Moving to Chesapeake area in January (Newport News, Huntington: job market, buy, live)

[bomski99]

Hello, my wife, our 3 year old son, and I are moving to the Chesapeake area in January. Her family lives in the Newport News area. I was wondering how the job market is in the area. I have manufacturing/supervisory/HR experience with a bachelor's in sociology and a certificate in HR and will probably be looking for like jobs. My wife has administrative experience with some accounting education along with an associate's in hospitality. We are open to work in any nearby city, (norfolk, vb, portsmouth, newport news, etc.)

Any information would be appreciated.

[thesolution]

HR's largest employer is the military. Though with spending cuts, you may have some difficulty getting hired without any prior military or federal experience. Doesn't hurt to try though. www.USAJOBS.gov. You should start looking soon as the hiring process will take at least 3 months (from application to report date). The largest private employer is Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding in Newport News. You could give them a try too.

[Spazkat9696]

I wouldn't move here without a job unless you can stay with family until you find one.

[bomski99]

We do have the family option, but we would prefer to find something before we make the move.

[TheJagMan]

Originally Posted by thesolution

HR's largest employer is the military. Though with spending cuts, you may have some difficulty getting hired without any prior military or federal experience. Doesn't hurt to try though. www.USAJOBS.gov. You should start looking soon as the hiring process will take at least 3 months (from application to report date). The largest private employer is Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding in Newport News. You could give them a try too.

OP, absolutely do not have the expectations that you can get a federal career in three months. Get another job first then you can apply for federal jobs in your spare time. With the spending cuts and being an external hire, you have about 1% chance of getting hired...If a federal career is something you desire, you first need buy a book of how to write a federal resume.

[artistatheart]

Right now, my husband's company (in Newport News) has more work than it can handle, and they're bringing on a lot of new people (this wasn't the case even six months ago, and--as recently as eighteen months ago--they were limiting company hours and actively laying people off). His company has a manufacturing component as well as a design/engineering component, so, I would say that in some sectors, at least anecdotally, the job market around here seems to be improving.

But, having stayed with my own in-laws in Denver for a few (seemingly interminable) months a few years back while we were between jobs, I would definitely recommend having something in place before you get here.

[thesolution]

Originally Posted by TheJagMan

OP, absolutely do not have the expectations that you can get a federal career in three months. Get another job first then you can apply for federal jobs in your spare time. With the spending cuts and being an external hire, you have about 1% chance of getting hired...If a federal career is something you desire, you first need buy a book of how to write a federal resume.

It's not like I'm suggesting him to apply to NASA

Have you seen the average federal employee around here?

[TheJagMan]

Originally Posted by thesolution

It's not like I'm suggesting him to apply to NASA

Have you seen the average federal employee around here?

You might as well be...lol...I work for the government so yes...The common narrative is 80% of government works work there because someone else wanted them there (was the case for me)...19% have specialized skills such as engineering and the last 1% got lucky. When my boss here has a vacancy, she deals with the HR dept and often gets at least 10K applicants; half are from overseas, 99% aren't qualified.

[thesolution]

Originally Posted by TheJagMan

You might as well be...lol...I work for the government so yes...The common narrative is 80% of government works work there because someone else wanted them there (was the case for me)...19% have specialized skills such as engineering and the last 1% got lucky. When my boss here has a vacancy, she deals with the HR dept and often gets at least 10K applicants; half are from overseas, 99% aren't qualified.

I see your point. My experience has been quite different but I see that I fall into your 19% category.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by thesolution

Have you seen the average federal employee around here?

Exactly, and none of them are leaving their job. The federal government turnover rate is lower than 3.5%, whereas the public sector averages 13%.

Hard to get a job with the goverment, because there are so few jobs available.