Looking To Relocate? 5 Effective Strategies For Pursuing Work In A Different City

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Are you looking for a job in another city?

When it comes to hiring, time is of the essence, and employers may prefer to focus on finding local talent so that they don't have to deal with the time and cost associated with interviewing, hiring, and relocating out-of-town candidates.

If you'd like to continue your career in another city, here are 5 strategies you can use to accelerate your search and increase your chances of snagging the job of your dreams.

1. Localize your resume. One of the very first things an employer does when looking through resumes in their applicant tracking system is filter the results by geography  in order to zero in on candidates who already live in the area (in the United States, this is usually done by Zip codes). If you're targeting a move to, say, Chicago, ask a relative who lives there if you can use their address on your resume; alternatively, you can rent a local mailbox from the UPS Store or another mailbox service provider. Also, secure a phone number with your target city's area code by using a free service such as Google Voice, which will route calls to your cell phone.
    
2. Localize your LinkedIn. If feasible, change your address in LinkedIn as well. Recruiters comb the system to find talent. This way you'll increase your chances of appearing in their searches.
    
3. Schedule a visit. If you have the time to do so, plan a trip to target destination with the goal of securing interviews. If employers have reached out to you and have demonstrated hesitancy to schedule an interview because you're not local, reach out to then and let them know you'll be in town and would love to meet them. Be proactive – identify recruiters and hiring managers at your target companies (LinkedIn is a great tool for this), introduce yourself, and (graciously) request a meeting for during your trip.
    
4. If applying internationally, spell out your work authorization status. If you're a Greek citizen applying to a job in Spain, your European Union work authorization enables you to work there without restriction. Spell this out in your resume and cover letter. Consider doing the same if you're following a family member to another country and will be able get work authorization due to their work status and local law.
    
5. Tell potential employers you're already planning to move. Have you set a move date? Do you have a place to stay? Make this known, and you'll quickly alleviate concerns about  timing and cost.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Is It Really The Job Of Your Dreams? How To Conduct A Reference Check On A Potential Employer

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Prior to extending a job offer, an employer will usually do due diligence on you – background checks, drug tests, and reference checks, among other things – so that they know who they're hiring.

Likewise, you should do due diligence on a potential employer before accepting any position. And with the substantial volume of information readily accessible both online and through your network, there's really no excuse for accepting a job at a nightmare employer without having done your homework first.

Here's five resources you can use to conduct a reference check on a potential employer.

Resource: Glassdoor
What Is It: It's a job board, but it's also a forum where job applicants and employees can post and rate their interview and work experiences with an employer.
Pros: Transparency. There's a huge number of reviews (and growing), particularly about larger companies. Taken in aggregate, you'll get a general picture of the work environment.
Cons: People who have had bad experiences are more likely to post their reviews than people who have had positive or neutral experiences, so the results may skew negatively. The reviews are anonymous, so they're also unverifiable. Large companies can have different sub-cultures across the organization, so the feedback may not be wholly representative. Smaller companies may have few or no reviews.

Resource: "Best Employer" Lists
What Is It: National publications, such as Forbes, as well as regional or local magazines or websites, publish annual employer rankings based upon a variety of criteria, such as the benefits, work environment, diversity, employee engagement, and several other quality of life factors.
Pros: Companies who make the list care deeply about doing so because it helps their employer brand, which in turn supports recruitment and retention. And it's not easy to get on these lists – the selection process typically includes extensive questionnaires, metrics analyses, employee engagement surveys, and audits.
Cons: Companies self-nominate, meaning the pool of potential "Best Employers" consists of firms who are committed to doing the work to get on them; in fact, several employers have departments dedicated to making these lists. Conversely, there are many great employers who don't apply and will therefore not appear on any such list.

Resource: Staffing Firm Recruiter
What Is It: These individuals, also known as headhunters, are hired by companies to find talent for their difficult-to-fill job openings.
Pros: Experienced recruiters know which are great employers and which are revolving doors for talent. Either they've worked on making placements for them, or they know someone who has. And the candidates they speak with provide the inside skinny about their current employers. Bad companies are the ones that tend to be their most fertile for recruiting talent out.
Cons: A recruiter's perspective is going to be tinted by their relationship with that employer. In other words, if the recruiter is works consistently with a company to place talent there, they may be less forthcoming about the negative aspects of working there since the company is paying their tab.

Resource: The News
What Is It: You can search for news about employers on online aggregators, such as Google News or Bing News, or by checking the websites of newspapers, magazines, and television stations.
Pros: If there's information out there to be had, you'll find it.
Cons: Companies don't usually get news coverage unless there's something newsworthy. You'll also need to evaluate the impact of the information; companies usually make the news for really, really good things or for really, really bad things.

Resource: Current or Former Employee of the Company
What Is It: A person who works or has worked there.
Pros: Nobody knows a company better than an employee. He or she will know the politics, pitfalls, and rewards. Ask around, if you don't know anyone personally, chances are someone can help you make a connection to a person who did.
Cons: You'll need to calibrate your opinion based upon the employee's personal experience. If they were fired, they might have an axe to grind.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

6 Fantastic – And Credible – Reasons To Tell Employers You're Looking For a New Job

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Potential employers will ask you why you're looking for a job. They want to know why you're taking the time to meet with them to ensure that your goals align with their goals.

Telling an employer you're interviewing because your job stinks, or because your boss is a jerk, is a poor strategy. Not only are answers such as these crass, they will make a potential employer believe you're disgruntled and they won't want to introduce toxicity into their environment.

The key to answering this question is finding a solutions-oriented answer. Here are some reasons to tell that prospective employer you're playing the job market. Answers which generally focus on personal growth tend to resonate with hiring managers, and a bit of soul searching should guide your response. Here are some suggestions:

1. I've heard great things about your company from my friend who works here, and I'd love to be part of that.
    

2. My current organization is small, and I've reached a ceiling. I'm ready for a new challenge.
    

3. While I love my job, the commute is too far and I need something a little bit closer to home.
    

4. I've graduated with my Master's degree in a different discipline, and I'm looking for something in that new direction.
    

5. My current role is a temporary assignment, so I'm seeking something more permanent.
    

6. My dream has been to work on driving the success of products such as your company's. When I saw this position open up, I knew I had to apply.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.