Should I fly to Chicago to seek employment there?

I do not think you should fly to Chicago.

I would suggest you research the large discount brokerage house’s job listings, Schwab, Fidelity, etc… See where they have call centers you would be willing to relocate to. Those call centers hire recent graduates and put them through training to get their 7 and 63. Hundreds of stockbrokers in places you would not expect. Once you are already licensed, I suspect you would have more success applying for jobs in NYC or Chicago. Do not underestimate Boston as a financial center either.

If you are young of course you should! There is no reason why you should not have adventures and experiment and have all the experiences you could have. Good luck I think you will have a great time.

I have been in your position in the past where I was applying to work far from where I was physically, and the lesson I learned is identical to what you are describing. They simply will not hire someone who is not there.

I did exactly what you are describing. I took an extended trip to the place I wanted to be. I sent out a ton of resumes ahead of time, and then I called the companies when I got into town.

It worked. I got a job.

I say go for it.

“Go for it?” In CHICAGO? Hardly!

“The unemployment rate in the Chicago metro area rose nearly 1 percentage point to 9.8 percent in November — up from 8.9 percent a year ago and 9.7 percent in October, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday.”

http://www.suntimes.com/business/9600239-420/chicago-unemployment-rate-rises-to-98-percent.html

And this is from the government, which consistently underestimates unemployment due to people dropping out of the workforce ( i.e. no longer seeking employment ). I would estimate actual unemployment in the Chicago area at about 14%.

Personally, I think you should fly to any place you are considering to relocate to.

Just FYI, this weather is unseasonably warm and may give you a very false impression of the reality of Chicago winters. I love Chicago 7 – 8 months out of the year, but the winters are REALLY BAD because of the Lake effect. Even living just 40 miles away makes a big difference.

I know a lot of people who fell in love with Chicago and left after their first big winter. It’s not just the snow and ice, it’s the bitter cold to the bone temps and the ugliness of the pollution on the snow after a day or two. Its also big chunks of ice that sometimes fly up onto the streets from the lake.

Change your cover letter approach. Tell them that you are relocating to Chicago. (that way you don’t seem to require relocation assistance and you may not get stuck on the “out of town” pile.

A job hunting trip is a good idea. Set up informational interviews with a few key players in your field. Hand them your resume. Tell them that you are planning to relocate to Chicago.Search the want ads before hand and see if there are any openings that you can apply for.

Personally, I would not go to Chicago looking for employment but then again I am not a big city type of man. If you think you want to live there, and can make it an employment-seeking vacation then give it a shot.

Why not just move there? It seems to me that being there for a couple of weeks is barely any better than applying from out of town. If you’re committed to Chicago, you should move there.

Thanks for your responses. We’ll see, I’m not doing anything on impulse but I am considering it as well as my other options.

@wundayatta I can fly there for free (southwest credit card thank you!) and I can stay there using AirBnB for two weeks for $500 or less plus the cost of food, public transport, and maybe some entertainment. Moving there with NO job and not more than a month or two’s worth of savings and signing a lease (even month to month) seems incredibly high risk.

Makes sense. Can you accomplish what you need to accomplish in 2 weeks?

I think it’s a reasonable amount of time, unless they ask for a second round interview 2½ weeks later!