Job Hunting in a New City or Country: A Practical Guide.
August 11th, 2026
Last Updated on September 22nd, 2026
This text was fully written by humans.
SUMMARY / KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Relocation appetite is rising: 49% of employees globally say they’d consider relocating internationally for work in 2025, up from 46% in 2017, according to Ipsos — and 67% of Gen Z workers say they’d relocate for the right opportunity (Forbes).
- The U.S. remains the top destination: 25% of workers who’d consider relocating name the United States as their preferred country, followed by Switzerland, the UK, and Canada (18% each).
- Remote work is changing the calculus: 45.8% of job seekers now search for remote roles specifically to access better opportunities without relocating — though 20% of remote workers still plan to relocate for lifestyle reasons.
- Local research matters most: Understanding a new market’s job openings, salary norms, and hiring culture before applying dramatically improves your odds versus a generic, one-size-fits-all application.
- Preparation reduces risk on both sides: Employers weigh relocation costs and visa complexity heavily, so candidates who address logistics proactively stand out.
How Should You Research the Market Before You Move?
Job hunting for a new city or country starts with understanding the market you’re entering. It is not just about the job title you’re chasing. Look into which industries are thriving locally.
Additionally, check what salary ranges actually look like once you adjust for cost of living. In addition, find out which job boards or hiring platforms dominate in that region. LinkedIn and Indeed aren’t universal, and many countries have their own leading platforms.
Getting a clear read on how to navigate today’s job market before you commit to a move pays off. As a result, you avoid chasing openings that don’t actually exist in your target location.
The appetite for this kind of move is real and growing. According to Ipsos, 49% of employees globally would consider relocating internationally for work in 2025. That is up from 46% in 2017.
The United States remains the single most preferred destination at 25%. Switzerland, the UK, and Canada follow, each tied at 18%. Indeed, knowing you’re not an outlier for considering this move can make the research phase feel less daunting.
Trends like that are also a reminder that the job market outlook for the next decade keeps shifting. As a result, these shifts affect global relocation patterns, not just domestic ones.
Build a Local Network From Afar
Networking remains one of the most reliable ways to learn about openings that never get posted publicly. In fact, it matters even more when you’re an outsider to a market. Reach out to former colleagues, alumni, or industry contacts who already live in your target city or country.
Similarly, don’t underestimate niche local professional groups or expat communities. Indeed, they often share hiring intel that generic job boards miss entirely.
Gen Z workers are leading the charge here. According to Forbes, 67% of Gen Z employees say they’d relocate for the right opportunity. Moreover, many treat building a remote network ahead of the move as a core part of their job search strategy.
Indeed, it is not just an afterthought. Treating outreach like this as part of how to plan your next career move tends to produce far better results. It is not just a favor to ask when you’re desperate.
How Do You Find Remote-Friendly and Relocation-Friendly Roles?
Not every “new city” job search has to mean uprooting immediately. Remote work has quietly reshaped this decision for a lot of professionals. In fact, 45.8% of job seekers say they search for remote roles to access better opportunities, without relocating at all.
That can be a useful bridge strategy. Take a remote-friendly role first, establish yourself financially, and then decide whether an eventual physical move still makes sense.
That said, plenty of people still choose to move for lifestyle reasons even once remote flexibility is on the table. In fact, about 20% of remote workers relocated in 2025 anyway. The reasons ranged from cost of living to family or simply wanting a change of scenery.
If remote work is already right for you, our guide to mastering remote work success covers what to do next. It shows how to set yourself up well before you sign an offer.
Indeed, thinking through how remote work is reshaping industries helps clarify the decision. It shows whether relocating is even the right lever to pull in the first place.
Tailor Your Application for a New Market
A resume and cover letter that worked perfectly in your current market may fall flat somewhere new. Different regions weigh credentials, formatting, and even resume length differently.
As a result, it’s worth researching local norms before you submit anything. In addition, if you’re moving internationally, highlighting relevant language skills or prior cross-cultural experience can meaningfully strengthen your case.
Go a layer deeper on the companies themselves, too. Employers considering a candidate who needs to relocate are often weighing extra cost and complexity. As a result, demonstrating specific, well-researched knowledge of their business, industry, and goals helps offset that perceived risk.
It also signals you’re serious about the move rather than testing the waters. All of this comes down to navigating a career transition. The destination market simply has different norms than the one you’re used to.
How Do You Prepare for Logistics and the Interview?
Once you land an interview, be ready to discuss more than just your skills and experience. Interviewers will often ask directly about your reasons for moving and how you plan to handle the transition.
Common practical questions include visa status, timeline, and how quickly you could realistically start, especially for international moves. As a result, having clear, confident answers signals that you’ve thought this through rather than made an impulsive decision.
It’s also worth planning the logistics of the move itself well before an offer arrives. This includes housing research and how you’ll handle the trip if in-person interviews are required. Our guide to planning your professional travels is a useful companion resource for this.
In addition, it helps if your job search involves in-person visits to a new city before you commit to the move. With 41% of Americans planning to move in 2026, you’re far from alone in navigating this. Treat the process as a project with its own timeline, and it becomes far less overwhelming.
None of this has to be complicated. In fact, treat it as a career change strategy for professionals with clear milestones rather than one big leap.
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Ontology of Value (August 11th, 2026). Job Hunting in a New City or Country: A Practical Guide. Retrieved from: https://ontologyofvalue.com/job-hunting-new-city-country-guide/
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