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So a few weeks ago I quit my job with no job lined up. I'm 28 years old and was making $69K in the tax accounting field. I quit because of personal, health and abusive management reasons. A few weeks after I quit, I moved out of my apartment and put all of my stuff in storage (U-Box) which is transportable to any city in the world by making a simple phone call. Now, I am temporarily staying at my parents' house and I'm miserable. But I want to hit the road and make a move to a new metro area soon....like next week.
With that said, which metro areas would be a safe choice to move to with no job lined up? I have $27,000 cash in the bank, which is a fair amount, but still not enough to not worry. I am a white male with a master's degree in accounting. So, which AFFORDABLE metro areas do you think have plenty of job opportunities? I was looking at unemployment rates by metro area, but I'm not sure if those are an accurate indicator of actual job creation. If there is such a statistic, please let me know about it.
A few cities that came to mind were Dallas, Houston, Orlando and Denver, to name a few. But not sure if my logic is flawed.
Also, how would I go about finding short-term housing with no job? Can that be done? I can't afford to stay in hotels for too long.
Thanks
Am I correct in thinking you just want to pick up and go somewhere? Anywhere else?
Why not pick a city where YOU WANT to be? Worry about the cost of living after making your list, not vice versa.
I was thinking of doing the same (and part of me still kind of is) and the city I settled on was Seattle. Actually how I found this forum. But I'm still unsure how easy it would be for me to establish a social network there. It didn't seem promising, so I balked.
I'd pick none from your list. Dallas seems too vapid, Houston I've heard sucks, Orlando has too much urban sprawl and Denver might be cool, but it's too cold.
Yeah, I spent maybe 10% of my time reaching out to temp agencies as a hedge-thankfully it never came to that. I was offered a Liberty tax "internship" back in college, so I almost went down that route. It sounds like you have LinkedIn down...I'd like to get to that point.
Anyways, from your posts I'd recommend giving Northern Virginia a shot. It has the high employment prospects of the DC area, but is very car-centric and suburban. It's a pretty good compromise for me, at least.
Absolutely not. It's too fast paced and expensive for me.
Am I correct in thinking you just want to pick up and go somewhere? Anywhere else?
Why not pick a city where YOU WANT to be? Worry about the cost of living after making your list, not vice versa.
I was thinking of doing the same (and part of me still kind of is) and the city I settled on was Seattle. Actually how I found this forum. But I'm still unsure how easy it would be for me to establish a social network there. It didn't seem promising, so I balked.
I'd pick none from your list. Dallas seems too vapid, Houston I've heard sucks, Orlando has too much urban sprawl and Denver might be cool, but it's too cold.
What about Austin?
Idk...Austin seems too crazy and wild for me. I'm a quiet, reserved, conservatively dressed person who doesn't care for live music and partying at all.
Idk...Austin seems too crazy and wild for me. I'm a quiet, reserved, conservatively dressed person who doesn't care for live music and partying at all.
Dallas to me seems just as much of a wild, party place, just more on a cowgirl/sorority vibe than a musician/bohemian vibe. But I don't know first hand.
Yep. That's how I was picking too, to suit my personality. I need arts, culture, and music. I'm older now, so I don't need a wild party scene.
What about Philly? Pretty laid back and relatively affordable.
I would look into picking a city and staying in an extended stay for 5-7 days and just hit the pavement passing out resumes. Try to schedule your stay around a major job fair if that is possible. The Maryland/D.C. area is usually a hotbed for jobs, however it can be pretty expensive (northern VA cost too damn much, I would look at the Maryland side and stay near a Metro station if possible). I myself have considered going back up the Maryland and I just may. I don't know about Orlando (Florida isn't exactly a hot market for high paying jobs) and I have heard that Dallas is good pick.
Idk...Austin seems too crazy and wild for me. I'm a quiet, reserved, conservatively dressed person who doesn't care for live music and partying at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jobaba
Dallas to me seems just as much of a wild, party place, just more on a cowgirl/sorority vibe than a musician/bohemian vibe. But I don't know first hand.
It's more like a bros and bro-ho vibe, with some rich douchebag, Mexican cowboy, and gangsta thrown in for flavor. Dallas has a lot of places where you can go and get rotten stinking drunk...if that's your cup of tea. If you're not into that and you also don't like shopping and eating out, you should give Dallas a miss. There's not much else to do here. Retail therapy and drinking to oblivion help to numb you to the fact that you're in Douchebag Central and it's ugly as hell.
I would look into picking a city and staying in an extended stay for 5-7 days and just hit the pavement passing out resumes. Try to schedule your stay around a major job fair if that is possible. The Maryland/D.C. area is usually a hotbed for jobs, however it can be pretty expensive (northern VA cost too damn much, I would look at the Maryland side and stay near a Metro station if possible). I myself have considered going back up the Maryland and I just may. I don't know about Orlando (Florida isn't exactly a hot market for high paying jobs) and I have heard that Dallas is good pick.
Unless you are talking about trade jobs or lower paid service sector jobs, no employer is looking at filling a position through someone walking into a job fair and handing out a resume or walking into the office and filling out an employment application. This is not the 1970s.
Finding a good job now days is a long drawn out process that usually involves multiple interviews and online applications.
I tried a cross country job search where I flew in for interviews and went through thousands of dollars in last minute airfares and overpriced hotels only to find out I was one of dozens of applicants for a unprofessional company. What a waste of time and money.
After a few years of knocking my head against the wall I just moved to the DC area and started looking. Being a local candidate was really beneficial and I found a job at a nice company but only after interviewing five times over a four week period, which would have been impossible for an out of town applicant who was not rich.
I don't recommend Washington DC today because the economy will go down hill after the government finally starts cutting spending. In the mean time housing is twice the cost of most towns outside of NYC and California.
The cost-of-living in the greater DC area is as bad as it is here in LA; check the cost-of-living calculator on the CNNMoney website for confirmation.
Pick a place where you'd like to live, compile a top 5 or top 10 list and then research the COL numbers.
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