Decrimination by location ...

Have you actually been denied a job because of this or are you only going by what the job postings say? Or having you submitted resumes, only to not get any answer?

This is common practice by job posters to put potential candidates on notice thatthe job poster will NOT pay any relocation expenses.

One problem with this is that many employersmay use address as a filter also to keep from wasting their time. They figure there is no sense in reading a resume and getting exited about the potential ideal employee, only to find out the candidate wants to be paid for moving from Alaska to Florida.

Another reason may be because of job requirements. If the job requires a person to be on call, a 2 hour (or longer) response time might be unreasonable (even if only a temporary situation).

One work around you might want to try would be to put your Contact information at the end of your resume and then state up front that you are willing to relocate and don't seek relocation assistance. This may or may not get you past the person that is doing the initial filtering (who may be looking at only return addresses on an envelope).

If you have received the standard "don't call us, we'll call you" brushoff, have you been able to follow-up with a phone call? Until you are able to talk with a live person (who hopefully has the "real" authority to make a decision or deviate from policy), you may be out of luck until you actually do "live locally."

I actually ended up moving to the city and then finding a job so as to aviod this kind of situation. While that action is far from ideal it did also make it a lot easier for job searches and networking with companies.

Have you thought about saving enough money to make a move and support yourself while looking for the right position? It is not the easy route but it worked for me.

I recently ran into the same problem while relocating. My significant other got a job offer out of state and we decided that it would be a great time move to a new place. During the relocation process, I feel most of the resumes I sent out were tossed in the trash bin before they were read since my address was listed as OK (we were moving to FL).

I think it is rediculous for someone who is willing to move w/out requesting relocation to be overlooked.

Discrimination by location does have a function for the employer, even if the potential employee doesn't want relocation help.

Many employees have spouses or significant others that can have an impact on their desire to relocate. One small company I worked for tells the tale of hiring a person from out of area and having that person show up for work and resign on the same day because their spouse didn't want to move. Considering the costs of recruiting, that wasn't good for the bottom line.

The same company, keeping this in mind, flew my wife and I to the area so the company could see how well I would work out and my wife could see how well she would enjoy the area. We're still in the area despite a job change.

Yes, employers discriminate in this fashion. I had this experience in a northcentral Wisconsin corporate setting. I actually wheedled my way past this discrimination because I wanted to live near the northwoods for awhile.

But I got back out after a few years and the reason IS related to the problem you have noted. This employer discriminated in favor of locals because they were the only white collar and tech game in town. They found that, despite the lack of training in this employee base, they could browbeat individuals from this group more readily, the backdrop being "Hey, if you don't like it..." It was, in some ways, a successful approach to keeping control if you ignored things like the fact that the VP in charge of office automation had to have someone else log his machine on for him in the morning.

Since then, the dynamics of the rest of the community has changed (as the result of an influx of immigrants with higher self-expectations) so the parent company has shifted a lot of operations away from what they consider a dangerous dynamic.

The bottom line is that company recruiters are overwhelmed with applicants for nearly every position that they post right now. They can hardly even manage to screen all of the ones who live close to the job, much less consider those some distance away.

However, if you are highly skilled, they will relocate you from across the country to get you. The bottom line is that this is a supply and demand issue. Companies only relocate candidates when they can't find the talent they need close by.