Location! Location! Location!

In today’s tight job market, job seekers must consider every reasonable option available to them. Some options may be less desirable than others, or even unthinkable during better economic times. Now is the time to weigh every alternative and be as flexible and resilient as possible in order to land a job.

How about relocating to an area with a stronger job market than yours? This may be a particularly good option if you are in an area that is unlikely to experience an economic resurgence anytime soon. For example, if you are a laid-off autoworker living in Lansing or Flint, Michigan, you are going to have a much more difficult time than if you lived in an area with job growth. Even if you were to seek a lower paying job in your current location, chances are there will be lots of competition from others in your predicament.

It is obviously not easy to pick up and move to another place, to leave friends and family. And, being unemployed is when we often rely on the emotional support of family, friends and community. But one way to look at it is that it does not have to be permanent, and if the job situation improves in your original locale, or you develop a skill or trade that is marketable back home, you can move back. Who knows, you may come to like your new area and the fresh start it provides to you.

Where to Go?
There are plenty of resources offering statistics on job growth regions. The March 9th Fortune magazine contained an article highlighting the Manpower, Inc., quarterly report on the current best and worst locations for hiring. In addition, a recent CNN report listed the following areas as experiencing the most robust hiring: The Northwest states such as Washington for high technology related jobs, Southern states such as Florida and the Carolinas due to hiring in health care related jobs and the influx or retiring baby boomers who will require care, and the Washington, DC/Virginia area due to jobs being created in association with the new Administration’s policies and programs. Also, check the government website tracking jobs being created as a result of the new Stimulus Plan. Even if you do not have specific skills in the jobs you associate with high technology, government or health care, robust hiring spurs the local economy and as a result often creates other opportunities.

We are living in extraordinary times which for many of us will require short-term sacrifices for the long-term well-being for ourselves and our loved one. Relocating to a new area may be one of those sacrifices. As the late, great, acerbic comedian and former preacher Sam Kinison used to say: “If you are experiencing famine, move to where the food is.”

Please let us hear from you on this or other employment related issues. We would love to know what you think. All the best to you.

Keep Careering Today and Everyday!

Mark