Ready to Relocate? Ten Tips for Finding a Job in Another State or City

With the dramatic increase in the average time it takes to land a new job in the "post-recession" economy, it is not surprising that many job seekers have taken their searches beyond the local level, even to a national or international scope. In a slow executive job market, more and more of my clients are broadening their horizons to look at employment opportunities far from their current location--some with enthusiasm and others with great reluctance.

A relocation strategy presents some difficulties that are not present in a local search. There are a number of practical steps you can follow, some of which have the primary goal of establishing yourself as a local, even though you do not yet reside in your target city. Some of these tips will of course apply only if you have narrowed down your targets to a single city, but many will apply even if you have multiple possible relocation targets.

1. Research and select one or several potential relocation targets.

2. Identify and research companies located in your target cities for which you would like to work.

3. Establish a local address for use when you apply for positions. Use it on all of your application materials (executive resumes, cover letters, bios, etc.).

4. Find and sign up for job alerts on geography-specific job sites. Submit your executive resume and cover letter with the localized contact info on them.

5. Subscribe to and read local publications, both online and print, including newspapers, business journals, entertainment and arts publications, etc.

6. Leverage LinkedIn's capabilities to launch your search into high gear:

      a. Follow companies in your target city or cities

      b. Establish relationships with locally based recruiters

      c. Join locally based LinkedIn groups and participate in discussions

      d. Identify and contact connections or connections of connections on LinkedIn who live in your target city, especially any who work for one of your targeted companies.

7. Make sure you can readily articulate your "story" regarding why you wish to or are in the process of relocating. Examples might be that you have friends and/or family in the area or perhaps that you want to live in an area with (insert here whatever it is that you like about the area--outdoor activities, climate, arts and culture, vibrant economy, etc.).

8. Consider investing in travel costs for out-of-town interviews. Many of the better companies who are looking to hire an executive will arrange and pay for transportation and overnight hotel for an interview, but don't expect it. Now that you've had first contact, presumably they know that you are not currently based in town. However, you have worked hard to present yourself as easily accessible and hopefully gotten past the first hurdle of being viewed as an (expensive to hire) out of town candidate by establishing a local address and contacts. So don't erase all of that by pressing for a trip on their dime.

Paying for your own interview trip is expensive financially and time-wise, but it can pay off. Do note one big caveat: Do not give the impression that you are coming to town just to see them, unless you want to be perceived as desperate. Rather, set up some other employer or recruiter interviews or at least a list of companies you might drop in on during your visit, so you can honestly say you are going to be in town anyway.

9. Begin to make self-relocation plans (if you can afford it)... either to be executed upon landing a job or perhaps if your situation permits to relocate while your job search is still underway.If you do this and can honestly tell a potential employer that your relocation is imminent, it will reduce your chance of being eliminated from consideration due to the fear of high costs in relocating you. Of course, if your new employer offers to pay for your move, all the better.

10. Lastly, and possibly most important: If you are seriously considering a move to your target city or cities, invest the time and money to go there, and bring along your spouse or significant other who would be relocating with you. (You can kill two birds with one stone by scheduling some informational, recruiter, or job interviews for during this visit.) The last thing you want to happen is to get to the job offer stage or worse yet, have arrived with your moving van, pets and children in tow only to find that the target city's environment, amenities, and lifestyle are not suitable for you and your family's long-term happiness.


Years ago my husband and I followed these strategies for one of our state-to-state moves (all except for one of the most powerful, LinkedIn, which did not exist then). We self-financed a week of exploration in our target city during which he'd prearranged about a half dozen interviews. He fielded multiple job offers from that effort, and accepted one of them.

*******

Don’t Shoot Yourself in the Foot on Federal Job Questionnaires!

Firstly, let me say that Federal applications and Federal executive resumes are NOT my area of focus, and indeed, if I receive inquiries from folks looking for assistance with them, I will typically refer them on to a specialist. However, this bit of advice from someone I would consider an unquestioned expert in this area really struck me, so I wanted to pass it along to any of my readers who may be seeking opportunities in the Federal job market.

In her email newsletter last week, Kathryn Troutman of The Resume Place provided an example of a client’s answers on a Federal questionnaire, and analyzed how this client had unintentionally sabotaged herself. As you may know, Federal job applications require not only an executive resume and Federal job application form, but also responses to a detailed and often lengthy questionnaire.

For each question, the applicant must choose one of 5 multiple choice answers, lettered from ‘A’ through ‘E’, with ‘A’ indicating the applicant is least qualified on a particular criterion, and ‘E’ indicating preferentially or most qualified. Unfortunately Kathryn’s client had chosen all ‘D’ answers, with not a single ‘E’, even though her executive resume clearly showed that she could have legitimately checked ‘E’ on a number of the questions. And this happened not just on this questionnaire, but also on those she had submitted with many other applications. Choosing all ‘D’s and no ‘E’s ensured that she would be rated as merely “qualified” and not “best qualified,” thus effectively eliminating her from the competition.

This behavior is evidence of an aspect of human nature that I encounter with many of my executive clients… The tendency to underestimate one’s worth and capabilities—being TOO modest and failing to “toot one’s own horn.” This occurs either for fear of being perceived as bragging or through a true misunderstanding of their own value.

This tendency can be fatal to a successful job search, whether reflected in your executive resume, on a Federal job application, or in interviews. It is also why it is wise to have a third party work on your career documents with you or at the very least review them to provide an objective assessment and ensure that they do not under-represent your capabilities and value proposition.

********

Privacy Considerations in Managing Your LinkedIn Presence

There’s no question about it: LinkedIn is a critical part of the executive career management and job search landscape today. With well over 90% of recruiters using it as a primary resource in trolling for candidates, you need a strong, visible presence to remain competitive.


This does present a bit of a dilemma as far as keeping your LinkedIn activities and associations private from those you do not want to see them (e.g., your current employer or colleagues) yet visible to recruiters and potential hiring managers. Here are some considerations and how-to’s for controlling who can see what on your profile and who is/is not notified of changes you may make to your profile content or your connections.


Who Can See Your Connections

Regarding who can see your connections, this is not quite the concern that it was a few years ago when anyone and everyone could see the complete list if you set your options to “Everyone.” Today this is not even an option, with the only choices being “Your Connections” or “Only You.” So if you are not connected to your boss, you are safe. If you are connected, he or she cannot see that you are newly connected to a resume writer or recruiter, unless you specifically allow it by setting the option to “Your Connections.” Using the “Only You” setting may be prudent when you are in active job search mode.


Keeping Your Interest in Opportunities Private

Similarly, your opportunity preferences are no longer visible to anyone and everyone. Under Contact Settings, you can select the type of messages you wish to receive (career opportunities, expertise requests, consulting offers, etc.). Unlike in years past, you now need have no fear that your employer will see that you are open to career opportunities, as these preferences are hidden on your profile. (LinkedIn does use them to filter you in group searches.)


Avoiding Alerting Your Network to Changes on Your Profile

If you do not want your network (your connections) to be notified of changes you make to your profile, you’ll need to disable “activity broadcasts” and “activity feed” on your LinkedIn account.

Click on “Settings” on the drop-down menu under your name (towards the right hand of your screen). Under Profile you will see Privacy Controls. There are two things you need to do here:

1) Click on the link “Turn on/off your activity broadcasts,” uncheck “Let people know when you change your profile, make recommendations, or follow companies,” and then click the blue “Save changes” button.

2) Also click on the link directly below “Turn on/off your activity broadcasts” entitled “Select who can see your activity feed.” Select “Only you,” and click the blue Save Changes button.

Additionally, when you are editing your work history, BE SURE TO UNCLICK THE CHECKBOX that appears when you populate or repopulate/edit an employment section. LinkedIn has recently added this check box that you must UNCLICK so that none of your connections are notified of this update!!

Even if you have modified settings so you can conduct a secret update, if you leave this box checked (which is the default), LinkedIn will generate an email to all of your connections!


Once you are comfortable with others seeing your network building activities, you can re-enable activity broadcasts and make your activities again visible to either your network or all.


You Joined LinkedIn to Be Visible, and You ARE!

All of this being said, there is no real assurance of privacy once you have created a profile on LinkedIn. You can specify that your PUBLIC profile (the one linked to from your Public Profile URL) is not included in outside search engine results so that it is not visible outside of the LinkedIn internal universe. You can also allow it to be included in outside search engine results, but be very selective in exactly what parts of your profile are included in your public profile. Note that if you are including your Public Profile URL in your job search communications and documents (such as your executive resume), you probably do want it to include the bulk of the information that is in your full profile.

Be aware that your "regular" (internal) LinkedIn profile IS visible to anyone logged in to LinkedIn (anyone who has a profile/is a member of LinkedIn). However, limited content will be viewable by members unless they are a first or second level connection OR are a paid/premium subscriber.

It is a good idea to review your Settings on LinkedIn regularly, as LinkedIn has a history of making rather major changes quietly and without letting you know how they may affect you.

********

Top Retained Executive Search Firms Ranked for 2012-13

The site topexecutivesearchfirms.com ranks retained executive search firms based on a complex algorithmic model using proprietary weighting of the following criteria: annual revenue, number of placements, number of ancillary services or practice areas, level of searches handled by average salary, completion ratio, average time to complete, stick rate, client satisfaction (testimonials/votes), social media presence, and executive thought leadership. They also negatively weight adverse circumstances (e.g. candidate exited based upon discovery which the search firm should have filtered, client litigation, poaching, etc.).

The top 5 results for 2012-13 are as follows:
Boyden
Korn Ferry International
Transearch
Egon Zehnder
N2Growth
View the Top 20 countdown style list at:
http://www.topexecutivesearchfirms.com/category/executive-search-firms/

You can also access details regarding the firms' practice areas, chief executives, and major companies with whom they have worked. All of this information will be useful in learning more about a firm that may have contacted you, or in determining to whom it would make most sense to submit your executive resume.

*****

Some Major Mistakes Seen on Executive Resumes

There are so many mistakes and "no-no's" on executive resumes that a Top 5, Top 10, or even Top 20 list couldn't adequately cover them all. But here are a few you'll want to make sure your resume doesn't contain before putting it out there in the marketplace:

• The typical "objective statement" is considered fluff by most recruiters and hiring managers, and justifiably so since most of them are nothing more than fluff. An executive summary or profile is a much better beginning for your executive resume... making a mini business case for why you are the solution to a company's business problem(s) and why they need to pick up the phone and call you. One partial exception to this is a situation where the targeted position is quite different from or significantly higher than roles the candidate has held during his or her career. But in this instance, a good solution is instead of leading with a headline describing what role you currently occupy, to lead with something like: Target Role: CEO, followed by the profile info which backs up how you are qualified for this role.
• Beware of vague and stilted language that in a boring fashion lists what you were "responsible for." Instead, talk about tangible, measurable results you delivered.
• Squeezing a 25-30 year career into one or one and a half pages. For high-level executives, academics, and IT professionals, resumes can reasonably go to 3 or sometimes 4 pages. The key is to fold the first page in half and look at what's above the fold. If you've created that mini business case mentioned above, the reader will be looking to flesh out the story. However, this is by no means a license to wax eloquent and verbose!
• Being too modest and self-effacing. This is one time in your life you need to "toot your own horn," because if you don't someone else will get the interview. Don't be afraid to highlight your true, verifiable accomplishments (of course, giving credit where credit is due for team efforts, etc.).
• Trying to create a resume that will market you effectively for widely divergent roles... Firstly, recruiters and hiring executives are very driven by category-specific experience in a candidate. Secondly, there's truth to the saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none."

In upcoming articles, I'll highlight some other "must-avoids" in executive resume writing, as well as some very important "Do's."

******

You Have to Laugh: Really Dumb Interview Questions

As we're all preoccupied with the holiday rush, I hope this list of really dumb interview questions that were actually asked in real interviews this year will brighten your day. Odd, quirky, unbelievably personal, some of them even banned by law, but that didn't stop interviewers from asking them. CNNMoney cites the results of a survey conducted by talent management consultants on more than 2,000 recently hired employees in this article:

"The Dumbest Interview Questions of 2012"

Certainly the one about willingness to add toxicity to your life is a no-brainer, but my personal favorite is ""What leadership skills are required to cook a chicken?"

******

Straight From the Horse's (Recruiter's) Mouth

Courtesy of valued colleague Susan Britton Whitcomb of The Academies, these results from a recent Korn-Ferry survey provide valuable insight into what are the most important criteria when recruiters and hiring executives consider an executive candidate.

Here are their responses to the question, "When comparing finalists for an executive position, what gives one candidate the biggest 'edge'?"

Cultural fit 42%

Character/personality 32%

Work experience 17%

Growth potential 8%

Educational background 1%

The good news is that lack of higher education may not be quite the stumbling block or career limiter that some have thought. It is also apparent that personality and culture fit are far more heavily weighed than work history.

These facts show how extremely important it is to prepare well for interviews, thoroughly researching the company and its corporate culture. They also show that it is critical to arrive at your interviews well rested, calm, and in a positive, communicative mood.

*******