Moving To Atlanta (Beginining of 2013) (Sandy Springs, Roswell: Home Depot, job market, school)

[MrsAMC]

Hello, I am moving to Atlanta in the near future and I have been applying for jobs but I have not been getting any response. Is it more difficult to get employers in Atlanta to hire out of state employees? I will have my bachelors degree in healthcare management and I am hoping to land a decent career with decent pay. I have been looking in the Roswell, Sandy Springs and Marietta area as far as housing goes. Should I get in contact with a staffing agency to find a job? What is the best route to go? Also what are some of the best company's to work for in healthcare in the Atlanta area? Thanks so much for all advice

[researchnerd]

The job market in Atlanta is still really tough. Among people I know (very unscientific survey), finding a new job can take two years or more, especially for people with good education and experience. Jobs in less-skilled areas like food service, retail, and customer service seem to be a bit easier to find. In addition, companies are inundated with resumes from people who live here, so I suspect any potential candidates they might have to relocate would be second choice.

There are some great healthcare companies to work for in Atlanta - do a Google search and you will find them.

I have two recommendations:
1) Be sure to find a job here before moving, or have at least 2+ years of living expenses saved up. You don't want to go to the trouble of moving here and then have to move back, or be stuck.
2) Consider getting a local address and phone number to put on your resume. The UPS mailbox places offer addresses that look like street addresses (instead of PO boxes) and will forward your mail for a fee. You can get a free Google Voice number that forwards to your phone.

[cwkimbro]

There are no legal or tax barriers discouraging it that I am aware of. It might be considered lower cost to hire local (no relocation expenses, waiting, etc...). Atlanta also has a good pool of educated applicants for most jobs making it hard to not find people locally. Also, if your degree is from out-of-state, employers might not know the school as much or have much experience with people who graduated from there... so it might be seen as a slightly higher risk. This is often where job experience/background is -slightly- important and you didn't mention experience/prior career, but wanted to land a career?

Also I'm curious... where are you coming from?

I saw what you said about decent pay... it made me curious if you've been putting expected pay on applications and if so, if it is high or low ... for this area (not NYC, DC, etc..). You also said "application" instead of "resume." If you haven't make sure every resume sent includes a cover letter specifically for that job position at that specific company (yes, this requires work for every place to send a resume in).

Atlanta pay is about middle of the road, but cost of living is much cheaper. Most people here can make more in NYC, but they are here for lifestyle and/or low cost of living.

Our job market is really soft, but the healthcare industry is better than most other industries.

I don't know what your reasons for moving here are (if Atlanta is a -must-), but if you have less experience and want to move into the area... you might find Georgia's smaller cities have healthcare jobs that provide better entry level stepping stones. Hospitals in small cities that might not have as robust of a college educated population often have to hire outsiders.

Augusta in general (might have more competition), but has a huge booming medical industry (more jobs) thanks to proximity of the state's major medical university.

Also, remember... building experience might mean needing to be flexible on entry level location and pay.

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by MrsAMC

Is it more difficult to get employers in Atlanta to hire out of state employees?

Yes! If you were hiring and received 20 resumes from local qualified candidates and 5 resumes from non-local candidates, who would you contact for an interview?

Do you know anyone here that will let you use their address?
*Assuming an employer bites, you'll have to be ready to interview and move quickly though...

[MrsAMC]

Is the healthcare market tough though? I see so many jobs available in healthcare

[MrWJr]

Very good topic! My wife and I will be relocating to ATL for my job in January, and she also has a Healthcare Admin degree. We have had terrible luck here in SC with her finding a meaningful job, but we are hoping that changes when we move. As mentioned, there seems to be a number of jobs available, we just dont know what it takes to get a look..

[Humanista]

Originally Posted by MrWJr

Very good topic! My wife and I will be relocating to ATL for my job in January, and she also has a Healthcare Admin degree. We have had terrible luck here in SC with her finding a meaningful job, but we are hoping that changes when we move. As mentioned, there seems to be a number of jobs available, we just dont know what it takes to get a look..

Also keep in mind, just because a job is posted, it doesn't mean that the company is actually hiring for it. Sometimes they are evaluating the market or are disorganized and do not take down invalid positions, etc. It seems counter-intuitive, but I know Home Depot, for example, has corporate jobs on their website that have been posted for months. I've heard this issue concerning other companies as well.

[cetaylor83]

Just wondering how your search for housing and work is going. I too am moving in Jan to Atlanta. Just curious.
Thanks