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I was recently coaching with an international executive education program, where a number of participants wanted to find a job in a new location — some desired a complicated move across continents and others simply wanted to swap cities. Some had professional reasons, targeting a city that is the hub for an entire industry — if you’re in the oil & gas industry, you may want to be in Houston, or if you want to experience the tech start-up scene, you may opt for San Francisco. Some had personal drivers, like a long-held dream to live in a particular part of the world. If your dream career is somewhere other than where you’re living now, here are ten ways to find a job in your new location:
1 – See if your current employer can transfer you
When making a career move, the people who already know you for doing good work can provide a strong reference. If your current employer has a regional office where you want to be, see if your boss will propose a transfer for you. Don’t assume that your boss will know the other offices or even how a transfer could work. Research this (ask colleagues or look at the company website), and help your boss help you. Make sure you check what kind of business is handled in that regional office to see if there is a fit for what you do. If your company doesn’t have an office there, maybe they have a vendor, client or strategic partner there and can make introductions. Just recognize that this means you’re revealing your interest in leaving.
2 – If not your employer, check for other companies who have a hub where you are now and where you are going
If your company doesn’t have an office or any relationships in your target area, find another local employer who does. Depending on how long your time horizon is (say you want to work in the other location someday but it doesn’t have to be immediately) you could look at moving to another company locally that has opportunities in your target location, with the plan to transfer down the road. If the company frequently moves people, you may not even have to wait that long.
3 – Identify the major employers in your target location
If your local area doesn’t have any employers who operate in your target location, then you’ll need to map out potential employers from afar. Look at the Fortune 500 list to find the largest company in your target area. Look at the Inc 5000 to find fast-growing private companies there. Research the area’s Chamber of Commerce or other professional membership organization that tracks businesses. Get a virtual membership to access whatever directories or member lists they offer. Subscribe to your target area’s major business publications to find out what the local businesses are doing. You don’t have to live somewhere to find out which companies are hiring there. Once you have a company list, you can identify who works in the relevant department for you to create a targeted networking list.
4 – Identify recruiters who specialize in your target location
Depending on your functional area and your level, there may be recruiters active in your target location that could be interested in your background. If you’re at an experienced level and have existing recruiting relationships in your current geography, ask if their firms operate in your new area. Ask your target’s Chamber of Commerce and other professional associations who are the active local recruiting firms. Recruiters are inundated with unsolicited inquiries so you’ll have to be persistent. It also helps to have a competitive background in high demand and short supply.
5 – Outline what about your background makes you someone employers should relocate
In your stories to recruiters, prospective employers, and anyone in your network that you might ask for help, you need to specify what makes you so special that you should be hired over someone who is already there. The advantage of local candidates is that they are already settled. They won’t have the personal upheaval that comes with a move. They won’t expend additional energy learning the territory. If the job has a local component — say you’re marketing in that area — then employers will need to know you understand the demographics and personalities of that specific area. Your advantage could be that you bring an outside perspective — this might be attractive if your geography is advanced in an area and you can bring your best practices over to the new area. Another advantage could be deep expertise in a specific skill or subject matter that trumps what is available locally.
6 – Search your existing network for contacts on-the-ground
Even if you’ve always lived in the same place or a very different region than where you want to move, don’t assume you don’t already have a network in your new target area. When I was trying to research India for an upcoming trip, I did a search of my 1st-degree connections on LinkedIn who were in India, and I identified several people who I knew from my hometown who were now there. These were professional colleagues that I hadn’t connected with recently so I didn’t realize they had moved. However, a quick friendly email was enough to reestablish the connection, and then I had some on-the-ground contacts for my research there. On-the-ground contacts are critical to understanding local culture and can give you insights into your target area that you can’t find in published sources. In addition to LinkedIn, look at other social media platforms, professional associations who may have regional chapters in your target area, or your alma mater for alumni chapters in the region.
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7 – Start networking virtually
As you gather information from your existing network and research your own information into recruiters and employers, you can start connecting well before you make your move. For friendly contacts, let people know you’re moving to their area, and explain where you are in your search and what specifically would be helpful to you. For prospective employers and recruiters, you can’t ask for favors right away but need to establish your value to them. This is why there is a separate step on outlining the story behind your move — you need to approach professional strangers with a value proposition. Remember to focus on what advantage you bring that compensates for the trouble of relocating you (even if the company doesn’t pay for your move financially, they are taking a risk and therefore paying with transition time and higher risk of failure).
8 – Plan specific trips to your new location to continue networking in-person
You can absolutely get the process started virtually, but to prove you’re serious you need to get to your new target area live. When you let prospective employers and recruiters know you’re traveling somewhere for a specific and limited amount of time, they may be more inclined to see you since you’re making the trip. One of my clients lined up several job-related meetings during a house-hunting trip to the location where she ultimately moved. Even though the initial objective of the trip was to finalize the personal details of her move, the fact that she was going to be there live was enough incentive for some employers and helpful networking contacts to make time on their schedule.
9 – Follow-up with location-specific insights and updates
Trips to your target location are useful but ultimately short-lived because you haven’t moved yet. You’ll have to keep in touch and stay front-of-mind of your contacts and prospective employers with location-specific follow-up. If you’re a marketer, this could mean identifying customer or product trends in the area, and sharing this information with your network there. If you’re in finance, this could mean staying on top of the local economy. Remember that an outsider (which means you because you don’t live there) is a risk to the employer. You have to assure people that you are committed to this new area and that you know it well.
10 – Make your move without a job
If your efforts don’t land you a job, you can always move without one. Part of your transition plan can be increasing your savings rate so you have a cushion to support you as you look for work while you’re there. I don’t normally recommend this strategy because it creates financial urgency in your search which can lead to underperforming due to anxiety. It also might be an unfeasible strategy if you need the job in order to move – for example, if you are moving to another country you may need the job first to establish residency.
Whether you move first and then land a job or land a job before you relocate, there are several actions you can take to land a job somewhere other than where you live now. Don’t let geography keep you from your dream career!
A version of this post originally appeared in my column for Forbes.com.
