Chances of success? (Chicago: apartment, hotels, homes)

[DogStar5988]

So my boyfriend and I will be moving to Chicago this June or July. I have a bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management (working in hotels) and he is a CNA (nurse assistant-nursing home). I would like to get anyone's opinion on how well they think we could do in Chicago in our respective careers. I know that it is impossible to say anything for certain of course but if anyone is in a related field and has an idea of how the job market is in these areas that would be great! Otherwise any job and apartment hunting tips would also help. Thanks a lot.

[chet everett]

Weeeeell, hotels in Chicago are hurting, maybe not as badly as in some areas, but things are not rosy. If you have solid experience you can do OK in the places oriented to business travelers, but if that falls much further...

In Illinois CNAs are pretty common, the community colleges and "for proft" schools turn out too many. Wages in nursing homes and such are not the greatest. Pay is better for the hospital based medical specialists (radiology tech, resp. therapist, ophthalmological surg tech, that sort of thing) pays MUCH better (but if folks cut back on RK the "vital" stuff might be smarter...).

Chicago ain't cheap! With specific skills you can use Career Builder and other online sites to get a sense for how many jobs there are / what wages are, but my sense is that out of town resumes are not in demand -- when labor was tighter a few years back you could probably get an interview before you moved. I would suggest trying that route. If you get some employers to show intrest BEFORE you move it could really make things go much more smoothly.

Depending on how the broader economy goes it could be real hard to move here without jobs pre-arranged. Even with solid skills lots of people are hunkering down for a loooooong period of joblessness / underemployment...

[soulful]

If you are both very flexible in terms of working in either the city or suburbs you should not have a problem. We have so many nursing home, assisted living, hospital, etc. settings that require CNA's (although the pay is not very high) and many hotels/motels. If you are truly willing to drive anywhere within a 20 mile radius I would say you can both find jobs (albeit not necessarily high paying positions). Perhaps even right in the city. Turnover is very high in the service industry/motels/hotels and for CNA's.