With the summer finally here, you may be planning a fun vacation. That vacation to visit a far away, relaxing location can leave you dreaming of moving to a new place. The farther along you are in your career, the trickier moving can feel. At times, it’s hard to know where to even begin.
If you’re part of a unique profession where companies struggle to find candidates, you’re one of the lucky ones. Headhunters and company recruiters will seek you out. Companies will court you and offer to pay to move you and your entire family to their headquarters.
But, if you are not one of this select group, you may be struggling to figure out how to make a move. Organizations often want to recruit local talent first. And, it makes sense. Someone local doesn’t require relocation. They can often start sooner, and the recruiter can get references from other employers in the city about their work.
What can you do? First, don’t just apply online. I harp on this topic, but applying through the company website only will rarely land a job offer. This is especially true if that job is in another city.
Instead, consider this approach. Plan a trip to your target city. The trip could last anywhere from a few days to a week, but be sure to go on weekdays, when business offices are open. Stay away from big holiday weekends when employees are out of town.
Before you go, reach out to as many people as possible to setup meetings. Start with your existing network, including friends, family, and former colleagues. Then, contact local recruiters in your target city. Last, reach out to potential hiring managers are companies you’re interested in. You can find these people through websites like LinkedIn. When you reach out, mention that you will be in town only for a short time, but that you’d love the opportunity to take the person to coffee or lunch while you’re visiting.
Break each day into three parts: morning, midday, and evening. Try to schedule a coffee meeting in the morning and a lunch meeting midday for each day you visit. In the evenings, look for networking events to attend.
A great place to look for networking events is Meetup.com. You can search the website by the type of event you’re looking for in a particular location. You can also search the local Chamber of Commerce website, and other professional organizations that you may already be a member of.
For every meeting and event you attend, be sure to bring extra business cards and resumes. You never know when you might meet someone who’s looking to hire you. And, bring at least one suit, just in case you land an interview while you’re there.
This approach is much more in depth than applying online, however it is also much more effective. By meeting you in person, you become more than just a resume and you show potential employers that you’re serious about your move.
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com or on Twitter at @CopelandCoach.
The thought of moving to a new city can be one of the most energizing and most scary thoughts. Especially once you’ve settled down in a place for a few years, how do you pick a new city? How do you decide where to go? And furthermore, how do you get there?
Here are a few tips on choosing and successfully moving to a new city:
Start with a broad list of cities that seem interesting. Write the cities down that you come up with.
Create a list of things that are important to you. When you pick a new city to move to, it’s often based on lifestyle choices. Your list might include things like the quality of the public schools, the cost of living, the crime rate, and more. Decide what’s the most important to you and look up the stats for each city. You can find these things on the Census Bureau website, or on local government sites.
Narrow your list of cities and start visiting them. Nothing can help you to decide where to move, and where NOT to move than by visiting the cities on your list. But, don’t make the mistake of being a tourist. Stay at a place you find on AirBnB.com, so you’ll live with the locals. Go to local events that you would attend if you were back home. Try things like networking events, yoga classes, dance lessons, or cooking classes.
Once you have decided on a target city, research the companies there. Create a list of the companies you want to target.
Now that you have your target list of companies, go again. But, this time, setup networking meetings with local hiring managers. Even if you don’t know them personally, reach out on LinkedIn. Explain that you’ll only be in town for a week, but that you’d love to take them out for a coffee to learn more about their business. Not everyone will respond, but those who do have the potential to turn into real connections.
Moving can be tough. Above all, don’t apply online and expect for things to just work out. If you’re not local, you’re not known. Companies prefer to hire local candidates if they can. They can find them through their existing network, they don’t have to pay relocation, and the candidate can start working sooner.
And, speaking of relocation — Decide how important paid relocation is to you. If you don’t want relocation costs to make or break an offer, start saving now. Get a quote from a local moving company so that you’ll have an idea of what to expect.
Going in person can set you apart from other candidates. It can make you more than just a resume. It can sometimes be just enough to get the hiring manager to hire you before they hire someone else.
And, one last note: If it’s your dream to move abroad, learn the rules. Different countries are easier or harder to immigrate to. They may have rules about the kind of work you can do, the age you must be, etc. From my experience, it seems to be easier to relocate from the U.S. to Australia than to Europe, for example — but, only if you are under a certain age.
Bottom line: Do your homework and take the extra steps you need to in order to turn your moving dream into a reality.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
I have exciting news to share today! Career advice website Careerealism.com has shared a guest post I wrote today.
The article, “5 Tips for Transitioning to a New City” gives advice on how to tackle the unusual task of relocating to a new city mid-career.
It can happen to anyone. You’ve been living and working in one city for years. Things were going along fine until you decided you wanted to move to a new city. You might be looking for different career opportunities. Or, maybe you want to live close to a mountain so you can ski. Your parents may be getting older and you may want to be within driving distance of them in case of emergencies.
Whatever your reason, the challenge is the same. Relocating to another city mid-career can present unique obstacles, especially if you’ve never lived there before. In large cities, there may be enough local talent to fill existing jobs. In small cities, companies may not have the budget to relocate external candidates, so they may overlook you.
I hope you had a beautiful weekend. With the weather starting to warm up, many people are beginning to consider their next big move. But, for some, their only relocation experience as an adult came when they moved away to college, or for their first job.The idea of relocating can be daunting for many, as they aren’t sure where to begin. An Oklahoma native, I remember my grandmother visiting me in Los Angeles after I moved there for graduate school. “How did you ever even think to think of this?” she asked.
Since leaving Oklahoma, I’ve relocated to 5 different states: New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and California. Not once did I ever know a single person in any of the places I moved to. All of this relocating helped me to develop best practices for how to relocate successfully.
1. Don’t move without a job. Unless you have no other option, don’t move to a new city where you have no contacts without a job in place. You’ll lose your current network, and increase the likelihood you’ll be forced to take a job that’s beneath your skill level. Moving without a job is one of the one of the worst pieces of advice I hear family members and friends giving out freely. Consider the source, and don’t do it. I’ve never received this advice from anyone who has moved to a new city without a job.
2. Look for existing connections. Often, we forget when friends or colleagues relocate to other cities — or we miss it altogether. They may have moved away years ago. Check LinkedIn and Facebook for existing connections you have in your new city. Reach out to them, and let them know you’re trying to move. They can often help to plug you in.
3. Start growing your network. Reach out to new people in your new city. An easy place to start is with headhunters. Then, check the local chapters of national organizations you’re associated with in your current city. E-mail their president and other officers to open up new connections.
4. Plan a trip. Visiting your new city will help solidify next steps, and will show how serious you are to your network and potential employers. It will also give you an idea of where you want to live and work, and how much money you’ll need to maintain your current standard of living.
5. Schedule meetings. Before you travel, set up appointments with recruiters and networking contacts. Ideally, schedule 2-4 meetings per day you’re there. It can be tiring, but it’s worth the investment of your time. It’s much easier to connect in person than from thousands of miles away.
6. Attend networking events. Rather than spending your evenings as a tourist (which would be a great idea if you weren’t trying to permanently move there), look up local networking events. Check sites like Meetup.com and EventBrite.com to get the scoop on your new city. When you attend events, take the time to meet new people and exchange business cards. This step may feel scary, but you can do it. Attending an event alone is an excellent way to meet new people.
7. Follow up. When you return home, take the time to follow up with your connections – new and old. Reminding your new network of who you are, and what you’re looking for. Attach your resume, so they can easily forward it on to others.
Whatever you do, understand that a successful move is a process that takes time. This is especially true if you want to relocate to a popular city with a more competitive job market. Following these steps will not only ensure you land a job in your new city, but it will also create a network of contacts who’ll be there to greet you when you arrive.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search.
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