Getting hired in another state

[ASOT]

Originally Posted by PhantomByte

How do I go about getting a job far from home? I am a recent college graduate so I wouldn't have skills that are rare, so I probably wont be courted across country. Is it possible to get a job across country if I make it clear I would be willing to fly out for interviews and relocate on my own money? The other thing I was thinking was using a fake address on my resume and flying out to do the interview. Does that sound like a bad idea?

Finding a job in another state is very a long and difficult process now, but it is possible. You're likely better off taking the plunge and moving without secured employment... that was a pretty common bit of advice for grads when I finished college in 2007. Mobility is so low now that it might be influencing the unemployment rate.

Definitely mention to pay for relocation in your cover letter. The only companies that do now tend to be the large ones, and usually it is reserved for senior level positions and people with skills that are hard to find. I personally would not recommend that you offer to pay for last-minute airfare. There is no guarantee that you'll get the job, and they will choose the local candidate almost every time. If the company is legitimately interested in you, then they should be the ones to pay for it. There are a few stories on here about people that spent thousands of dollars on last minute airfare and got nowhere, and a few months ago there was a thread on here with two or three posters saying they never got reimbursed for travel expenses (or it took many phone calls/harassing) when the company agreed to do so. Fortunately there are some companies that will interview via Skype.

I agree with others about the fake address. It's dumb and a potential huge inconvenience for you. A better idea would be to get a Google phone number that has your desired destination's area code, and have it forward calls to your phone. By doing this the employer might think you have local ties.

[andrewC7]

Originally Posted by groar

i just got an out of state job after a long search (but it was long partly because i was being picky). i put in the first paragraph of my cover letter that i was moving to the area, why (to be closer to family in my case) .

"to be closer to family"...does this family exist, or did you lie about them?

In other words, can you use the "relocating" and "family" cards for pretty much any location even if they have no truth?

[Jean71]

Sadly the U.S.A. seems to be very behind when it comes to this.
Many countries will do Skype interviews if you're at a distance. In the U.S, employers still want face to face interviews.

My brothers wife got a very good job in NZ from the UK via Skype interview.

[ultimateguy8]

Originally Posted by Emigrations

In most cases, a new graduate simply won't have enough skills to be hired out of state. Unless you have a special skill, there are probably enough local graduates with your skill already looking for work.

The goal of all companies is to look for the best candidates whether they be found locally or across the country. A national company can certainly afford to fly in 5-10 final candidates after screening the rest of the qualified applicants through a series of phone interviews. And it's not just the large, national companies who are searching all over - I interviewed with a small start up company out in Silicon Valley and they paid for me to fly out of Connecticut to interview.

Virtually every single job that I looked at was out of state and I still got a considerable amount of interest from these employers. I wouldn't really say I had special skills either. I was a math and applied physics major in college. I just was able to sell myself and show interest in their company/the job I was applying for.