Help! Relocation to Minneapolis ....... (Dakota: rent, hotel, find a job)

[GopherFan2011]

Hello All!

This is my first post on here and I hope to get some advice! First for a little background, I am a 28 year old single male looking to relocate to Minneapolis for a fresh start. I am an avid Minnesota sports fan on all fronts and spend alot of time including many weekends in the Twin Cities. I know the Twin Cities well, know everything it has to offer and also know it's exactly where I want to be.

This is my main problem. I have a fairly decent job where I'm at right now and I'm finding it hard to job search while working full time to re-locate. I'm currently about 4 1/2 hours from Minneapolis which makes it hard to just leave on a whim for interviews etc. I know the economy is bad everywhere, but it seems that the Twin Cities are in a bit better shape then where I am at. I'm trying to get something in place before I relocate so I'm not stuck with expenses and no job when I get there.

Has anyone relocated to the Twin Cities without a job in hand and has it worked out? Or do any Minnesotan's have any tips or ideas for me to help with relocation? I'm debating whether or not I should just pack up ship and head to Minneapolis and then try and find a job, but I'm worried I may not get something right away which is a scary thought with payments. Also, I've never rented before and don't know if anyone would rent to be without a job.

I do have a 2 year Associate Degree in marketing and am currently working as a Lab Tech which really has nothing to do with my degree. I'm definitely open to all different avenues for careers.

If anyone has been where I am and had success, I'd love to hear any tips or ideas! I'm really looking forward to becoming a official Minnesotan in the near future!

Thanks!

[iNviNciBL3]

I really dont care for sports all i watch is (non american) Football but i still have fun in the Twin Cities even though its a Hockey-Baseball-American Football town

Well seems like you actually have things figured out im guessing your either from Iowa, Wisconsin or The Dakotas. Minnesota is much better place to live than those states in my opinion (no disrespect)

Looks like you should start getting some interviews in. Rent a hotel in the area for a week or so for the interviews

[GopherFan2011]

Thanks! I'm doing my best to figure everything out before hand. Renting a motel for a week or so would be ideal, but that would basically mean leaving my job here. I don't really have much vacation, so I can't take a week to do that without probably losing my job here. I'd also flying solo in the Twin Cities. I really dont have family or friends to lean on to try and figure things out, so that makes it a bit harder.

I'm a rather quiet guy and very independent and used to doing things by myself. I may just have to take a risk and see where life leads...... I am actually from one of those states (WI) and I completely agree with you, Minnesota has it beat by so much which is why I really want to make my fresh start there. I do have family here in WI, so it's still close enough for family visits etc ....

Thanks for the post!

[alexthegirl]

If it were me, I'd probably take a weekend and apply to 20-30 jobs and then wait two weeks or so and then move. I'm kind of a risk taker. A calculated risk taker, I guess. Just make sure you have enough cash to get you by for at least a few months in case nothing happens... But in that case, if your'e here at least you have the opportunity to make friends and network which would give you a better chance at an "in" somewhere.

As a piece of un-solicited advice: there are a lot of very good job candidates here that are applying for the desireable, visible jobs (Target HQ, 3M HQ, Best Buy HQ, etc). Try looking at the company websites for jobs rather than the search engines. Also it may not be a bad idea to get hooked up with a temp agency. It's a decent way to get your foot in the door somewhere. Also when you're filling out applications, and they allow you to use your own resume as opposed to filling out the fields they ask for, try and tailor your resume to that particular position. (Can you tell I've recently done the job search? Hehe)

[GopherFan2011]

Thank you so much for the advice, Alex! I'm also a bit of a calculated risk taker, but I just want to make sure I do it right the first time and succeed! I think that's a good idea about just taking a weekend and applying to several jobs. I have looked on many search engine sites such as minneapolisjobs.com etc. I've applied for a few, but havn't heard anything. I've also contacted a temp agency and they were nice enough to take my resume, but they said it's pretty much impossible to help me unless I'm there. More incentive to just move!

It does sounds like you have just done the whole job search thing. Your advice about tailoring my resume and going to the direct websites is great. I'll try doing that! It's hard to leave a job in this economy, but I'm definitely not happy where I am and know I need a clean slate to start over and I'm so excited about Minnesota.

Thanks again for the great advice!

[alexthegirl]

Are you a lab tech in the health field? Seems like we have a lot of hospitals around here - Regions, Abbott Northwestern, Fairview, Allina, Mercy, Shriners, Children's Hospital, HealthEast... I bet if you go to each's website you'll find more job opps than on the search engine sites. I've lost faith in the search engine sites.... My company doens't even post on them anymore. Maybe check out Minute Clinic's site too.

[GopherFan2011]

I'm actually a lab tech in a plastic company. I do testing to ensure customer specs are being made. It's a rather low key job as I'm sure other lab tech's for the medical industry go into much more detail. I actually started here as a temp employee and was hired on full time. If I was able to move to the Cities and get in with a temp agency, it might be my in!

[1stpontiac]

I like the regional search engines like this one better than the monster, careerbuilder, etc.

https://www.minnesotaworks.net/

It seems like they have more of the small company jobs that may not get listed on the nationwide sites.

Lots of manufacturing here, so I'd think your lab tech skills should transfer if you want to. You might look into the medical route, as lots of those places are making products out of plastic and obviously they have metrology/QC standards.

Just one (large) example would be Boston Scientific and their cardiology division.

And a quick search of their website shows this:

https://hrconnectrmbsc.cvgs.net/MAIN...ght=technician

[golfgal]

How long could you live off your savings if you didn't have a job? That is the real question you should be asking. With the holiday season approaching you could probably get a retail job at minimum wage to help-work evenings or overnights so you are open for interviews maybe? If it takes 4 months to find a job, could you do that?

[GopherFan2011]

Thank you very much for the advise everyone! I'm definitely going to try going to the individual websites instead of searching the large, internet search based web searches. I'll definitely check out minnesotaworks.net as well. The Boston Scientific position looked interesting that you posted. I appreciate that example and will check into your suggestions!

And right now, I probably could make it 4 months without a job. Probably not much longer then that though. But I would hope I could find something in that amount of time. That is a good idea about taking a retail postition or something like that to get established and keep some money coming in until I did find something permanent. I'm certainly willing to put in the work to find something! Since I have never rented before and I have no place to live with friends or family, I didn't know if people would rent to me without a job in hand. I'd definitely have the money for a few months until I found something.