How to Get a Job in Another State - 5 Tips From a Recruiter - Career Sidekick

How to Get a Job in Another State - 5 Tips From a Recruiter - Career Sidekick How to Get a Job in Another State 5 Tips From a Recruiter Applying for Jobs / https://www.edenscott.com/blog Im asked about this a lot: how to get a job in another state or another city.Its not easy- You  need to avoid discrimination based on your location, handle complicated interview and travel schedules, and more.  Theres a reason so many people become frustrated soon after they start applying for jobs out of state.Fortunately Ive helped a lot of people do this successfully as a recruiter so Im going to walk through five tips  that will  help you get out-of-state job offers much faster.5 Tips For  How to Get a Job Out of State:1. What to put in your cover letter (and why you need one)This is REALLY important when looking for an out of state job. Dont cut and paste generic info into every cover letter.You need to catch their attention and explain  why youre relocating to THEIR city.Lets talk about the first point first. You need to sound 100% sure youre moving.No company wants to hear that youre tentatively thinking of moving but only if you find the perfec t job.They probably wont interview you if you say that because youre a RISK! A risk that youll waste a companies time, money, and even accept a job and then bail at the last minute because youre anxious about moving.So to succeed in landing a job in a new state, you need to sound as low-risk as possible when you apply for the job, and your cover letter is the first place you can do that.You do that by showing them youve thought seriously about moving and are fully committed.This is rule #1. Be low risk!Now onto the resume2. What to put on your resume to avoid discrimination for being out-of-stateI wrote an in-depth article in this that became one of the most popular posts on the blog. Its about how to handle the address/contact info section of your resume when applying for jobs out of state.The issue is this:Should you put your current address and risk losing out on interviews from companies who want local candidates only?Or should you lie and put a local address?That can be risky t oo. If they think youre local, they arent going to offer to pay for ANY travel for the interviews (because they dont even know youre traveling). Also theyll usually mail your job offer to the address you gave them on your resume. So if its a fake address, youre in trouble. If its a family members address, youll be okay.But theres a third option for your resume  when you apply for out-of-state jobs, and I think its the best by far.Heres what to do: Where youd normally put your address, just put Relocating to ___ (city) in (month/year).Example: Relocating to Memphis in January  2018.This isnt a lie, and will help you seem low-risk like we talked about above (it shows that youre serious about moving, and implies that you are moving with or without a job).Just be prepared to back it up in the interview. Theyre going to ask why youre relocating and you need to sound convincing and have a great reason. Lets talk about what to say in that first phone interview now3. What to say in the firs t phone interviewWhen you get on the phone with an out-of-state company, you need to sound laser-focused. You need a great reason for wanting to move to their city, and ideally you want to be able to say its the only city youre looking at.Just like when you sent in the job application, your goal here is to put their mind at ease and show them youre 100%  serious about working for them.You also want to have a very specific idea of the type of job you want (and you need to show them that their job fits with what youre looking for).So make sure you research the job and company beforehand. You cant sound like youre applying to every job in their city or they will NOT hire you.And if you do this right, itll work in your favor. Its very powerful to be  able to tell a company Listen, Im only looking for jobs in Dallas and Im only looking at Senior Engineer positions. Thats the type of focus you need to show.That will help reduce the perceived risk and calm the interviewer, but not complete ly. After you do this, you still need to tell them why youre looking for jobs in their specific city.Whether youre able to tell them their city is the only one youre looking at, or whether youre looking at two or three cities, you need a great reason for why their city is a possibility!(If you are looking at more than two or three cities you should really stop and narrow it down more. You are hurting your chances at getting hired and making it much harder to explain yourself on the phone. Stop applying for out of state jobs until you figure this out.)4. How to explain wanting to move to their state/cityIf you followed the advice above you showed them their city is one of the few youre looking at, and their job fits with what you want to do next in your career.But now you need to tell them why youre looking at moving to their city.The best reasons are family and friends, or that youve visited the city multiple times and like it. If you have a spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend and youve made the decision with them, mention it. It makes it sound more convincing and secure (ie- you arent doing it on a whim and you arent going to change your mind).The biggest red flags for me as a recruiter are when someone has never visited a city they plan on moving to before, or they dont know anyone in the city. If I hear you know people there or have been there before, Im instantly a lot less skeptical.So to recap, here are examples of great reasons you can give the interviewer for why you applied for a job in their state or city:Ive visited multiple times and decided its the best city to build my future inI want to move there to be closer to family (I love this line because you dont necessarily need family IN the city for it to be true. You just need some family members who  are closer than where you currently live).My wife/husband/partner took a job offer in the city and Im looking for a job since we are already sure we are moving.5. How to handle hectic interview schedules (an d the cost of travel)If youve followed the steps so far you have applied for some out of state jobs, landed some phone interviews, and hopefully got invited to the next round.There are a couple of things you can do to make this part easier on yourself.First, if they know youre out-of-state, ask how much of the process can be done via phone and video interview. The goal isnt to sound like youre trying to avoid ever going in face-to-face. Bad idea (the rare company will allow it, but dont ask).The goal is just to get as much of the process done BEFORE having to visit face-to-face. That way you and the company both have a good idea of whether its a good potential fit before any travel happens.When it does come time to visit an out-of-state company by driving or flying, ask if they cover travel expenses. Dont be shy, its a normal question to ask and it could save you hundreds of dollars.If this is a higher level position, theres a greater chance theyll pay. Dont expect to have your expe nses covered if you are looking for an entry-level job with no work experience.One more tip: Try to batch your interviews together if youre talking to multiple companiesIf you get one company willing to fly you in for an out-of-state job interview, contact the other companies youve been speaking with too and say, Just so you know, Ill be in town next Monday and Tuesday for a couple of interviews. If youd like to meet with me face to face this would be a great time to do it.That way you dont have to travel back and forth as many times to interview with multiple companies.Its always  worth following-up with the companies youve had phone interviews with if youre going to be in the city. Even if you havent heard feedback yet. Maybe they liked you, havent had a chance to send feedback, but would like to meet you face-to-face.Final Thoughts on Getting a Job in Another StateNow you know how to get a job in another state, but it still takes work and effort.If you follow these steps above yo u are going to have the greatest possible chance of finding an out-of-state position, but remember to be patient and persistent.Since you searched and found this article, Im guessing you have a big reason (or multiple reasons) for wanting to relocate. It might be money and opportunities, or a more personal reason like family.Whatever it is, remember why you started this out-of-state job search and dont give up if things get tough, or if it takes longer than expected to get interviews, or if you go interview with one or two employers but dont get a job offer.Keep going. Your next interview could be the one, and youll be glad you didnt doubt yourself or give up too early.As a final note, if you dont want to leave anything up to chance in your interviews, Ive created a new step-by-step interview answer guide to show you EXACTLY what to do and say in your next interview to get a job offer. You can learn more here.