Finding a job in another State
I'm interested in moving 1800 miles from Northern California to Austin, TX. Not interesting in responces to this asking WHY, but would like tips on trying to find a job in a different state.
I couldn' t find a job in my home state of California (S. California) so I had no choice but to look outside the state of California. The cost of living in California was too much so I looked to Las Vegas, Nevada because it is a growing town. I am very familiar with the Metro Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Summerlin and Red Rock areas so I focused my job in or around the city fo Las Vegas. To help me in finding companies looking for employees, I went online to the Las Vegas Review Journal and scoured their classified ads. Next I researched what jobs were hot in Las Vegas. I also checked local chambers of commerce to see what the growth was like in various suburbs. I wanted to reside in a community at least 20 miles from the Strip. I then send resumes to the companies I wanted to work for who had offices in Las Vegas. This amounted to about 100 companies. Of those maybe 20 replied and offered me an interview. Of this 20 only about 2-4 were very serious. You can actually tell those companies who are interested in candidates from other states. When you look on the job boards (monster, Careerbuilders, HotJobs from Yahoo, etc) their is a little box that indicates the companies desire to cover relocation. Those companies that will state they will cover relocation expenses are probably the most viable for you. Those companies that state N/A or No should probably be last on your list. (Don't rule them out, though) Companies that are marked as unspecified may only cover the expenses for the right individual and should probably be kept near the top of your list.
Try doing a job search on OPM.gov, looking for federal positions in Texas--a good plus about getting a job with the federal government is that sometimes they pay relocation costs, so your move would end up being free. The federal government is huge, as I am sure you know so sometimes it is hard to know where to look or what to do.
If you belong to a professional organization, start with them. Most state and local gov't jobs will limit applicants to residents, unless they have hard to fill positions. Find the website for the Austin daily paper, & surrounding region, so that you are conversant in the local politics & policies. Any business journal from that area...perhaps you can get mailed to you weekly? Make it your vacation destination, if you can afford to vacation. Whether you do a "long weekend" kind of a trip or can float a week or 10 days, and visit those areas in the neighborhoods where you want to work. hang out at the local starbucks or equivalent.....strike up conversations.... | |
|
Career Tips
|