Maverick (Mav) is a Public Relations Representative I at a small family-run company in Alabama, with annual revenue of $10 million, with an average profit margin of $5 million or 50%.  Mav earned a job offer upon completing his internship at the same company.  Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, Mav did not want to attend a college or university near home like many of his high school friends were preparing for.  Mav felt like he wanted the challenge of meeting new friends and adapting to life outside of Chicago.  The decision to leave his friends and family was emboldened since Mav was one of the Top High School Football recruits at the receiver position.  He had full ride football scholarship offers to attend several of the top colleges in the United States including Ohio State, University of Michigan, Clemson University, The University of Oklahoma and The University of Alabama.  Again, Mav could have easily stayed in his home state of Illinois and attended Northwestern University or the University of Illinois.  By Mav treating his studies in high school seriously unlike some of his classmates, Mav knew that making the National Football League (NFL) was not automatic and that someday using his intellectual ability would be just as important as his athletic ability to earn a living for him and his future family. 

Coming off of another NCAA Division I National Championship, The University of Alabama did not have to do much in the way of recruiting or selling their football program AND their success in job placement upon graduation to potential students and student athletes.  Through much research and consideration, Mav felt blessed and honored to be considered by so many great colleges and universities to continue his athletic and academic career.  In the end, Mav ended up choosing The University of Alabama for the next chapter of his life.  Mav had a great 4 years with The University of Alabama, who also enjoyed continued success and their winning tradition on the gridiron with securing NCAA Division I National Championships in 3 of Mav’s 4 years.  The crescendo coming for Mav during the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship game during the 3rd quarter of his senior year.  It started with Mav catching a 20-yard pass on a slant route from his quarterback, securing the football and turning up field with nothing but green grass between him and his 2nd touchdown of the game.  However, unfortunately after Mav crossed the plain of the goal line, indeed scoring his second touchdown of the game, Mav heard a loud pop coming from his left leg, and collapsed to the turf of the end zone in excruciating pain.  He couldn’t help but think of all his past and present teammates that heard that sound, which ultimately sounded the end of their playing days due to the severity of the injury.  So inevitably Mav couldn’t help but think that this injury would end his playing days at The University of Alabama and seriously jeopardize his chances to showcase his athletic abilities at the NFL Combine and subsequent draft.  As intuition would have it, Mav was correct in his future vision and being heartbroken couldn’t even begin to describe how he was feeling on the inside as he lay in the end zone being attended to by the on-site medical staff.  Mav was hurting not only on the outside physically but inside as well.  Luckily Mav’s earlier intuition during the selection of his what college/university he would attend was not only based on what he could do on the football field, but also in the classroom. The decision of which college/university to attend came full circle because now it was going to be Mav’s academic record that was going to heavily influence his future career success, which now had eliminated playing NFL football from the equation. 

Mav graduated from The University of Alabama with a 3.67 grade point average and with a wealth of leadership experience gained as one of the captains of his football team along with leading group class projects regardless of whether the project was small based on a Case Study in the course textbook or a large project that concluded with giving a local business fact based suggestions for near term and long term success in a composed professional like presentation.  The past 5 years has encompassed Mav now having gained valuable real-world experience at Company A, an institution that is world known as being quite a bit responsible for the United States of America landing on the moon.  Company A is and has been a great company both for the country and for their workforce.  However, it is at this point that Mav didn’t think he was moving up the corporate ladder fast enough, especially since 3 of his colleagues, colleagues that were brought in to Company A at the same time as Mav, had each been promoted.  Mav was at a crossroad, but wanted to be proactive in his career and so he started looking for job opportunities outside of Company A.  About a month after Mav began researching & applying to outside job opportunities, he was contacted by a company, Company B with their World headquarters near Chicago, Mav’s hometown, to interview for the Public Relations Manager position he had applied to.  On the Friday following the first communication with the Company B, Mav found himself taking a flight from Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Chicago, Illinois for an on-site in person interview.  The interview came and went without a hitch, since Mav had read The House of You:  5 Workforce Preparation Tips for a Successful Career.  He even felt as though he had even aced the interview, a feeling that Mav never felt before.  Upon landing in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Mav returned to prepare for another day of work with Company A the next day. Not even a week had passed since the on-site interview with the Chicago based firm and Mav’s cell phone started to ring just as he stepped into the employee cafeteria for lunch; It was the Human Resources Manager at Company B, and she wanted to extend Mav a verbal offer, contingent on background check, reference check, work history check and drug test, for the Public Relations Manager position he interviewed for. 

Answer the Following Questions About the Case:

1.      Should Mav stay at Company A out, or should he leave Company A and move cross-country to begin working at Company B, which is also closer to his hometown?

2.      Do you have all of the information you need to make a fact-based decision about the case?  If not, what information or data would be helpful in guiding your decision one way or another on what Mav should do?

Additional Information about the Case:

Mav is currently making a base salary gross (before any taxes or any voluntary deductions, such as health insurance, 401 (k), etc.)) of $60,00 with Company A, paid to him on a bi-weekly basis (every 2 weeks), with a 10% annual variable bonus, 3 weeks of paid time off per calendar year, a 401 (k) match by Company A of 100% for the first 6% payroll deducted by Mav, with a commute time of 5 minutes each way and a girlfriend he has been seeing steadily for 3 years, whose hometown is Tuscaloosa, Alabama and has no intention of leaving the area.

Mav is being offered by Company B a base salary gross (before any taxes or any voluntary deductions, such as health insurance, 401 (k), etc.)) of $75,00, also paid to him on a bi-weekly basis (every 2 weeks), with a 5% annual variable bonus, 2 weeks of paid time off per calendar year, a 401 (k) match by Company A of 100% for the first 2% payroll deducted by Mav, with a commute time of 30 minutes each way by train. Mav would now have to start a long-distance relationship with his girlfriend of 3 years that is if she wants to continue the relationship.

For the next questions below, include the additional information above to help guide your decision making:

1.      If Mav chooses Company B, what would his breakeven net income need to be by month and for a full 12 months if his rent would be $1,100/month, cell phone of $85/month, renter’s insurance of $300/year, groceries of $200/month, health insurance of $120/month, 401 (k) contributions of 15%, water bill of $15/month, electricity bill of $100/ month, miscellaneous of $150/month?

2.      Would you stay in Tuscaloosa and at Company A even if you were unhappy if you were in a relationship with your significant other for 3 years and they didn’t want to move with you or be in a long-distance relationship?

3.      If the expenses in question #1 above were half if Mav stayed at Company A, do you think that would make a difference?

Why or why not?

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