Step 1 — Before you book the ticket

The worst version of this move is arriving with a one-way ticket, a hotel booked for four nights, and a plan that begins with "figure it out." Do these three first.

Work out your real runway

Take your savings, subtract the deposit (see step 2 — it is larger than you think), and divide what's left by your monthly burn. If the answer is under four months, you'll interview from a position of fear, and it shows.

• Deposit — typically several months' rent, paid up front.
• Setup — a mattress, a desk, a chair you won't hate by month three.
• Float — the first salary can take six weeks to land.

Start the search before you land

The single highest-leverage thing: begin applying six to eight weeks before you move, with a local address already on the resume. Recruiters filter on location, and "relocating" reads as "will ghost us in round three."

Get the paper trail together

Payslips, offer letters, relieving letter, ID, degree certificate. Scan everything now, while you still have access to a printer and to whoever signs things at your current job.

The document you can't get is always the one from the employer you left on bad terms. Get it before you leave.