I'm moving. Is it possible to find a job beforehand?

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I'm planning on moving in the next six months. My biggest fear is getting to where I'm going, not being able to find a job, and eventually having to either run back home or live in the streets. It's been a life long fear of mine.

So what I'm wondering is if it were possible to send out resumes to jobs near the location I'm moving to and either interview over the phone, possibly landing me the job or at least setting up a string of interviews before the move? The other thing I have considered was working with a job placement agency before I move up there. Can that be done?

I'm looking for a job in the IT world. I've got my A+, have completed the MCITP course twice (still struggling with the test due to limitations), and will be finishing up my CCNA classes a month or two before moving. I learn very quickly and I'm competent with my abilities, but having Asperger's affects my reading comprehension, so I test poorly, so getting my certs might take some time. Eventually, I'll be going into either security or programming, which fit the way I think much better.

Having Asperger's doesn't help my situation either. Do I tell my employer about it? Especially since it will most likely affect my social abilities at work, not to mention not being able to process information fast enough. When someone rattles off a list of things to do, I usually can't write the notes down fast enough and I can't expect them to slow down just for me. The most I can do is try to tell them about the ways having Asperger's will make me excel in the field (fast learner, incredible focus on projects, being very proficient with solving problems and fixing things, and extreme attention to detail).

I need to move away from where I am, but I don't know how to deal with the job situation. Can someone give me some advice?

Why are you moving if you have no job lined up in the first place?

As for the note writing, do you try abbreviating your notes?

Because I need to get away from where I currently live. It's terrible here. I need to live where there are actual job opportunities. I will have a job lined up if I can manage to get in contact with some employment agency before I move up. That's why I was asking if it was possible or if I have to save up enough money to be unemployed for a month or so.

If your an American go to career builder dot com and search for IT jobs in the location your moving to. Let them know you plan to be moving to the area. Who knows you might get to do a job interview over the phone.

Regarding your note taking problem, how about carrying around one of those small recorders that many people use to take voice notes? They don't cost much, and should help you out a lot. Do still take written notes as well, but do abbreviate as much as possible, as another poster wrote.

As for lining up a job elsewhere ahead of time, this can work for executives who can afford expensive executive employment services, and also, people can transfer within a company from one city to another, but you don't fit either situation. For everyone else, employers prefer to hire local or near local people who already have a local track record, and a stake in the local community or region. If you have friends or family in the area you are interested in moving to, you could stay with them while looking for an apartment and then a job, but if not, just look for a job where you are. Later on, once you have savings built up, you can consider moving "cold" somewhere else to establish yourself in an apartment, and then look for work while living off your savings. I'd be real leery of doing this in this bad economy, though.

If you are still determined to try this though, there is one way you might be able to manage it. Enroll in a college or university in the area you are interested in, and live on campus. Then you could look for work there while taking courses there. You will probably have to take some low end type part-time jobs to start with, while attending school part-time, just to bring some money in, but being enrolled in school there would give you a local "presence" that would ease the minds of employers, as to how committed you are to staying in the area. It should even be a plus to tell them that you specifically chose the school because you like the area, and wanted to look for a job and a place to live there. You don't have to go for a full degree in anything, since you are already well along with the courses you have already been taking, but do take some useful courses, like business related ones, and ones related to the careers you are interested in.

I don't know if you should or shouldn't tell employers about being on the spectrum. Others on WP would be better able to answer that. I didn't find out I was an Aspy until after I was on disability. I have several other health problems, so I am no longer able to work. However, when I was working, it never took people long to realize that I was different.

Good luck with your future plans, and remember, we on the spectrum are all:

A Different Drummer

If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
Perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears,
However measured or far away.

--Henry David Thoreau

Phone interviews? Unlikely.

Why would an employer want to hire you if you're moving across the country?
You might not end up moving there after they hire you, then they have to start the hiring process all over again.
They might assume you'll ask for relocation assistance (asking them to pay for your move).

Save up some money for a few months of living expenses.

Send out applications. Once you get a few interviews, go to the new city. Don't tell them you don't live locally.

Get a local phone number in the area you'll move to (Google Voice.. it's free and redirects to your current number.) Don't list current address.

Move and find the cheapest living conditions with no lease possible or stay at long-term stay hotels.

Go to the interviews. Don't tell employer you're in the middle of moving, and be realistic about your job start date.

Job search more. Send out more applications. Take temp jobs and register with temp companies. And, apply some more.

No, you shouldn't tell an employer any of your health or mental conditions.

You'll obviously want to save up money first. It could take a while to find a new job in a new city, then wait for the first pay time.

This is an issue I am struggling with and know nothing about, I have a state job but due to budget cuts my whole operation is going to get shut down in the next year or so.

There are zero jobs here period, I have a masters degree and am down to move wherever but am I really going to be able to pack up my s**t and transplant within a couple weeks?

There's an opening that just opened up in Seattle which is my homeland, in my favorite part of the city, doing the exact same job I'm doing now

It may be the best opportunity I'll get to "go home" and go into a job I can flow into no prob (it would be a pay cut but not enough for me to worry about it) but I just don't feel ready and I don't want to leave my organization in their worst time either.

I'm in a similar position and also interested in any advice about this.

I'm living outside of a tiny town where most of the population is retired and there's majority unemployment among those who aren't. I probably couldn't get a job even if I was an NT living in the town, but I can't drive so I can't even get to the town! So I have little choice but to move if I ever want a job. But I have no idea how I'm going to move and find a job before running out of money. The fact that I have no job experience beyond a summer job 5 years ago for a company that no longer exists doesn't help.