[Paulie]

I’m considering moving across the country with my spouse and kids to be closer to family, but I don’t want to move without having a job lined up on the other end.

Would reaching out to Robert Half recruiters in the area I’m planning to move to help, or should I just apply for jobs on indeed? If anyone has ideas, I’m open to suggestions.

[TC85]

Following. I've been putting in job applications so we can move about 12 hours away. I've put my resume out with several recruiters and directly to the job posting. The realtor we spoke with is good with relocating and has assured me that it often can take some time to get a job. My dilemma is 1) it's busy season so i'm sure most places are looking for local people and 2) I have only private experience but am waiting on my 4th exam score (hopefully for good news) and still need to finish the extra 30 credits :-(. Good luck to you, hopefully there is some good insight from experience that we can get.

[QuoVadimus]

Huh! I wrote a large response to this this morning and it posted but appears to have disappeared now… maybe for being unkind to Recruiters?
I'm not re-writing it so here is the TL;DR

Referrals! Get referred to the company instead of just applying; leverage yours or someone elses LinkedIn connections. Submitting Resumes is a waste of time.

I also asked to where you are moving, and if you're looking for a role in Industry, Practice, Big4 etc. as all this info will help people to help you.

[watermelon]

Totally agree with QuoVadimus! internal referral is very helpful! also internally transfer would be a good transition as well! I had coworkers transferred internally to CA from east coast.

when you make a big move like this, I would suggest apply to very similar positions as what you are doing right now, since that would help you to land a position easier/faster. This is just a personal experience though, when I moved from NY to CA last year with my husband, I applied to accounting/financial analyst positions in IT firms, but since all my previous working experience was in banking, it was hard for me to land a position I liked. so I am planning to apply for positions in Banks again but I am also going to keep trying to apply for jobs in industry.
I really hope you could find something you like and make this happen!

[Paulie]

@quovadimus and watermelon

Thanks for the ideas. I'm looking to go to South Minnesota. I'm currently at a small public firm, but I'd like to get into industry, so transferring isn't going to be an option.

[watermelon]

@Paulie maybe targeting both public and industry and see what can get! maybe starting with a public firm position at Minnesota, and when you build your connections, and get to know the local job market, you will land a better position in industry. Just an idea!

[Missy]

BOTH!

Recruiters are generally useless but especially with the distance it can't hurt to have another set of eyes looking for you.

But don't put all of your eggs in that basket, their results are generally lackluster and they try to push toward positions you're overqualified for (they want to impress the client so give them MORE than they're asking for as a candidate, at the price they've agreed to pay.)

Personally I've found the smaller recruiting firms do a better job.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Author]

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