point than if they recruited you and asked you to relocate. But, it isn't completely out of the question.

First, you need to have a good rough idea of what the cost will be to you for the move before bringing this up. If you are still negotiating with them, you can put it on the table if they seem to be close to making you an offer or have made you an offer. Tell them that you like the company and that you are very interested in the job (if you are) and you think you will be a good fit in their organization, but your decision to accept an offer from ANY company that you are currently interviewing with, is contingent upon which company is willing to cover your relocation costs which are approximately $________.

You need to give them the impression that you are considering offers from other firms. Talk up how much you like their company and that you would prefer to work for them, but that in the end, the deciding factor is, which company is willing to help with the relocation fees. Tell them that you need to get your family settled as quickly and efficiently as possible so that you can focus your energies on your work for them, which is your primary objective.

Yes, if you told them you were already moving anyway, they may consider you the same as living there. And trying to get them to pay for the move will be much harder, if not almost impossible, since all they have to do is wait long enough and you will be there anyway.

They should have never known this.

But if they want you bad enough, you may get some if is just a matter of asking for what you want, and are you willing to say no to their offer if they don't pay it.

Thank you for responding. They thought I was already moving because the headhunter miscommunicated my comments. I had told her that we were interested in the area and coming down to look around and she told them that I was going to already be in the area living. I almost didn't get the job during negotiations because of the headhunter continuing to miscommunicate the offer, counteroffer, etc. In the end I spoke with the hiring VP directly as he contacted me when I declined the offer. It came out that he was under the same impression that things were being miscommunicated and that was why he asked to speak with me directly. He ended up negotiating everything with me and I got what I wanted in the package and almost what I wanted in relocation. It was a little shy on $ but I opted for the higher salary in lieu of a lump sum payment for relocating.

Glad it worked out. Sounds like a very bad headhunter,