Difficulty Landing Job After Relocation

This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:

Orlando writes: I have recently moved to New York City. I have 4 solid years of web development/programming and design experience. I have also worked 2 years, out of the 4 years, as a web-development consultant. On top of my experiences and skills, I am still pursuing my first bachelor’s degree in computer information systems.

For some reason, I am experiencing difficulties in finding a job in New York. I have been sending resumes for more than a month now and generated only one interview, but another candidate was selected. I was wondering if this is because I don’t have my degree yet or is it my resume? How long does it usually take, on average, for someone to hear from companies?

Please help me. I would really appreciate any suggestions you can give me on how to get interviews with companies.

The Career Doctor responds: Job-hunting is all about marketing and selling — and being more aggressive in hunting down job opportunities than other job-seekers. One of your biggest problems is a common one among job-seekers — applying for jobs and then sitting back waiting for the phone to ring. And as you have discovered, job-hunting just does not work that way. You need to get on the phone (or via email if you applied for jobs using email) and call every company you have not heard from and see what the status of your application is — and ask for interviews where appropriate.