The So Cal job market is super tight right now. Probably 300-500+ applicants per opening. So it won't really make any difference what you put on your resume. The best way to find a job here is through a referral.

Well this 'referral' thing is another boo element...Half the people I know are looking for jobs themselves..the other half wont risk their jobs..Do you know of any job openings? I am an Architectural designer/junior/intermediate/intern architect..;P

You can search the firms then contact the people who work for those firms in the region you want to work through Linkedin,zoominfo etc. That's a way of networking too.They don't have to be hiring managers necessarily.Actually it is better you don't contact the hiring managers directly,they are busy people.I live on Long Island (an hour from NYC) yet no employers in the NYC area replied to my emails.I'm thinking of moving to NYC then look for jobs over there.

All my friends stopped responding to me when I asked them about their current workflow in their workplace to learn about the condition of local market. I didn't even ask if they knew anybody who was hiring!! So friends and family are not useful.Everybody is worried about their jobs so they won't help you.You are on your own.

I don't know about the situation in Texas but I'm sure there are places hiring.You just have to dig deeper to find them.

Thanks Paradox...Im surely going to try your way of networking...Ive read thru some posts that suggest mentioning on your cover letter that you would be visiting that place in so and so week so they could consider setting up an interview..atleast an informational one...I need to go on a USA tour! All the best with your job search and do keep me posted!

Or you can send a cover letter to the hiring manager and in the cover letter say that you'll be calling the hiring manager within 48 hours.That way when you call them and the secretary picks up the phone and asks the reason of your call you can say "Mr./Ms. ... is expecting my call".So it is better than total cold calling but visiting the workplace is a good strategy too.Good luck with your job search.

As a veteran of a few new-city job searches, here's my advice:

- Find a friend in that city willing to serve as an address proxy for you. As you most likely will not be receiving any snail mail from any of these firms, this should be no problem (as long as you have a friend in town). Put that local address on your resume, for each of the different cities you apply for jobs in.

- In your cover letter, say NOTHING about "I will be visiting such and such a day" - it makes no difference - why should this person you're writing to care about your travel arrangements or your schedule? Just put something about how you hope to arrange an interview, and that they can contact you at their convenience. After that, if you DO get an interview, it is up to you to arrange travel and make it work. This should not concern the person interviewing you. You work with their schedule, and try your best to make it a good day for both of you, and then you pony up to travel. You're the one thinking of moving to a new city; you need to be willing to travel for an interview at a moment's notice - that's part of the deal.

- When you talk to the person to arrange the interview, make it clear that you are new to the area (or will be new to the area) and make sure that you're on the same page - that they aren't looking for someone, for example, with local building department or local code experience, or with local client contacts, etcetera. At your level this shouldn't be a problem, but figure out a way to say "I'm moving to the area" without it sounding like "...if I get this job." Just state it as a given.

Some jobs really do require local knowledge. Some don't, but the reality is that most hiring managers don't want to deal with the perceived hassle of bringing someone in from another place - even if local experience *doesn't* matter for the job. So you need to stay on the up and up, and make sure they know where you're coming from, but at the same time, you don't want to either a) burden them with unnecessary baggage regarding your desire to move to that city or your travel arrangements for an interview, or b) get your resume tossed out unwarranted, simply because you don't have a local address.

Did all that make sense? I'm exhausted, not sure I'm coherent.

Thanks Mantaray for being so patiently resourceful! I totally concur with your thoughts on the follow-ups..I have been job hunting for a while now..What about you? Have you landed a job? Moreso, it would be really great if you could inform me of any openings that you know of.Thanks once again!

I will say that in one of city-moves, I noticed an immediate change in the level of responses when I switched my address to a local address on my resumes and started sending that way. Even though none of the jobs required local knowledge. So it does make a difference. (It's a shame people make assumptions, but then again, assumptions are the name of the game when you're reviewing a million resumes and deciding in 1 minute each who makes the cut).

Sorry rikar, I have no leads for you. I've landed jobs in multiple new-city moves. Currently not moving or looking but I wish you the best.

rikar I am in the same boat you are... stuck in a city that didn't have much of a market before the recession and even less so now.

So far I have played it both ways (using my local address and using a friends address in the city I am applying to) with mixed results. My feeling is that with the exception of the offices that specify local candidates only, the market right now is more driven by experience and connections than location. My observation is that offices are in the position to hire EXACTLY who they are looking for, so if they need someone with 5 years of experience doing mixed-use condos in MicroStation they will skim resumes until they find that person or nearly that person. This is especially true in the larger cities that still foreseeably have hundreds of applicants for one position.

That said, I do think that having an out-of-state address could prohibit getting hired. If an employer is interviewing 2 people, one local and one that would have to relocate, I imagine that the local applicant will get the upper hand. Not only does the employer not want the perceived hassle of relocation, the job market hasn't reached a point of stability so in the very likely scenario where 3-6 months down the road the office is out of work, knowing that you relocated for the job puts the office in a less comfortable position when they have to lay you off.

Writing all of this I'm actually thinking of removing my address from my own resume and just going with a email and a phone number.