My Job Search
Martel
Posts: 3,306 ✭✭✭✭
I've been all over the country since last April interviewing for jobs. From Texas to Michigan, from Florida to Oregon. I make a good resume, and must get through good preliminary interviews and have good references, because I'm getting these expenses-paid trips to have a final interview, but don't have a job yet.
I'm not really dejected about this; money has been really tight at times, and all my student loans are being deferred because those payments just aren't in the budget right now. But some really good things have happened to me and my family in this year. I've got a great part-time job. I've spent a lot of quality time with my family. I've been able to do some volunteer work and start playing soccer again, which I haven't done in years.
In the next 5-6 weeks, I'm interviewing for 3 jobs and may have a completed offer for one other. The first of these interviews is this weekend. I'll be in the Richmond, VA area. The next is a couple of weeks away and takes us to Spokane, WA. The final interview is also in VA, but in a DC bedroom community in Northern VA. I have an offer from my current employer for a full-time position, for at least two years, contingent upon some grants being awarded. They have not given me any details on compensation or anything like that, but have told me the job is mine if I want it.
I'm sharing this with you to ask if you have any information on any of these areas as far as schools, cost of living, good, bad, frustrations that come with the area, etc. PM me, or put your stories on here. Jim's already shared info about the Spokane area, but if you know it, don't let that deter you! Help me out, while I make a huge decision that will have a giant impact on my family. Thanks.
I'm not really dejected about this; money has been really tight at times, and all my student loans are being deferred because those payments just aren't in the budget right now. But some really good things have happened to me and my family in this year. I've got a great part-time job. I've spent a lot of quality time with my family. I've been able to do some volunteer work and start playing soccer again, which I haven't done in years.
In the next 5-6 weeks, I'm interviewing for 3 jobs and may have a completed offer for one other. The first of these interviews is this weekend. I'll be in the Richmond, VA area. The next is a couple of weeks away and takes us to Spokane, WA. The final interview is also in VA, but in a DC bedroom community in Northern VA. I have an offer from my current employer for a full-time position, for at least two years, contingent upon some grants being awarded. They have not given me any details on compensation or anything like that, but have told me the job is mine if I want it.
I'm sharing this with you to ask if you have any information on any of these areas as far as schools, cost of living, good, bad, frustrations that come with the area, etc. PM me, or put your stories on here. Jim's already shared info about the Spokane area, but if you know it, don't let that deter you! Help me out, while I make a huge decision that will have a giant impact on my family. Thanks.
Intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
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Good luck. It's tough. When I graduated it was just like now, except they hadn't yet learned to lie about the unemployment rate. 23% unemployment in Stockton CA the year I graduated. Jimmy Carter was fixing prices which just made things worse.
1)Cost of living in the DC area is high. People commute from where I live for that reason. I don't, I work from home and my wife works 5 miles up the road but many do.
2)Traffic is the worst in the country. Officially, it has beaten out L.A. now. A friend of mine lives about 15 miles from his work in NoVa. He doesn't HAVE to be to work until 8 but leaves at 5 am and get there about 5:45 because if he left at 7 it would take him 2 hours. My companies office is in Alexandria. Last time I went there in rush hour it took me 4.5 hours to get home. it's 2 hours on a normal day all the way to DC.
I'm not scaring you away at all. I believe the job opportunities are some of the best in the world in this area. Pay is competitive and it's a great area to live in as long as you understand what comes along with that. When you're negotiating your salary DC make sure you look at what a place to live is going to cost you close to where that job is or be prepared for the expenses that come with long commutes.
If you're staying the night up here let me know. If I'm around I'll gladly meet you for a smoke. If you move up this I'll glad showing you my backyard, the heart of wine and beer country
Man, if my evaluation of your city changes your opinion of me I'm sorry. I know I haven't been around much in a couple years but I had a good reputation because I'm opinionated. However, my opinions are based on facts. The city has had and continues to have major crime issues. It was the murder capital of the US at one point and continually shows up on highest murders per capita lists. These are facts, they are not my opinion. There are nice things about Richmond, the history, lots of good cigar shops and even Virginia's first cigar bar. But don't be mad at me for my evaluations of the facts.
Oh and stop calling me black, Pot.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
Stafford is good, you're south of the heavy traffic and much cheaper cost of living down there.
Hahaha is this for real???
Really though. Richmond is Richmond. Nothing amazing to write home about, but it does have plenty of cheaper areas to live in - if interested in buying, a good friend of mine is a realtor there and would be happy to show you around.
Dc is an even bigger shithole, first and foremost, the traffic. It takes me ~1.5-2 hours each way to get to and from work - and my commute is only 20 miles. But if you are in stafford, you will be outside of Fredericksburg. Should be much cheaper than closer to the city. And much better traffic - for what it is - than if you were further north.
Its also one of the most expensive ghettos I have ever had the misfortune of living close to.
I get a couple of weeks rest and then off to the Northwest. I should find out about the job in Richmond and the situation with my current employer when I return from that trip or shortly after, anyway.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
Hey, if you do wind up near Richmond, gimme a shout. We'll go hit some of that VA Wine and Cigar Trail.
Spokane fell through in a huge surprise. I thought we were moving to the NW, but they decided not to hire anyone.
Over the last few days, I'd resigned myself to staying in Memphis. I have a job offer here doing work I really like with the potential to make it something even better. I'm excited about the opportunity. But, the pay is nothing and will always be nothing. Well, no raises for the next two years anyway, and I'd be earning less than I earned before my Master's degree.
Then, out of the blue, I got called with an offer today in Stafford, VA. Decent pay, but not much more when I ran a cost of living calculator than what Memphis pay would be at a much lower rate. Not sure I buy that entirely, but okay.
Now it's decision time.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
In Memphis, I'd work with a non-profit. Initially, I'd be teaching, but I would also move out of the classroom and act kind of like a chaplain to the teaching staff and students as well. The executive director wants this program to expand to a more involved job-training program, which is what the organization has traditionally done. This would be a second site for the job program, and would need to be fully staffed with a director, job instructors, a computer skills lab and instructor, counselors, etc. This program goes all-out. I love what they do. But it is a challenging environment and very little pay. Even though Memphis is a low cost of living, that's only true as an average. For us to put our kids in schools we find acceptable, we'd have to move to an area with a much higher cost of living. Since we came here for grad school, we've been homeschooling, but that can't continue as my wife and I both return to full-time employment.
I'm not so concerned about resume, even though when I look at it, either choice means heading in a different direction. There are prospects unique to each job, and in some ways, the nonprofit has more potential to grow, but it is also riskier in some ways. I guess that's the way of it; however, I don't know that in this case growth necessarily equals more rewarding, they could both be rewarding and fulfilling jobs.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.
I like Oliva and Quesada (including Regius) a lot. I will smoke anything, though.