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How to Job Search When You're Moving

Published: Feb 24, 2017

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There are lots of reasons that people decide to move to a new city, state, or even country. Often, they relocate to change jobs, but sometimes there are personal reasons for moving, like to be closer with family, or because their partner has a job opportunity. When this happens, it often means that a remote job search is necessary. Few people have the luxury of spending countless months in a new place without work, so it’s important to start a job search as soon as possible. However, procuring a job in a different area than the one you currently reside has many challenges. Here are the steps of the process and how to tackle each one strategically.

Finding Opportunities

Finding jobs remotely doesn’t have to be difficult. There are two broad approaches to finding job opportunities, and you should use both. The first is hunting for posted positions. This involves searching job sites in the region you’re moving into, much like you would if you were searching for a job locally. But you should also research the top employers in the location you’re moving to and see if they have job postings listed on their own websites. While you’re doing this research, take stock of the local employment landscape and think about how you can fill gaps that exist.

The second approach is luring recruiters to you. You can do this by updating your LinkedIn profile to indicate that you’re searching for work in a specific location. Check out these tips about using LinkedIn to build your personal brand. You should also check out other networking websites and build profiles if you believe that recruiters and hiring managers in your field utilize them.

Find local recruiters on networking sites and see what they’re looking for. Many experts believe that the future of recruiting lies in personalized, intuitive approaches. So if you can tailor your communications with recruiters and hiring managers to highlight your unique skills and background, you can stand out from the crowd and make them feel that you are a progressive, future-proof hiring choice.

Submitting Applications

Most applications these days are online, so the actual initial process won’t be very different than applying for a local job. But in your cover letter, you should make it clear that you are moving to the area and what your availability for interviews is. Talk about what is bringing you to this city and your outlook of how you can bring a new perspective to this job opening. If you have trips planned to your new city of residence, share those dates as potential interview options. Also make clear that you are available for calls and video conferences, or whatever communication they prefer. If you’re moving to a foreign country, make sure your cell phone plan includes wifi calling so that you can avoid roaming charges.

If you feel like a follow up could be successful, be sure to check out the company’s hiring managers on LinkedIn and other networking sites. These profiles can give you hints about the best ways to contact them and their usual wait-time for responses.

Interviewing

If at all possible, try to be available for in-person interviews. This isn’t always possible during the moving process, so if you can’t, offer several alternatives. If you’re utilizing video-conferencing, make sure to test the program the company suggests and make sure everything runs smoothly on your end before the interview. Make sure that time zones are clear when scheduling remote interviews. Always reference the business’s time zone and make sure you adjust your calendar accordingly.

Since you are new to this area, your interview will likely include questions about your relocation and how your outside perspective can be useful. Be ready to answer this line of questioning. Show that you’ve done your research both on the company and on the industry in the area. This will show that you’re not only applying for this job for a relocation, but that you’ve done your research and you truly think this company is a good fit.

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