Ready to Move Home - Advice Needed

Hi all,

New to the board, and looking for a bit of advice.

I'm a Texan who moved to the UK 4 years ago first for Uni then stayed to work. I think I'm finally ready to return to the States. I'm in Cambridge, which is an extraordinarily itinerant community and many of my friends have left for greener pastures. I'm also ready for a new job, and I've found that each time I go back to the US to visit, it's harder and harder to come back to England. I think it's time to repatriate and find a more satisfying job. (Have thought about finding new work in the UK, but finding one employer who was willing to sponsor me was hard enough!)

I've started the job hunt, but I'm not having much luck. Do you think my UK address is putting off potential employers? I've thought about using my parents' address on resumes, but I want to be upfront on my applications about where I live so that employers won't expect to me start work straight away. Also, I know some jobs will offer some relocation expenses, and I want to be able to qualify for anything I can. So, I don't want to lie on my resume.

I've thought about moving home to live with my parents for a little while in order to job search. I'm single, no kids, so that would be fairly easy. Honestly, that's becoming more appealing as I'm getting more and more homesick and ready to be done with the UK. However, as I'm still paying off both student loans and credit card debts, that makes that a tough choice, financially.

Could use some advice. Has anyone been in a similar situation, or have any helpful words? Thanks in advance.

Good luck, rebeccacat. I don't know what your field is, but jobs are hard to get no matter where you're applying from. Sorry, I have no recent experience but hope you manage to find something.

Maybe you could list your UK and your US address on your CV?  Might help. 

We moved back to the east coast last summer with no jobs. Since I had previous work contacts I was able to find something within 3 months. My husband had no US work experience or contacts (but he has a PhD and excellent UK/Irish experience) and it took him 10 months to find something. Prior to moving, I let former colleagues know that we were moving to the US and let me know if anything came up. Fortunately, this really worked for me. Both of us tried applying from Ireland (putting in our cover letter when we'd be moving), but neither of us really got anywhere with it. Finding something is really going to depend on your field and where you're willing to live.

Good luck!

I live just outside of Cambridge and I know what you mean about people moving.  3 good sets of friends, 2 have moved back to the US and one is getting ready to. 

Although it does mean I have a lot of hangers.    I'd rather have the friends.

We found jobs before we moved.  We had decided we were moving regardless but it helped with jobs.  Here is the strategy we used:

1.  We were not sold on a specific career or type of job.  My husband had made the decision to leave his primary career and branch out and that is what brought him to the job that ultimately paid some of our moving expenses.  I took a job in a field I hated but I had a lot of experience in that field and knew it would get my foot in a door.  It did and I have since left that job and moved into something closer to what i want to be doing. 

2.  we made job searches our part-time job.  Once I found the best sites and a reliable search strategy, I probably spent about 2-3 hours per week at a minimum.  I applied for anything I thought could stick.  My husband was about the same but he worked primarily with recruitment agencies.  That still took a lot of work though.

3.  We decided where we wanted to live, researched the markets thoroughly and made our resumes fit that market.  Being creative and taking ourselves out of a box went a long way. 

4.  We planned a trip and during that week, we had several job interviews lined up - some were requested by the employer and some were set up by us  "I'll be in town, would you like to have an informal meeting" kind of thing.  some were just making connections that have since led to other things.

5.  My husband used linkedin a lot - a practice he still swears by almost 3 years later. 

6.  We were completely upfront in our cover letters but instead of saying "I will move back if I had a job so hire me" we put it "We will be moving back in July, 2010"  that way employers knew if our timeline was compatible with theirs.  Also, it didn't look like we were trolling for moving expenses. 

During our week-long trip, we both secured jobs and bought a house.  It was quite the week!

Thanks for the thoughts, guys. After discussing it with my family, I think I'm going to keep looking for a job, but move home anyway. If I don't find anything, I'll move in with Mom & Dad and keep looking. Risky but will make me happier in the long run. Thanks.