I am seriously disgusted with this place. I have been laid off twice since the end of August and can't find crap here anymore. I have no ties except the bf and he is equally as tired. We've tried finding a job out of state but it's a little difficult, we want to be in that town and hit the ground running. How many of you would move without a job lined up right now knowing you'd put in a scary amount of effort because your life depends on it?
I'm so sick of this place that I want to pack up and aim for the coast. Crazy? haha
I saw you were from TN. If you are serious about this, I've heard that the Raleigh, NC area is one of the best areas economically. The area is know as RTP- Research Triangle Park. It is one of the best areas for research and technology, two areas that will be necessary no matter the economy. This is an area that people will always live in- and so other jobs will be necessary. It's an idea! Good luck to you!
My mother actually live in Raleigh, and I lived there for two years before coming to TN. If all else fails I can move in with the mom again to save some money but I'd rather not move back in with the parents. Independence thing and such. Life is what you make it right?
Yeah, I couldn't live with my parents anymore after college. I tried but my mother is the type who wants to do everything for you, and I couldn't deal anymore. I ended up moving only about 5 minutes away, so I can still run home for a free meal periodically, and I also take their coupons. But when you get to a certain age (different for everyone) you have to become independent and stay that way or else you will go crazy!
I wouldn't really want to do it in this economy, unless I were moving back to my parents. If you really wanted to do it, I would do something to make myself a sort of nest egg. That is what I am doing now by unloading all my crap on ebay.
If there is nothing where you are, there is no reason to stay. I say go for it. Change is good, and not many people have that option. Personally I wish I had this option. If you already don't have a job, it wouldn't hurt to go somewhere where the market is better. It's not taking that much of a chance, because obviously if you don't have a job where you are, you're not risking anything, but opening up your possibilities.
Raleigh is a great place to live. You can live in the city or the outskirts. I'm from Cary which is right outside of Raleigh. I lived there for almost 10 years.
You wouldn't have to move back in with your parents if you moved there either. Obviously there is housing everywhere, whether you want to rent or own there are options.
Another place that's good is the Charlotte area, it's double Raleigh. There is so much to do there as far as work goes.
Permalink Reply by Oats on February 10, 2009 at 9:48am
Just remember that the cost of moving is very expensive. Aside from getting boxes, moving vehicles, etc., if you get an apt. or house to rent, you have startup fees with all of your utilities or transfer fees... It's also a gamble as far as jobs. I don't know what job you're looking for, but just because an area is known for its jobs in a particular field doesn't mean there are any available. I've been looking for jobs in and out of state for months with no luck. But I have a very narrow field. But I've moved 2 times in the past year and it was completely horrible both times. HORRIBLE. We had movers the first time and lost a bunch of our stuff. It was no good.
Good luck on your decision, but personally I'd try to land the job 'there' first.
Permalink Reply by Mere on February 11, 2009 at 1:27pm
Sounds like a tough choice. I have a friend who moved back here (Austin, TX) after moving to the west coast right out of college. He got laid off and decided he'd had enough of life out there and called up another friend, who helped him move. The tricky part is finding housing - most places want you to have an income before you can lease, but you can't look for a job without having a place to live (hotels get expensive). If you could stay with your mom for just a little while while you found a job that might work best. And if you're willing to find something temporary until you find THE job that's even better. When y'all decide where you want to go see if you can contact a staffing agency, they might even have something lined up for you when you get there if you're willing to do temp work. GOOD LUCK!! :o)
I moved to NC without a job right after college. I had a little bit of money to rest on, but not much and was facing completely unknown circumstances as well as an unknown job market. I was unemployed for about a month before I caved and got a job at a restaurant just to make ends meet. Then a few weeks later, lucked into the newspaper gig I'm in now.
The economy is bad most everywhere - though, like Ryann said, I have also heard good things about RTP - so it's a toss up moving and trying to establish a life in another location. But if you aren't employed now and can't find employment, how much do you really have to lose?
It would be quite the adventure, but if you don't have much money as it is, moving expenses could further hamper you and your boy. That would be a definite downfall of you relocating...
Permalink Reply by Cee on February 11, 2009 at 6:15pm
In a normal state of things, I think it would be pretty exciting to just pick up and move somewhere sight unseen and then work out the minor details of where to live and what to do for money...
Since the economy is so crappy right now, I would be VERY scared to. It's bad everywhere.... there's no magic-goldmine-of-a-place to go to where you know there is a really high probability of finding a job.
With that said, best of luck no matter what you decide to do. If you decide to pick up and leave I think it would make for a very interesting blogging topic :)
haha Yes, it would be an interesting blogging topic indeed. There are definitely risks associated with picking up and going right now in this economy but don't they say "those who risk are the most satisfied"? or something along those lines. We are tempted to do it, we really have our eyes on Charleston SC. We've been looking an have actually had a few hits for interviews and such but feel like we'd be a lot more successful if we were there on foot searching.
We have a little reserve saved up for moving costs and rental deposits, etc. but are still worried the find will run out before we hit a job. On the other hand we are collecting unemployment right now but it's not enough to support our current living area and we've not had any success in the job market.
So lame. I'd love to do it and would be happy following the dream, I just don't want to sink.
Permalink Reply by SA on February 21, 2009 at 12:39pm
Heh, what can I say? We don't like Yankees too much down here. :)
Nah, Charleston is nice enough. It just depends on the people you meet. A lot of those that live in the Lowcountry (which is the tri-county area around Charleston) aren't from the city or even the state. So it's all in who you know.
Karen, I've lived here my entire life. Don't come to Charleston. And it has nothing to do with the people. The economy is crap here. The entire state of South Carolina's economy is crap. We have the 3rd worst job loss rate in the country. If you got a job interview lined up here then congratulations. You're one of the few. But if you're planning on moving without a job then I would strongly suggest going someplace else where people are hiring. It's just a baaaad economic situation right now for the state.
With that said, the cost of living here is pretty damn good. You can get into a pretty good apartment for around $400-600/month, depending on where you go. So if you got some money saved up then maybe it wouldn't hurt you that bad. But yeah, I would say go somewhere else and then move to Charleston once the economy improves if you really have your heart set on living here
And to answer your question (and this probably sounds hypocritical after what I just wrote) if I had a pretty good nest egg then yeah, I'd move w/o the job. In fact, I'm actually looking into that and moving to either NC or Virginia. Or maybe Chicago if I save up some more. There are always going to be minimum wage jobs you can do until you get the job you want. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.