ALT-1 Dos and Donts of Long Distance Job Hunting
Long distance job hunting has just about nothing in common with long distance relationships. With the long-distance relationship, you want to have a commitment and a mutual goal to keep the love alive. With long distance job hunting, however, the two keys are avoiding commitment and realizing that you are, more than likely, on your own.
Avoiding CommitmentThis phrase has a fairly negative connotation these days, but it is a definite key to keeping yourself safe and financially stable while looking for a job long distance. Because the opportunities you are exploring are not jobs you can walk into and investigate with your eyes, you end up needing to depend on e-mail, websites and phone calls. These mediums allow a certain level of anonymity, and if you are dealing with a scammer, you have very little opportunity to discover the falsehoods they are telling you.
So you want to avoid commitment until you have personally verified that the opportunity you are looking into is real, viable and will actually do for you what it says it will do.
Another issue with scammers and other anonymous deals is that when you register with sites like Careerbuilder.com and Monster.com, you might start getting massive amounts of spam. These spammers are able to lift your e-mail address from the employment websites, and then they try to attract you to a job' with them as an administrative assistant. Since they say they are offering upwards of $35,000/ year with benefits for a job as an administrative assistant that you can do from your home, it seems appealing. But just ignore them. These are phishing schemes that want you to log into their website so they can then send you even more junk. What is more, once you give these sites your info, you are in danger of having your identity stolen.
So be cautious as you look online for jobs. Make sure that you deal only with real, reputable companies. No commitments should ever be made on either end until and unless you have met with a company representative face to face.
You're on your ownThe salary job market is a tough thing to crack when you are just finishing college. There are literally tens of thousands of college grads looking for jobs long distance at any given moment. What's more, there are others who are trying to change jobs, and with their experience, they might have an easier time getting the job.
Thus, companies basically hold all the cards. Unless you are a stellar candidate with great real-world experience and remarkable credentials, you have no cards to play except for the fact that you want a job.
Thus, you want to make sure you don't assume that a company that you want to get into is going to be excited about you. They don't feel in any way beholden to contact you or be fast in their notifications to you.
So it's all you. Make sure you plan to follow up soon after you have sent a resume or had an interview. Don't be pushy and don't sound needy, but show that you are willing to go after the job.
And you need to get used to being your own cheerleader. So as you start looking for jobs from a distance, be sure you prepare yourself to bring up all the good qualities you have. Statements like, "My most recent employer found that he was able to depend on me to take the initiative in projects. I enjoy the challenge of finding effective, creative solutions to problems," are useful and powerful.
Here are some other things to keep in mind:• If a company wants you to fly out for an interview, they should be prepared to pay for at least half of the trip, including food, lodging and car rental. If they are not, then they probably can't afford you.
• Do your homework. When you find a position you would love to fill, learn as much as you can about the company by going online and finding industry publications that mention that company. Also, try to talk to somebody else who has a similar or the same position and find out what responsibilities they have. This way, when you land a phone interview, you can be ready to answer questions about how you might deal with certain situations.
• Have some questions ready for each phone interview. Even if your interviewer does not say, "Do you have any questions?" (although any good interviewer will do this), be sure to ask some well thought out questions anyway. This shows you are not only interested but have done some research and diligent thinking about the job.
Finally, just remember to be cautious yet optimistic about your chances. If you can learn to emphasize your strengths and be honest about weaknesses, you will increase your chances to land that job, even though it is a thousand miles away.
