coming to TN (Knoxville, Hunter: purchasing, school, salary)

[Turpentine]

Hi again all- I've posted a few times in the Knoxville forum, but am calling on ALL Tennesseeians for help. I love Tennessee!!! That's a good thing, but I need help. I am not really in a position where I feel comfortable moving there w/o a job lined up, but from what I've seen, employers tend to go with local candidates, as they probably should. I'm a mid level professional with a purchasing/inventory background, asking only for a salary that's competitive for TN. While i am a very good employee that any company would like to have, i am also not so arrogant to think that I'm so outstanding that local companies will forsake all local people to pursue me.
The problem is how to get my foot in the door to at least get an interview here. I have only been to TN 5 times but I love it!! The weather, the people, the culture, the scenery, it's just about perfect for me. but I can't really go until i get a job. I've tried the usual Monster, Careerbuilder, Jobs.com, but so far not even a reply. Anyone else have better ideas to at least get my name known down there? I'm focusing on the Knoxville &Nashville areas.
Any help at all is very much appreciated. Thanks for reading!!

[alleycat]

I think the "they only hire locals" issue applies more to small towns and certain types of businesses. And the higher the level of the position, the less it would apply.

If I were you, I would use those job listing websites as only a secondary tool. I would first identify what companies hire people with my skills, training and experience. Then I would learn a little more about those companies (whch are good to work for, which are growing, which have a good reputation in the business world, etc.). I assume you have a good resume already prepared. Then (and this is the hard part for most people) I would pick up the phone, call the companies I was interested in and get the name of the person I should talk to about applying for a position. Sometimes the receptionist will be glad to furnish the information, at other times you might have to be more persistent. You want a name, not "just send a resume to the personnel manager". Then I would call that person and schedule a time that I could talk to them about a position with their company; sometimes that will be right then, but if they're busy at the moment, ask when would be a good time to call back. They may be interested in hiring someone at the moment, or they may not (sometimes they may not be looking for anyone, but may refer you to some company that is). In any event, offer to send a resume (with a nice cover letter). If I found companies that would at least interview me, I would then try to schedule three or four interviews during the same week and come and spend the week doing the interviews and "networking" as much as possible.

That's just a rough sketch of what I would do if I were looking for a job out-of-state. By the way, Nashville is a distribution center due to its center location; there's several companies that may have openings for people experience in inventory. I saw something in the paper just last week about FedEx building a new facility here.

I hope that helps you a little.

[Jon F Moss]

Does your current employer have locations in TN? What about any vendors that you work with? How about the competition? Do you have a profile set up on any of the social networking sites (DM me if not) to leverage your contacts. What about the school you went to? They may have an alumni club in the area. Belong to any social clubs or fraternities that may have contacts in the area? Why not call the local TN Chamber of Commerce and talk with someone there for ideas. Ever consider using a Head Hunter Agency?

Those are just a few off the top of my head. All the best in your search!