Address to use for out of state job?

[freemarzo]

I am looking to relocate to an out of state job where my parents live in Atlanta. I read on a few websites that its okay to use the address of a friend or someone you know when you're trying to move to another state, if that person lives in the state to which you are trying to relocate since a lot of companies don't like to hire people from out of state.

I've been putting my parents address down as my own, although I clearly don't live anywhere near where my parents live.

Is this really something that is okay to do? I am assuming if I do get any interviews I should not bring it up in the interview that I do not live in Atlanta?

[TinyDancer]

I guess it's okay. . . I would think I'd want to get the fact that you need to move (and will need to make some more extensive travel arrangments) on the table sooner rather than later.

I would list your address on things, but if you have an opportunity to write a cover letter, stress that your family lives in Atlanta and you are looking to be closer to them. If you think that they aren't going to want to pay to relocate you. . . be clear that you'd be willing to incur that expense to get closer to home.

I dunno. My company wouldn't shy away from hiring out of state people. . . but maybe some do. Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences!

[SmilesSoSweet]

My BF's brother got a P.O. Box in the city he wanted to move to and work in. Then he put a forwarding address to that and it got sent to his home in Phoenix.

It was the fastest way of receiving mail, but he didn't know anyone in KS where he moved to.

When I moved to Phoenix, I put in my cover letter that I was moving to Phoenix by a certain month and will be available to interview within a few days notice.

[Phoenix212]

Yes, having a mailing address in the city you'd like to move to can be useful. When recruiters and HR people search for resumes, they often filter based the address. So having an address in the city in question helps avoid being screened out.

A PO box is useful for this purpose. Unfortunately, you can tell just by looking it that it's not a street address. Even better is a private mailbox rental agency. The advantage is that they can offer an address which looks like a real street address. For example:

1234 Peachtree Street NE, #567
Atlanta, GA 30361

For some reason, USPS doesn't like people using designations like "Apt. 567" or "Suite 567" for their mailboxes. No big deal - people will rarely question why you use "#" instead of, say, "Apt." for your address. In any case, it beats "PO Box 456789, Atlanta, GA 30361" by a mile.

Private mailbox rental agencies can also forward mail for you to wherever you're living now, or anywhere else for that matter.

Warning: This is only really useful to avoid being screened out. Recruiters may ask you if you already actually live in the city where you're applying. Fibbing outright in response to such a question is an obvious no-no. Keep in mind that any background check worthy of the name is going to turn up where you lived at what time, which includes where you're actually living right now.