Careers/Jobs in Arizona (Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City: sales, real estate, insurance)

[TravisK]

Hello all,

I am from Alberta Canada and am looking for relocate to Arizona. I am currently a student almost done my Bachelors Degree in Finance.

My question is what are the job/career opportunities like right now? I would like to work in the Financial Services sector, ideally in a Bank eventually as a Certified Financial Planner. I also have interest and experience in Real Estate (I have my Real Estate License in my province). Would also be interested in property management.

I have enough money saved up to be able to buy a house outright and not have any mortgage payments. So I have enough to live off of.

If I could have help answering a few more questions that would be great!

What is the cost of living like?
Is this a reasonable goal for me to move out there?

My main concern is finding a job, I have enough to live off of but don't to move down there and waste all my savings, I would like to accumulate wealth.

Thank you very much for any answers or help!

[peaceloveandtattoos]

I am not sure how the job market is for your field, but i can tell you theres a lot of competition for the jobs that my husband has been looking for.
He graduated school with an associates in respiratory therapy in december, and has not been able to find work.
The medical field in general is just too over-saturated here.
Associates and all, he even got passed up for jobs at the home depot and best buy.

I think your best bet is to research companies out here, and try to work directly with them in getting hired. That approach will probably be best, as there are a LOT of unemployed people here currently.
You may want to check out craigslist as well.

Can i ask why you want to come to Az? And what area were you considering?

Good luck! Hope i helped a little!

[kdog]

Originally Posted by peaceloveandtattoos

I am not sure how the job market is for your field, but i can tell you theres a lot of competition for the jobs that my husband has been looking for.
He graduated school with an associates in respiratory therapy in december, and has not been able to find work.

The problem most likely isn't the job market, but only having only a two-year degree. In the respiratory therapy market, he's up against candidates with bachelors and masters degrees. Pretty much the only thing that an associates degree qualifies you for is going on to a 4 year college.

[TravisK]

Originally Posted by peaceloveandtattoos

I am not sure how the job market is for your field, but i can tell you theres a lot of competition for the jobs that my husband has been looking for.
He graduated school with an associates in respiratory therapy in december, and has not been able to find work.
The medical field in general is just too over-saturated here.
Associates and all, he even got passed up for jobs at the home depot and best buy.

I think your best bet is to research companies out here, and try to work directly with them in getting hired. That approach will probably be best, as there are a LOT of unemployed people here currently.
You may want to check out craigslist as well.

Can i ask why you want to come to Az? And what area were you considering?

Good luck! Hope i helped a little!

Thank your for your comment. When I get closer to graduation/moving I will definitely be in contact with any Financial Company out there that I can find. I would much rather move there with a job in hand, but like I said I have enough money to live off of for a while if I HAVE to.

I am interested in Arizona for a number of reasons. The cheap housing definitely intrigues me as it would be ideal to own property without a mortgage. Also the weather is another huge reason why I want to get out of Calgary. We get 3 months of summer here and about 5 months of snow-less weather. It is very frustrating to me as I am a car enthusiast and it's terrible to only be able to drive my summer car for 4-5 months a year. I also love the very diverse terrain/landscape that Arizona offers.

My main concern is the job market.

I have no specific place in mind yet, to me its all great.

[peaceloveandtattoos]

Awesome, well i wish you the best of luck, and i hope you love it!

[BillieHiser]

Mohave County! Any of the three major cities in Mohave County (Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City) have financial planners that may be hiring. Property management and real estate abounds in all three cities. It all depends on you and how you work! We have great weather here, Kingman might be more desireable for the weather as LHC and BHC get pretty hot in the summer. Cost of living is also much cheaper in Kingman than the other two cities. Since you love to drive, you could always live in one and work in another city. We do! We actually work all three cities (and have lived in all three cities) but we are based and live in Kingman.

Check with some people in the business and see if they're hiring unless you're thinking of starting your own. Still worth talking with the business owners and chamber of commerce!

[AzDreamer]

Be careful of the companies hiring "financial planners" that are nothing more than insurance or loaded mutual fund salesmen.

Make sure any position you look at is one where you have a fiduciary responsibility to protect your client's interests.

[coatimundi]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how are you planning on getting a green card or work permit? I've known a few Canadians living here and that's always their problem. You can't just come to the US randomly and then try to get a job, bad economy or not.

[TravisK]

Working Visa's are the least of my worries. I am eligible for certain visa's: H1-B (w/ a job offer) and potentially an L1 visa or a TN visa. Not saying I am guaranteed to get accepted, but I feel I have a very good chance.

Thanks for your concern.

[kdog]

Originally Posted by AzDreamer

Be careful of the companies hiring "financial planners" that are nothing more than insurance or loaded mutual fund salesmen.

Make sure any position you look at is one where you have a fiduciary responsibility to protect your client's interests.

Good luck finding a financial planner position that doesn't involve sales when you're straight out of school. The OP stated they ideally want a job in a bank. That will require pimping the bank's financial instruments, and is not a bad way to get their foot in the door. Anybody who walks into a bank for financial advice is fair game for a sales pitch.