How do I get an apartment when I don't yet have a job?
Your dilemma is a common one: how to start in New York when landlords want tenants already established. There are two alternatives. If you can find a job while still outside the city, then some landlords will accept an employer's letter confirming your position and salary. That you would have a roommate who could do the same would improve your chances. But understanding that you have to be here to find a job, there appears but one solution: find an apartment share. Most people new to New York start out with a share. Opportunities are abundant, financial requirements are low, if they exist at all, initial cost are very low (usually just first month and one month security). Most roommate situations are month to month, meaning that one you are here, have a job and a bank account with something in it, then you can find a place of your own. One thing you may have overlooked: finding a reasonably priced place in the city takes time, a lot of time. You really have to be in New York already to look at apartments as they come on the market. A share gives you that time.