Preparation Is Key to Job Fair Success

By: Randy Dotinga Life offers plenty of traumatic events -- death, divorce, job loss, baseball playoff games. But only a few pack the punch of moving across country for a new job.

With the economy still in the dumps, it may seem that relocating is only a dream for newspaper types. But there are still plenty of opportunities at papers from coast to coast, and moving vans await those who are ready to take the plunge.

How do you know it's time to go? And how can you make sure your target city is right for you, your family and your budget? Here are a few tips to help you make the right decision.

1. Understand your current situation: explore the pros and cons of staying where you are. Kelly McBride, an ethics specialist at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., who often counsels young journalists, puts it this way: "There's no magic formula, but you've basically got two forces at work. You've got what's happening in your organization, whether it is a good organization or a bad organization to work for. Then you've got what's happening in your career, whether you are continuing to grow, or stagnating and not able to do the best work you're capable of."

Your work itself exists at the "confluence" of these forces, McBride said. You may be able to do good, fulfilling work at a bad organization, or a good organization may leave you stifled. "That's the big question: can you do the work that you really want to be doing? If you can't, and if you can't change things within your organization, that's when you have to think about moving on."

2. Hit the Internet: spend a few hours researching your geographic prospects. Not too long ago, job searchers had to visit their library or call a Chamber of Commerce to learn about another city. The Web has changed everything.

A variety of Web sites will let you compare costs of living in two cities and even tell you how much you'll need to make in your new job to keep your current standard of living. For example, if you're making $40,000 a year working for The Des Moines (Iowa) Register, BestPlaces.net suggests you'll need to get a raise up to $59,000 at The Boston Globe to retain your lifestyle in Beantown. Any lower and you'll be bidding farewell to some of your favorite luxuries or maxing out your credit cards.

Another good cost-of-living site is coli.org (for cost-of-living index) which has plenty of information -- including rental expenses -- but it charges a few bucks for each comparison.

Wondering how to pick a neighborhood in your new city? The Wall Street Journal (http://homes.wsj.com/toolkit_res/demographics.html) lets you explore the demographics, average incomes and crime rates of individual ZIP codes.

Make sure to read between the lines. If there are a high number of single people in a neighborhood, it may be home to college students, young professionals, and/or gays and lesbians. And high unemployment rates could mean that the local economy is in trouble.

"Even though you might have a job and you're assured of your job being there, a high unemployment rate is like a cancer that pervades the entire society of a community," said Bert Sperling, president of BestPlaces.net's parent company. Unemployment can lower tax revenues, creating problems down the line to schools, law enforcement and social services, he said. "It's something that's pretty major that you should look at."

When you use these online services, however, use some caution. Some of the statistics, like housing prices and census figures, may date back to the 2000 census. Housing prices in particular have skyrocketed in many cities and towns since then.

For example, the average price of a four-bedroom home in Boston is $438,000, according to new stats from coli.org. BestPlaces.net lists the median price -- not the average -- as $187,000, based on 2000 figures. Whether you're a reporter or not, act like one and get the most up-to-date facts.

3. Put your hand out: Don't be afraid to ask for relocation assistance. At lower levels of newspaper hierarchies, you may be able to get a few thousand dollars for moving expenses once you get a job offer. Executives -- at the retail manager and advertising director levels, for example -- can expect even more help, like allowances for temporary housing (or short-term housing in an executive complex) and direct funding of moving expenses.

It's very hard for newspapers to avoid these expenses at the executive level, said Scott Little, president of Media Recruiters in Chico, Calif. "If I get a search [request] and they say, 'We need an ad director but we're not going to pay housing allowances,' that's not something I'm going to handle."

Not surprisingly, publishers get the cushiest deals when it comes to moving. They may get relocation allowances of $20,000-$30,000, along with several paid trips to and from their current home for themselves, their children and their spouses or partners, Little said.

4. Give yourself time to adjust: moving isn't the only stressful part of relocating. You'll probably feel out of place for months.

"You get the elevator-is-falling feeling," said Ilene S. Chait, managing director of the Michigan consulting firm Relocation Assistance Inc. "You're disoriented. You don't know where the best dry cleaner is, you don't even know where the nearest one is. Every single one of those things becomes an issue."

In general, Chait said, "it takes a person almost three years without help to feel like they can call a place home."

In the newspaper business, of course, that's enough time to get tired of your boss and start thinking about a new job somewhere else.