Local applicants only

[louisville]

Hi all,
I recently applied for a public sector position out of state, and was quickly told that they are seeking "local candidates only". Has anyone ever heard of this before?

[Big Owl]

my locale has been that way in the past. I hope i can convince them to go broader for a position that we will hire in the next few months. but our personal director doesn't think that out of state hires are worth the effort but our local talent is slim pickings because of bigger higher paying places nearby.

[nerudite]

I think one of our cyburbians (Seabishop?) said that he has run across this in his area of the country. Even to the point where someone from outside of the city or county has difficulty getting a job there (let alone out of state)! Seems like the municipality could be limiting the talent they get, IMO.

[The One]

I think one of our cyburbians (Seabishop?) said that he has run across this in his area of the country. Even to the point where someone from outside of the city or county has difficulty getting a job there (let alone out of state)! Seems like the municipality could be limiting the talent they get, IMO.

That is a disturbing Avatar..... Kinda freaky.....

Oh and they tend to be cheap and not want to fly people in for low level jobs....that is a sign to me that they are not seriously looking for Great people

[Richmond Jake]

Hi all,
I recently applied for a public sector position out of state, and was quickly told that they are seeking "local candidates only". Has anyone ever heard of this before?

Let me guess: you applied in California or Florida, right?
Before I was introduced to our Board of Commissioners my boss whispered to me, "Don't tell them you're from California."
'nuf said.

[Trail Nazi]

Yeah, if you applied for a Florida job, it is a common practice because it is a complete p.i.t.a. to train out-of-staters because they generally hate it and move back to their northern state. I know a couple of the jurisdictions that I have worked for absolutely would not look at the out-of-staters unless they were the last and/or only applicants and they couldn't convince the janitor to take a "pay raise".

[Tide]

There are usually tiered hiring levels for public sector jobs. I know in my County you have to hire within the County first, if you don't get any qualified candidates at that point you can move to the surrounding Counties, again if no qualified candidates you then can go Statewide. Add another level if you are trying to get work at a township level.

[WouldBePlanner]

Yeah, if you applied for a Florida job, it is a common practice because it is a complete p.i.t.a. to train out-of-staters because they generally hate it and move back to their northern state. I know a couple of the jurisdictions that I have worked for absolutely would not look at the out-of-staters unless they were the last and/or only applicants and they couldn't convince the janitor to take a "pay raise".

That is pretty depressing to me since I am looking for a job in Florida right now (live in MI). Why do out-of-staters hate it? Personally, I don't think I would want to work in a department that is so narrow-minded to think that only in-state applicants are worthwhile. That is seriously limiting your pool of applicants. Anybody can learn laws & codes.

[Dan]

Hi all,
I recently applied for a public sector position out of state, and was quickly told that they are seeking "local candidates only". Has anyone ever heard of this before?

Many communities in the Buffalo area have pre-residency requirements. You have to have lived in the city, township of village where the job is located for a certain time (I've seen four months to a year) before you can even apply for a job with local government. This greatly limits the pool of available talent, especially for smaller communities, and perpetuates political patronage.

Even in grad school, I couldn't get an internship in local government because of pre-residency and residency requirements. Amherst (where I lived at the time) had no internship positions open, and positions in city government or for neighborhood development agencies required Buffalo residency. One city councilman wanted to hire me as an intern, but not even he could pull it off. Fortunately, I got an assistantship at the school.

Florida agencies prefers locals because of the state Development of Regional Impact (DRI) process; it adds another layer to the development review process. In New York, there's the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR). In California, there's the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

[jmello]

my locale has been that way in the past. I hope i can convince them to go broader for a position that we will hire in the next few months. but our personal director doesn't think that out of state hires are worth the effort but our local talent is slim pickings because of bigger higher paying places nearby.

Strange. Our municipality frequently advertises nationally, flies in candidates and even pays for moving sometimes. We recently sponsored an employee on an H-1 visa. It would simply not work if we limited our search to local candidates, considering we are the only significant city for a hundred miles in all directions.