Getting a job in MSP from out of state (Minneapolis: 2014, rental)

[WordNerd2]

Hello!

My boyfriend and I are currently living in Southern California and are interested in relocating to the Twin Cities for various reasons (more economical cost of living, not as congested, closer to my family in the Midwest, good outdoor opportunities, etc.). I have a visited the area three times (I have a cousin who lives in Minneapolis) and my boyfriend's visited once, and the area's always seemed to have a good vibe.

My concern in relocating is getting a job from out of state. My boyfriend and I have decided that at least one of us should have a job before we move, and neither of us have the option of relocating while staying in our current companies. I have a few questions on the topic and would certainly appreciate any input you guys could offer. I'd especially love to hear from anyone who's been successful in getting a job from out of state, or from people involved in the tech or public relations/communications spheres (My boyfriend is a software developer, and I'm a magazine editor who's looking to transition to public relations.).

- What strategies could you offer for getting a job from out of state?
- Is it difficult to get a job in the Twin Cities from out of state?
- How are opportunities in the area for people in the tech and public relations/communications fields? And how much would education level impact getting a job in the tech field? My boyfriend has 4+ years of software development under his belt, but doesn't have a college degree.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Beenhere4ever]

Must be some standard process nowadays. Job markets force people into major relocation to stay employed. Did you see the movie Up In The Air where interviews happened virtually? I'm thinking that's either close or here now.

[Olivia2479]

I moved here from Los Angeles and my background is in communications. I'm still looking for a job, but I'd suggest the standards like Indeed, LinkedIn, JobsInMinneapolis.com, etc. Before I got here, I had two Skype interviews from two pretty major companies - so at least people are open to it. The major question "why are you moving back?" will come up non stop. People here love locals, so they may be hesitant toward you at first. Especially CA for some reason. There are communications and PR jobs out there but they are few and far between, compared to SoCal. This is a smaller market, unless you're looking for an advertising job.. Oh: start NOW to register with marketing/communications/creative recruiters in your field. Recruiting world is huge here. Get on their radars. Be prepared to work temp/contract, too. I don't know a lot about the tech job market but ditto registering with recruiting firms, seems like tech would be easier here than PR/Comm. - Good luck

[BorderGirl]

I've been trying to move back since October of 2012. I have had many phone interviews and flew to Minneapolis back in March for one face to face interview that I was sure to get. I've had quite a few struggles with it. I've talked to potential employers and they've been so excited to talk to me but as soon as I mention that Im not yet living in Minnesota I can hear things fall apart. I think I've had a few potential jobs fall though solely on the fact that I'm not living there. I even switched the address on my resume to my dad's address in Bloomington to see if I'd get more of a response. It wasn't much more noticeable but I did have one employer chew me up for misleading her, making her think that I was in Minnesota when I really wasn't. She was with an entity that I would love to work for so I'm trying to be very careful not to burn any bridges. I quit applying for jobs for a few weeks while I figured things out.

I've decided to quit my current job and just move to Minnesota. I just gave notice to my landlord this morning and on Friday I will let my current boss know. I'm back to applying for jobs but not as heavily as I used to until next week as it will be closer to my move date. I think it is really helpful if you know exactly when you are moving. Some employers have been wiling to work with it. While I decided what the heck it was that I was doing I started the packing process. Slowly yet surely I've been getting rid of as much stuff as I can and I'm piling everything into boxes as I go. I found a fabulous mover that will move my stuff for me. I just have to drive back. I have a for sure start date that I can commit to now and have four different people to live with across the entire state. I'm confident that I'll find something.

I wish you the best of luck! It really is tricky! Minnesota has a bunch of qualified people to choose from and while you might be the best person for the position, they might be more willing to accept someone less awesome than you because they live in the area already.

Oh! Also, I have not had any virtual interviews in Minnesota but one did say they would be willing to Skype. However, I did a few recorded interviews for the University of Utah which is a little strange since I live just down the road from them. Oh well! It was awesome because I didn't have to take time off of work for a screening interview!

[Tyryztoll]

I've tried to move to MSP twice in the past 10 years as an out of stater, and have found the market there pretty hard to crack. I'm an x-ray tech, and the governing body for my profession (ARRT) is headquartered in St. Paul, so I don't know if that means the metro is flooded with techs in correlation with that or not, but I've only managed to land one face to face interview out of a slew of resumes and applications that I put forth, and that was back in 2006.

I don't think Minnesotans being cold to non natives is necessarily always the issue when it comes to new hires, because in this day & age, companies from anywhere look at an out of state application or resume and automatically crumple them up as soon as they see the candidate is going to have to be relocated, thinking they may be seeking financial assistance with such, and that their availability to start work will be much longer. In this economy, even in Minnesota, the first priority for the employer is always going to be to save time and especially money.

The exception to this scenario is going to be when you are able to offer a skill set that the employer either doesn't have or can't find. I have a lot more experience in three different modalities than many techs, which I'm hoping a certain employer will find attractive at some point, but at the same time this also plays against me in that I am going to obviously command more money than someone younger and less experienced. I also have a nest egg saved to move my family and I over there by ourselves in case the opportunity does come eventually, and I always make potential employers aware of this right off the bat in order to try and put myself on a level playing field with local applicants.

Don't know if this helps or not, but wanted to share regardless.

[kbaker41]

I'm a little late to this thread but wanted to give my example and use this post as my first on these forums. My wife and I graduated in May, 2013, both with Bachelor's in Management Information Systems from Utah State University (non-LDS btw). We moved to Utah in 2009 to attend school and live up there temporarily for 4 years with the intention to move back to southern California or somewhere else after graduating. We had researched pretty early on after moving to Utah where we would like to settle down for the rest of our lives, and our criteria best fit with Minnesota.

Fast forward to 5 months ago and we moved into a rental house in Apple Valley with her parents who also moved from southern California at the same time. I transferred my part time job at FedEx Ground out to the Mahtomedi Hub which was a good 35 minute drive every day for 12 hours a week of work. Her Dad was working at a job where he could live anywhere so they were able to move out with us so we could all help each other.

My wife and I decided to take two weeks to relax before starting to apply for positions and once that two weeks was up we began the process of applying. My wife applied to maybe five places, two of which were not even advertised and was hired within 3 weeks of us moving out to Minnesota with a full time salaried position using her degree. At the same time, I had also been contacted by two of the places I applied to and had several phone screenings and in-person interviews which did not work out for me. At least I was getting interviews already though, which told me that the market in the Twin Cities was pretty good. While working at FedEx, I continued applying to positions and making adjustments to my resume and cover letters as needed. I ended up going to around 7 or 8 interviews, with at least 4-5 phone screenings in between that didn't lead to face-to-face interviews.

By the end of August, I decided to leave my notice at FedEx as I was not making much after driving 60 miles round trip five times a week for a small amount of hours weekly of work. About 5 weeks after leaving FedEx, I finally found my dream job which I was not expecting to get and I start next week. The week I found my job, I also had two other promising interviews and this one kind of fell in my lap out of nowhere which was amazing. So all-in-all, I would say we were really fortunate for my wife to have gotten a position so quickly and for me, especially in these times, I found work after a decent amount time.

I think with persistence and some luck, and the way the economy is in Minnesota, it shouldn't take too long to find employment, even in a targeted area. Of course everyones situation is different, but my wife and I had very limited experience in our field's of study and were able to find employment and are now grossing $84k together at 23 and 26 years old after making around $12k a year in Utah together working part time.

[thelovechef]

I desire to move to the Minneapolis metro area next summer 2014. I have worked as an executive chef, executive sous chef and unit (sous) chef at various places. I have work at the Merrill Lynch Conference and Training Center, Plainsboro, NJ, Princeton University, USFG Conference in Baltimore, Methodist University, Fayetteville, NC, Halifax Regional Medical Center, NC, Baltimore Convention Center and Camden Yards Baseball Stadium. Matter of fact I have worked in over 15 kitchens over the last 25 years to include Air Force and Navy kitchens too. Could someone share with me what are my chances of finding a great chef position in the Twin Cities Metro area. I will also graduate with a BS degree in counseling from Liberty University in 2014. Also when should I began my job search and where should I begin to look. I believe networking with other culinary professionals would be a great start. Thank you very much.

[Minntoaz]

@kbaker thank you for sharing your story! Congratulations to your wife and you!! My husband is getting his masters in information systems as his undergrad is also in that. We REALLY want to move to Minneapolis due to all my family there and the culture of Minnesota. He'll also apply to seattle as his fam is there but we're gunning for MN so this news is very encouraging! Take care and I hope you love Minnesota as much as we do

[kbaker41]

Originally Posted by Minntoaz

@kbaker thank you for sharing your story! Congratulations to your wife and you!! My husband is getting his masters in information systems as his undergrad is also in that. We REALLY want to move to Minneapolis due to all my family there and the culture of Minnesota. He'll also apply to seattle as his fam is there but we're gunning for MN so this news is very encouraging! Take care and I hope you love Minnesota as much as we do

No problem, glad I could help someone. I was told by someone I interviewed with that the Twin Cities area is second in tech and startups to Silicone Valley, CA as one of the main companies running as a startup excelerator there moved to the Twin Cities and thus the tech market is great here. That should be great for the advanced level MIS degree your husband will have. I can say that we have been here almost 6 months and absolutely love it here.

[r_shackleford]

If you have trouble finding jobs in the Twin Cities because you could always try getting to Minneapolis/St. Paul in two steps. Cities around the state or just across the border including Mankato, Rochester, St. Cloud, Duluth, Sioux Falls , Fargo, and Eau Claire should all have opportunities. You might even be surprised what you can find in towns with about 10,000 people or so. Most have at least one major employer with jobs covering a range of fields. You could look for jobs anywhere in Minnesota first, and then look in Minneapolis after you've been here for awhile.

Many businesses outside the metro struggle with attracting talent because some people want the bigger cities and others don't even realize the jobs are there. These employers are far more worried about applicants using them as a stepping stone to jobs in the Cities than they are about them relocating from other states. So don't tell them it's your plan. Most of them probably assume that anyway, but gamble that you'll like the area enough to stay.

It's certainly not the only approach, but it could be a useful strategy if you have a hard time finding opportunities closer to Minneapolis and St. Paul.