I really want to move shortly after I graduate and have no job, what should I do?

Hello Reynoldssa,

I currently work in HR, so I know how challenging it can be when looking for employment. If you're looking to relocate, may I suggest creating a virtual mailbox. With a virtual mailbox you can create an actual mailing address for another city,state or country of your choosing. A virtual mailbox is not like a P.O Box, but it is an 'real' mailing address with a residence number, city, state, country and zip code.

Now, why would you want to do this? Well, most employers are lucky to receive tons of applications from well qualified applicants,most of them local. So, employers are often times less likely to hire someone out of state (can be quite expensive for a company), unless the job opportunity is a very difficult one to fill. But, if you have a virtual mailbox, you can show that you have some form of 'investment' in the city, state or country in which you're looking for employment. Again, the virtual mailbox mailing address looks like a actual residential address; so, employers would be a little less likely to throw out your application during the initial reaping (sorting through qualified applicants) because it didn't have a local address.

I hope this helps a little and gives you some hope. Try www.virtualpostmail.com. Now, there is a small fee involved with this service (the lowest is $5.00 a month), but I believe it's worthwhile if you're really serious about relocating to Austin, TX and you can always discontinue the service at anytime or once you're hired.

Best of luck,

Alexis

Oh and one more thing, now let's say you are called in for an interview, then that maybe the best time to tell the employer, you're out of state(especially if you're looking for relocation assistance). And explain, that you're again looking to relocate and in the midst of transitioning your personal affairs, so use of a virtual mailing address makes the transition more convenient or easier (such as forwarding mail, driver's license) :-).

Or, what I would really suggest, is that you save some money, so if you get called in for an interview, you can just buy your own plane ticket, hotel stay and etc for the initial interview (if its not over the phone or Skype). And the money that you continue to save will also help you with a deposit for housing when you do get the job. Seems like a lot to go through when trying to relocate, but it's really not that hard, it just looks that way when written. But, if it all seems to overwhelming, then you can continue to apply they way you have and we can just hope for a break.

Take care!