Moving to NYC without a job

[sizzlinkola]

I have 6-12 months of living expenses (depends on my spending) and will be living with my SO in NYC. I've been looking for 7 months and applying online hasn't worked despite all the resume critiques I've gotten from PM hiring managers.

I have a non-tech background trying to break into a health tech startup in PM. I feel that my resume isn't competitive enough against tech and formal PM candidates. On top of that, I feel there is more supply than demand for PMs. I have 5 years of experience in engineering/PM in the life sciences industry which I believe is relevant for a health tech role and makes me qualified.

Moving to NYC will allow me to build my network and find a job through connections. I've only gotten one job applying online, the rest I leveraged my network. I'm building my NYC network remotely through e-mails and phone calls. I believe the next step is to relocate, meet these people in-person and attend tech events to meet more people to get my name/resume out there.

I'd love to hear that this is a dumb idea. Yet, I don't foresee anything else I could do to get a job at this point other than waiting for more job postings. I'm open to suggestions. My job isn't aligned with my values and would rather spend the 40 hr/wk dedicating to finding a job I love as well as being with my SO.

[BRUTE]

good idea. personal contact is everything. it's a numbers game, too. randomly showing up at 10 places will yield 3 offers.

[Smashter]

Sounds like you are on the right path. NYC is a great place to accumulate if you get a solid job and live in a tiny, cheap place.

I'm curious what you mean by building your network through emails and phone calls. Are you just trying to reach out to people on LinkedIn that seem interesting and friendly?

[TopHatFox]

Fuuuuuuuck NYC

The place in which you live has a massive effect in your happiness. NYC is the kind of place where it is normal for people to work 50-60 hour weeks, have triple-taxes, and pay tons of $ for dirty and grimy walls. Your choices for nature require at least an hour of travel. If you break up, your dating competition is steep as hell. I say run the hell away from LA, NYC, and the like.

Go somewhere with more nature, less taxes, and less overwork culture. Denver or Boulder is a good example. Accumulate somewhere where it is the norm for people to be happy. In NYC, the norm is mental health disorders and exhaustion.

[2Birds1Stone]

Hey now THF, I resemble that remark!

[Jin+Guice]

Don't move to NYC to date, move their to fuck.

Don't move to NYC to be average at your job or pursue some boring lifestyle and complain about how you make $30,000 a year and OMG it's soooo expensive. NYC is about optionality, serendipity and oddball opportunities. It's a place to be great or weird not reasonable. There will always be someone better than you there, but who are they paying today?

Every dude I know who moved there with an SO lost them in under a year.