21 year old blindly moving need your help! (Dallas, Arlington: cheap apartments, lease) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

stlsmoore · 07-26-2008, 08:25 PM

Hey all I'll tell you a little about my self, as the title suggests I'm a 21 year old single male and I'm from St. Louis, MO. I visited Dallas last year and fell in love with the place and knew that one day I would move there. Well the time has come and I'm ready to make the move.

This will be my first time moving out of state so I'm pretty nervous. Actually the only thing I'm really nervous about is not finding a job in my field. I work in IT and actually for my age I have quite a bit of experience already lined up working in a corporate environment (5 years). I plan on moving in 3 months as I'm saving $5,000 in hopes that lasts me long enough to find a job. What do you all think is my chance of finding a job in my sector pretty good?

If I'm lucky I'll find a job before I relocate but I already know the deal with trying to find a job that will take you from another state. I plan on staying into a cheap effiency or roommates hopefully for no more than $500 until I can get back on my feet. I'm excited but extremly nervous as well, if any one can help me with suggestions or anything else I would be greatly humbled. If any one here that works in IT can help me out that would be beyond amazing!

Thank you and I can't wait to move to your beautiful city sooner than later!

stlsmoore · 07-29-2008, 11:07 AM

No one from Dallas can help me out?

KittySkyfish · 07-29-2008, 01:08 PM

I did something similar in the 90's and it worked out fine, though I had to adjust my expectations for the first year and lived frugally/busted my hump/worked a 2nd job to get my feet off the ground. If you're willing to do this and if your resume is good and you have a stable work history (get references too), then by all means come down here.

I started off in Arlington and liked living there. In fact, many areas of the metroplex have cheap, decent and pretty safe areas to live in, apartment wise. It just comes down to where you'll be working, so you can have a shorter and less expensive commute. You can also check Craigslist for roommates. Then when you get established and secure a good job, you can find a better place to call home.

Good luck!

needsomeinfo · 07-29-2008, 01:26 PM

Try to line up a job before you come down. it will also help in determining where you live. you shoudl be able to find an IT job fairly easily. good luck!

Ankhharu · 07-29-2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by needsomeinfo

Try to line up a job before you come down. it will also help in determining where you live. you shoudl be able to find an IT job fairly easily. good luck!

Unless you have a specialized job skill, most employers will not take an out of state job seeker seriously. I've experienced this problem on dozens of interviews when trying to leave Dallas. My friend who is moving to Chicago with me next month has been job hunting in Chicago for 3 months, once they find out he is in Dallas, he gets the cold shoulder. Why take a chance on an out of state candidate that may or may not ever show up?

stlsmoore, you should be fine. There are alot of IT jobs in Dallas. Up until February of this year, I spent the last 7 years in IT. I finally quit after growing tired of it and it conflicting with my acting ambitions.

loves2read · 07-30-2008, 12:21 AM

you could spend quite a bit of time looking for work if you have little work experience, or want more money than the avg...hope you have enough savings since you won't know anyone to room with and searching for work is expensive

one place you might want to contact when you get here is the local office of the TX workforce commission--state employment agency--these are not all marginal jobs although there are many at low rate of pay
https://wit.twc.state.tx.us/WORKINTEXAS/wtx

stlsmoore · 07-30-2008, 10:32 AM

Thanks for the replies all! While I do have quite a bit of work experience with IT system administration, I'm not very specialized so it most likely will make it hard to find a job before I move. I'll just take my chances and see where life takes me!

RE Diva · 07-31-2008, 10:18 PM

Hi Stlsmoore,

I would highly recommend my friend and great recruiter, Sherry.

Sherry Pettifer, MS, CBF
Staffing Services Manager
SCI Careers
5930 LBJ Frwy., Ste. 401
Dallas, TX 75240
Ph: (972) 239-7171
TF: (877) 329-7171
Fx: (972) 392-1150
www.scicareers.net
[SIZE=3][/SIZE]
Two great areas for IT jobs are in the Telecom Corridor of Richardson and in Irving. I know Sherry's working with Perot Systems, but I don't know all of her clients.

Happy to help,
T. Hayley

killer2021 · 08-01-2008, 01:02 AM

Hey I am going to be doing the same thing but in a couple years once I get out of school so I've been doing a lot of research on the city. Here is my plan.

The two most important things to do when you arrive.

1) Research apartment complexes. I know a good apartment search site that I will send you in pm. Two areas with cheap apartments are Richardson and Arlington. You should be able to find a studio or 1bed/1bath farily easily in the range of 400-500/month. Before you leave to dallas, contact those apartments and check if they have any units available. When you get in town check into those apartments and see if you can sign a month to month lease. The month to month lease is important because you'll probably be relocating again once you get a good job.

2) Get a dead end job. Research before you leave on places where you can walk in and get hired on the spot places like fast food, hotels, theme parks, restaurants, grocery stores and other such employment areas. Ideally you'll only want to work friday-sun so you can go to interviews on mon-thurs. The dead end job is important because it is better to only have 150$/week coming in to cover basic expenses than nothing at all. Your 5k might go fast especially if you are driving long distances (75+ miles one way) to go to interviews.

3) Start looking for the good job. Send out resumes to everyone who is hiring in your field within a 75 mile radius of your apartment. That 75 mile radius will probably get you access to the entire DFW metro. Even though the dallas job market is doing very well, I wouldn't move with the notion that you are going to find a good job very quickly. Better to be prepared for the worst than not be prepared at all. Once you land that good job, quit the dead end job and start looking for apartments near your new work location.

That is my plan at least.

stlsmoore · 08-01-2008, 08:33 AM

Thank you all so much for your response....as of today I've been laid off my Job working for a very big casino resort in their IT department (economic layoffs and a new CEO who's trying to look good to investors) So now I will only have a little over $3,000 and I'll be moving in a couple of weeks. Hopefully it all works out for the best....