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Quite a few of the posters here have mentioned living in several states, I've lived in 6 myself (over 15 yrs). And I realize some of you have only moved with a job set up beforehand. For those that haven't, have you noticed difficulty getting hired because employers feel you're more likely to leave?
In our case, 2 consecutive moves were due to unfortunately picking areas that looked good when researched but things never worked out. Staying over 2 yrs in one of them didn't improve our chances a bit - a lot of people I worked temp/seasonal with (the best you could do) left the state too. Not much point in staying if you can see no chance of improvement.
I don't see living in a few places as a bad thing though unless the interviewer has some personal knowledge of the job market being tough (like in Michigan for instance) they tend to assume something must be wrong with the applicant if they didn't have a decent job/have gaps with temp work, etc.
It can be difficult for them to understand that other areas aren't necessarily as thriving as their own.
Are there fields where it doesn't matter or is seen as positive (moving around)
Good ideas on how to phrase "poor job market". It's funny, I've lived in college towns where you know students just quit, change hours, are leaving in summer etc. yet I'm told my job history isn't stable.. despite former experience/good references. What's been your experience with employers?
I had NO problem finding a job in Henderson Nevada. I have a CDL, however, and truck drivers are in high demand just about everywhere. Lots of jobs available here in Henderson/Las Vegas.
My husband is highly paid well sought after professional who has moved alot due to his career choices and promotions, we moved alot and it has only helped us! I can't imgaine why it would hurt someone?! for us, its been only great experiences!
Since I interview quite a lot of candidates in our business, the length they stay in a state has no bearing whatsoever on their hiring ability. If they are contractors, they will list their contract jobs in their resumes and I do expect to see durations of a couple of weeks to as long as a couple of years.
If you are an employee for a company and only stay at the company for months at a time then I would be suspect about hiring someone who can not stay in a position for at least 1 year. But, I would still want to hear the explanation. Either way, the length of time you remain in a state should have no bearing on getting hired unless there are reasons you have not mentioned.
OP - it sound like perhaps the difficulty you had securing a job had more to do with the local job market, and less to do with being from out of state.
I know my employer does not care if you are new to the area, or even if you live a good hour and a half away, as commuting is the norm here. But having too many jobs on your resume, each lasting only a short period of time, does not look good.
I hope other people post their experiences here. My husband and I are moving out of state this summer w/ no jobs lined up. We are hopeful employers will give us a chance, even though we will not have any local references.
I think it depends on the job. Given similar experience/skills, if I was an employer and had a choice of hiring a local or someone who moved their family to a new state without a job, I wouldn't even give the transplant an interview. A person who uproots and moves a family with no source of income shows bad decision-making skills, in my opinion. If the resume was submitted with the idea that if they got the job, then they would move, that would be a different story.
If the job required no or minimal decision-making ability, it wouldn't matter (transplant or local) as much to me. Ditto, if the two candidates were single and fresh out of college.
As far as people who change jobs a lot, that would depend on how much money I would have to spend to train them. If I had to spend a lot on their training, I'd be less inclined to hire someone who had a resume showing they moved around a lot and with different companies (as opposed to someone who moved around a lot but stayed with the same company).
While I am now retired, a previous move out of state was done after I had a job.
I've moved around a lot and never had trouble landing an interview or a job. I think there was only one time when I was asked why I moved. It never seemed to be an issue really.
I've loved to move around ever since I was old enough(in the blood I think).
So I picked a career that would let me do that,broadcasting. In that field you're kind of expected to 'build your resume' by working in progressively bigger markets. Unfortunately I last worked in that field in 1998 when I moved back from VA to NJ,so now 'regular' employers don't know what to make of my past and I now even have trouble getting temp work!
But if you're in a desirable field where you can work anywhere,like trucking or nursing,then it shouldn't be a problem
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despite former experience/good references. What's been your experience with employers?
