@nrekram How much money do you need is very specific and relative to your situation. Heaps of factors can be factored in e.g. do you have a relative that can support you? are you just going to focus on a single state or planning to do interview interstate? do you have wife and kids to bring while looking for a job?
But to give you a rough estimate on what is the bare minimum you can bring, let's give an assumption that you are single and no dependents, will only focus applying on a single state and you are not very picky.
$100/week of room rental - Applicable to MOST major cities but a bit far from the city. Find something that is all inclusive with internet. Deposit and advance required.
$1/per use of phone call - Cheapest plan you can get, usually called long term plan.
$20/week of food - I'm talking about the BARE MINIMUM here. This is just mee goreng, eggs, bread, rice & milk.
$40/week of transportation cost - Public tranpo is expensive, this is assuming that you will be very active everyday looking for a job everywhere.
Roughly that would be PHP30,000 per month. If all I am gonna do is fly over and look for a job living on a bare minimum, I will bring at least 6 months worth of bullets.
Is 500k enough? Can you live with that kind of lifestyle? Are you bringing kids? Do you need to apply for drivers license (some visas require you to transfer international license within 6 months)? Do you need a car?
Lastly, when you get a job it will take at least a fortnight or a month before you can get your first salary.