easier-to-find-a-job-when-employed vs. easier-to-find-a-job-locally filter

January 13, 2010 12:14 AM

I'm searching for a job on the far side of the country (need to move for personal reasons), have enough savings for ~1yr expenses, and am wondering whether I should quit my current job and move: 1. immediately 2. after getting a fair number of interviews but before getting an offer or 3. not until I have accepted an offer. Data/experiences related to balancing "it's much easier to find a job while employed" with "it's much easier to find a job as a local candidate" are appreciated.

Specifics: moving from a Southwestern state to NJ primarily to live with a fiancee again (good, stable 5yr relationship; she moved for an amazing job and we've done LDR before) and be nearer college friends. I have been working as an engineer for a defense contractor for ~2yrs. I'm seeking to leave the defense industry and ideally do work in industrial automation and robotics. I don't have good interviews yet because I have not sent out enough applications, due to grad school applications and holidays (recently finished) and some procrastination. I have ~$20k saved which should cover expenses for a year if necessary.

Pros of moving when my current lease ends in four weeks:
-more time to job search
-local candidate (not limited to during monthly visits)
-relief from current job (the work is good experience and good money but the product is not what the world needs).
-see fiancee and college friends much more frequently
-live in nicer, more livable city (yes, there are nice areas in NJ).

Cons:
-I am unanimously told by older people not to move until I have a new job lined up. My peers aren't sure.
-high cost, depending on length of job search
-may have to say I'm currently unemployed during grad school interviews
-may actually be harder to find a job since being unemployed looks bad (my business reason for leaving: company is failing to win contracts due to inefficiency, and the work is not what I expected when I joined)

My plan now:
-apply like crazy this week and weekend; give my notice once I have scheduled 3 or more in-person interviews; extend my apartment move-out date if needed.

This is my first ask. Sorry it's another hive-mind-as-friend sort of question; it's important to me though. So: when should I give notice, and why?

posted by sninctown to Work & Money (12 answers total)

Well, you say you need to move, but then you ask if you should wait. If you need to move, then you need to move. But it's to your advantage to line up some phone interviews now so that one of them may turn into a real interview when you're ready.

If you don't need to move, then yes, what the oldtimers say. Stay at your current job until you have an offer in hand, and then move. That's the safe way to play it, at least, and it's what I'd do if I didn't need to move.

While you have $20k saved up, it would be nice to not have to spend it on a job hunt. That's what you're going to do if you move to NJ and then live off savings. If you line up a job first, then that $20k can go towards your retirement, or a vacation, or any number of other things.
posted by zippy at 12:47 AM on January 13, 2010

Be more clear on where grad school comes in - I assume you're applying to schools in the NJ/NY area for the Fall? I don't think being unemployed during graduate interviews is that bad, especially since you have to move to that area and thus quit your job upon being accepted anyway. It looks good to be searching there in anticipation of schooling there. Plus many people are unemployed while applying to grad school, especially lately with the influx of applicants and efflux of jobs. Coming out of 2 years at a relevant job is much better than still holding on to an irrelevant job, as many new applicants do, at least from what I've seen while working in a graduate physical therapy dept. May be different for your field.
posted by Juicy Avenger at 12:51 AM on January 13, 2010

Never leave a job before you have another. Ever. Make your decision as if you don't have the $20K. If you wait until you find a good job you can use your $20K as a down payment on a house or invest it.

Never listen to the advice of young folk. They are in the process of making their dumb mistakes and rationalizing them and perhaps even manufacturing some misery for company. Listen to older folk who have made the mistakes. Unemployment may seem like a chance to do all those 'tomorrow' projects but it almost never turns out to be. Instead it usually becomes a soul sucking doldrum

As for your reason for leaving your job...Don't tell the truth. Just say you want to leave your job for love. Moving to be with your finance is completely non-threatening career wise. A conscience of job dissatisfaction can be problematic depending on where you are applying.

So be patient. It is a virtue for a reason. If your friends and finance are good they will wait for you (particularly with monthly visits). Jobs are easier to get when you have one and it would be shame to blow $20K worth of savings on a job hunt.
posted by srboisvert at 1:04 AM on January 13, 2010

srboisvert - I mostly agree, even though I recently did this. I moved across the world last year without a job lined up at the time, something I swore up and down I would never ever do. My husband got a job in another country and so we decided to move. I made plans for what I would do if I was unemployed for a while, and it turned out that there was a couple of months between leaving my old job and getting my current job (and waiting for new pay to come in). Combined with the cost of setting up a new household, which the OP presumably will have to do, we went through a lot of money fast.

So I mostly agree with you, even though without leaving my old job I could not have not found myself doing the job I have now - a job I absolutely love. It turned out very very well for me, but I could have just as soon ended up in a soul sucking entry-level job again and I had plenty of interviews lined up for those before I got this job.

OP - If your fiancee is willing to support you, and the household startup costs aren't going to be so high, and you can pull together maybe a half dozen interviews, I'd say you're looking good to move. I've done LDR and it is a drain emotionally and logistically, but be sure to have a good discussion about all of this. Especially the question of support.
posted by wingless_angel at 1:58 AM on January 13, 2010

Never listen to the advice of young folk. They are in the process of making their dumb mistakes and rationalizing them and perhaps even manufacturing some misery for company.

Old folk chiming in here to say that "Never" is also bad advice. Everyone's situation is different. If I was you at your age, I would quit and take the risk so that I could be with my fiance. Tell prospective employers that you moved to be with your fiance, not that you quit because of inefficiencies (my you *are* and engineer). But that's what *I* would do, and I only point it out as perspective from someone who happens to be older.

Only you know if doing this is worth the financial and emotional cost. It could be a year or more before you find work. Or, you could get a job in a few weeks. It really is your own sense of what it will cost *you*. Lots of people who are older will have done something similar. For some it will have not worked out so well. For some it would have allowed them to experience a different path in life than they otherwise would.

There is no right answer and there isn't really a formula for success either way, as you need to incorporate some grey area to you data set. It's actually the path the "feels" right.

So, do you want the path in life that puts you with your fiance now and has the potential to cost you money that may seriously impact your future savings and retirement? Or do you want the path that insures a continuous employment history, but you die a little every day and are away from fiance and friends? I know which path I would take, but that has no bearing on which one you should. It's really up to you.

And again, old folks really haven't cornered the market on advice in this arena. Sometimes it's really great to make your own mistakes and opportunities in your own life, rather than live one based on the lessons of someone else who's more experienced.
posted by qwip at 2:07 AM on January 13, 2010 [4 favorites]

I don't understand how people can say "never" take a risk a do something, especially move with 20K in the bank. I live in kind of an artsy fartsy crowd I know, but I'm pretty grounded myself. Are you good at making projects for yourself, or do you really need some kind of structure to get by? Can you live on the cheap and think of your feet? Than you'll be fine. If not, than I guess you should find something first.
posted by Rocket26 at 4:54 AM on January 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

I had hardly any response to my resumes when I wanted to move several states away. I've heard this is the norm, in tech jobs anyway. Once I moved to the city, I was able to secure a position directly.
posted by anti social order at 7:02 AM on January 13, 2010

going with anti social order, i would mention in my cover letter that i am in the process of moving to X city by Z date anyway. that would indicate that they wouldn't need to pay for relocation costs, which might have been a deciding factor for them.
posted by mlo at 10:29 AM on January 13, 2010

Almost no one pays relocation costs anymore. Not unless you are a leader in the field. (Some industries are different, but I haven't heard of anyone paying relocation costs in 10 years.)

I'm not young, and I will tell you that unless you have a skill that is in demand, or you have endless money to fly out on interviews, and are willing to fake that you already live in the area, it is highly unlikely you will find a job in another location until you are there. I have done this. I have even gone as far as getting a local number and using a friend's address on the resume, which at least got me callbacks, but then there was the whole "so can you come in this week for an interview" which then made me panic because i was 3k miles away.

Look at it this way: If I was an employer and I had one okay candidate who was local and could start right away, and one good candidate who said they were going to move here and could start in a month, wouldn't they take the okay candidate? because what if the good candidate changes their mind?

Sometimes when you throw your hat over the fence you force yourself to find the way to the other side. (There's some old people advice for you!)

This old person says - you've got 20k saved? Do it. You sound organized and committed and I think you'll land on your feet.
posted by micawber at 10:54 AM on January 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

take a chance, live your life. One way or the other it will work out. Maybe you end up broke, maybe you end up at the best job you could imagine, maybe you win the lottery with your last 5 bucks. Life is meant to be lived, not played safe. The overwhelming thing i hear from my old relatives on life advice is-it goes on. From generations that grow up during the depression to people who had contigency plans for nuclear war in the 80s. Life Goes On. Some choices are good, some bad but you don't know until you do it. Dropping a job you aren't thrilled about to start a life with someone you love-not that hard a choice. (I did the same thing at the start of the recission in 08 and never looked back-its been great).
Our societies growing obsession with safety is very troubling.
posted by bartonlong at 11:18 AM on January 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Would your current company let you work remotely (i.e. from NJ)?
posted by whitelily at 8:47 PM on January 13, 2010

When I moved across half the country I was totally unable to get a job before I moved. Too many applicants in the area ready to start in two weeks. So I moved anyway. And I had nowhere near $20k saved. Nowhere.

Also, anyone who holds being unemployed against you because you just moved is crazy. And moving is a perfectly valid reason to leave your job. There's no reason to add other reasons (unless you really want to).
posted by grapesaresour at 5:04 PM on January 14, 2010