Recent College Grad Looking for Young Professional Friendly City (best cities, sales)

[steelersgirl]

I am looking for advice/help on relocation to the Southeast. I graduated college this past spring and am currently in my first job out of school as a medical sales rep for a medium sized company. My company sort of frowns on relocating so I am looking for a new company to go to that will get me out of my home city for awhile because I want to explore other (warmer) parts of the country. I want to stay on the East Coast and would prefer to be within a 2 hour drive of the beach. I like city living and want to go somewhere with a great job market, growth and nightlife/activities for young people. So far I have narrowed my search to Raleigh, Columbia & Charleston SC and Tampa. Where would you all recommend moving to? What can you tell me about these cities? I've never visited any of them but am looking into doing so because I've heard such great things.

I appreciate all of your responses. Thank you

[scorp200]

I voted Tampa for you. It's definitely a young professional-friendly city - you'd be near the greatest beaches within 15 minutes if you live across the bay in St. Pete or 1/2 hr/40 min if you live in south Tampa (which is where you should look).

Emerge Tampa Bay is a very active group for young professionals aged 21-35...you'd meet a TON of people that way. It's a great city, lots to do. Lots of nightlife in South Tampa and St. Pete.

Emerge Tampa

I don't know anything about Charleston or Columbia.

Raleigh is just such a hike to the beach. And more spread out, I think, though I guess inside the beltline Raleigh is comparable to south Tampa.

The advantage of Raleigh would be actual weather seasons.

[steelersgirl]

thanks so much for the emerge link! are you from tampa? where have you lived in the country? are there any other organizations out there in tampa for young professionals? i belong to a group called pittsburgh young professionals here and i would want to join something equivilant to that wherever i moved.

[tluv00]

If you are looking to get into Medical sales there is a good amount of companies in the area you could look into. Siemens Medical has their inside sales team here (medical devices) and they pay pretty good. RTP has several companies that you could look into (GSK.....yes they laid off but they still need sales persons) as well as Talecris, NovoNordisk, Biogen Idec and others. Quintiles Transnational is located in this market to.....now they are involved in Pharm services but are still a large presence in this market.
If you are limiting yourself to medical sales only then check out the above companies....there are plenty more if you search for companies in RTP or medical/pharmaceutical companies in Raleigh. If you are more into the sales piece and are looking to branch out then you can try Cisco Systems, Campbell Alliance, SAS, Red hat, IBM, Lenovo and many others. here is a list of companies just in RTP:

http://www.rtp.org/files/info@rtp/infortp_2007_quick_guide.pdf (broken link)

Beaches are only 90 minutes to 4 hours away. NC has a better cost of living, slower pace and less traffic. Tampa will have the better night life and closer beaches though. I see more opportunity in the RTP market as do most financial sources....Forbes, CNN.money etc. Companies are leaving Tampa because of hurricanes, cost of business (taxes) etc. If you are looking to party and work for a few years Tampa may be your place. If you are looking to get into your career, still have fun and have a great opportunity to grow and flourish in a tech/medical base arena I vote for Raleigh....that's why I moved here two years ago. Good luck in whatever you choose and oh yeah.....there is a pretty good Steeler following here .....but not me

[steelersgirl]

thanks for the advice. I actually would be very much open to IT sales as well as medical. Send me a PM, i want to pick your brain a little more about those companies you mentioned. Have you lived in Raleigh your whole life? What part of the city would you recommend moving to?

[ChrisatDuke]

Hey steelersgirl, did you go to college in Pittsburgh?? I went to Pitt. Anyway, have you considered Charlotte, NC?? It's a little bit further from the beach, but it has a pretty nice downtown area with good nightlife. Raleigh is nice but is more suburban. It really doesn't have the vibrant downtown area that you're probably looking for, although it does have some great clubs/bars. It is also continually ranked one of the best cities for young singles.

[JJingle]

Don't know anything about Tampa. Of the locations you posted, I would vote Raleigh. However, I do know a lot of young professionals in Charlotte, NC. As another poster mentioned, you might want to check it out. Also, have you considered Atlanta, GA? People usually love it or hate it?

[steelersgirl]

i was in atlanta once for a day and i did love it. although, i didnt get to see nearly as much as the city as i wanted to. i would love to go somewhere like atlanta but its not near the coast at all, and thats something im looking for.

[steelersgirl]

i went to pitt too! A&S '07...u?

[gameguy56]

stay in Pittsburgh! You'll miss it when you leave!