Career Peace

Here’s a question I saw online and felt compelled to answer: “I’m moving to another city and need to have a job in that city before I move there. What is the best way of going about this?”

Finding a job in another city is challenging, but not impossible. But you have to go about it systematically and sensibly. There are many ways to do this. Below, I outline one possible way.

Be advised, without knowing any more about this person’s situation than they gave in the question stem, I didn’t have a lot to go on other than “stay out of the personnel departments.” Nonetheless, I felt compelled to steer this poor soul in a direction I thought might be somewhat helpful.

So here’s my answer…

The first thing I have to ask is why do you want to move to a city before you know there’s work there for you? That’s the one you have to answer first. Let’s assume you have a great reason and you know there are jobs there with companies that will value your skills enough to hire you. Assuming that…

Do some research. Go online and find what companies there are that have the jobs you want.

Then ask some family members or friends if they know of anyone in that city that you can call on the phone. Call them on the phone and ask them who they know in those companies you’re interested in working for. Then telephone those people and ask their advice on getting hired in that company.

Once you get 3-4 people in those target companies willing to give you advice, plan a trip to that city for a couple of days. Offer to take those people to lunch so you can pick their brains in person.

This is called an informational interview, and you need to become good at doing them. They pay off in spades when you get ahold of the right person who can help you.

Once they see you and shake your hand and can tell you’re an ok guy to work with, they’re likely to pass your name and number to their bosses with a personal recommendation. Then you have an inside track into those companies.

Your goal in all this is to stay out of the personnel department if at all possible. Go directly to the hiring manager or someone who works for that authority.

Job relocation is challenging enough. But relocating to a city without first having a job there is risky business. How do you know there’s a job there you won’t just hate? Again, do some research before you go there, and make a few visits prior to moving there.

The benefit to you will be a lot less job stress and a better idea if you really should be moving there in the first place. With some concerted effort and a lot of help from some new friends, finding a job in a new city will be a lot easier.

informational interviews job relocation job search Job Stress

You just got back home from your job interview. You did your homework. You prepared for the interview. You armed yourself with valuable information on the company. You dressed well, spoke well, and had a good solid job resume. You genuinely felt like there was nothing more you could have done to make the interview go any better.

But they turned you down.

After you get over the initial shock of their negative response, you’ll undoubtedly replay the interview scenario over in your mind. “What could they possibly not have liked about me? My clothes? My breathe, perhaps? What could I have done differently to have at least made it to the next step in the interview process?”

Don’t feel like you’re the only one who has ever had these reactions. We all have. And probably will again. It just comes with the position you’ve found yourself in: job seeker.

Remember, finding the right job is a lot like finding the right spouse. 99.9% of the job interviews you go one are going to end in your NOT getting the job. You’re looking for the one that doesn’t.

True, getting through the “no’s” takes a lot of time and effort - not to mention the emotional let downs when it becomes clear that your most recent effort won’t turn into a job offer for you. But you’ve got to go through it…kind of like Georgia on your way to Florida. You’ve got to go through it.

That’s why it’s so important to know what jobs you truly want before you even begin interviewing, but that’s another topic for another day (so keep your feed reader pointed right here at Career Peace).

But just know this: if the job interview you just went on didn’t produce a job offer, know this: There is NOTHING wrong with you!

You weren’t the one they were looking for? Well, guess what? They weren’t the one you were looking for, either. That company just happens to be in the 99.9%. You just didn’t happen to find this out until you met them.

How many first dates have you gone on where it became painfully clear that this relationship was going to come to a grinding halt as soon as you said ‘good night?’

Smile. Write them a thank you note, and move on to the next potential employer.

When you prepare for a job interview, theres one principle of human relations that you should always keep in mind. Regardless of the size of the company, always remember that the person interviewing you is another live human being. He has needs, wants, and emotions, just like you do.

And if you understand this principle of human relations, the better chance you have of coming out of the interview with a positive outcome. That principle is this: all humans have an ego. Some big. Some small. Some gargantuan. You must understand this and give that interviewers ego the special care it needs.

Now, dont take that to mean that you should slather insincere flattery on the interviewer like whipped cream on your morning Starbucks Capuccino. Even the most shallow of interviewers can see through that. No, you want to give the interviewer what Dale Carnegie says all humans want: you want to make them feel important.

How To Make A Good Impression on the Job Interviewer

Now, granted, the guy (or gal) who interviews you probably wont be the CEO of the company (unless its a very small company). He or she may be several rungs down the ladder in the HR department. But if you can connect with that interviewerand make him feel important, you increase your chances of at least getting to the next step in the hiring process.

How do you go about making someone feel important when you know very little about them? The late human relations expert, Dale Carnegie, did it this way…

“I was in line to register a letter in the post office and 33rd St and 8th Ave in New York and noticed that the clerk appeared to be bored with the job winning envelopes handing out stamps making change issuing receipts. The same monotonous grind, year after year.

So I said to myself, I am going to try to make that clerk like me obviously to make him like me. I must say something nice, not about myself, but about him. So I asked, what is there about him, but I can honestly admire?”

“So while he was weighing my envelope, I remarked with enthusiasm I certainly wish I had your head of hair. Well it isn’t as good as it used to be, he said modestly.

I assured him that although it might have lost some of its pristine glory, nevertheless it was still magnificent.

He was immensely pleased we carried out a pleasant little conversation and the last thing he said to me was ‘Many people have admired my hair.’ I’ll bet that person went out to lunch that day walking on air.”

Now, I’m not suggesting that you complement every job interviewer you see, on his nice hair, but the principle is the same. You know your interviewer is trying to put the companys best foot forward. Help him get that job done by complimenting his company.

Arm Yourself With These Facts Before The Job Interview

One of the best ways I know to do this is research. Few things impress an interviewer more than your coming to an interview armed with accurate background information about the company that he represents. What kind of information could you gain that might make a good impression on an interviewer? Here are a few ideas for you…

• The companys latest stock price if the company has an Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP), the interviewer probably owns some shares and keeps track of it himself.
• The companys mission statement you can usually find this on the company website, probably on the About page, which most companies have.
• Recent feel good news stories about the company do a search on Google for news about the company youll be interviewing with. I just Googled Motorola News and came up with a letter from the CEO that recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal. This would be great information to talk about during an interview.

Companies love to have their ego stroked. Like individual people, they like to feel important. You can make them feel that way by showing the interviewer that his company is important enough for you to know about.

Do that youre sure to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Most job hunters wont do this. Im reminded of the MBA candidate who walked into an interview with IBM. The interviewer led off with the question what does IBM stand for? The MBA didnt know that answer. Interview over.