Relocating, tips for job hunting?

My wife and I are pretty sure we’re leaving Alaska in the next 1-3 years. Our kids are getting to school age and unless something good happens in Juneau I don’t see a good future for public schools up here, among the other budgetary and infrastructure concerns. Additionally we’d like a little less winter and to be closer to family. I’d like to get back in to Solo and somewhere I can ride motorcycles more of the year, preferably off-road. 

Her family is in New Mexico, mainly in Albuquerque. We’ve got friends in Bend, OR and friends moving to the Fort Collins area too, so those are the three areas we’re looking at.  (My mom is in Baltimore, but I’m not moving back east, and my dad wanders the earth. ) Thoughts and opinions on those places? 

But the real point of this, neither of us have had to search for a job since 2011. We currently work for Alaskan companies without offices outside the state, so changing offices isn’t an option.  Last time I just googled “seasonal jobs in Alaska” and got lucky to find something that led to a career of sorts.  My wife moved here expecting to take a summer off and instead ended up managing a hotel. 

How do people post and find jobs now? Are there any online listing services worth a damn?  What about recruiters? What can we do to not get tossed in the spam pile since we’re out of state? I’m a wine salesman for a wholesaler, she’s the GM if a retirement community, for what it’s worth.

Having been downsized for the first time a couple of months ago I’m now hot and heavy into the job search. I’m amazed at how useful LinkedIn is.   I thought it was a waste of time until I started exploring and using it. It may not apply for you, but I’m finding it really useful for making contact with people in potential companies and I’ve yet to find a position that isn’t advertised on there that is advertised elsewhere. 

When I was laid off back in 2015, I found exactly zero luck looking out of state. I spoke with multiple recruiters out of state who said the same thing, even though I was in a position to move myself....no relocation help needed.

In 2-4 years we'd like to move out of OKC, so I've had to accept I'm going to need to move to the market I want to be (I'm lucky that I can go full remote), then try to find a job once I've moved.

It will be more difficult when moving to a new area, but networking is the way to go.  Talk to everyone you know, then talk to everyone they know, and so on.  Sooner or later you'll talk to someone who is looking to hire someone with your talents.

Interesting- I’ve already told Alaska Rubber that I might retire early, move to Anchorage, and work in sales for them.  They’re expecting me to show up in 2024 and you want to leave.  

https://alaskarubbergroup.com/stores/alaska-rubber-rigging-supply-anchorage/

Get referrals from wineries you sell for to distributors where you want to move.  Research the wine distributors in those places and contact before you move to network for opportunities.

Same networking for your wife.  Retirement places in some areas are part of a group.  Reach out early and don’t get discouraged.

ABQ might lack in some respects, but like most places in the more isolated west, there are tons of employers looking for good people. I think the competition in places like Bend or Fort Collins will be significantly stiffer. Bend will attract folks from Portland and Seattle, Northern CA, etc, and Fort Collins will draw lots of applicants from Denver. ABQ doesn't really get many people from Denver, Phoenix, or El Paso. 

One advantage in Fort Collins or Bend that you have is your experience in the beverage industry. I think both of those towns are pretty into beer.

ABQ also doesn't have a good rep with many in the southwest. Everyone I know in Arizona dislikes Albuquerque even if the state itself is pretty amazing for outdoorsy people. Even people who have family in the suburbs of ABQ. The usual reason is that there are a lot of small crimes in the downtown area, and they wrongly associate ABQ with Breaking Bad and drugs. 

I always say that if given the opportunity I'd sooner live in ABQ than PHX. 

Schools in Fort Collins are likely pretty good, in Bend you probably don't have many options, and in ABQ you probably have lots of options. 

I always suggest people take a look at the usajobs.gov website and see if there is anything that interests them in the area they want to live in.  I can’t really complain about being a fed.

I found the best two sites to be LinkedIn and USAJobs. 

If either of you are in upper management then you can sign up with a recruiting firm. 

From two separate HR specialist I was told to list my future potential address and simply say that is where I will commute from. They said the percentage of people that accept a job out of state is very low. So to get past the initial scepticism you need to imply that your move is already in process. 

Be honest are you really moving into the 1 bedroom apartment that you can afford in that town? Don't mislead yourself, it will take a while but you should get some nibbles. 

I can tell you that recruiters use LinkedIn almost exclusively now, you need to know how it works and you need to have your profile top notch. There are lots of sites with info out there, do your research. 

I recommend having a word/text version of your resume in addition to a nicely designed version. You will apply to lots of jobs, and each one requires filling out the same info over and over again. When you answer a question, do it in Word first. That way, you get the advantage of spell-check (use Grammarly too) and you can save your answer to submit on other applications. I had a multi-page document of well-written and grammatically correct answers to common questions that I could cut-and-paste into applications. 

You should also make a list of target companies in the area where you want to relocate and sign up for their listings within their career portals. They often post there before anywhere else. Expand on that by connecting with recruiters at those companies and recruiters in that area through LinkedIn. Networking is faster and more successful than any other method but takes effort. 

Finally, Google yourself and check your Facebook profile. They will do the same and even if they are not friends with you, they will see your FB feed. 

Also, since you work with wine, don't visit Sonoma, CA. You will fall in love an never want to leave and I have no idea if they have schools there.  

LinkedIn worked wonders for me moving out of state.  

I got repeated calls from recruiters and 1 of them actually landed me the job I just started 3 weeks ago.

It took about 3 months to get 2 job offers, but I was picky.

Make sure you check out YouTube videos on how to write a resume and create your linked in profile.  E36 M3 changed from when I last went job searching 8 years ago.

The resume should be directed at how you made your previous companies money, not a description of your activities.

Networking networking networking. Use all possible angles to make friends who can help you where you want to go. 

You said no east coast, but you might want to look into Asheville, NC.  This is a big retirement area and there are a ton of micro-breweries here, including some bigger ones like Sierra Nevada and Highlands Brewery.  There is also the Biltmore House Winery.  We have an active local autocross scene, a few hours drive for track events, and miles and miles of mountain roads.  The schools are okay.  True be told, our girls are in a private school.

I got my current position by word-of-mouth, but LinkedIn seems to be a great place to network.

Asheville has a more difficult job market than any of the other places he was looking, maybe about even with Bend. 

Asheville, NC Population: 91,902 (2017) - Nearest Larger Metro Area - Greenville 1hr

Bend, OR Population: 94,520 (2017) - Nearest Larger Metro Area - Salem or Eugene at 2.5 hours

Fort Collins, CO Population: 165,080 (2017)  - Nearest Larger Metro Area - Denver 1hr (although Longmont, Loveland and Boulder all have strong job markets) 

Albuquerque, NM Population: 558,545 (2017)  - Nearest Larger Metro Area - El Paso at 3.5 hours.

LinkedIn is the online answer. 

But the better answer is to switch jobs NOW, before moving. 

You should both be able to find jobs in your field working for companies with a presence in the area you want to move to. 

Then when the time comes, just ask for a transfer. 

That’s  what I did. I live in SC, but my kids and grandkids are mostly in ATL.  I expect to want to live there in a few years. My company has an Atlanta office. 

When the time comes, I’ll just tell them I want to relocate. They won’t want to lose me. It should be simple. 

I'll repeat the LinkedIn recommendation - that's how I got my job.

As for location, I live in Bend and, although the town is awesome, the job market is not easy. We make it work because my wife is a physician and I'm a sales guy, with a big territory. Most of my neighbors/friends are either independently wealthy, retired, work remote, or are barely surviving at a service job. 

However, Portland and Seattle are booming so you could probably find a job in either place without any problem. There are some smaller towns close to those metro areas if you don't want the city life. 

If you are looking at the Ft. Collins area, Look at the craft beer market up there. There are a lot of the guys in the Longmont and Ft. Collins area if you are looking to stay into that industry. Lot of possibilities to network and get into something early.

Currently there are over 150 breweries in the Front Range. With that, keep an eye on the local specialty magazines and reach out to the different operations even if they don't have jobs listed. Since you are looking at the long game here, the next 1-3 years is relationship building. From there, find out where they are going to be potentially from a festival/event landscape and make time to meet them if you can. 

Mike

SVreX said:

LinkedIn is the online answer. 

But the better answer is to switch jobs NOW, before moving. 

You should both be able to find jobs in your field working for companies with a presence in the area you want to move to. 

Then when the time comes, just ask for a transfer. 

That’s  what I did. I live in SC, but my kids and grandkids are mostly in ATL.  I expect to want to live there in a few years. My company has an Atlanta office. 

When the time comes, I’ll just tell them I want to relocate. They won’t want to lose me. It should be simple. 

While being able to transfer would be the easy answer, it’s not possible in either of our industries as there’s no national options here. 

Sounds like LinkedIn is the answer. I have a profile, but I’ve got work to do. 

Someone somewhere is searching the ends of the earth for someone with your exact skill set.

Can’t stress LinkedIn enough. I have a great job that I enjoy and not looking to jump ship - hopefully never again.  I’m pretty active on LinkedIn but I get endless messages from recruiters. 2-3 a week trying to steal me. 

I have a very complete in-depth profile on LinkedIn. 

When I started it (probably 10 years ago), it didn’t do much. 

Then LI took off. For the last three years I have consistently gotten about 40 hits per month (with NO effort on my part)

This week, I got 50 pages views in one week. 

I am not job hunting, and completely inactive. But I have a well done profile, and SOMEBODY must be looking for what I’ve got. 

I have no intention of ever changing jobs again. I’ll be here until I retire. But I will still keep my LinkedIn account complete and up to date. It has become my safety net.