Searching for Employment Out-of-State
 

Here's my situation:

I'm in Orlando but I'm looking for a job in Atlanta. The reason is because my boyfriend moved there a few months ago for a doctoral program at GATech and...well...I miss him. Since I will be living with him when I move up there, I put my Atlanta address on my resume. The reason is because I feel as though employers in Atlanta will automatically write me off if they see an Orlando address out of fear of having to pay moving/relocation fees (which they won't since I have a place to live in Atlanta).

I had someone call today to schedule an interview with me. I explained to them that I am currently in Orlando (yikes!) but the reason for my Georgia address is because I do have a place there and I plan on being there within the next month. I'm not sure if that was the best way to handle it. I had to tell them that I wasn't exactly living there yet because they wanted me to come in for an interview on Wednesday morning which is impossible. I asked if this Friday or next Friday would be ok and the HR lady said she would call me back as soon as she spoke with the hiring manager about a possible interview on either of those Fridays. So, now my problem is travel expenses. I don't have to worry about hotel, food or car rental expenses since I have the boyfriend for that :) but I do have to worry about an airline ticket. It's expensive! Do I bring up them possibly covering the cost of my airline ticket or should I just pay for it myself? This is a huge Fortune 500 company so I know that they have it in their budget but I don't want to come across as rude by asking.

Have any of you done an out-of-state job search and have advice for me on how to handle the situation that I'm in?

Maybe they will offer to cover your airline ticket when they call you back. That's probably not something they anticipated on since your resume said you were living in the area, so that might be something the HR lady talks to the hiring manager about? (I'm not sure how that works with companies :) )

P.S.
Best of luck with the job search!!

I just looked at the email I sent to them in regards to the job and noticed that I applied for the position before I reformatted my resume. The only thing that is different on my new resume is that I don't have my Orlando address. On my old resume, I listed the Atlanta address as my permanent address and my Orlando address as my temporary address. So I'm thinking that it shouldn't have been a huge shock to her that I'm not currently in Atlanta since I did have an Orlando address on the resume I sent to her.

Here is what you do. On the letterhead where you list your address, list both addresses.

When you speak to someone over the phone say you reside in both cities and are currently on business in Orlando and want a position that lets you stay in Atlanta. Whatever it is be smooth and make it work.

I'm afraid unless it's a larger business, usually they don't cover interview expenses like that. You can be frank with them about it and find out, but it might be cheaper for them to find someone local and you'd get less of a shot at it.

-Rudey
--Be a rockstar

I think I might end up paying for the expenses myself since I kinda figured the same thing as you that the company would figure it would be cheaper to interview someone local. I don't want to miss an opportunity to interview since this is a great company and I really want this job! The only thing is that if I pay for the expenses myself and don't get the job then I'd be really bitter. :(

I just hope I didn't shoot myself in the foot by telling them that I'm in Orlando (although I had my O-town address on the resume and my current job is listed as being in Orlando). I felt it was better to be honest with them about my situation rather than lie and say that I'm currently living there.

I'm facing the same problem right now as you. Write both addresses on your letterhead to make it look like you have ties to that city though.

-Rudey

I'll do that. Thanks for the advice. Good luck in your job search, too!

I went through this last year, Orlando to Atlanta actually. Most people would not even consider me (including staffing agencies) until I had an Atlanta address. I did have to explain to a couple of companies that I was in the process of moving, at my own expense (you might consider putting this in your cover letter), and that I was currently in Orlando. Most were willing to work with me once they knew my move was at my expense, however there was never any offer of paying for the travel to the interview either. I was lucky as I was not working during this time, so I just drove up. You may want to consider driving up Thursday after work and back on Sunday afternoon. It was only about 7-8 hours, not too bad.

It's good to know someone else went through the same exact thing! I was actually thinking of the whole going up to Atlanta on a Thursday evening and driving back on a Sunday thing. My only fear is that my car might not make it so I'll probably see how much it is for a rental.

I'm sure the car rental woulds still be cheaper than the flight. PM me if I can help.