Moving but no job yet (Santa Clara: employment, law school, university)

[anaid-]

Have you moved to SFBA without a job waiting for you there ?
I am thinking to relocate but my job search is not going so well, looks like companies prefer local candidates .Even though my cover letter states that I am relocating and will be available for interviews I am not getting any responses whatsoever. There are tons of positions which I qualified for and I assume I can find something once I am there.
Am I taking too much risk moving and then looking for a job? Can anyone share with their experience.
Thank you

[aswedc]

what field?

[anaid-]

Originally Posted by aswedc

what field?

IT-Desktop engineering/system administration
I have BS in CIS and 4 years of IT experience

[secondyear]

Originally Posted by anaid-

IT-Desktop engineering/system administration
I have BS in CIS and 4 years of IT experience

I think it has more to do with the current influx of qualified lower level IT people available. Why risk out of area people when there are locals near by?

My husband is in the same field, but has 10 years of experience, 5 of that management. He has a Computer science degree from a university local to the SF bay area. We are currently in Ohio (he got a job here while in California) since I had to move here for law school, but he just got a job with a very large company in the East Bay. It was obvious he was an out of stater, although we have very close ties to the bay area and local address use if necessary (which he did not use, his resume had the Ohio address on it). For him, he is highly qualified for his age, and the position he applied for and got offered relocation expenses for experienced hires.

If you are still applying from out of town, look for jobs that are relocation eligible since they are expecting and encouraging out of town applicants. Look at big corporations that have more flexibility in who they hire. If you have the money to move here and spend a few months looking for work, then by all means do it. You may want to contact a few temp agencies that hire out professional IT people. Good luck!

[kindafedup]

Hi Anaid,

Well I'm kind of in the same boat, different field. It's not easy looking for a job in another state. I'm not sure why they don't really respond. In my cover letter, I state that I am relocating and relocation expenses are not necessary on their part.

One woman did call me to set up an interview and I told her I'd be there later that month. She told me to reschedule when I got in town. (and it's a good thing because I never made it on the date I said because I was waiting for a string of interviews.)

So maybe from her perspective if you're not in town and on demand when they need you, it's too much of a hassle.

Because I'm in the same boat, I have a few tips.


No 1: I'm not sure if you've already done this but try to make it as convenient as possible for the potential employer to contact you. If you have your local phone number listed on your resume try getting a SF phone number to post on the resume.
IMO a different area code is the first thing they notice.

You can always get a free phone number and forward it to your cellphone. You never know if they are a start up company who won't get into the habit of making LD phone calls or if it is just a total turn off to the interviewer but once you get a local number they'll at least know that you are trying to meet them half way.

They might even call you out of curiousity, wondering how does this person living in Louisiana/Ohio, etc... have a local phone number? They're only human after all.

I know when I changed mine to a local SF number the callback responses increased (but still no luck on my end getting the interviews that will schedule me for later than a week in the future). That leads me to Number 2.


No.2.
Do your homework with the company on the hiring process. Give them a call and ask to speak to the hiring manager directly. If he/she is available to talk with you, tell them you are interested in an interview and why. Whether they set up a phone interview or callback, give them a date range of when you want the interview. If they can make a note by your name they may do you the honor. You're standing out and you can get your interviews lined up in the same time frame (don't know if this is an issue for you like it is with me).

Even if they're not hiring, you coming to them before they put out a post on Monster has to look good, IMO. Unless of course it's a huge corporation that doesn't have time for the little guys.

Since you have the disadvantage of not being a local resident there you'll probably have to stand out a bit more. Depending on the job and company they may be taking a big risk hiring someone who, from their perspective:

-may not have thorough knowledge of the city, citys' consumers, laws, traffic/transit system and anything else that could affect the job or their performance.
-hasn't established permanent residence and thus has no committments and may be likely to drop the position and leave.
-may have no local contacts that they can verify face to face if necessary in the event you should do something to jeopardize the company in some way.
-may later demand reimbursement of relocation expenses.
-may not recognize competitors, hidden or well-known.
-may not be as qualified as someone who has been in the city long enough to have witnessed and/or experienced the advantages the company offers.

Again all of these might be THEIR perspective and whether it is a bad call of judgement on their part or not, it's still affects whether you get the job in the end. So with all that said you will probably have to do something that really stands out.



No 3:
Search for jobfairs. That's part of my action plan. Research job fairs in your field around your move date and fully prepare now. Start researching the companies that are going to be there so you can be a Grade A student and a likely candidate to get hired on the spot. Have enough money when you move to last without a job for about a month or 2 and keep track of job fairs in that time. No doubt you will have found a job by then but if you haven't you'll always have the opportunity with job fairs.


Not sure if you've tried these yet but figured I'd share them anyway. Finally I can answer something instead of always asking. lol. Hope I helped some.

Good Luck,
From one SF-resident-in-the-making to another.

[anaid-]

Thank you very much for your replies.
I am using my friend's address in SFBA as my relocation address and will also get a local number.
Meanwhile I am planning to make a 2 weeks trip to the area and try to get as much interviews as possible.Any another suggestions how to be more productive/successful in that?
Thank you again

[gizmo980]

All I can say is that it took my roommate a year to find employment (he moved here after being hired), and he's a computer programmer with a Bachelor's degree... took my brother-in-law nearly 18 months, and he has an MBA from Santa Clara. The IT & business fields are VERY competitive here, so you'll be up against a myriad of applicants - so my advice is to wait until you have an offer, since it's quite difficult to make it here on a McDonald's salary.

P.S. I got a job in the city 1 month after finishing grad school, but I'm in a much less competitive field (librarianship)... plus I started applying 3 months before graduating, so it technically took 4 months.