STRONG ADVICE: Advancing your career? Be Local.

[RNdynamic]

I have some strong advice for nurses with strong career goals in mind who are currently or see themselves some day applying for a job at a new organization: be local. This is especially true if you want to be considered above all other applicants. If the employer thinks you are closer to the job site than others, they will be more likely to hire you.

More and more employers today are paying attention to odd details, such as where a person lives. When you put your address on the resume, be mindful. Employers are very interested in where you live and it plays a definite role in your attractiveness as a candidate. Employers are catching on to the fact that people with shorter commutes are reporting higher job satisfaction than those with long commutes. If an employer knows you will have a 45 minute drive to work, they're going to consider the fact that there is a strong chance that you will eventually settle for a job that is more conveniently located. If you have a 10-15 minute drive to work, employers will see less of a chance of you turning over.

Employers also see a higher chance of you coming in to work when called in extra and for being on call, if they believe you live within a very short radius to the job site. If you are looking for a job where you might be on call, such as in the OR or in dialysis, this is crucial.

For that reason, if you really want a job but live far away, you may want to put the address of a friend or family member who lives closer on your resume instead of your actual residence. Or, you may want to just put any random address on your resume as long as it is in the same town as the job you are applying for, even if you don't actually live there. This way, the hiring manager will look favorably on you for living close by. Once you are hired you can submit your actual place of residence as your address to HR for the sake of paperwork. If anyone asks why your resume's address was different, you can just say that was where you prefer to get mail at or that you moved. They probably won't ask though.

I've had managers mention or signify the town I lived in 3 times when I was job hunting. One manager had circled it on my resume during the interview and asked how long my commute would be and wrote it down. Another one said "you are very conveniently located, you're right in the middle of places we would need you to drive to and that's good."

So to sum up, to really get a job you want and to get ahead of all the other candidates: be local, or pretend to be.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Thanks for posting this...

I was once eliminated as an attractive candidate due to living approximately 50 miles from the prestigious hospital where I had applied. The interviewer was rolling her eyes as she asked, "So are you going to relocate closer?"

My longest workplace commute was 120 miles one-way. Hence, my crazy commutes were the inspiration for my user name. However, I will never willingly take on ridiculous commutes again unless I was on the verge of becoming homeless.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

I would not have even thought this was an issue unless you had "on call" days. I can see them being hesitant in that case.

Thanks for the heads up though.