Did you relocate to Denver without a job? (Englewood, Olathe: extended stay, for sale)

[BK913]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum, so please bear with me if I commit any "forum sins".

I currently live in the Kansas City area and after lengthy consideration, a few visits and research, I want to relocate to the Denver area. I have an MBA with several years experience at a Fortune 100 company as a sr. financial analyst, but unfortunately I'm finding it difficult to get my foot in the door with Denver companies as an out-of-state candidate. I've launched numerous cover letters with my resume to companies in the area over the past two months, but so far those efforts have come to no avail. Recruiters haven't been helpful so far either. I've come to the conclusion that Denver companies are probably not very open to out-of-state candidates. That conclusion makes sense as it sounds like many, many people want to move to the area. Who wouldn't? Colorado is a wonderful place!

I really want to move there, so I'm beginning to entertain the idea of moving without a job lined up *gasp!*. I do have some savings, but I fear the possibility that it might take longer to find a job than I would like.

So, I want to hear from those of you who moved to the area without a job lined up. How long did it take you to land a real job? Do you think potential employers interpret moving to the area without a job as a rash, irresponsible decision which could work against your chances of getting an offer? I would really appreciate hearing your perspectives. Thanks in advance!!!

Peace!

[denverian]

I didn't have a job, but I had been laid off from my previous company with a good severance package and unemployment, so I had six months to job hunt and it all worked out.

You could try renting a studio (cheap) to start while you're job hunting and go through an agency for temp jobs while you're looking.

P.S. - my parents live in Olathe. You couldn't pay me to move there! You'll love it here.

[LoveBoating]

We moved to Englewood, CO in June 2002 and didn't have either a place to live or jobs. We stayed at a Holiday Inn for 3 weeks and during that time my wife landed a descent job as a Staff Accountant and we wound up renting an apartment also. It took me about 9 months to get a job, but I don't have the college degrees that she does. We ended up moving from CO last year in Oct......just couldn't take another winter of snow/ice/cold again. We love summer/boating. We are now in North Carolina. When we moved to NC, again no jobs or place to live. Stayed at an Extended Stay Motel for a week before obtaining an apartment (have our own in-home small business now). Wife got a job a month ago (again, due to the college degree).
Note: We have no children and in our late 50's. Moving to a new State/city can be done without having a place to live or job, but just make sure you have the finances to cover yourself (we did/do).

[HighlandsGal]

I had a job but my boyfriend didn't. We left Michigan with our house still for sale there --- truly scary. We had to pay a mortgage and a rent for 7 months until our house back in GR just closed last month

My BF found work in mid-November, so he was unemployed here for about 4 or 5 months. Definitely have a nest egg to get your through....

[Mike from back east]

We've discussed this 'out of state' job hunting issue before, several times.

Consensus is local firms don't want to pay re-lo costs, nor travel costs for interviews, and they usually want you asap. I further guess that making serious offers to out of staters has a higher rate of declinations than local applicants.

Consensus is also that if you show a local phone number on your resume you will get called. People have told us that they set up a vonage account with a local area code (303 for Denver) and they got called, and hired. Of course if you get a call, you then may need to make a quick, and possibly expensive, trip here for an interview. Some people feel it is unethical to 'fake' a local phone number, but IMO it is just a part of getting your foot in the door.

[geogirl82]

My fiance had a job in Colorado, but I didn't... we still decided we needed to make the move. I went up to the Front Range of Colorado before our move, to hand in resumes in person and only gave my email as contact info. I got some great responses by doing that. IMO, I agree with "Mike from back east" in that some tactics just help get your foot in the door where otherwise the door would be closed. It gave me an equal opportunity at least!

We made the move to Colorado and within a week, I had a full time salary job (from one the resumes I dropped off in person)....

But yes, I completely agree that companies are deterred when they see out of state applicants.

[LoveBoating]

Great response Mike!

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

We've discussed this 'out of state' job hunting issue before, several times.

Consensus is local firms don't want to pay re-lo costs, nor travel costs for interviews, and they usually want you asap. I further guess that making serious offers to out of staters has a higher rate of declinations than local applicants.

Consensus is also that if you show a local phone number on your resume you will get called. People have told us that they set up a vonage account with a local area code (303 for Denver) and they got called, and hired. Of course if you get a call, you then may need to make a quick, and possibly expensive, trip here for an interview. Some people feel it is unethical to 'fake' a local phone number, but IMO it is just a part of getting your foot in the door.

[BK913]

Originally Posted by denverian

I didn't have a job, but I had been laid off from my previous company with a good severance package and unemployment, so I had six months to job hunt and it all worked out.

You could try renting a studio (cheap) to start while you're job hunting and go through an agency for temp jobs while you're looking.

P.S. - my parents live in Olathe. You couldn't pay me to move there! You'll love it here.

You're right about the possibility of renting a less expensive apartment. However, I have a *full* 3 bedroom house, so I probably would be looking at a 2 bedroom place in Denver that would run $900+ per month (don't want to live in a less desirable area for dirt-cheap rent). I guess I could sell a lot of my furniture, lawn mower, etc. for a smaller place, but I would have to buy all that stuff again later once I buy a house out there (after landing a permanent job). Ok, well maybe I could just get a storage unit along with a 1 bedroom apartment in a better part of town! Can you tell I'm brainstorming possibilities as I type???

I've also thought that temp and contract work might be possible, but a guy I know here in KC with a similar background to me was laid off from my company a year ago and hasn't even been able to find much temp work since then. I do realize the Kansas City job market is definitely not Denver's job market, but I wonder if getting temp work in Denver would be just as elusive given the state of the economy. So the way I'm thinking about this is if my base living expenses in Denver while looking for full-time work are $1,500/month for the apartment, utilities, etc., then five or six months later I've got quite a dent in the old nest egg. Ouch.

P.S. By the way, I live on the east side of Olathe next to OP. I do think it's a nice area with affordable housing and little crime (does rolling through a stop sign count as crime???), but I can understand what you're saying about not accepting a payment to move here. It's just not that exciting of a place compared to Colorado.

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

We moved to Englewood, CO in June 2002 and didn't have either a place to live or jobs. We stayed at a Holiday Inn for 3 weeks and during that time my wife landed a descent job as a Staff Accountant and we wound up renting an apartment also. It took me about 9 months to get a job, but I don't have the college degrees that she does. We ended up moving from CO last year in Oct......just couldn't take another winter of snow/ice/cold again. We love summer/boating. We are now in North Carolina. When we moved to NC, again no jobs or place to live. Stayed at an Extended Stay Motel for a week before obtaining an apartment (have our own in-home small business now). Wife got a job a month ago (again, due to the college degree).
Note: We have no children and in our late 50's. Moving to a new State/city can be done without having a place to live or job, but just make sure you have the finances to cover yourself (we did/do).

I have to say that's great that everything worked out for you and your wife in your jobless moves to CO and NC. I really think it takes an enormous amount of courage and faith to do that, especially going halfway across the country. I totally agree the finances have to be there to cover the period of unemployment. I've been told that it's the right time in my life to do this - I'm single, have no kids, and I do have savings to weather an unemployment storm. But at the same time, the thought of eating up significant savings if things don't go well is a little scary. I suppose that in life, sometimes you have to take risks in order to enhance your life. It's just hard to put that philosophy into practice.

Originally Posted by HighlandsGal

I had a job but my boyfriend didn't. We left Michigan with our house still for sale there --- truly scary. We had to pay a mortgage and a rent for 7 months until our house back in GR just closed last month

My BF found work in mid-November, so he was unemployed here for about 4 or 5 months. Definitely have a nest egg to get your through....

Your house was on the market for seven months after you left??? Wow -- that would have made it really hard to sleep at night! My house is about to go on the market as well, so I'm crossing my fingers about that too!

[robertpolyglot]

Hi:

It can be done. Particularly when you have a good combo of degrees. It might take a while, so please be ready to cover the down time.

Yes, the "friends address/voice mail with local prefix trick" seems to help. It helped me get to Seattle when I lived in Portland. Do not feel in the least bit apprehensive about doing it...you could be an excellent candidate and an excellent fit that would be overlooked just because you were out-of-town when you were perfectly willing to live there.

Also, KC to Denver is doable as a relatively short hop...even in a rented car...whereas a leap like PHX to ATL could be more problematic.

I've done this before. Feel free to direct message me.

[BK913]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

We've discussed this 'out of state' job hunting issue before, several times.

Consensus is local firms don't want to pay re-lo costs, nor travel costs for interviews, and they usually want you asap. I further guess that making serious offers to out of staters has a higher rate of declinations than local applicants.

Consensus is also that if you show a local phone number on your resume you will get called. People have told us that they set up a vonage account with a local area code (303 for Denver) and they got called, and hired. Of course if you get a call, you then may need to make a quick, and possibly expensive, trip here for an interview. Some people feel it is unethical to 'fake' a local phone number, but IMO it is just a part of getting your foot in the door.

I apologize if this issue has already been beaten to death in these forums. I didn't know that. I've seen two or three posts related to job hunting from out-of-state, but I was hoping to get more information. Maybe I just haven't utilized the search function for this topic efficiently (I am new to these forums).

As for the rest of your comments, thanks for summing up the situation for me. I appreciate it.