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I am an unemployed college graduate currently living in an area with little to no job opportunities. I am planning to move to either Philadelphia or Chicago soon, as I am making preparations where I can afford to do so without having a job lined up first. Although NYC would be my first choice if I had the money to live there without a decent job waiting for me, I cannot afford it. I am trying to determine which city would overall offer me more/better job opportunities as soon as possible. Although I certainly would not plan/rely on getting so lucky, do a noticeable amount of NYC recruiters/employers consider Philadelphia candidates as "local candidates" at entry-level, or is Philadelphia too far away?
Philadelphia and NYC both have lower "official" unemployment than Chicago, but Chicago is not near any other large job markets, as opposed to Philadelphia's proximity to the NYC area. Complicating it further, over the last year I have received from the Chicago-area several (though not that often) expressions of interest in my resume (but never an interview offer due to one required qualification or another), whereas I have received absolutely zero emails/calls from NYC, Boston, or Philadelphia metros, despite including them on my preferred cities along with Chicago on job seeking sites.
Just wondering if living in Philadelphia would significantly increase my chances for consideration for decent (I say decent, because you kind of need them to be decent to afford the NYC area) entry-level jobs in the NYC metro or if I should simply assume I will be limited to the Philadelphia job market when comparing Philadelphia and Chicago. Any other thoughts on the choice are welcome as well.
Any other thoughts on the choice are welcome as well.
If you want to have your cake & eat it, move to Jersey, somewhere between Bordentown and Edison. You'll be close enough to both cities to be able to commute either way, whether by car or mass-transit.
For background, I'm a management consultant specializing in the life sciences/pharma industry - so I live in Manhattan, but a good deal of pharma my clients are in northern and central NJ. I also have partial authority for interviewing and hiring candidates into my consulting practice, which is Manhattan-based.
In my experience (others may disagree), it seems fairly common for folks in suburban Philadelphia to commute to southern and even central NJ for work, particularly given the odd income tax dynamic between the two states. And of course, the entire northern 1/3rd of NJ is little more than a giant NYC bedroom community. However, I have virtually never seen somebody who actually lives in Philadelphia or its suburbs, and yet commutes regularly to NYC for work. If I received on my desk the resume of a consultant in Philadelphia applying for a job, I would either 1) Refer that resume to my Firm's Philadelphia office or 2) Assume this was a person interested in relocating to the NYC area. You're not talking about a "normal" commute there - it would be at least 1.5 hours each way, and that's really under optimal train/road conditions. Throw in random train problems, a major highway incident, or inclement weather...you are royally screwed. That commute daily would drain you of your vitality pretty darn quickly.
Best bet as the other posted mentioned is likely somewhere in suburban New Jersey. Maybe the New Brunswick area? It's got a college town vibe, about 45 minutes from NYC and 65 from Philly, and is actually decent-sized. Especially for a young person many of the NJ suburbs are quite lifeless in my opinion, very much geared to middle-aged families. Not nearly as bad as the cookie cutter Sunbelt sprawl but still rather bland, boring, and automobile-culture driven.
Hope this helps, good luck in your search!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheQuestioner
I am an unemployed college graduate currently living in an area with little to no job opportunities. I am planning to move to either Philadelphia or Chicago soon, as I am making preparations where I can afford to do so without having a job lined up first. Although NYC would be my first choice if I had the money to live there without a decent job waiting for me, I cannot afford it. I am trying to determine which city would overall offer me more/better job opportunities as soon as possible. Although I certainly would not plan/rely on getting so lucky, do a noticeable amount of NYC recruiters/employers consider Philadelphia candidates as "local candidates" at entry-level, or is Philadelphia too far away?
Philadelphia and NYC both have lower "official" unemployment than Chicago, but Chicago is not near any other large job markets, as opposed to Philadelphia's proximity to the NYC area. Complicating it further, over the last year I have received from the Chicago-area several (though not that often) expressions of interest in my resume (but never an interview offer due to one required qualification or another), whereas I have received absolutely zero emails/calls from NYC, Boston, or Philadelphia metros, despite including them on my preferred cities along with Chicago on job seeking sites.
Just wondering if living in Philadelphia would significantly increase my chances for consideration for decent (I say decent, because you kind of need them to be decent to afford the NYC area) entry-level jobs in the NYC metro or if I should simply assume I will be limited to the Philadelphia job market when comparing Philadelphia and Chicago. Any other thoughts on the choice are welcome as well.
Thanks for the replies. Sorry I was not more precise. I am most certainly not interested in getting a job in NYC and then commuting from Philadelphia, that kind of commute would drive me crazy. I would be initially moving to Philadelphia (if I chose it over Chicago) and applying for jobs in both the NYC and Philadelphia metro. If I were to get a job in the NYC metro, I would definitely be relocating again to the NYC area. But in my consideration of Chicago vs Philadelphia initial relocation, I am wondering if it is even realistic to expect NYC metro recruiters/staffing firms/hiring managers to give me "local candidate" consideration if I was living in Philadelphia when I applied, especially at entry-level. Right now the vast majority are clearly throwing me out of consideration immediately since I live too far to be considered a local candidate, before even reaching my qualifications, which is an entire obstacle in of itself.
I live in NYC and originally I'm from Philly. Years ago, when I was looking for my first job straight out of college, I moved back in with my parents and commuted for job interviews and internships. Whenever I explained to the interviewers and other employees that I currently lived in Philly at the time, I always got the "whoa" reaction from them. Needless to say, I don't believe that most people working in NYC consider Philly to be within the local proximity--and it really isn't if you base it on several factors. Philly has it's own scene, it's own culture and it's the major city within it's own tri-state area.
Outside of NJ and the rest of NYS and Connecticut, I think the only town in PA that is considered familiarly commutable to NYC are the Poconos.
Do not think it's an effective strategy. Again - as a person who hires for our Manhattan-based practice - if I received the resume of a person from Philly, I'd either refer it to our Philly office or assume that person was going to be relocating to NYC. If the latter scenario, I wouldn't really care if they're relocating from Philly, Chicago, or San Francisco - their desire to relocate to NYC upon getting the job is all that matters (given that they're the best candidate, of course.)
So in short, no - in my experience being in the Philly market isn't going to give you any advantage from a hiring perspective with NYC-based jobs. I really think you should be looking at Central or Northern NJ instead, which are properly within the definition of metro NYC. Big difference between being based in Metuchen, NJ vs. Haverford, PA...and you're right, especially at entry-level where companies are inundated with resumes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheQuestioner
Thanks for the replies. Sorry I was not more precise. I am most certainly not interested in getting a job in NYC and then commuting from Philadelphia, that kind of commute would drive me crazy. I would be initially moving to Philadelphia (if I chose it over Chicago) and applying for jobs in both the NYC and Philadelphia metro. If I were to get a job in the NYC metro, I would definitely be relocating again to the NYC area. But in my consideration of Chicago vs Philadelphia initial relocation, I am wondering if it is even realistic to expect NYC metro recruiters/staffing firms/hiring managers to give me "local candidate" consideration if I was living in Philadelphia when I applied, especially at entry-level. Right now the vast majority are clearly throwing me out of consideration immediately since I live too far to be considered a local candidate, before even reaching my qualifications, which is an entire obstacle in of itself.
I wouldn't consider it local and probably wouldn't really consider the resume to be honest.... Though I have coworkers who commute from NJ towns not far from Philly.
For what it's worth, I currently live in Philadelphia. I'm was born in Queens and have been hopping around for a while, been in Philly a few years. Over the past year or so I've sort of been focusing much of my job-seeking in New York, and have managed to get quite a few interviews there - including 3 rounds at one place that I seriously thought I had in the bag. I'm a few years out of college, and have been seeking what amounts to pretty normal lower level clerical work, as opposed to entry level positions at prominent companies.
So it's not out of the question. One thing is that I always make it very clear in my cover letter where I currently live and why I am seeking employment in New York (i.e., not just because New York is a fun cool place where everyone wants to live).
But I'd say moving to Philadelphia as a stepping stone to New York is not that common. There is a sort of relationship between Philadelphia and New York that exists - it may or may not even be that apparent to New Yorkers, as people I've interviewed with tend to be surprised at how short of a distance it is between the two cities (75 minutes from 30th Street to Penn Station on the Acela, less than two hours on the bus, and the two cities commuter rail systems actually meet in Trenton, NJ, although it's a long trip). What that connection is is that there is a small population of freelancers, consultants, artists, and the like who have made their home Philadelphia who started out in and continue to make a decent portion of their money in New York. As they don't have to be in New York all the time, and they work for themselves, they can deal with the distance and occasional travel. And then there are those who just have to travel occasionally for regular business. And there are also those who work for a firm that has locations both in Philadelphia and New York and get a position in New York within the company.
One thing to note about Philadelphia, and it may not matter that much to you, is that the suburban office parks tend to hold more power than Center City as far as private firms go (due to city tax policy and an overall very weird and sad anti-city culture that reigns regionally where there are people who are simply terrified at the thought of being in the city for even a moment lest gunshots erupt from all directions). If you're interested in living the *city life* just research your industry well. The urban core of Philly is great as far as higher education, hospitals, and hospitality goes (as well as being just a really great place to be, as far as a vibrant and interesting place to live). But if you are interested in the city and having a car-free life and the like, have an idea of where the jobs you'd be applying for actually exist, or else you may wind up with a difficult reverse commute involving trains that only run once per hour and shuttle buses from stations and the like. If you're neutral on this point, it's not really relevant, as there are plenty of pleasant towns to live in in suburban philly as well.
Chicago has a similar sprawl problem, but I do think their downtown jobs market is a little healthier. And having seriously looked into moving to Chicago in the past, I also think that you can get a little more for your money there as far as apartments, neighborhoods, and access to their elevated train system go.
The upside to both of those places is that even if things don't completely work out, it's not that difficult to make ends meet.
If you have any questions about Philly - which is an often underrated and misunderstood city - feel free to PM me.
South NJ to Philly by car, train or bus could be considered a "local commute" by employers. However there just is no way you are getting from PA to NYC easy and fast enough for it to be considered "local" commute.
That being said know a few persons that have moved to PA (mostly the Poconos area" and commute into NYC (mainly Manhattan) to work. Mind you these persons already worked at their place of employment before moving.
Long story short their daily commute is long and a grind. Most take buses in though a few drive. Either way it involves getting up at around 4AM to be on something smoking by around 6AM in order to be certain in reaching Manhattan by 8AM. Remember once you arrive at the bus station or into the City you *still* have to get wherever it is you are working. At the end of the work day it is later, rinse and repeat.
After about a year or so of that nonsense one person moved back to NYC. Another rents an apartment in the City and stays here during the work week while is family remains in PA.
NJT is working on a project to reopen the Lackawanna Cutoff from PA to NJ. Plans are at some future point to have trains going from Scranton to Hoboken, or to New York Penn Station via transfer to Mid-Town Direct service, by connecting to the existing NJ TRANSIT Montclair-Boonton and Morris & Essex Lines. New Jersey Transit
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