If I got to choose a coast I got to choose the East

As usual, I’ve been applying crazily to jobs, searching every job board that I can think of. I’m single, no kids, fresh out of college and willing to take on the world and explore as many places as possible, but from my experience, many of job postings specifically say: Do not apply if you are not a local resident (or the new one Unemployed need not apply whhaat??). I’m willing to move pretty much anywhere within the United States, but if there is somewhere that I really don’t think I’d want to move to, I don’t apply for the job (obviouslyyy, that’d be silly). Maybe I still apply for the job if I think it’d be a really awesome opportunity, though. I could move across the country for a job I loved, and learned to figure out a way to love wherever I was. Find some friends, settle into your apartment and job, and anywhere can be called home. For example, though, a lot of the job openings that I find are in New York City, but I already know that I do not want to move there, so I don’t apply for jobs there. A lot of other places I’ll still give a shot. I’m not really sure what my bias is toward NYC, I used to always think I wanted to live there, I guess after my few visits there and some, maybe most of the people I’ve met or know from the City, and no thanks. Eventually, though, maybe I’ll have to put my prejudice aside and take a leap to the big city, until then, I’ll take my chances elsewhere.

Anyway, I was looking up some information about applying to jobs that are out of state. I haven’t had much luck hearing back from a lot of the places that I’ve applied to, say in Colorado or Texas. I’ve literally been all over the map in my quest for a job. I figured that a company would be more likely to hire someone who was close, but I thought that I’d still give it a shot. I also realized that I needed to seriously consider where I would want to live, and narrowed it down to a smaller area that’s still on the East Coast, so I wouldn’t be too far away from my family and friends. So no hard feelings to those companies out west, because I’ve never even been to Colorado.

In my search I found this website, askamanager.org, which is a blog written by Alison Green. One of the questions asked on the blog was, obviously, about applying to jobs out-of-state. She says that location matters, “especially those that attract an overwhelming number of applicants,” aka entry-level positions. It would end up costing the company more money (to fly you in) and time (waiting for you move, get settled, etc) to hire an out of towner, so your application basically just goes in the trash can. She gives two tips to get around those obstacles, 1. State in your cover letter that you are planning to move to that city and don’t need relocation assistance, 2. Make it clear in your cover letter that you would be happy to get yourself to their city for an interview.

I’m proud to say that I have included those two bits into several of my cover letters when I was applying to jobs in Pittsburgh (one of my narrowed down locales to apply to). It wouldn’t be too long of a drive and since I’m not working right now, I knew that I could make the trip without having any other engagements holding me back. I don’t really know if it’s helped though, because I still haven’t heard back from too many places that are more than an hour or two away. Either way, all of this applying to jobs and rewriting my cover letters gives me something to do, right?

Hey, what about me

Included in all of the emails I receive everyday, one of them is a newsletter from Simply Hired. Periodically they send me a few different articles that I may find helpful or interesting during my job search.

Today, one of the articles found in the newsletter was Research is Key: 7 Questions to Answer Before Applying to Any Company. The other day I wrote about making sure you avoid applying for scam jobs, which included doing research on the company, so you can do all of this research at once – make sure it’s a real company company and figure out if you’d actually want to work there.

It’s tough because at this point I feel like I’d be willing to work anywhere. I’m frustrated, bored, and I feel kind of useless not going into everyday with real structure, like work. I want to make money, I want to do something with all of my time. However, I suppose that in order to be happy with your job, and not want to pull out your hair everyday, you should make sure that it is something that you would actually want to do. Here are the seven things that author Joanna Riley Weidenmiller (CEO of One Page Proposal) suggests:

What is this company? Visit the company website and learn about the company’s mission statement, foundation, executive staff, and most importantly, the products or services provided.
What kind of customers does this company deal with? Learn about the products or services the company offers and who buys it. If you’re hired, these are the people you will be dealing with on a daily basis. Look up customer reviews about the company and see where the problems are. This will also give you something to talk about in your application and interview.
Who are their competitors? Figure out who the top-notch competitors are. What are the competitors doing similarly and differently? Is there something that the competitors are doing that this company is falling short? You might find that the competitor is a better company to apply to.
What makes this company special? Google the company to see what other people are saying. Look up professional and customer reviews of products and services provided.
What are the employees like? How big is the company? If you are hired, will you be a one-person department or on a large team? Most importantly, do they enjoy working for the company? Check out LinkedIn and Facebook to find current and former employees to contact. You’d be surprised to learn the dirty truth about your “dream” company. (You can also check out glassdoor)
What are some of the skill/experience gaps within the department that I can fill? Obviously, if they’re hiring, there’s a gap that needs to be filled. However, chances are, your company in question doesn’t realize exactly which skills, experience, and ideas they need. Beyond matching the job description, ensure that you match that gap.
Who would hire me? One great way to ensure that an employer won’t hire you is to make sure not to know their name. While “to whom it may concern” is a polite alternative to writing a name, it screams generic and doesn’t stand out. Most hiring manager’s names are easily accessible on LinkedIn, the job posting, or the company website. Go a step further and do some light research on them, you’ll have a better idea of who you’re meeting. (a question was raised about this in the comment section, what if you still can’t find a name, Weidenmiller says to call the company’s HR office to find out)

So basically, before we can even apply for a job we have a lot of work to do. Were things always this difficult? Simply Hired also told me that nationwide job openings declined -3.8% from May, but are up from June 2010. The job competition improved to 4:1 (job seekers to job openings) from 5:1. West Palm Beach, Pittsburgh, Portland, Phoenix, and Sacramento, they stated, all became better places for job seekers. Happy searching today!