Yes!! There are restaurant job's in portland, good one's!! (Eugene: apartment, rent)

[smittyy]

Hi all
ok
so you are looking to move to portland and are wondering id there are restaurant job's to be had.
You have seen all the negitive posts and have had lot's of negitive feedback on your post telling you there is no hope and to just stay where you are.

Well don't believe all that!!!

I do not know what is wrong with so many of the people who post from portland oregon on city data but i have not found hardly any of the negativity that is flooding the threads.

So here are the facts as i experienced them. The good,bad and ugly.
1. (there are no restaurant job's in portland) well not true! I found a 35 hour a week gig bartending at a nice busy place downtown and i got it before i even moved here.
I had to hustle to get it with lot's of resume's,e-mails, phone call's and some mailed photos but after 2 1/2 weeks i had a good job.
2. (one in a million) no, not one in a million because my roomate who i moved to portland with scored a job as a waiter in 4 day's.
3. (but what about the high price of rent) really, rent is expensive in portland if you are moving there from a tent but if you are coming from any kind of city it is about the same. I am from florida and in portland i am spending 200.00 less and that is for a nice house on the east side instead of a apartment in a not so nice area. I have been mugged 3 times this year alone and i live in a safe area.
4. (what about transportation) no car in florida = a 2 1/2 hour commute, no car in portland = 45 minutes
5. (but the rain!!) yeah it does rain a lot in portland, it also rains every day in florida and not the drizzle like portland but a windy, thunder and lightning mess. Look at it this way if you do not like rain, maybe you should look at phoenix not portland.

If you work in the restaurant industry and are thinking of coming to portland here are a few hint's to success.

1. Put in the time,applications,resumes,ect. Try to speak to a manager at every one you apply to even if they are not hiring. Be aggressive!! This will not hurt your chances. Managers want someone who is not afraid to assert themselves.
2. If you sit around smoking dope drinking micro brew and patting your self on the back for recycling the 11 beers you had for breakfast than you most likely will have lot's of free time on your hands.
3. Try to give them a open schedule, yes you have school,kid's ect but they have a business and do not care about your history degree. One great thing about a restaurant is you can pick up and give up shifts easy. Once you are trained and in you can almost write your own schedule.
4. Vegetarians i applaud you on your life style (but) if you do not like to touch,smell or eat meat you will have a hard time. Why would someone want a doctor who does not like blood to operate on you. If you are vegetarian look for vegetarian restaurants and spend the money you save on meat on your rent because portland has a lot of vegetarians with the same idea and not to many vegetarian restaurants. You can also just not tell the hiring manager you don't eat any meat just as you would not push religion on them.
5. Try craigslist. It is a great web site with lot's of jobs and housing options. I have had so much luck on craigslist i rarly bother with the newspaper classifieds.

So

do not be discouraged by posts telling you there are no job's in portland because there are!! I am proof of that.

Also here is a fact. People in oregon and this goes back to the first time i moved here in 85 will do there best to scare you away. Yes it is true. They are very protective of there state and should be because it is a wonderful place to live (but most) people wanting to move to portland are not from a 3rd world country and just want a better life and living condition. Take any advice with a grain of salt and look at the motive of the person who tells you to just stay home there are no job's. I know portland is hurting and so is florida,michigan and every other state. Really, show me a post that reads (there are job's everywhere and the cost of housing is cheep).

I do not know about other occupations but i do know that in a pinch or for a career working in a restaurant can be very rewarding and about the easiest job to get with some brains and a little expierience and if you lack expierience then do not be picky.

I hope this post gives a little sunshine to those looking to relocate.

P.s my cap lock button is broke,sorry for the big letters,no need to post that fact.

[John Shaft]

Originally Posted by smittyy

I had to hustle to get it with lot's of resume's,e-mails, phone call's and some mailed photos but after 2 1/2 weeks i had a good job.

Well, if you send blackmail pictures of the restaurant manager from last year's Christmas party, then sure, you'll get a job quickly.

[Leisesturm]

Ah, the impassioned objectivity of the newly converted. I wonder how many hundreds of thousand waitperson jobs there are in Portland? Whoever wants it can have the one with my name on it. I'm holding out for a Technical Support Analyst position.

H.

[NorthernCalifornia]

try Netflix, Leisesturm

[Minervah]

Well, good for you. I hope your job turns out to be a great success. You say you don't understand the negativity you were met with when you first asked about jobs here. Even though it isn't effecting you, after living here for awhile, I think you will see where it comes from.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Well I'm glad you made it to Portland and things are going so well for you!

Now try finding a good steady job that pays decent wages so you can afford a mortgage, car payment(s) and a family!

AHHH YOUTH! To be able to move across the country on a whim and survive on a 5 - 10 buck an hour job is something many, many, people can only dream of.

[sarahkate_m]

Originally Posted by smittyy

Hi all... i have not found hardly any of the negativity that is flooding the threads... I have been mugged 3 times this year alone and i live in a safe area...

Can you elaborate on how you live in a safe area & were mugged 3x? Seriously, I'm very interested as I have also thought about whether to move to P. from Eugene. I'm also wondering how mugging correlates with a safe neighborhood & your advocation of moving to Portland.

I've never been mugged & I've certainly lived where I've needed to watch my back (as a woman).

Kate

[hamellr]

I would take the OP with a grain of salt as he suggests you take the negative posts.

I do not work in the industry, but I keep up on it via blogs of people who do. Getting a job is really rough right now. Owners and managers are getting flooded with hundreds of applications from not only the highly qualified, but even from people with degrees coming from high paying jobs.

I don't want to deter anyone, but I do want you to know what others have experienced.

[sarahkate_m]

I'd say OP's experience was a fluke. Wonderful stroke of luck.

Kate

[brubaker]

Food service jobs, the world over, are notoriously easy to get...for a reason.