Are You Struggling With How to Get a Job in a New City? Give These Handy Tips a Try

Posted How-to / September 27, 2020
Blake Shaw

Bostonian and residential moving and packing expert. Blake Shaw enjoys bar-hopping, music, and writing insightful content.

Moving long distance is an exciting experience and decision that invites plenty of opportunities for your growth and development. When you decide to relocate, you’ll probably have many questions, such as How to get a job in a new city?, or What is the first thing to do when moving to a new city?

Every cross country relocation is difficult because it requires adjusting processes due to different surroundings and lifestyle. In order to prevent moving stress and make your relocation easier, we’ve compiled a list of tips on how to find a job in a new city. So, before you throw a moving away party, and create a moving to-do list, find out useful words of advice related to your fresh start in another location.

How Do I Get a Job Before Moving to a New City? Consider These Preliminary Steps

Seeking work from afar is demanding and requires your patience and everyday commitment. Yet, real challenges begin after receiving a mail or call for the interview in another place or even state. Wondering how to find a job in a new city and aligning with a long-distance move makes the whole situation more complicated, but exciting at the same time. You actually need to think about how to get a job in another state before moving there, which might sound crazy and undoable. Still, if following useful tips for moving out of state, like networking with the right people, you’ll realize that this once-in-a-lifetime experience can turn your dreams into reality. You just need to identify the right opportunities, choose the most suitable locations, make your resume sparkling, and be brilliant during the interview.

LOCAL & LONG DISTANCE MOVERS GET A QUOTE

Identify the Right Location

Cross country relocation can help you in your personal and professional life. When moving from small to a big city, you can expect a higher salary and faster career advancement. Also, unfamiliar surroundings with beautiful scenery will affect your mental health positively. But, to achieve the equilibrium of professional and private life, it’s worth researching plenty of options that are available to you before you move out for the first time. Depending on your educational background and skills, you should consider some places as leaders for certain industry branches:

  • Silicon Valley for IT
  • Midwest for manufacturing
  • Washington, D.C. for politics and government
  • New York City for financial services
  • Boston for education services
  • Detroit for automobile manufacturing

What to Expect When Getting a Job in a New City

If you are driven by personal reasons to make a geographical leap, you can rest assured this move will bring you plenty of benefits:

  • A fresh start somewhere far away
  • Be closer to significant other if you’re moving for love
  • Get a lower cost of living
  • Live in a milder climate all-year-round

However, it usually happens that some factors take precedence over others, and you need to decide which one should be relevant for your future. To determine that, consider giving the answers to these questions:

  • How do you move to a new city with no money or a job?
  • How can you get new employment immediately?
  • What pace of life are you looking for?
  • Do you know anyone in the area?
  • What sorts of amenities are important to you?
  • What kind of weather do you prefer the most?

Include a Potential Arrival Date in Your Resume and Cover Letter to Inform Your Prospective Employer

Put yourself in your employer’s shoes. You’ll realize that your out-of-town candidate position is not favorable due to the added costs and logistical challenges related to the interviewing process. Your current address might be seen as a possible barrier, so remove it. If you’re thinking about how to change your address, there’s no need for anxiety-producing situations. Replace your address with the planned month and year you are going to relocate and everything will be clear and straightforward.

When Wondering How to Get a Job in a New City, Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute

Don’t wait the last week before cross country relocation to search for proper work opportunities. This might not be the best solution unless you are wealthy enough to live carefree for the next few months thanks to your nest egg. As soon as the idea of new employment in another place pops into your mind, you should start looking for work. This way, you’ll have enough time to collect information about the job markets and what do you need to rent an apartment. Consider hiring cross country movers (just beware of moving scams) to help you in moving and packing services so that you can fully dedicate yourself to this process.

Use the Advantages of LinkedIn Groups

Known as the most famous business and employment-oriented business service, LinkedIn is mainly used for professional networking. Even more, LinkedIn Groups allows you to connect with the professionals with the same interests as you. Also, it’s super easy to find the right people in the wanted area. Make use of its advantages and be active once you’ve joined a group. Search for the companies that are your focus area, and don’t hesitate to chat and introduce yourself.

Find Several Companies You Want to Work for and Create a Plan to Get Noticed

Once you’ve done your research about the prospective location and identified specific employers, be proactive, and don’t be afraid to reach out directly to companies’ recruiters and staff. You can introduce yourself virtually, arrange meetings, and explain what you can bring to them. Be honest and passionate about your potential collaboration, and this might lead to an in-person meeting.

Finding a Job in a New City Might Take Longer Than You Initially Think

When wondering how to find a job in another city, you’d probably want to know how long it takes to find employment. There’s no universal answer to this question since it depends on experience, demand, and luck. Still, some several ways and factors influence the length of finding work:

  • Check the unemployment rate in your field – this can help determine the demand for your skillset
  • Location
  • Economic conditions
  • Experience
  • Flexibility
  • Job search methods
  • Professional network

Since you’re relocating to another place, it’s up to you to decide whether you’ll search for work before you get there or after arriving. Each decision has its advantages and drawbacks. Being far away will cause problems with interviews. If you start searching for employment as soon as you arrive, you’ll have a better insight into the surroundings and be able to meet your prospective boss in person. This situation, however, requires you to have enough financial resources to push through until your first salary, so that you don’t end up wondering Should I move back home?

If you are looking for the best way to get employment in another place and are unsure how to achieve that, watch the video below:

YouTube video

What Is the Fastest Way to Get a Job in a New City

If you’re looking to go through with your relocation soon, you may wonder if there’s anything that can be done in order to speed up a lengthy process. Luckily, we have some handy tips you can use and get employed faster.

Find Temporary or Casual Jobs

Don’t get into the trap that many job seekers do – looking for the right jobs for weeks and even months. Working for nonprofit organizations was a good choice during your student days. Now, you should think about your career growth. Otherwise, this will leave gaps in your work history section and might be crucial in not getting the job you want. So, don’t be afraid of casual positions – they will provide you with money and the possibility of making friends in a new city. Once you are a bit more settled, you can focus on more permanent jobs with a higher salary.

Networking Can Be Helpful

Sometimes, employment opportunities happen in unusual places. In addition to connecting with professionals, companies, and industries related to your interests, be open to communicating over email or social media platforms. Different ways of networking will make your presence known.

Read the Local Business Paper and Companies’ Websites

When looking for a starting point in your career, it’s important to find out who the major employers are. There’s no better way to determine this than by reading the local business newspapers. Once you’ve identified the most desirable employers to start working with, you should do your homework. By visiting their websites and social media profiles, you can learn a lot about their work culture, goals, and expectations from future workers.

Local Address – Yes or No?

As we already mentioned, leaving your current address in your resume and cover letter might be a barrier to get your dream employment. Also, you can get into trouble if using your friend’s address as your own. The best solution is to explain your reasons and desire to move, or simply mention friends and family you already have in the city. Your employer should have a clear picture that you’re planning to relocate and that it’s going to happen very soon.

Be Available for Interviews

If you can’t reconcile your private obligations with scheduled interviews, you may not be considered for the work position. Keep in mind that an interview invitation is your chance to present yourself and your best skills with confidence. So, try to be there as soon as possible, even though that means paying your own travel expenses.

Before You Travel for an Interview, Check Out if Any Social Events Are Being Held in That Period

Consider doing something pleasant and useful at the same time, if circumstances are favorable. So, before planning all interview-related details, check if there are any social events planned during your visit. This way, you can kill two birds with one stone. You can do some networking and get new connections and precious experience without extra effort and money. You can also inform other prospective employers about your travels so that they can organize themselves and maybe arrange a meeting with you.

Find Out Whether Relocation Package Is Feasible

When it comes to relocating for work in bigger companies, you may be offered an employer relocation package. It can be a handy offer to cover all your moving expenses. Furthermore, don’t be surprised if you get some extra cash for a housing deposit, or to help you get out of a lease. So, if you’re wondering how to get a job in another city in terms of the cheapest way to move out of state, this might be your best bet. Whether you’ll get this beneficial relocation package depends on the company and the work position you’re hired for.

    Get a Free Estimate (877) 266-8997