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Potential Move to Seattle - Tell Me About the Job Market
witch_ie
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm considering potentially relocating to the Seattle area in the next few months for personal reasons. Before making any decisions, I wanted to get a good idea of the employment opportunities in the area, including what my commute might look like to various parts of the greater Seattle area. While currently I'm a program manager (non-IT) for a large non-profit health plan in the bay area, I'm interested in hearing about both the health care and the general job market. I would most likely be living somewhere between Seattle and Shoreline.
My initial internet search has suggest that Seattle, Bothell, and Mountlake Terrace might be some of the locations that I could find employment.
Any thoughts from those in the area or who have made a similar move are appreciated. Normally, I know the best way about this would be to obtain a job in the area first and then move - unfortunately, it may need to be the other way around for me.
My initial internet search has suggest that Seattle, Bothell, and Mountlake Terrace might be some of the locations that I could find employment.
Any thoughts from those in the area or who have made a similar move are appreciated. Normally, I know the best way about this would be to obtain a job in the area first and then move - unfortunately, it may need to be the other way around for me.
witch_ie on
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It's kind of ridiculous these days to assume that you could get a job offer before living in a place. Jobs are tight. What the OP is doing is the right thing, find out about the job market as best you can, move there, look for work.
Um, it's precisely because the job market is so tight that it's very risky moving without having one lined up. Yes, it is usually easier to find a job if you live here, but that's absolutely not a guarantee. He has to be realistic about how long he can afford to live here without a job, because it's entirely possible in this market that he'll be unemployed for an extended period.
For example, Usagi moved here from the east coast but it took about a year of us dating long distance and her looking for a job before she had one lined up. But that means she didn't get out here and risk being unemployed for six months.
Detroit's not that awful. The problem in Detroit isn't the lack of jobs-- it's the lack of skilled workers and jobs for non-skilled workers.
21 & leaving home. Birdy has to fly! A good friend of mine lives in a city about a 3 hour drive away. We were talking at a party once and she asked me to move in. Her boyfriend(my friend) didn't want her to live alone, so in august I moved down there. Here is what I had:
1400$
A truck
My brother(who also lives there)
So I got to looking for jobs.. took me a month before I had even 1 job offer, its pay was crap and the work sucked... but I was real low on $$ so I agreed to do it. 3 months later I was laid off and back where I started. Instead though, I now had some debt because I had spent a bit on the CC. I ended up moving again a few months later to a new city where I had a job lined up. I kept that job for 31 months and friday is my last day at it. I am moving to another job(in the same city).
Moral of this story? Moving to another city without a job lined up is scary, but it is your life. See if you have any old friends who live in Seattle now, or even near by. Save up enough cash to pay the 6 months rent upfront in cash. That alone will give you a huge boost in feeling safe and secure.
Good luck, god speed, and enjoy the adventure you silly goose.
I did see the listing for Child's Play the night before the applications were due, and while I think it would be awesome to work in the PA environment or even to just go through the interview process, the job isn't quite right for me based on its description and my skill set. I also don't want to waste anyone's time as it's not a certainty that I'll be moving to the Seattle area as of yet.
Based on what's out there and my admittedly ridiculous standards for how I would like to spend my working hours, I'm estimating it may take me as long as a year to find another position that I will enjoy at least as much as my current one.
Thanks again for all the responses and keep them coming.
Most any city will have job opportunities, so it's better than moving to Branson MO or Butte MT. Yes, you will have to likely change careers slightly, and you might have to "settle" for the short term as far as job satisfaction goes. You're also not tied to a particular employer forever, though -- you might have better luck if you apply for a wider variety of positions and then, once you're working, continuing the job hunt.
But yeah, this is less "I want to randomly move somewhere, are there jobs" and more "I will be following a signficant other and want to continue working in some fashion." Yes, of course there are jobs in Seattle.
Those are things that many large/medium manufacturing companies are looking for, I can't speak for the health care industry. There are definitely jobs here, they're just very specific about what qualifications they're looking for. And lots of competition: for a recent proposal writer position at my company, we had 20-30 applicants of which we interviewed five - all of whom had almost 20 years of experience.
I'd start searching now for what you might be interested in, even if you don't decide to move right away you'll be getting your resume in front of people who will remember you for the future.
I decided to move here in April, booked a flight in mid-May, and actually drove my Honda Civic with all my stuff in it up on July 1. I had six months of living expenses saved up, plus enough to furnish my apartment and get those initial high-cost things done.
Most of the first few jobs I picked up were temp jobs, and most of the interviews I had wanted me to start, like, the next day. The job I have now I interviewed for, and they called me back an hour later to ask if I could start at noon (this was at about 10:00).
Being able to start right away is a huge plus, and it sounds like you can cover living expenses for awhile, so I would suggest moving now rather than later. The market was a bit better back when I got this job, but I was unemployed at one point for a good six months.
Worst case scenario, Seattle is a good city to find work in food-service (restaurants). Servers there make minimum wage, $8.55 per hour (highest in the country), PLUS tips. Plus, restaurants are always looking for help, as food-service is a high turnover industry. If you don't mind working at night, and at a fast pace for a couple of hours at a time, serving can pay very well.