Relocating for Work? Here’s What You Need to Know

While it might be exciting to move to another city because of a new job, there are certain factors to carefully consider.  The following post tells you what to look out for.

When you land a position in a new city, state or even country, there are two things you must immediately do: 1. Have a beer (or two or three) with friends to celebrate. 2. Start planning the move. On second thought, maybe stick to just one beer, because there’s a lot to think

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Relocating for Work? Here’s What You Need to Know

Six Things You Can Do to Find a Job Faster After Being Laid Off

More layoffs were announced recently, making the long-term future of the U.S. economy far more uncertain. But more importantly, the immediate future of the people who lost their jobs – many of whom lived from paycheck to paycheck – is even more uncertain; and if what employment experts say is true, it will take most of them a minimum of six months to find new jobs. Dana Mattioli, in her article for The Wall Street Journal, Speeding Up the Process of Finding a New Position, offers several helpful tips to make the transition from laid off to newly hired happen a little more quickly.

1. Do a self assessment. Here Mattioli recommends asking yourself if maybe you need to be looking for a new career field instead of just a new job.
2. Have a financial plan in order. Here, Mattioli suggests getting your finances in order as much as possible and create a budget that will tide you over until you find a new job. She also recommends signing up for COBRA benefits, but those benefits come out of your pocket. I would recommend looking into applying for whatever medical assistance program your state offers, especially if you have little or no money in savings.
3. Go beyond the usual suspects. Tap into the hidden job market, Mattioli advises, by “reconnecting” with colleagues or friends, networking on sites like LinkedIn and joining professional associations.
4. Make yourself stand out. Instead of submitting a standard resume, submit one that demonstrates your ability to make a positive impact on or generate revenue for the organization where you hope to be employed.
5. Stay relevant. Whatever your industry, make sure you’re up-to-date with any changes by subscribing to industry newsletters, again, joining professional organizations, signing up for webinars or – if affordable – signing up for a class or seminar at a community college to help improve your skills.
6. Be patient. This is probably far, far easier to say than it is to do. There are so many people out of work these days and competing for the same jobs, so it’s going to take a while just to get an interview.

Following up any interviews with thank you notes expressing gratitude and an eagerness to become a part of the team and contribute to your new company’s success will also help.

Don’t Lose the Best Candidates Before They’ve Even Started

In a previous post, I wrote about how important it is to engage new hires the moment they walk in to start their new jobs. Lee Salz of SalesArchitecture.com wrote an article for ERE – “The New Employee’s First Day” – that illustrates that point beautifully.
Salz created a composite character, Steve Harmon, and sent him to work for a company -probably also a composite – called Newman Industries. Newman Industries did everything right when they recruited Steve, a much sought after candidate. Sadly, Newman Industries made the mistake that many employers, according to Salz, make when recruiting top candidates – they didn’t follow through.
Like a lot of employers, Newman Industries put all of their time, money and effort into wooing Steve away from the job he already had and completely forgot about making preparations for his first day at work. As a result, Steve introduced himself to a receptionist who had never heard of him, got assigned to a cubicle that still contained the belongings of the previous occupant – which he was asked to throw away – and spent all day trying to meet with his elusive mananager, Jamie. And those are just a few of the indignities Steve suffered.
By the end of the day, Steve was thoroughly disillusioned. Newman Industries wasn’t what he thought it would be when he first accepted their offer. When his wife asked him how his first day of work went, Steve replied, “‘I’m really happy that I didn’t pull my resume off the job boards or tell the recruiters that I was off the market, because I don’t know if this is going to work out. We’ll have to see.’”
“The company thought they had Steve when he accepted the offer. That was their error. They failed to recognize that they had only completed the next step of the process,” Salz explains. What Newman Industries lacks is a program that will preserve the positive impression made during the recruiting and interviewing process once the new employee arrives on his first day, he concludes.
Although Salz’s scenario was specifically about recruiting and hiring salespeople, I believe his advice applies to any employer trying to recruit and hire the best college students looking for internships and recent college graduates looking for entry level jobs.
It should also be noted that Steve was a “passive candidate,” which probably made Newman Industries feel even more proud of their accomplishment. Unfortunately for them, all that time and money was in danger of going down the drain before Steve had even been given a company email address. In this economy, it’s safe to say that companies can ill afford to make such a costly mistake when hiring new employees.