Relocating to HOUSTON: No Lined up Job/Few $Thousands in my Pocket (Austin: income, tax)

[move4ward]

Originally Posted by Nugget_Brain

Move, adding on there...are you aware of any resume review services? I'll hopefully be moving to Houston this winter and would love to get some feed back from someone there before I start hitting the job search hard. I'll be there for 5 days in July and would gladly take the time to meet someone.

I would only use FREE resume review services. There are some good resources out there. My particular class was 1 year course with twice a week classes. One of my mentors from the class hears good things about the career ministry at Lakewood. I have never attended their meetings, so take it with a grain of salt.

A high quality class should have at least 1 mentor with management experience at a Fortune 500 company or an experienced headhunter/recruiter. You can hear straight from the horse's mouth on how they decide who to hire and common interview or resume mistakes. If there are no executives or managers. At my class, we had a retired executive from a Too-Big-To-Fail Bank and a manager at a Fortune 500 engineering firm.

Classes taught by the unemployment office or government employees are pretty horrible. Those classes have very low standards and the instructors don't have the private sector experience.

[move4ward]

Originally Posted by handle54321

how did you do that!?!?!

We were given 60 days notice. I started my search about a week or two later, after updating my resume. I updated my Linkedin profile, and targeted my resume at competitors and some staffing agencies in Dallas and Houston. For websites, I sticked with careerbuilder, indeed.com, and a few competitor's company websites. I have never had much luck with monster.com, it's a blackhole for resumes.

For every 10 resumes, I would get about 2-3 calls every week. Half the calls were to set up phone interviews and the other half were recruiters gathering information on the job I wanted. I had other job offers for the same money as my last job, but I turned them down. I narrowed it down to 2 offers, one for 30% more and another one for 50% more. I did not negotiate, since the offers were so high. I didn't want to chance it. I took the 50% and ran with it.

I didn't even meet my boss in person until a week into the new job, since I was in training at another building.

The funny thing is that I only have a high school diploma and 2 years of college. I dropped out. They all asked about my degree, since I didn't list a degree only "attended". They had no problems with my lack of a degree, since I had 4 years of experience already.

The job search is not so bad, if your resume is getting a high response rate and you have a high close rate on the interviews.

In my original class in 2007, there was slightly less than a dozen. Everybody got a new job within 4 months, except for 1-2 people that stopped attending. We averaged 40% increase in salary, according to the instructor. I don't think any of us had a degree.

[handle54321]

Originally Posted by move4ward

We were given 60 days notice. I started my search about a week or two later, after updating my resume. I updated my Linkedin profile, and targeted my resume at competitors and some staffing agencies in Dallas and Houston. For websites, I sticked with careerbuilder, indeed.com, and a few competitor's company websites. I have never had much luck with monster.com, it's a blackhole for resumes.

For every 10 resumes, I would get about 2-3 calls every week. Half the calls were to set up phone interviews and the other half were recruiters gathering information on the job I wanted. I had other job offers for the same money as my last job, but I turned them down. I narrowed it down to 2 offers, one for 30% more and another one for 50% more. I did not negotiate, since the offers were so high. I didn't want to chance it. I took the 50% and ran with it.

I didn't even meet my boss in person until a week into the new job, since I was in training at another building.

The funny thing is that I only have a high school diploma and 2 years of college. I dropped out. They all asked about my degree, since I didn't list a degree only "attended". They had no problems with my lack of a degree, since I had 4 years of experience already.

The job search is not so bad, if your resume is getting a high response rate and you have a high close rate on the interviews.

In my original class in 2007, there was slightly less than a dozen. Everybody got a new job within 4 months, except for 1-2 people that stopped attending. We averaged 40% increase in salary, according to the instructor. I don't think any of us had a degree.

That's an excellent story. Just wondering, are you working in IT?

I'm also in IT previously, and I have my degree in Accounting. But I just have been doing IT all along since graduation.

I was let go without notice at all. I got terminated on the same day exactly when they handed me notice.

I was working in a niche market in IT so they are a regional dominator in the market. There's no competitors with my company unless heading toward in a national scale.

Another direction I'm trying to aim at is companies that use the software I specialize in. But still, it's a tough market. Like I said, it's in such a niche market. I would need to expand my scope even if it means beyond my skill sets with little emphasis on the software I used.

I'm also constantly using Linkedin, indeed, and dice everyday. If possible, could you lend me some help with finding a job in the IT field? Please pm me.

[handle54321]

Originally Posted by CindyDavis

It's tough to know what advice to give with minimal information. What schools? And what is the issue with being part of a demographic group?

I can tell you this, however. While Houston has a large medical presence, all of it is under significant cost scrutiny, whether private or non-profit. I think that you will find this all over the country.

My advice is to cease identifying yourself as a healthcare financial analyst and become a financial analyst, period. Also, focus on finding a job outside of healthcare in a growth business - energy, financial services or engineering. I believe that you can find one in Houston if you try, and are truly qualified.

<== This.

What's the difference between a healthcare financial analyst or a financial analyst in general?

There may be a certain set of practices in healthcare different that other industries, but I'm sure each job varies from one to another. Being in the same industry is a plus, but not a requirement for as far as i know.

[still_waiting]

ABQ1,

I'm going to answer your question like no one in here has yet. I say take the risk. You will be surprised of how resourceful you will become WHEN YOU HAVE TO DO IT.

People will say have a job lined up first, but in all reality most places will not even consider you if you are applying from out of town.

Another tactic is to create a Google Voice account on your cellphone and get a local number...then you can get a proxy address from a local UPS store here in Houston. Start sending out your resume with the local info and it it's a job that's worth it be prepared to drive/fly out for an interview.

Most people are so risk averse and afraid to step out of their comfort zone, but there are great rewards for the fearless...even if you have to endure some adversity initially.

This coming from a person that has moved sight unseen more than a few times in my life and I am doing quite well.

[handle54321]

Yea I agree, just fake your actual physical address then fix it until you get a face to face interview. Google is your best friend

[ABQ1]

Originally Posted by still_waiting

ABQ1,

I'm going to answer your question like no one in here has yet. I say take the risk. You will be surprised of how resourceful you will become WHEN YOU HAVE TO DO IT.

People will say have a job lined up first, but in all reality most places will not even consider you if you are applying from out of town.

Another tactic is to create a Google Voice account on your cellphone and get a local number...then you can get a proxy address from a local UPS store here in Houston. Start sending out your resume with the local info and it it's a job that's worth it be prepared to drive/fly out for an interview.

Most people are so risk averse and afraid to step out of their comfort zone, but there are great rewards for the fearless...even if you have to endure some adversity initially.

This coming from a person that has moved sight unseen more than a few times in my life and I am doing quite well.

Still_Waiting & Handle,

Thank you both so much! I made up my mind that the risk is worth taking so, I am taking off by mid- March myself to try out and the family will join later.

I sincerely believe that many employers have reluctance with out of state candidates and being closer can only be a win. The second reason is that we can all agree that Texas is better than New Mexico when it comes to employment opportunity right now.

[kttx]

I think you could probably find work at the medical center downtown.

[move4ward]

Originally Posted by ABQ1

Still_Waiting & Handle,

Thank you both so much! I made up my mind that the risk is worth taking so, I am taking off by mid- March myself to try out and the family will join later.

I sincerely believe that many employers have reluctance with out of state candidates and being closer can only be a win. The second reason is that we can all agree that Texas is better than New Mexico when it comes to employment opportunity right now.

Have you made it to Houston yet? What's the latest word on employment?

Keep us updated. Hope you are doing well.

[texas7]

As many members of this forum have posted numerous times, houston is not a great place to move without a job. Telephone interviews are often empty promises. I have a relative who managed a medical office for about 15 years. She is highly qualified. She has been out of work for over a year now and she is a native houstonian, she didnt just pack up and move here without a job. Her days are spent on countless dead end interviews. She is now taking a minimum wage job just to have some money. Thankfully she is single with no kids to support or her life would be tougher. Not trying to be overly negative but realistic. You need to have a job lined up particularly when you have a family. And if you do move here and don't find a job the social services in Texas are very poor and you'll get a lot less assistance from the state than is given in other states.

For example, in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area, a single parent with two children would need to earn nearly $42,000 a year, about $21 an hour, to generate the necessary annual income to pay for basic expenses, assuming their employer pays for their insurance premium and half the children’s premium and that the family saves nothing. Nearly one in three children lives in a single-parent family. About 65 percent of the area jobs don’t pay enough for this family to meet its needs at even this most basic level.
Texans work hard, regardless of their income. Only one other state has a higher share of poor families that work. Texans are working hard, but they’re not earning enough. One of every seven working families lives in poverty. Nearly one of every two Texas families working full time have no financial cushion and limited financial assets. In some areas of the state, that number is significantly higher. While a job is a critical component for economic stability, many families find that employment by itself is no protection against financial struggle or even poverty.
Certainly, we don’t have enough jobs. The job market in Texas is weaker now than it was five years ago, barely adding enough jobs to keep up with population growth. More than 250,000 more Texans are out of work today than five years ago, an increase of more than 50 percent.
But good jobs — employment with family-supporting wages, decent health coverage, and access to retirement savings — are in particularly short supply as wages continue to lose ground to the basic expenses of family life: housing, food, child care, education, and transportation.