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Moving to Seattle/Portland thread #305
juggerbot
NebraskaRegistered User regular
NebraskaRegistered User regular
I am graduating from college with a history degree this May, and I’ve been affected with wanderlust for a few years now. I live in Nebraska right now (and have for all my life) but I’m looking to get out of the Midwest, and looking specifically at moving to the Pacific Northwest. I visited Seattle during PAX back in 2009 and I loved the area. I have heard good things about Portland as well, so that is also high on the list. I know Northern California has a similar climate, but I’ve heard the cost of living statewide is in a class of its own. I’m not against living in a smaller city nearby, but since I’ve lived in rural/small city environments until now, why not go all the way?
Let me first emphasize that I will not be moving anywhere unless I have a job already lined up. I imagine searching from a long distance will make it much more difficult to find employment, but I’m not going to go broke doing this. I do have a work-study with the VA Regional Office in town, and I’m a veteran, so that might favor a job at the Seattle Regional Office (which is in the Downtown area), assuming they don’t have a hiring freeze due to the federal budget fiasco. Other than that, being a history major who doesn’t want to teach or go to law school pretty much leaves things like museums for employment. I would love to work in IT, but I have zero job experience with it and no certifications. As far as rent, I realize it will likely be much more than I am used to (maybe 1k a month for a nicer 2-br apa. in Omaha), but I don’t really go out to bars or clubs and don’t spend much at all on frivolities, so as long as I’m not living paycheck to paycheck I can handle it.
I know there are tons of “Moving to Seattle” threads already which have talked about which neighborhoods to check out, but can anyone give advice as to employment for the Seattle/Portland areas? Thanks in advance!
Let me first emphasize that I will not be moving anywhere unless I have a job already lined up. I imagine searching from a long distance will make it much more difficult to find employment, but I’m not going to go broke doing this. I do have a work-study with the VA Regional Office in town, and I’m a veteran, so that might favor a job at the Seattle Regional Office (which is in the Downtown area), assuming they don’t have a hiring freeze due to the federal budget fiasco. Other than that, being a history major who doesn’t want to teach or go to law school pretty much leaves things like museums for employment. I would love to work in IT, but I have zero job experience with it and no certifications. As far as rent, I realize it will likely be much more than I am used to (maybe 1k a month for a nicer 2-br apa. in Omaha), but I don’t really go out to bars or clubs and don’t spend much at all on frivolities, so as long as I’m not living paycheck to paycheck I can handle it.
I know there are tons of “Moving to Seattle” threads already which have talked about which neighborhoods to check out, but can anyone give advice as to employment for the Seattle/Portland areas? Thanks in advance!
juggerbot on
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Finding a job while not living here is seriously difficult. If you can get some work out there, save up for a few months so that you have a cushion, then move out here, that is probably about the ideal. You also shouldn't write off office admin work; it's not a bad industry to get into, and if you know computers, you frequently end up doing some IT with it, anyhow. People love admins who know computers.
But yeah, I miss the rents back in the metro-Detroit area. I could have a mortgage on a 3bd/2ba house back there in a decent neighborhood for half of what I pay in rent here.
What Thanatos said about finding a temp gig out here is gold unless you can by some miracle land a job without living here first. I was fortunate to get transferred out here by my previous company when they needed IT support for their Seattle office.
There are a ton of contract gigs out here so finding work shouldn't be impossible once you get here. Heck, I know a ton of people that don't do much other than sling coffee and get by.
Do they have good temp agencies in the area that will work with someone who is not, or are most of them listed online?
If I had my druthers, I would say move to Seattle, get a job, live up there for a bit, then visit Portland (it's a three hour drive/train ride or a 45 minute plane ride), and if you like it more here, start looking for a job here while you're working in Seattle.
As a side note, I got my current job in Portland while I was still living in Texas, purely through phone interviews. It's possible, though not easy.
But, the job market is definitely better in Seattle.
more contained neighborhoods. I've lived in both as well. I understand what you're saying though.