Job Seeker looking to find job in new city
A job seeker needs to move to a new part of the country for family reasons. Financially, he prefers to find employment before moving. But he is running into an issue where many job postings require the applicant to be living in the area where the job is posted or the application will be rejected. Two questions:
1) How might he get past this hurdle? How should he let a prospective employer know that, while he current does not live in the required city, he plans on moving as soon as he gets employment?
2) What are the main reasons employers put this type of requirement in a job posting?
Thanks in advance for your responses.
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Hi there Dean Waggenspack ! I find that employers want local candidates because it eliminates the relocation conversation as well as the time necessary to fill the position. Perhaps the employer needs to fill it quickly and long distance candidate will take too much time.
The job seeker may want to suggests Skype or another virtual meeting tools to hold interviews and perhaps fly a their own expense for an interview (may be tax deductible). Many employers use virtual meeting tools to conduct preliminary interviews, role play sessions and such.
Is it possible that the stress of the need to find a job prior to relocation is coming out in the tone and demeanor while having preliminary conversations with potential recruiters and employers? I made a similar move a few years back and waited tables to make ends meet until I could find a job in line with my career path. While I'd never done that before, that's how I was able to overcome the financial hurdle and still find a time to interview and continue my job search. Good luck!
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Janelle Rodriguez Janelle, thanks so much for the prompt and thorough response. I had not thought about the time element. I like the Skype idea also. I will pass along your thoughts to him.
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Dean Waggenspack You're most welcome!
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Sometimes the timing for someone to complete a relocation is too long to wait, and/or relocation expenses are not part of the package or needed when there is a qualified local pool of candidates. If I were in his shoes and had family in the area, I would probably use their address on my resume just to ensure the resume was getting a look, you're going to communicate via cell and email anyway. And then be prepared to travel in response to the employer's interview/recruiting schedule.
