The rule of the day relocates to relocating for a job and how it isn’t a small issue that many people make it out to be.
In general terms, a hiring manager will prefer a qualified local candidate over a qualified candidate who would have to relocate to take the job. Even if the hiring company won’t pick up any of the relocation costs, it’s still easier to pick the local candidate.
The local candidate can most likely attend an interview(s) on short notice without several days or even several weeks notice.
The local candidate won’t have a spouse or significant other and/or children to consult regarding a move to a different city, state, province, etc.
The local candidate won’t call the employer the morning they’re supposed to start the job and let them know they have changed their mind about moving and no longer want the job as a result.
The fact is that hiring the local candidate is the easy answer for a hiring manager, even more so if the candidate that has to relocate has to relocate from another country and might have work visa issues on top of the ones mentioned above.
These days, people think about casting a wider net with regards to their job search and decide to search for jobs outside their home area and this is often a good idea.
But unless you are actually living there at the time, the farther away the job is from your home base, the better the chances that the hiring manager will take this into consideration when it comes to actually hiring someone.
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