SlimyOrca

i can't really help at all (and am in a very similar boat tbh) but i can at least repost it. good luck

This advice is not gonna work for some people, ymmv, but the advice column Ask A Manager has a number of e/books and guides full of advice about the "convince an employer to pay you money" parts of job hunting and I regularly see them get glowing reviews. This one about How2Interview is free, this one about the whole job-hunting process is $25, and there is also a (free) masterpost linking to lots of (free) individual topic posts about everything jobhunt, including lots of resume advice. All the posts on the site itself are free too if you want 15+ years of advice column archives but that's obviously a lot (although some people would enjoy it as a time-killer, haha).

I really don't want to be That Guy who shows up with nothing but reading material (things unemployed people usually don't want: advice from strangers!!) but you mentioned you'd like to get out of the service industry and I've seen a lot of letters thanking the columnist for their mix of realism and explicitness about work norms, especially from folks who've been working blue-collar or service jobs and want to make the jump to something else. Also a lot of people saying their resume & interview advice is killer. So if any of this is interesting, I hope it helps! If it's not, no big and I wish you a very "highly affordable housing and a lucrative job"!

If you wanna get into AV, perhaps look up local unions for the area. IATSE might have some chapters there that deal specifically with film work, and even if not and it's just general stagehand work they might have opportunities with stuff like event video installation. Working gigs like that also can open up networking with local companies such as equipment rental or content creation companies who require overhire a lot. Otherwise, I would suggest looking at what other local companies are around where you wanna go, like radio, news, or nonprofits that produce performing arts. I am aware that Seattle has an opera company, although beyond projections I'm uncertain if that would have a dedicated video tech. I would probably also guess that there are more opportunities to be found once you're there in person in addition to what you find online, since a lot of entertainment networking is done by who you know and talk to regularly. Anyways good luck, hope you find what you're looking for.

linkedin, stupidly enough- make a spreadsheet to catalog the jobs you're applying for, see: https://javieracordero.notion.site/Job-Application-Manager-fce5406854f0475aa21d5fcd9fa5e668

there's also google jobs- I can't help with the A/V industry. my business has its own job sites, so I suggest finding out whatever the jobs board for A/V people are. that said, I see quite a few on LI's job search.

imho- Obsidian is also a powerful tool for keeping things organized here but since you're on the move, it relies a lot on a local repository for the files so that may not be great.

Linkedin offers a free trial that is, ime, worth using at least for the start of your hunt- it'll show you who is biting. don't put your address in your resume / keep it to relevant experience, and stick to anecdotes in there that reflect immediate experience & preferably have some metrics attached (I produced X value at Y outcome, like increased viewership or produced this many hours of footage). don't be afraid to use (yes i hate it) chatgpt to whip up some first drafts or save you the work of rephrasing your stuff to fit a job. It's bad at everything except being a good breaker for writer's block, and obviously strip some personal identifying info out of it, but it saves a lot of labor for stupid tasks ("please take this block of text and turn it into a succinct bullet point that matches what this job desc seems to care about)

my other piece of advice is make a list of questions you can use in interview that target things both you and they will care about: I like "what is a recent time this team failed expectations and why" "who will I be reporting to in this position?" "tell me more about where I, in this role, should be at in 8 months after taking the role" "tell me what some of your pain points are right now that you hope having this role filled will help with" - these show you think strategically, can project a bit into the future, you want to know the context of why this role exists, whether or not you're walking into a trash fire, and whether it's actually a good fit for you

that, and less is more! do not feel you have to justify yourself- just ask material questions, if you flub an anecdote, just write down that you beefed it and need a better response that you can study offline. try to figure out why they were asking it.

also, interviews are not to get a job- they're free networking, participate in them like it's a free class to learn about The Role + maybe a connection you'll have later even if you don't get it. framing it this way reduces the stress, makes it more natural, allows you to extract value even if it 'fails' - you can take notes that will snowball momentum in future interviews. It also just downright makes it more pleasant- be human, ask them how their day was, remember they're a person & try to make their job as easy as possible, they will like you for this.

try to have some relevant portfolio material handy, and imho put your linkedin on your resume. I hate the site but focusing your resume work there will save you time on quickapply + exporting stuff, it also gives your network a way (in the future) or past volunteer projects to endorse you or specific skills you have. more importantly: it lets recruiters FIND YOU- this helped me get some work not too long ago.

hope this helps, and remember- even a so-so contract in a field barely adjacent to the one you want is better than nothing, but what you should never accept unless you absolutely have to is a dogshit role of people who clearly dont like you. it's never worth the trauma. there is plenty of service work out here, but if you can make a clean break, I really recommend just focusing on this instead. I am annoyed I didn't leave service sooner despite having the skills to do this work.

also, set up a calendly so people can book you easily for screeners & keep a real schedule. don't work weekends, even for yourself, even during the job hunt- the jobs will be there. and study up on youtube for whatevers hot / new in your industry, it helps to brush up, I've done this for a lot of discussions.