Getting A Job in Charlotte

There's three types of job seekers that move to Charlotte. First, you have those that are lucky enough to be transferred or relocated with their existing jobs. Good for you lucky dog! Second are those that try to find a job before they get here. This is no easy feat since most employers aren't interested in your resume once they see the Middletown, New Jersey address. Last, is the bold adventurer who says 'the heck with it! I'll find something when I get there!' If you can swing it financially, give this idea a whirl.

Matt and I were a combination of the first and last options. The wireless company I was working for in Jersey allowed me to haul myself over here and work remotely. I'm removed from my team and all the social aspects of work--which is a blessing some days and lonely on others. Matt, on the other hand, gave up his IT job with a company he'd been at for 13 years. He attempted to find a job while we were still in the northeast, and flew down here a few times for interviews. No luck. Once we got down here, he interviewed like crazy and he nailed a job in about 6 weeks.

I'm in human resources, and have been in recruiting for over 15 years--so I do feel pretty qualified to offer some advice on this subject. First off, if you'd like to start your job search while living elsewhere, I offer two recommendations: get yourself one of those pre-paid cell phones (I recommend Virgin Mobile), and sign up for a local 704 Charlotte phone number which you can pop on your resume. It will give some semblance of being local. Also, if there's any way for you to tap into a Charlotte address, you're even better off. Maybe you've got friends or family here that already have a local address you can borrow. Matt used both these tactics, and successfully got recruiting calls. BUT, you have to be prepared to back up your address smoke-and-mirrors by flying yourself to Charlotte if you get to the interview.

Make sure you get your resume on every possible web board you can think of. Do not ignore the web--human resources uses it to find resumes! Monster, Hotjobs, Careerbuilder, Dice, etc. are those that you need to post your resume on and mine for jobs as well. Also, tap into the local recruiting agencies as well (be warned that they will want to meet you, so if you're not here, they won't work with you). Perhaps in your area search to Charlotte, you could line up a bunch of interviews with the recruiting agencies. Let 'em know you'll be in town for a few days and you're interested in meeting them to get the first screening out of the way. Maybe you can successfully see a bunch in just a few days--don't forget your suit!

Chasing newspaper classifieds is for the most part of waste of time in my view, unless you are looking for an hourly or laborer job. You'll see just several pages of jobs in the Sunday Charlotte Observer. Visit the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce site, which will give you pages of the names of companies here. This may be hugely time consuming, but you could visit the career sites of each of these companies and see what types of jobs they are recruiting for.

Charlotte's got several major industries. We are the 2nd largest banking center after New York City. Bank of America and Wachovia are headquartered here. Do not think for a minute that you'll get into either of these two companies unless you have previous banking experience. Banking is very incestuous, and it's very difficult to nab a job there without a previous banking work history. So, make sure you have realistic expectations. There's plenty of healthcare jobs here in an number of hospitals (Presbyterian and Carolinas Medical Center are the bigees, and there's a few smaller ones), plus there's more doctors, dentists and other small medical offices than you can shake a stick at here. Education is a big field too. You've got all the regular old public and private schools, plus UNC.

Retail and restaurants have plenty of need in terms of hires, and there's a fair amount of technical type jobs at places like IBM in the University area and every other company that needs qualified technical folks. Construction is going on in every corner, so if you're a skilled carpenter, bricklayer, etc., you'll have no trouble at all. The good thing about Charlotte, is that there is great variety in terms of industry. Again, just don't get cocky about salary and you'll do fine. Also, be open to a temp-to-perm situation. Matt's job started off as a temp gig and then it quickly converted to a perm thing once he proved himself. In this job market, there's lots of companies testing the waters in terms of candidates. The likelihood is that if you don't screw up, they'll probably hire you full-time.

Another issue you need to think about is commuting. For God's sake, try to get a job that's within a 30 minute commute to your home. Unfortunately, we bought a home first in South Charlotte and then Matt landed a job---in Mooresville! Ouch! That means an hour commute for him. It's now 10 minutes longer now that we've moved into Union County. If there's anyone looking to hire a talented IT Director, please do give me us a shout! Matt's itching to shrink his commute and get closer to home. Highway 77 is a beast during rush hour, and 485 is no prize either. So, do us all a favor and live closer to your job so you can help reduce the traffic clogs.

Speaking of expectations, if you're coming from places like New Jersey, New York or California, you better not be too attached to the current numbers on your paycheck. Expect to make an average of 15% less than you are earning right now. In fact, Matt is probably earning 45% less than what he was earning in Manhattan because although he's in an IT job, he's in the educational field which pays less. He's got a cake-walk job in comparison to the high-stress NYC one he had. Luckily, I still have my Jersey salary, so that more than makes up the difference.

But honestly, the cost of living is so much less that you'll be just fine. You have to figure out what's more important to you--is it a high priced salary or is it a better way of life? If your answer is the former, than you might as well just stay in your high-powered NYC job. If you're looking for a balanced life where you can live well, pay less property taxes and you're willing to take a pay cut to get some sanity in your life, then welcome to Charlotte!

If you have any specific job hunting questions or would like me to review your resume for a second opinion, give me a shout. Good luck on your job hunting adventures!