Living Outside of the City

Most civilian jobs for New York City require residency within the city, usually within 90 days of starting your new job. Check this posting out:

For this – and many titles – you are required to live within the confines of New York City. And they mean business. NYC may send investigators to confirm your residency, you will need to provide proof of residency, and, if you don’t live in the city, would you want to live under that kind of cloud? What if you worked 10 years and then they found out you never lived in the city?

Well, some jobs are considered “Hard to Fill”. These jobs allow you to live outside the city but work for the city.

Typically, Hard to Fill jobs are skilled or technical in nature. Radio Repair Mechanics, Auto Mechanics, many computer titles, are considered Hard to Fill and waive the residency requirement because they just can’t find enough qualified candidates within the city.

DCAS has this defined within their “General Examination Regulations”:

 Here’s one from FDNY Communications Electrician that gives you a little wiggle room: 

But I’d be careful here with the “City employees in certain titles…” description because, like I said in earlier posts, I’m not a lawyer, HR person, or anyone else that can clearly define the city hiring process. I’m just a guy who’s been in the system and might be able to give some school-of-hard-knocks advice. If you are interested in more information it can be found in some of the NYC Administrative Codes and better discussed with the HR people of your prospective employer.

Residency requirements are not just restricted to NYC. Here’s one from a Clerk-Typist NOE for Nassau County NY:

Again, you’d have to check with the hiring persons for more detail. What I see here is just information about being a resident to TAKE the test and UNTIL APPOINTED. This suggests that, once appointed, you may be able to live outside of Nassau County – but I’m not sure…

As far as a comprehensive list of Hard to Fill New York City jobs, I haven’t had much luck. So, if you want to work for the city, but don’t live in the city, you’d have to make sure you ask your prospective employer’s HR people. In addition, when looking at job postings, read it thoroughly to see if it states a residency requirement. In most cases I’ve found that if it is not stated, then it is probably Hard to Fill.

But always, always check.

Questions and Comments welcomed below.