You are extremely brave to move to a new city without a lot of contacts. That’s a really scary thing to do!!

How to meet people in a new town

I’d recommend checking out the website Meetup.com. Meetup allows you to search for real world meetings in many cities around the world. What are your interests besides finding a great job and becoming fabulously wealthy? Meetup has a group for almost any interest you can imagine from politics to pug dogs. If you meet people who share similar interests to yours, that’s an easy way to make new friends and potential new business alliances. You may even decide to start your own meetup group if there is a topic that you’re passionate about. I created a Meetup group in NYC called “Laura Allen’s 15SecondPitch Networking and Fun Group.” I wanted people to know that I would be at all of the meetings and leading the group. It’s a great way for me to meet people who are interested in two things that I love, networking and having fun!! When you create your own group, people will also be impressed with your leadership qualities. Anyone can say that they are a great leader, however, when you run a monthly meetup group, you need to find the location to have the meetup, interface with your members, make sure that everyone is having a good time, and that does take some time and energy.

Finding companies with great jobs

Make a list of 25 companies that you’d love to work for. It’s not as easy as it might sound. I know that this is a big challenge for some of my clients. It’s worth the time it will take you to actually sit down and put pen to paper.

I’m willing to bet that at least half of the companies that you’d love to work for have great jobs available. The vast majority of those jobs will never be posted though, so that’s where networking will play an important part. When you are going to your monthly meetup events, ask other people what they do and where they work. You’re not looking to get an interview immediately, you are just being polite and interested in the other people at the meeting. You might be surprised to find that someone at your meetup has a friend that works at Dream Company X. As you get to know people, you can also mention that you’d love to work at Dream Company Y someday. Who knows, they might have a friend who works there. The key is not to ask for too much too soon. People don’t like it when you are a stranger who is asking for an “IN” at their company. It’s WAY to presumptuous. Why should they go out on a limb to recommend you for a job if they don’t know you yet? Chances are that they have friends and family who are looking for work and those are the people they’d recommend for any job openings at their company. It’s important to build up your circle of contacts slowly over time. Those people are likely to refer you in the future, after they get to know you.

Also, spend some time thinking about what special skills you will bring to your dream company. Most job seekers present themselves as generalists, and as I’ve said before, I believe that is a HUGE mistake. You are better off being the guy, “who knows everything there is to know about Excel spreadsheets” than the guy who “will work really hard, is a team player and wants to work his way up.” Excel spreadsheets may not be sexy, but it’s a skill that almost every company could use. If that’s what you’ve got to pitch, then pitch it BIG. Think about what really makes you different and get comfortable telling people what makes you better than the competition. That’s the fastest and easiest way I’ve found for people to find new jobs in any city.