Job searching in Denver from Pittsburgh, PA (rental car, sales)

[rebecca_lynn]

I currently live in Pittsburgh, PA. I would LOVE to move to Denver. I have visited multiple times and I know this where I belong.

That being said, it's been challenging finding a job while living in Pittsburgh. I have over 7 years of sales experience and am certainly qualified for positions but I feel like living on the other side of the country is not attractive to some employers.

Any advice for finding a job??

Thanks! :-)

[Mike from back east]

Get a phone number with a Denver area code and put that on your resume, as if you already live here. Any form of local address in Denver would add to the appearance of being local. It may get you interviewed....

If you have about six months of living expenses saved up, you can risk coming out and trying to find your preferred job while you work in local retail or restaurants.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by rebecca_lynn

I currently live in Pittsburgh, PA. I would LOVE to move to Denver. I have visited multiple times and I know this where I belong.

That being said, it's been challenging finding a job while living in Pittsburgh. I have over 7 years of sales experience and am certainly qualified for positions but I feel like living on the other side of the country is not attractive to some employers.

Any advice for finding a job??

If any employer shows the slightest interest whatsoever, hound them via email and phone until they agree to give you an interview.

Fly out to Denver for a couple days, and apply to jobs in person, try to meet the people you've been sending resumes to.

[vegaspilgrim]

Unless if already have industry connections with people in Denver who can give you a lead or your skills are in extremely high demand field to the point where you have head hunters coming after you, chances are extremely slim that you'll even be able to get a job interview being on the other side of the country-- given the post-2008 employment market. Sorry, I wish I could give you some real nuggets of advice or sugarcoat it somehow, but that's the cold reality.

Mike, the phone number and local address thing does not work-- been there, done that (back when I was unemployed here and looking for jobs in other cities to expand my search). If you're currently employed it doesn't make any sense if your phone # & address don't match your workplace. BTW, while address does matter, phone number really doesn't matter any more-- these days everybody has cell phones, and it's expected that if you're from somewhere else you'll have a different area code cell phone. I once had a handful of pre-paid cellphones with different area codes, but it was all a waste of money. If you're unemployed, bluffing an address might help land an interview, but given the low statistical chance of getting a job offer from any one single interview, it can lead to blowing money very fast on last minute air flights, rental cars, and hotels. We're talking to the tune of ~$300-$750 for one interview, depending on how soon they call you out and what time of year it is. If you're unemployed & really want to live in Denver, it would end up being cheaper & more productive to just pick up and move to Denver and live in temporary housing.

Even if you physically live here & have the local address and phone number and everything, employers will still be very suspicious if you don't have any local past job experience or education on your resume. You better have some really good, solid answers on why you just moved to Denver (and don't say something like I moved here for the skiing).

It really is a catch 22, because it's 20x harder to find a job when you're unemployed than when you're employed, but unfortunately since 2008 geography matters more now than ever.