Relocating? Change your address, NOW!


by John Crant  Wednesday, December 02, 2009

John Crant is an Author, Career Coach and Speaker on Job Search through his seminar and lecture series at corporate events, at the YMCA in NYC, at The New York Public Library's JOB SEARCH CENTRAL, he works with Workforce Development organizations, and his specially designed series is helping colleges and universities with the Secrets to Launching Your Career in a Changed Job Market.


Question:

I’m relocating about two hours from where I live now, but I can’t seem to get anyone to respond to my resume. Am I missing something?

-Signed,

Moving within state


Even in normal times, employers are going to always look at local job candidates first, as it’s just a natural first step. Remember, resumes are usually sorted into three stacks as they arrive, with the first stack being the local, most likely-to-be-a-fit candidates that will get looked at first (and those resumes are quite possibly the only ones really looked at, as new resumes are arriving all the time these days).

Job Candidates often ’say’ they will or want to relocate, but really have no intention to do so, unless they get a job in the new location. So, you can hardly blame a potential employer for screening-out those resumes from out-of-town.

If you truly are going to relocate, no matter what, then you need to ‘be’ a local candidate. Change your address location now. This information is still accurate, if you are actually looking for housing, but are still in transition during your move to the new location.

Do you have your new address yet? Then update your resume to reflect your address, at the new location. Don’t have your new address yet, but have a friend in the area? Ask your friend if it’s okay to use their address, temporarily, until you do have your own local address in the new area. And, if you do not have a friend in the area, just truncate your new address and only show the city/state/zip where you will be settling, without the street portion showing. That’s not too unusual these days with privacy issues over the Internet, etc.

Don’t worry too much about your phone number change (unless you have your new one already). But, for the time being, you should remove any home number in the ‘old’ location, as it sends the wrong message, and just use your cell phone number on your resume - and be sure to clearly identify it as your cell phone number. These days, people are much more accustomed to seeing cell phone numbers with the prefix portion showing a number from outside of the local area, as more people are opting to keep their cell numbers, rather than change them. Many people travel quite a bit anyway and it can be more of a hassle to notify all of your contacts of a new cell phone number when making that kind of change.

Now, you are a ‘local’ candidate, and if you have also performed a Resume Renovation to increase your resume’s value (from my Self-Recruiter® Changing the Rules: How to Be Your Own Recruiter & Ride the Economic Crisis to Your Next Career Challenge book), you should make it into stack ‘number one’ when they are sorting, and that is certainly a step in the right direction, and a location where you would like to be.

Copyright © 2009 by John Crant
 
An avid outdoorsman, the author revels in testing our natural traits of self-questioning and doubting that can usually help us avoid one of the major things we face in life: risk. But without risk, there is little reward. Yes, we do need to question and doubt at every step of the way to be sure that our selections and choices allow for the best possible chance of success. But we must interminably challenge ourselves, if we are to achieve our dreams.

As an industry manager, executive recruiter, recruiting and sales trainer, event speaker, and as VP of a nationwide system of recruitment offices, the author has seen most every aspect of the hiring process from both the internal and external view as the decision-maker, the decision-influencer, and as the objective observer. This varied insight is what provides the clarity you will find in his personal coaching, in his lectures, and in his book.

“Trust and have faith in yourself. Work and develop your abilities as a Self-Recruiter, and never shy away from the most difficult and unappetizing pieces, and you could end up in the place you might never have expected: the top.”

John Crant is an Author, Career Coach and Speaker on Job Search through his seminar and lecture series at corporate events, at the YMCA in NYC, at The New York Public Library's JOB SEARCH CENTRAL, he works with Workforce Development organizations, and his specially designed series is helping colleges and universities with the Secrets to Launching Your Career in a Changed Job Market.

To contact John, e-mail him at john@selfrecruiter.com or call (212) 372-9878.

John's new Book on Job Hunting Secrets is: Self-Recruiter® Changing the Rules: How to Be Your Own Recruiter & Ride the Economic Crisis to Your Next Career Challenge. Copyright © 2009 by John Crant.