Job Hunting Strategies for Trailing Spouses...

Along with death of a family member, loss of a spouse and disaster, moving and being unemployed rank among the top five stress producers. To be faced with two of the top stressors simultaneously requires the marshalling of all your survival and recovery instincts.

You're moving to make life better, but that is only true if moving is best for both of you and the rest of the members of your family. Your job as the transferred spouse is to make the best of the transition. Finding the right employment situation will get you well on the road to accomplishing that goal.

Over 75% of company transferees are married, according to the Employee Relocation Council in Washington, D.C. This means that three out of four transferees has a "trailing spouse."

Although some companies take steps to smooth the transition for employees who are asked to move from one city to another, few recognize or appreciate the tremendous stress factors that typically befall the trailing spouse. The transferee is expected to integrate into his/her new surroundings and "hit the ground running," while the trailing spouse is left with the primary duties of finding or moving into a home, installing children in new schools and other programs, beginning a new social network and generally adjusting the family to the culture shock of a new environment. Add to that the burden of having to find a new job in an unfamiliar market, and the prescription for adjustment problems is filled.

Job hunting in a new market doesn't have to be frustrating. Here are a few suggestions that transferred spouses can follow to help them find the right position...

• Go to your present company and see if the human resources department or your boss can refer you to similar companies in your new city. After you have given notice, contact the competitors of your present company as well. They could have a branch or be looking to open a satellite office in your new city, and you may be the right choice to make the plan happen.
• Contact your spouse's human resources department and see if there are any programs for transferring spouses and their families. They may have a job search network in place that can help get the word out about your special skills.
• Contact your friends, family and acquaintances and ask for referrals in your new city.
• Contact the local Chamber of Commerce. Many times they will have a Web site and a list of members will be available for you to call.
• When you arrive in your new city, don't let the grass grow under your feet. Volunteer with organizations that need the kind of professional expertise you have and ask them for referrals to people and companies who can offer you the kind of work you are seeking.
• Scan the papers and surf the 'Net. Ask long-time residents and business contacts about the opportunities you find.
• Get to know people in your neighborhood and your child's school and make yourself part of the community. Don't live as if your life is on hold.

If you are uncertain what direction you want to take, slow down and re-evaluate your priorities. Do you want to return to the same kind of job that you had? Talk to a career counselor if you are in doubt. The evaluation fee is well worth it if it can lead you in a new direction that you will find more rewarding.

Contact us for information and professional real estate services for the greater Pinehurst - Southern Pines, NC area.

• Search the MLS and view all available properties
• Request a free Relocation Report

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With our highest regard,

Wayne and Lynda Gomillion
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Member of the Real Estate Intelligence Network

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