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Hi everyone,
i have come across this website in my search for info. everyone seems so smart and helpful!
i am a mother with 2 small children (3 & 18 mos.) my husband is in the trades. recently, on a job site, a plumber told my husband that construction jobs were plentiful and paid well in hawaii.
this info happens to coincide with my intense desire to get out of this hellish rat race known as the bay area, marin county, california.
i have scoured this website, read many threads on the subject of moving to hawaii. and i cant seem to get to the bottom of it. i have read so many contradictory stories from everyone with many different levels of experience: from the haole who has lived in hawaii for 20 years to the hawaiian who has experienced mainland living to the people who only last a few years.... all good, bad and ugly.
i am searching for a community feeling i havent experienced yet, i know there is a better quality of life out there.
My husband works like a dog, we never see him, the weekend is over before we have had time to catch our breath before it starts all over again..
we are (obviously) painfully aware of the cost of living here in the bay area. i have only casually looked on craigslist and found rentals cheaper than what we pay now. Is that plumber right?, are there well paying construction jobs in hawaii?
aside from all of the obvious things about hawaii that make it so appealing to everyone, I'm looking for something more than just nice weather and beaches.
My family is the most important thing to me. i want an idyllic life surrounded by a warm community with friends. i want my children to be safe, happy without all the trappings of a material culture. i want simplicity, joy, love.
you all are probably laughing at me right about now, but i refuse to be so cynical for the sake of my children.
has anyone out there found what i'm looking for? can it be found in Hawaii? does anyone know of another town that has potential?
I am seriously considering moving abroad.. i dont want to have to make such a drastic move, but..
all of your musings would be appreciated, especially from those who have lived a long time and have much wisdom. mahalo
1) Are you in a position to visit Hawaii for an extended time in order to do some "on the ground" research?
and,
2) If you did decide to move here, would you be in a position to live comfortably for an extended period of time (either in your home on the mainland alone or in a comfortable home here) while your husband looks for a good job?
No one in a fourm can really tell you if the lifestyle in Hawaii is right for you personally...especially knowing you are the mother of two very young children. It is impossible to know what tolerances you have and how you define "idyllic" and "safe".
Please come visit first--and try to visit more than one island so that you can compare.
The construction industry is experiencing slow-downs in the current economy, especially on the less populated islands.
Location: not sure, but there's a hell of a lot of water around here!
2,682 posts, read 7,585,613 times
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As a retired General Contractor who's been here for over 30 years, odds of moving here and finding ANY kind of construction jobs are pretty slim. Local guys are going to be hired first, because they have a long standing presence here, and contractors know them well. Somebody FOB wouldn't have much of a chance, especially with things grinding to a halt the way they are now, there are many projects here on Maui that were started, and then just shut down, waiting for the market to improve. As usual, Kolohe is right on, come and check it out for a month or so first, maybe you won't even like it, and, perhaps, maybe you'll love it!!!
Oh, as far as the job situation is concerned, call the Union over here.
Several years ago, there were lots of construction jobs but that was then and this is now. There are not very many construction jobs over here at this time and a person who has just moved here is not highest on the hiring list. In about five or six years the construction job will probably will probably be back again. We've just started a big economic nosedive which will continue for quite some time.
Have you looked at places in the midwest? Getting away from the coasts might get you back into "communities". Smaller towns would probably have lower costs of living although the jobs probably don't pay as much.
hay Arkie if you see Okie ell em Tex has a job for him---
Quote:
Originally Posted by hipmom
plumber told my husband that construction jobs were plentiful and paid well in hawaii.
all of your musings would be appreciated, especially from those who have lived a long time and have much wisdom. mahalo
No can! Must be local boy in one of the 'trades', union like and have 'contributed' to any of the Muff slush funds.
Even "if" you did find employment here you would have years of stink eye to overcome with your love and kindness.
No can! Must be local boy in one of the 'trades', union like and have 'contributed' to any of the Muff slush funds.
Even "if" you did find employment here you would have years of stink eye to overcome with your love and kindness.
I agree your husband would get :Stink eye" but that could happen even on the mainland in a small town, in fact it happen to me when I moved to a small town on the mainland and got a job in 2-weeks at a very large company. I guess I just got lucky because when I started work everyone asked me how many years did it take me to get into the company? When i told them 2 weeks I got "Stink Eye" for 2 years!!! I later found out that the average time most people had to wait to get hired was 3 years.
Last edited by manoagirl; 08-17-2008 at 02:21 AM..
Finding work in construction these days is certainly tough...but not impossible. As far as Hawaii is concerned there are jobs there, but. as it was mentioned earlier, there is a "local" preferance in hiring for the field trades. ( installers, framers, plumbers, sparkys etc). The scales are also tipped heavily to working Union thus there are a LOT of "closed shops". I would encourage your husband to put a detailed resume' together and most certainly you should try to make an extented visit to test the waters. Jobs in the design and supervisory areas are available but one needs to have the booktime (CADD, auto CADD, engineering background, etc) in addition to field experience to get into them. If you do land a trade job ( field or office related) yes there is the "stink eye" to deal with , however no more so than other places I have worked. It takes more than a flashy set of credentials to be accepted. A good resume' is a good thing but one has to back it up with some "Git er" done", and that mindset takes on a different twist in Hawaii as opposed to ,say, the Bay Area, where you are now. Wherever you decide to go there will be some culture shock but if you approach your relocation with an open mind ( your running TO something not away) and leave the baggage of your former life behind your new start will be truely fresh and rewarding. Hope this helped you some and good luck to you.
I agree your husband would get :Stink eye" but that could happen even on the mainland in a small town, in fact it happen to me when I moved to a small town on the mainland
Dear old dad moved us when I was 6 y.o. from Charleston to Midland Arkansas, some 30 miles. We were them 'feriners' for years. Y'll come back now! U hear!!.
Aloha! heavy on the ha..
thanks everyone for the quick responses. i have been to the islands as a kid several times then as an adult a few more times so my experience has only been as a tourist.
i understand that construction and development would be the last things hawaiians want and the perception of a haole taking a locals job are 2 big strikes against us! my husband is originally from south dakota, so going back to the midwest is out of the question!!(no offense to midwesterners) we have thought of portland..
i was drawn to the family culture of hawaii, something seriously lacking in a lot of places around here.
thanks again for your widsom
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hay Arkie if you see Okie ell em Tex has a job for him---
