I’m hoping to get a quick reaction to the following situation: I’m leaving a job in Asia and want to look for work in my native US. I’ve been away for two years. First I thought that since the cost of living is much lower here, I should do the job search here and only return to the US after getting an offer. But based on “local candidates only” restrictions in job ads and some recent advice I got on Quora, I’m now thinking it might be best to show up soon in California with $6K in savings, check in to a cheap hostel and look from there.
Most prospective employers will want to interview candidates before making offers. If you are living in Asia, you will not want to be constantly flying back and forth to interviews. So you may have to have fewer (reducing your options) or schedule them all in a small number of blocks (also reducing your options since some prospective employers won’t have flexible enough schedules for that to be easy).
How much this matters depends on how tasty a prospect you are for employers, how much you care how good your first job is, what field you’re looking to work in, etc.
How is the spin going to look to the employer? Are you going to come across as uninformed and chasing a pipe dream, or as an ambitious self starter that any employer will want on their team?
I have a hard time thinking of a likely scenario where you could only save 6K even though 1) you did it in a place with a low cost of living, and 2) you’re a LWer and want to move to California (which implies the tech industry, which is a high-paying field—and otherwise, moving to California is stupid).
(If you can only save 3K a year in a place with a low cost of living, how much are you going to be able to save when living in California?)
I’m hoping to get a quick reaction to the following situation: I’m leaving a job in Asia and want to look for work in my native US. I’ve been away for two years. First I thought that since the cost of living is much lower here, I should do the job search here and only return to the US after getting an offer. But based on “local candidates only” restrictions in job ads and some recent advice I got on Quora, I’m now thinking it might be best to show up soon in California with $6K in savings, check in to a cheap hostel and look from there.
Most prospective employers will want to interview candidates before making offers. If you are living in Asia, you will not want to be constantly flying back and forth to interviews. So you may have to have fewer (reducing your options) or schedule them all in a small number of blocks (also reducing your options since some prospective employers won’t have flexible enough schedules for that to be easy).
How much this matters depends on how tasty a prospect you are for employers, how much you care how good your first job is, what field you’re looking to work in, etc.
Most people will expect you to physically show up at an interview (or several). Videoconferencing isn’t going to suffice.
What kind of a job will you be looking for?
Jobs with descriptions saying they’re hiring math grads with no related experience.
By the way, I thank everyone for the feedback. I have now committed to returning to the US to look for jobs.
How is the spin going to look to the employer? Are you going to come across as uninformed and chasing a pipe dream, or as an ambitious self starter that any employer will want on their team?
I have a hard time thinking of a likely scenario where you could only save 6K even though 1) you did it in a place with a low cost of living, and 2) you’re a LWer and want to move to California (which implies the tech industry, which is a high-paying field—and otherwise, moving to California is stupid).
(If you can only save 3K a year in a place with a low cost of living, how much are you going to be able to save when living in California?)
I don’t think I’m a LWer as much as you are. :)
You are also right to wonder, since my scenario is not likely.