Accept Job When I Think/Know I'll Leave within 6 Months?

God, the universe work in funny ways. I've been in my current job for a couple of years and have been looking to get out basically since I started. The job was never as engineering-oriented as I wanted it to be, but my manager was really nice and I grew comfortable, so that slowed my exit a lot. I also went through an evolution in my job search, from certificate gathering to blind Leetcode grinding to job hunting over those 2 years that made me a better job-seeker.

And then finally, this week, fortune smiled on me: I got not one, but two job offers that pay decently (both comfortably above my current role) and where I would develop much more valuable skills as a Software/Data Engineer.

One is at a large financial data vendor (think Bloomberg) with 10K employees. The other is at a boutique data science and analytics consulting firm that only has 10-15 people. The latter offered actually a little more money, but not significantly more. The title at both is "Senior Software Engineer", which is good, because even though I'm actually a Data Engineer in both places, I know I'll be an Engineering-oriented one rather than an Analytics-oriented one.

But here's the twist: I'm pretty sure I want to move to Asia now. The reason for the move is personal: I have a lot of family and friends there and it's been something I've wanted to try for a long time.

So here's my dilemma: do I stay or do I go? If I don't end up leaving, then switching companies is obviously the right move. However, this is unlikely. I'm pretty sure I want to go. I cite this because making the move to a different country is a process that will take me 4-6 months, and stuff can always happen that might change my mind. Again, not likely, but needs to be said.

The more interesting and likely scenario is where I do go ahead and move in 4-6 months time. Do I accept a new job then? I think the straightforward answer is no and that's for 2 reasons: 1) it can look bad/odd on my resume if I list working at a company for 4 - 6 months prior to moving; 2) starting at a new job is usually stressful and there's a lot to learn. Moving, especially to a new country/continent, is also stressful, so why add to my stress? My current job is comfortable, so it won't stress me.

However, changing jobs also has a compelling reason which is I will learn more at my new job (whichever it is). Probably a lot more. I feel like I've stagnated at my current job and haven't learned the best and latest tools in the DE space: Spark, Airflow, Docker, Cloud. Changing jobs will give me that exposure, and 4-6 months is not nothing! Heck, university co-op terms are only 4 months! Plus, if go to the consultancy, I might get assigned a project that is only 4 months (or fewer), so I might be able to add value before the move. So the "odd-look" on my resume could be totally offset by the learning/growing I do and the tools /projects I'm able to add to my resume as a result.

To answer the question of whether I can take my job with me, I'm pretty skeptical, particularly for the big vendor. They want me in the office 3 days/wk, and on top of that, I will have been there max 6 months by the time I go. Not prime time to ask to relocate. Plus, I'm pretty sure the role is tied to my current location, so it's almost certainly a no. The consultancy has greater chances, but even there, not sure they'll want someone to continue working for them who can never come in and who's in a different timezone.

So that's a wrap! I think I gave a lot of context, but happy to provide more if needed!

Thanks :)