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You’ve heard all the hype about Dallas. You’ve heard its an amazing place to be, it has amazing shopping, affordable housing, amazing things to do . . . and most importantly the job market is awesome. Which is perfect because this is where you are ready to get your life started. You decided that Moving to Dallas Without a Job is a pretty good idea since you are pretty sure you can still make a move to the Big D happen.
So You’re Moving to Dallas Without a Job – do These 11 Things Now!
Just like any big project in life, the more you plan, the better things will be. You could cross your fingers and hope for the best but moving to a brand new town, whether you think it or not, curve balls will come your way. I have had plenty, so speaking from experience plan that time before you come here.
Moving to a new city is exciting. Moving to a new city without a job? Stressful—but not unheard of. Moving to Dallas Without a Job happens all the time these days.
According to a survey of 1,000 people conducted by Allied Van Lines, the largest percentage of people who relocate for work are between the ages of 25 and 34 (40.2%), followed by those 18 to 25 (28.9%). And the three most common reasons people relocate are:
- to seek a higher paying job or career advancement (49.3%)
- to find a job closer to family (20.5%)
- as part of a transfer within their existing company (11.1%)
What do you need to do?
1. Save money
The more, the merrier. No really. You know that money can’t buy happiness but it can solve a lot of problems and buy you time.
How do you save money? Do it consistently and make it manageable. Just like training for a marathon or losing weight, it doesn’t all happen at once. If you plan on winnong the lottery then you might be waiting for a very long time. Think about what you could save each week – $25, $75, $500 or maybe its just $5. Even if you saved $5 every week, at the end of the month you would have about $25. At the end of the year, you would have $300. If you feel like that’s not enough, increase your savings or work at a side hustle to gain an extra bit of money.
2. Join a few local Facebook groups
Dust off that Facebook account and head to one of their most powerful features ➡️ GROUPS!
In the search field, type in Plano . . Frisco . . . Dallas . . . Rockwall . .and see what autopoulates. You can choose ‘groups’ as a filter and then ask to join. You can always leave the groups later on. But right now, if you can jump into community conversations, you’ll get a good feel of whats happening, whats new and what the people are like in different areas.
I invite you to join my group We Are Dallas Fort Worth
Or my page, which is even more engaged – We Are Collin County
3. Figure out the area you want to work and live
Before you move to DFW, spend at least a week driving and walking through the various neighborhoods to find the one that feels good to you. This is why is helpful to join groups as mentioned above, this will help filter out certain areas.
Each city, suburb and neighborhood have a completely different feel.
4. Seek out a church or community group
Build out that support system prior to your move.
Once you have narrowed down where in the metroplex you would like to live, start your search for church groups (use Facebook), community groups (take a peek over at Meetup and EventBrite) and find your niche.
5. Join these job-focused Facebook group
Here is one for Dallas and Collin County job opportunities https://www.facebook.com/groups/DallasandCollinCountyJobOpportunities/
Dallas Corporate Jobs https://www.facebook.com/groups/DFWcorporatejobs/
6. Build out a side hustle
Wages aren’t growing — and haven’t been for a long time.
Wages in the US, and in many other countries as well, have been effectively stagnant for years. (source: Bloomberg)
There has never been a better time to go online and find an extra gig to cover you in between jobs, during a job or while you wait for your first day to begin.
You can also take a look at this exhaustive list of side hustles here.
In this situation, finding a side hustle that can transfer to any geographical location will be ideal such as Uber driver, VA, LYFT driver, Amazon Prime delivery, course creator, blogger, consultant etc etc
7. Look into house sitting
As a housesitter, you can travel the globe and stay in other people’s homes. Typically, you won’t get paid but you will have your lodging taken care of which will give you the flexibility to explore the surrounding areas. Take a peek at a site such as Trusted Housesitter and you will find lots of options around the DFW metroplex. You can become a housitter when you come to Dallas for your exploratory visit or when you first move in to town to save on rent. Keep in mind, as a house sitter you will be rated on how well you take care of the pets, plants and home.
8. Prep your LinkedIn
If you have been ignoring this site, like millions, this is the time to jump on and figure it out.
If you are just getting ramped up on LinkedIn, be sure to connect with me here.
LinkedIn is my #1 source for networking and lead generation which can be accessed from anywhere in the world. If you need more help, you can work with me on it. Scroll down to the purple buttons to discover the LinkedIn audit.
9. Drive the city when you get here
Jump in your car and drive around the city during the day, the morning rush hour and at night. Truly get to know the city.
Understand what rush hour is like and knowing that Lewisville is in no means anywhere close to Dallas (nor is Celina, Prosper, Anna, Frisco, Wylie, Rockwall etc). If you are okay with driving from the burbs to Downtown Dallas each day, you will spend 2 hours per day driving, spending money on gas, tolls and possibly pulling out your hair.
10. Tap into your Alumni network
Reach out to your college Alumni network and set up coffee meetings with alumni already located in Dallas. DFW is a thriving metroplex with a variety of professionals from every university around the globe. You’ll be sure to find someone here that would be willing to give you insight or make connections for you.
11. Fill your calendar with networking events
Here are a number of local groups that have recurring events that would be a fabulous way to get you in sync with the city.
Look into:
LinkedIn Local DFW or LinkedIn Local Dallas
The DEC or the Dallas Entrepreneur Center
Innovation Calling has a monthly meetup
Search Facebook events, LinkedIn events and just choose as many as possible to get your foot in the door of the city.
Hope these 11 ideas give you motivation for making the most out of Moving to Dallas Without a Job. You’ll find that the residents are nice and ready to help you out and make your new town a place that you are happy to call home.
One more thing . . . come join the Facebook convo.
Interested in working with Becca or being featured here on the website, start here
She helps local businesses in DFW and many larger businesses looking to tell a story to the readers of Dallas. Her work entails copywriting, content marketing, blog campaigns, email marketing, social media, coaching and consulting.
This article contains some affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you!). Thank you for reading!
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