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Relocating to a different state

w00t

Hi everyone, I am currently located in the Florida, Sarasota/Bradenton area. I have been here all of my life and I am looking to relocate to Atlanta, Georgia. From my research there are plently of jobs there and I have recently visited and it fits my personality very well. After being there for the weekend, I figured this would be a great place to relocate to and get some better opportunities in the IT field. I am currently a Jr Network Administrator and making average money around 36,608 per year and I have two years of experience. I am trying to find the best method of putting my resumes in and filling out applications since my current address is located in Florida. For those that have been through relocating before, how did you go about doing this without turning off potential employers? I want to make sure I have a job before I move. I do have the option of going up there and staying with some friends if needed for an interview. I have even spoke to my current boss about staying with the company and working remotely. The only problem with my current employeer, he keeps stating he cannot give me a raise and I need more money obviously. I can only make the same amount of money for so long. And from my research, Atlanta pays pretty darn well compared to Florida. I am also having a hard time knowing how much money I should ask for. I have an A.S. in Information Technology and unfortunately do not have any certs yet. I am working towards MCSA for a start. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions that you may have. And I might as well ask if any of you are the Atlanta area and know of any jobs leads if possible. Thank you.

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Comments

sratakhin

Do you have any friends in that area?

w00t

Yes, my best friend has recently move to Atlanta, Georgia. If I need somewhere to stay for an interview, I can always stay at his apartment which may make this easier for me and more cost efficient.

puertorico1985

If you want to stay on the networking side of things, I would recommend that you get your CCNA before you do any MS certs. The reason I say that is because of the fact that you are currently in networking, and the ROI of the CCNA is far better (IMO) than the MCSA/MCSE.

dave330i

Doesn't FL have no state income tax? You'll want make sure your net income in Atlanta isn't less.

w00t

The taxes is different here in FL. I am aiming to make more anyway. It looks like Atlanta pays more than Florida.

loxleynew

Yea Atlanta will pay more than Florida lol. Atlanta is one of the leaders in tech jobs ATM so you would be looking at least a 20% raise from that. I agree with PR on that you should get your ccna and not your mcsa unless you plan on going the desktop -> networking route. If you just want a noc job then ccna it up.
Being remote you might have to make some phone call follow ups after you submit a resume to show how interested you are. I know when we hired remote we liked that a lot from out of staters and actually hired a few because of that.

Ismaeljrp

Network admins are usually more balanced and not pure networking, so depending on what he did more of, whether it be systems or networks and what he is looking foward to, that should factor into either going for MCSA or CCNA. Anyway, I think your lack of certifications is holding back your salary regardless. I also think you should start preparing for the certs even before you move, finding that better salary and position will become much easier.

w00t

I definitely do a lot more than just networking. You could add server administrator, network engineer, project manager, PACs admin, help Desk, mobile phone support, and etc. to my job title, lol. Noc would be an awesome route, I was studying for the CCNA previously and if I refreshed on the material, I would be able to pass that cert and I know having no certs is hurting me at this point. I would just like to get out of Florida first and then gets some certs or try my best to get one before relocating, but my lease is coming up extremely soon and I do not want to renew. I will follow up with phones calls, good idea loxley.

Xcluziv

w00t,

Atlanta does pay pretty well coming from someone who has been living here in the area for quite some time and being in the IT industry going on 3 years now. The IT market here is thriving and has plenty of jobs available...justr depends on your niche as far as salary. DM when you get a chance.

Bokeh

Any chance you can use your friend's address on your resume? I have seen a few folks do this who are looking to relocate.

w00t

Yes, I could do that. My boss also said when I move up there I could work remotely for a decreased pay for 2 months until I find something. That definitely helps me out. I would prefer to get something before I move up there, but this relieves some stress as I will not have to go up there with no income. It looks like I will be heading up there in October.

Hypntick

This is what I did when relocating to Charlotte: I purchased a pre-paid cell phone with a Charlotte area code, I then took about a weeks worth of vacation to drive out and meet with recruiters and contractor companies, once I was back in Memphis I did a couple of Skype calls with various people. Now I was completely up front and honest with all parties that I did not live in state and would require time to move, in a couple of instances i never got a call back, others, they didn't seem to mind. Just having the local phone number helped get past the first hurdle for some people, which is convincing them that you really are serious about moving. Good luck on your transition, I hope everything works out for you!

PurpleIT

Hypntick wrote: »

This is what I did when relocating to Charlotte: I purchased a pre-paid cell phone with a Charlotte area code,

I just used Google Voice. No need for an additional phone and with the app you can make it appear as if you are calling from your GV phone number.

Just having the local phone number helped get past the first hurdle for some people, which is convincing them that you really are serious about moving. Good luck on your transition, I hope everything works out for you!

I think this is one of the biggest obstacles. Take away as many of the simple reasons for them to skip over your resume - the address (I left it off, it isn't really needed), phone number, don't mention relocation until they contact you. Get them to invest a little time in you and they are less likely to just **** you into the circular file; after that it's all up to you.

w00t

I know this thread is a couple weeks old, but I wanted to let you guys know I was able to find a job remotely. I had a phone interview and I asked if I could do a skype interview and they approved it. The skype interview was about 2 hours long and the techs just asked me a bunch of tech related questions. I kept my same phone number, address, and was up front honest with all of it. I will be making more money, health benefits, company pays for certs, etc and best of all, I get to move out of FL and get a change of scenery. It is with a MSP company in Atlanta and I will start off in the Support Center, but I will be able to get into different departments. And the HR will give me another 2,500 raise after my 90 day when I get my A+. I am not sure why they want me to start with A+. It will boost my salary up so I will not complain. Thanks everyone for all of the tips.

networker050184

Congrats!

NicWhite

Congrats!!!

Hypntick

Congrats on the position, working for an MSP can be quite an experience. Chances are you'll learn a good bit in a short time.

PurpleIT The reason I mentioned the pre-paid phone, I did not have a cell phone at the time, the one I was using was provided by my employer. Hence the need to purchase a separate, although I agree that Google Voice is a valid option as well.