Thinking of moving to Austin? (Killeen: best cities, sales, real estate)

[kiacook]

I'm not. I live here. But those of you who are "thinking of moving to Austin" I have some questions for you:

- If you have no knowledge of whether there are any jobs in your field, why are you thinking of moving here?

- If you have no knowledge of what the weather is like, why are you thinking of moving here?

- If you have no knowledge of what neighborhood are like or what schools might be good, why are you thinking of moving here?

- If you have no knowledge of what people are like here or what there is to do, why are you thinking of moving here?

This doesn't apply to everyone but I feel like I am seeing a lot of posts from people who are already thinking of moving here for no discernible reason - no job offer, no desire to go to school for a specific field at a specific school, no need to move nearer family - they're just "considering Austin". Please tell me "why"!

[N. Olikee]

Kia,

These are good questions.......

In some cases, I think it has to do with "youthfulness." I moved to SoCal with no job, no family there, not sure what I was getting into. I moved away after three years, but I'm glad I did it and got it out of my system.

On the other hand, for the older posters (esp. with children,) they should investigate thoroughly....no excuse. We visited here many times before we moved. It also helps that I do have family here, and am somewhat familiar with Austin in that I am a native Texasn and have travelled here many times over the years.

[Mike78613]

Everyone is moving here because Yahoo.com and Forbes is saying Austin is in the top-10 places to live.

Flash backs from the past:

2005 - Forbes.com: Lists

2009 - #8 Austin TX - Forbes.com

2010 - Forbes: Austin best economic recovery in U.S. | Austin Business Journal

-------------------------

Yahoo.com

2010 - #1 ranked 10 Best Cities for the Next Decade - Yahoo! Real Estate


And if so, all I have to say for the one's whom did are suckerZ!!!

[cp102]

What Forbes does not say is it can take some time to find a job. You can put in 100's of applications and if your lucky get 1 employer to call. Have a job lined up or make sure you have 6 months worth of expenses. Don't jump and move here if you have no job and kids. Its just not a good combination. Have one parent come on their own until he/she can secure employment then move the family. If your retired heck (and have a decent income) come on down

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Mike78613

Everyone is moving here because Yahoo.com and Forbes is saying Austin is in the top-10 places to live.

Flash backs from the past:

2005 - Forbes.com: Lists

2009 - #8 Austin TX - Forbes.com

2010 - Forbes: Austin best economic recovery in U.S. | Austin Business Journal

-------------------------

Yahoo.com

2010 - #1 ranked 10 Best Cities for the Next Decade - Yahoo! Real Estate


And if so, all I have to say for the one's whom did are suckerZ!!!

They've been publishing those "Austin is great" lists since my family moved here in 1959 after Dad retired from the Army.

We were already familiar with Austin after having been stationed at Fort Sam & Camp Hood in the late '40s. Never heard of those kinds of lists before that time.

Also, my oldest brother was already a student at UT. The only reason he had transferred to Texas from St.Louis University was because somebody had told him UT was a great party school.

Sure am glad Dad decided to retire here, because for years he had been considering Fort Smith, Arkansas.

[eichlerfan]

Finding a job here is really difficult, Just ask my daughter and several of her friends. Some are just looking for low level jobs while in school and others are looking for more as they are college graduates. In all cases and many applications/resumes later they are all still unemployed.

[Jink]

I suppose it's hard to find a job in Austin. I actually work as an electrical engineer in Killeen and offered to work for at a few electronics companies in Austin for free because I want to have some experience in that, and they STILL turn me down. Gotta love it.

[sxrckr]

I'd guess a degree of desperation (lots of the country outside of TX is not doing so well) and all of the ridiculous HYPE and puff-piece articles Austin gets, which sets it apart from the other TX cities (which don't attract the same hype and puff-piece articles written by the media, for whatever reason.)

Originally Posted by kiacook

I'm not. I live here. But those of you who are "thinking of moving to Austin" I have some questions for you:

- If you have no knowledge of whether there are any jobs in your field, why are you thinking of moving here?

- If you have no knowledge of what the weather is like, why are you thinking of moving here?

- If you have no knowledge of what neighborhood are like or what schools might be good, why are you thinking of moving here?

- If you have no knowledge of what people are like here or what there is to do, why are you thinking of moving here?

This doesn't apply to everyone but I feel like I am seeing a lot of posts from people who are already thinking of moving here for no discernible reason - no job offer, no desire to go to school for a specific field at a specific school, no need to move nearer family - they're just "considering Austin". Please tell me "why"!

[mark311]

Originally Posted by eichlerfan

Finding a job here is really difficult, Just ask my daughter and several of her friends. Some are just looking for low level jobs while in school and others are looking for more as they are college graduates. In all cases and many applications/resumes later they are all still unemployed.

This is meant in the most positive way possible, but have you offered to take a look at their resumes and cover letters just to have another set of eyes look them over? Even college graduates might not have a lot of job searching experience and could have some red flags on their resumes or cover letters.

We just hired a desktop support person and we ended up hiring someone out of state who is paying for his own relocation. We had over 60 people apply during the window that we had the job open and we literally threw out 25% of the applicants because their resumes or cover letters were really bad. There were many typos and objective statements that were completely different than the job they were applying for.

My wife's company has hired a few people this year as well and she has complained about the quality of applicants just like I have. When we state in the job posting that you need to submit 3 professional references along with your resume and only half the people do that, it's a bit discouraging on the competence level of the pool of applicants as a whole that we're working with. With all this said, yes the Austin job market is probably very competitive due to the quantity of people applying, but if you're very good at your job, have good demonstrated experience, and you're willing to work for Austin "discounted" wages (probably less than what you make in your current state) then you have a good chance of finding a job within a couple months in my experience (at least if you're in a tech field).

[eichlerfan]

Originally Posted by mark311

This is meant in the most positive way possible, but have you offered to take a look at their resumes and cover letters just to have another set of eyes look them over? Even college graduates might not have a lot of job searching experience and could have some red flags on their resumes or cover letters.

We just hired a desktop support person and we ended up hiring someone out of state who is paying for his own relocation. We had over 60 people apply during the window that we had the job open and we literally threw out 25% of the applicants because their resumes or cover letters were really bad. There were many typos and objective statements that were completely different than the job they were applying for.

My wife's company has hired a few people this year as well and she has complained about the quality of applicants just like I have. When we state in the job posting that you need to submit 3 professional references along with your resume and only half the people do that, it's a bit discouraging on the competence level of the pool of applicants as a whole that we're working with. With all this said, yes the Austin job market is probably very competitive due to the quantity of people applying, but if you're very good at your job, have good demonstrated experience, and you're willing to work for Austin "discounted" wages (probably less than what you make in your current state) then you have a good chance of finding a job within a couple months in my experience (at least if you're in a tech field).

Of course I can't speak for all of her friends, but I know my daughter's applications (she's just looking for a part time job while in college) is good. My husband (who is director of sales for a very large company) checked it out before she sent them back, and still no luck. But I do know what you mean. I've heard horror stories of some resumes that are being turned in by college graduates. There is an art to putting together a good resume and interviewing if you are lucky enough to get to that point.