Web sight: An online guide to relocation

Whether relocating employees is a part of your job description, or you are overseeing a relocation assignment for the first time, the sites below should provide information of interest.

Relocation portal
www.directmoving.com/us/home.htm

The presentation of this site is pretty slick and it may take a while to download. Loads of “Smart Tools” are available, including electrical and TV standards, embassies and consulates, as well as a tool to figure out the public holidays in the country to which you are travelling. Under “recommended sites” comes a bevy of links to sites for everything from hotels to kindergarten classes.

Going global
www.myrriworld.com/rriworld/whitepapers.asp

Relocation Resources International is one of the largest relocation service firms in the world. Much of the site touts RRI’s services, however, down near the bottom of the home page, you’ll find a series of informative articles in PDF format (Adobe). Articles include “Making your relocation policy your strongest recruiting tool” and “Going Global” a checklist for managing relocation for company and employee. There is also information about repatriation, a subject ignored at most sites.

A “moving workers” checklist for HR
www.grasmick.com/hrcheck.htm

Joseph Grasmick is a lawyer who practices in the area of immigration. His site offers detailed checklists for a HR practitioner to consider when relocating employees. While the site has a focus towards relocating Canadian employees to the U.S., some of the checklists offer a conceptual framework for any international transfer.

Tips and tools for international moves
www.monstermoving.com/International

From the people who brought us the Monster Board comes Monstermoving.com. The international site offers some basic information about the moving “essentials.” Topics include family issues, paperwork and visas, health care, housing and schooling. Trying to cover all the bases, there is even advice for pet owners. Also offered are more detailed information databases for a selection of countries. There are “security alerts” which highlight safety concerns of a particular location and calculators for time zones and currency, as well as a language translator.

Do-it-yourself
www.uhaul.com

For the do-it-yourself movers, U-Haul is an obvious place to start. This site doesn’t offer a lot of advice. Rather, the focus is on detailing the products and services available. However, there is an interesting “Pictorial Tribute to North America” and message boards for people to post questions about their move.

Relocation links
www.workindex.com

At the bottom of the workindex.com home page are a number of links to broad categories including relocation. There are dozens of links about relocation services.

Where are you?
www.mapquest.com

If you don’t already have mapquest.com bookmarked, do it now. Mapquest offers street maps for most areas. In addition the site offers a direction finder, which will layout the roads and exits for your trip.

Joe Nunes is an actuary and president of Actuarial Solutions Inc. in Oakville, Ont. He can be reached at (905) 257-2038 or [email protected]

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