Getting your player ready...
Finding a job as the trailing partner in a job-related move can be a real challenge. Just ask Shane Miller, who has been searching for a retail manager job ever since he and his wife Kristin moved from Indianapolis to Colorado Springs so Kristin could accept a new public relations position.
“The smaller market has been a problem,” says Miller. “Also, a large portion of the Springs job market is composed of defense contractors and other companies who support the military installations in the area.” Many of these employers require a security clearance, military experience or both, neither of which are easily or quickly obtained. You can almost hear the frustration in Miller’s words – not surprising, according to Andrea Kay, author of “Greener Pastures: How to Find a Job in Another Place.” Frustration and its emotional companion fear are common among trailing partners. And sometimes those emotions can even boil over into bitterness. “One couple I know spent weeks discussing whether to move for his career,” says Kay, a career consultant in Cincinnati. “She was dead set against it, asking me, ‘Why should my career be considered second to his?’ ” Jessica McKenzie’s experience has been vastly different. While she acknowledges she was nervous about moving from Dallas to Salt Lake City for her girlfriend’s new job, she was also excited about the adventure. “We both knew this wouldn’t be a permanent move to Salt Lake, but we really did want to try a new town,” says McKenzie, who ultimately found what she calls “the perfect job for me” as a book publicist with Gibbs Smith. “It was the perfect opportunity to just take a leap and live somewhere new and experience a new part of the country.” If you’re a soon-to-be or current trailing partner, heed these five tips for a successful job search:
