Need advice on trying to line up a job before I move to another state.

[Eric R.]

I need advice on how to line up a job in another state before I move there. I currently live in Southern California and I am going to move to Oregon. I am going to attempt to do this in the spring of 2009.

Have any of you been able to secure a job before you moved to another state?

I normally don't have a problem finding a job here locally because I enjoy making contact with possible employers and building a relationship before I'm even looking for a new job or just for some Saturday work (alot of guys don't like working Saturdays around here).

I once tried lining up a job before I moved to Las Vegas Nevada, but I had no luck. I guess its such a transient town that no one cared to discuss the issue until you where physically in their office.

Maybe I'm being unrealistic here, but I'm not just an average joe operator. I truly care about running equipment and treating it like its my own. I show up on time and enjoy doing whatever the job is. Even if I'm running a shovel. I don't care. I really enjoy working.

I love to watch other operators and learn from their experience. I am constantly trying to learn new things and improve my skills.

Is sending out my resume the only thing I can do?

So if anyone has any experience with this, please give me some advice. This is a big move for my family and I and I want to ensure that I am as successful as possible. My wife and children are depending on me. I am not going to raise my family here. My wife is so confident in me because I have done so well locally with all of my employers and customers.

I tell her that this is going to be a hard sell, but she insists that I will be successful. So here I am attempting to gather some advice and wisdom before I begin to attempt this.

Any info will be greatly appreciated. Negative or positive.

[LowBoy]

Hi Eric R.,
I seem to have that same ability to "land" a job for lack of a better term. I am the self-proclaimed "World's Worst Employee", being self employed for so many years until recently. Since diving back into the jobplace, I have had 6 jobs to date in 2 years. All of those were in 4 different states, and 50% were trucking, the other 50% in dirt work. It would be sooooo much easier if these employers would do things right, don't bother us on Saturdays, and pay us $25.00/hr. or more, wouldn't it?:D
In all seriousness, I have landed 3 of those previous jobs off of craigslist.com. It sounds odd, but it worked for me. The last employer I would have stayed with if he wasn't such an idiot, because I liked everything I was doing, but oh well.
This weekend as I was watching the rain fall outside, I threw a message out there again on craigslist in the "jobs" category in an area close to home, basically explaining I was seeking employment as an operator, all around worker in excavation, etc. and gave a short history of my background. That was Saturday. Sunday I got a call from a contractor looking for help, and we talked for 45 minutes. I am going over to one of his sites next Saturday and work for the day, as we agreed that it would be good to play in the dirt for a day rather than quit my current job and start cold turkey some Monday morning in an unfamiliar setting, and find out it may not work out for either of us.
So to try and answer your question about trying to secure a job out of state, why not try this method? It worked for me so far in 2 different states. I buy and sell stuff every week off of craigslist, and it's proven to be a heck of a tool for a lot of reasons.
Good luck finding something, and remember, no matter how bad people make the economy and jobmarket look, there's a job for anyone willing to give somebody a fair days work for a fair days pay.:thumbsup

[Eric R.]

Thanks Lowboy. That is a great idea. I'm glad to hear that it works for you. I thought about doing that as well, but I just haven't got around to it yet. Your story is definitely inspiring though.

Yeah the economic issue does concern me a bit. The more reason to line a job up before I make such a big move. But it is definitely not deterring me.

[LowBoy]

As I awoke to the news this morning of the big bailout getting shot down, the stock market tumbling, and all the doom and gloom on Wall St., it's almost refreshing to think that maybe now they'll wake up. Maybe living WITHIN your means isn't such a bad concept after all...

Despite the news, there's still construction, excavation and progress every day, and manpower will be needed. Just because there's turbulence doesn't mean that a 50% completed shopping mall, housing development, commercial/industrial complex project will be abandoned. It just means that the CEO's of the lending institutions and the higher-up's in the industries that fuel the economy will have to settle for a USED Hummer, a more modest 5,000 s.f. home on the water, and downsize their wardrobes till things loosen up, that's all.:cool:

[curly]

Eric R, where abouts in Oregon are you moving? If central I would shy away from there as it is painfully slow. My brother has kept me updated on things and now even he has been laid off as a salesman.

[Eric R.]

Well I'm really not going to be to picky about where I want to live. I am more concerned with making enough money to sustain my family on one income and living out in the country not to far from a major city.

In August my family and I rented a travel trailer and took an 11 day trip up to Oregon to scout out areas where we would like to live. We pretty much stuck to the 5 freeway from Medford up to Portland and it was all acceptable to my wife and I.

There is so much country and forest in between each of the major cities. This is what we really where hoping to find out.

When we where in Portland, I seen equipment and job sites every where. So that might be where we end up.

Another way I can sell myself is that I am also class A driver with a spotless driving record.

I also perform alot of my own maintenance and repairs on all of our equipment. I am also good at welding and fabricating various things.

With my current employer, I am also a estimator/salesman. I have my own personal customers that I bill for the work that I do with them. Last year I brought in $140,000 worth of work.

I even worked far a large union fence company for about a year and a half as a estimator and project manager. During this time I sold $2.5 million dollars worth of work. One of those jobs was a $480,000 contract for "perimeter enhancements" for the Los Angeles International Airport.

So the way I see it is when I'm not out running equipment, I can be out making new customers and generating more work for us.

So despite the issues with the economy, there may be a company out there that may see me as a great asset because of my diverse skills and experience and would look at me as a good investment.

[Dozerboy]

I have gotten a job out of state 3 times now before I moved. Once doesn't really count since they came looking for me. The others ones I did tons of research for and got a list of top companies in the area. Some of them want me just to come by when I got to town which was ok I still was getting my name out there, but others offered me a job over the phone.

Thats a good idea Lowboy I never though of that. Lots of place here do hiring off craigslist.

[LowBoy]

Thats a good idea Lowboy I never though of that. Lots of place here do hiring off craigslist.


It just worked again for me! The job I'm on I've been struggling with a bunch of lame issues that aren't fixable due to the politics, so I simply went "fishing" as usual. I place a "work wanted" ad in a target area, and a week or so later I unexpectedly recieved a call from a contractor looking for someone that fit my description.
We agreed on having me work Saturday (yesterday,) on site instead of a cold turkey Monday morning start. I did, and we all felt the chemistry immediately. I will be giving this current company the 2 week "dear john" notice tomorrow.
It's a fantastic media to find anything you're looking for IMO.

[Grader4me]

.
We agreed on having me work Saturday (yesterday,) on site instead of a cold turkey Monday morning start. I did, and we all felt the chemistry immediately. I will be giving this current company the 2 week "dear john" notice tomorrow.
It's a fantastic media to find anything you're looking for IMO.


Good stuff Lowboy! :thumbsup Congrats!

[RonG]

I have also used Craigslist to market myself in years past but I put so many restrictions on my terms of employment that I do not get too many hits.I have no doubt that I would find work if I was really looking.
I am looking for part time work,up to 40 hours and in my line of work anything less than 40 hours is part time.I also want work close to home so that there will be very little driving,I want to be home in minutes after I stop work.
I don't really tell much about my qualifications such as driving the lowbed etc as I don't really want to get involved with that any more.
My experience with moving equipment is working on the jobsite all day then moving the equipment while everybody else goes home,I have had enough of that.
The few hits that I have had have turned out to be from companies that I would not work for anyway due to wage issues and past history of work ethics etc.
In all fairness the construction industry is depressed right now and there is not much work out there but in years past I would have no problem getting hired,even on a will call basis,when and if things pick up again I will give it another shot maybe.Ron G

[LowBoy]

The only thing I find about seeking employment online, such as craigslist, is you kind of have to be on the defensive and ask youself," why are they looking here" (for help?...) I say this because I was hired this summer by an employer whom I sensed to be a straight shooter, but after a couple of weeks I detected a rat in the woodpile so to speak. Tensions started to rise, and by the end of my second month I had a call into the Fair Labor Department of that state, filing a claim because the jerk lost a chain saw, accused me of all people of losing it on him, and deducted it from my last check without authorization. Justice has prevailed though, as I just recieved a call from that Dept., informing me of the arrival of the amount I was filing the claim for...
Reflecting on that circumstance, I thought I'd never use that site again to seek employment, but it's a matter of using some wisdom in dealing with people, like anything else.

[RonG]

A lot of the jobs I have landed over the years have been through the classifieds in the newspapers and I always wondered what kind of talent the employer expected to recruit in a classified ad.I have also worked beside a lot of those guys.LOL
I had one "operator",when tasked with fueling up the dozer ask me where the gas tank was.He was the same guy who unloaded the dozer from the tagalong in the center of a paved cul de sac and drove it over the asphalt curb on an angle to park it on a building lot.
I agree about why would they be looking there in the first place but I rationalized it that the secretary or the wife might be the one to spy my post and all would be well.LOL
I also have been shorted pay for items that were missing,destroyed and downright thievery in some cases at layoff time.I just shrugged it off rather than persue it,I am not vindicative but I never forget!!
Good luck in your future endeavors,you will land what you want in due time.Ron G