Make Local Connections
Job sites like Monster and CareerBuilder are a good starting point to find out about the local job market and who’s hiring, but they won’t let you find out about the unadvertised positions that are the source of many of the best job leads and opportunities.
To find these, you need to talk to people in the local professional grapevine. Start by asking everyone in your own network if they know anyone in your target city and requesting an introduction, particularly to people who can give you insight into the local job scene. If you’re not already on them, join social-networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to search for past colleagues, college classmates, and other contacts who may now be living in your planned destination or have lived or worked there in the past.On LinkedIn, you can search your connections for city names listed in their profiles, while on both LinkedIn and Facebook, you can join any number of professional groups centered around different cities. Yahoo Groups and Google Groups that are organized around finding jobs in many cities offer similar chances to connect to local residents and fellow job seekers and find out the inside dope.
Finally, find out if any professional associations have local chapters in your target city and if so, reach out to the people there and even try to attend a meeting if possible.
Hot Tip
Let Employers “Try Before They Buy”
If you need to move to a new city without a job because of a spouse’s job offer or other unplanned situation, try signing up for high-level temporary work through the growing number of agencies that specialize in providing contract jobs to professionals.
Flexible Executives, based in Atlanta, for instance, helps corporate executives all over the country find temporary contract positions in fields from investment banking to law for assignments lasting from a few hours to a few months. While many clients are looking to fill a short-term opening or complete a small project, “a certain percentage absolutely lead to full-time jobs,” says founder Jamie Pennington.
Level the Field With Local Candidates
Employers dread wasting time and money interviewing out-of-state candidates, only to see them change their mind about relocating after they get an offer, says ResuMAYDAY’s Milligan.
To allay this unspoken anxiety, you must convince employers that you are serious about moving to their locale. Because you’ll need to research each city where you apply to make your case effectively, it’s best to focus your search on a few key localities to which you truly want to move.Also, while it might not be feasible to jump on a plane tomorrow if a potential employer wants to meet you for an interview, you can offer to do a phone interview right away so a local candidate doesn’t snag the position before you’ve even had a chance to introduce yourself.
Many employers will be especially open to conducting a first interview by phone if the job has a big phone component, says Lynne Sarikas, director of the MBA Career Center at Northeastern University in Boston. “If they can engage me over the phone, they can engage a customer,” she says.
Checklist
Moving Places: How to Show You're Serious
To show you’re serious about moving, include these elements in your applications:
- A line in the first paragraph of your cover letter that gives a clear timeline for your move to a given city. For instance: “Within the next quarter, my family and I are finalizing plans to move from Buffalo to San Diego, which is why this particular position caught my eye.”
- A parenthetical note next to the address in your resume that refers to your planned move. For instance: “(Relocating to Buffalo.)”
- An indication next to any professional memberships on your resume that shows you will transfer them. For example: “Joining the Buffalo chapter in the second quarter.”
Finally, if an employer invites you for an interview and your spouse already has job prospects, mentioning it will help your case. For instance: “My wife is so excited. She’s already lined up three interviews, and it looks like two are going to turn into offers.”
Get the Most Out of Your Travel Budget
In today’s economy, most employers won’t pick up the tab for your initial interviews. So to get more out of each plane ticket, try to book several interviews on each trip, even if you can only talk employers into informational interviews, advises career coach Judi Perkins, owner of Find a Perfect Job in Bethel, Conn. “If you are going to be there, there is a much better likelihood that the companies will be willing to see you,” she says. “A lot of my clients have found jobs this way.”
However, if a potential employer asks you to return for a second interview, it’s reasonable to ask if the company will at least split your travel costs with you. “If the company said no, that would be a small red flag,” says Perkins. “It would tell you that it is not willing to invest in its people.”
Danger! Danger! Danger!
Don't Fudge Your Address
You’ve probably been advised to present yourself as a local candidate by using the address of a friend or family member who lives in your target city — or a local P.O. box — for employment-related correspondence. It’s probably best to ignore it.
It’s never a good idea to start things off with a potential employer on a note of dishonesty, and chances are it’ll come back to haunt you, especially if you get an invitation to come in quickly for an interview. Plus, it could complicate any discussions about getting relocation support if you do end up getting an offer.
Minimize Relocation Costs
While it can’t hurt to ask a company to help with your relocation costs, don’t be surprised if they say no. “In this economy, very few companies are willing to pay for relocation,” says Jaime Klein, president of Inspire Human Resources, a consulting firm in Hoboken, N.J., that helps corporate clients with hiring and other services. Klein says that while it’s still customary for companies to pay moving expenses for hires at the C-level, anyone below that is going to have a hard time convincing companies to loosen the purse strings.
If a company does offer to pay some of your moving expenses, you may have to sign an employment contract in exchange that specifies you’ll have to return any relocation support you received if the job doesn’t work out, says ResuMAYDAY’s Milligan. If that happens, try to include terms that say that if you are let go for any reason other than poor performance or illegal activity, the company will continue to pay your salary for several months. After all, in a worst-case scenario, if you get downsized by a new employer for whom you’ve relocated, you want to have at least some kind of a financial cushion.
