[bellagio67]

Just read this in a thread:

Originally Posted by cjski21

The number of positions at the Venetian has gone down drastically but the number of applicants has grown exponetially. My wife says there are roughly 200 open positions property wide (Palazzo too) and about 10k applicants for all of them. They have cut back in HR and now the number of interview slots is lower. When I worked for them, we had almost 800 people in my orientation, now they average about 70 or so. Now is not a good time to find work in this town.

Wow, that scares the hell out of me. My wife, 2 sons and I are planning to move to Vegas in the next year and obviously finding jobs. We both have extensive experience running our own companies and managing 30+ full time staff. We both excel in sales/customer service/HR/staff educating/brand building/public relations. She is also a certified and experienced esthetician and I also have extensive experience in graphic design/photography/corporate communication solutions. Both of us will work anywhere at first -Starbucks, Home Depot doesn't matter. My question is this: Are we really out of luck finding work in the greater Vegas area. We're hoping to live in the Henderson area but would consider working on the strip. I'm 44 she's 39. I don't want to arrive in Vegas and be in a lineups of 200 20 year olds to land a job at Walmart. I'm looking at job boards and there seems to be lots of employment but this may be an illusion. My plan is to come out 3 months in advance of my family, land a job, get an apartment then have my family come out. We are very resilient, strong people. We just lost everything - We had a $3.5 million networth and we're now flat broke. We've been in transition for a year and want to start fresh in our favorite city. We currently live in a small northern town and are sick of our lives living in the cold, miserable north. Might as well be broke and living in Vegas as where we are now. Any advice?

[owelles]

The conventional advice, which is sound, is don't move to Las Vegas without either a) a job already lined up or b) about a year's worth of savings stocked away.

The unemployment rate here has dropped slightly in recent months, but it's still abnormally high. Being qualified for a job often has little to do with whether you get the job. Thousands of people are qualified for virtually job opening.

That said, this is a fantastic place to live. If you can land a job before you move or if you have some savings set aside, it's probably worth the risk.

[BBMW]

Go someplace else. If you're looking for a job, don't go to Vegas.

[dynimagelv]

another member of the ID 10-T club heard from

[bay bridge]

Not to be rude, but wtf!!! Las Vegas has the highest unemloyment for a city in the US! In addition Las Vegas has the highest foreclosures rate in the US. My God man, why would you move your family to an area that is a war zone??? Granted everywhere is bad, but Las Vegas is downright a war zone for survival for its residents.

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by bellagio67

We had a $3.5 million net worth and we're now flat broke.

Not to be mean, but do not even consider moving here. Vegas will eat you alive considering what you just said above.

[yellowsnow]

I just read your other post so I know you have 2 kids and a wife.

Yes, you should be scared. You want to live someplace with good schools and those aren't cheap either. Sounds like you have already been through the wringer and Vegas right now is not going to heal your wounds.

I know you said you'd just as soon be broke here but I hope you think hard about this. It's almost impossible to find full time work with benefits. Everyone is either looking for work, or looking for something better. Most of the people I know are living on cobbled together multiple part time jobs and not doing well at all. Forget benefits.

If you just have to give it a shot, come out by yourself with enough money in reserve to get home. Live in one of the weekly rentals like Siegel Suites. Look for work. If you are lucky enough to find something, then get an apartment and bring the family out. If not, you have enough money to get home. You can say you tried and if it works, it works. And you didn't uproot the family for nothing.

Job boards and internet searches aren't true indicators of jobs available here. There's much less than it appears. All those sites post each other's jobs and don't make the mistake of assuming the jobs are all real. They aren't. Salaries are very low here too. I doubt you can support your family on $10 per hour.

There is a lot of real estate available and the cost of living here is less than the north east. But cooling season is right around the corner and AC bills are high. Insurance costs a lot here too. Car registration is high as well.

I'm not a doom and gloomer and I love Las Vegas. I'm lucky. I'm semi-retired with multiple degrees. I speak other languages. I work for $10 per hour, part time, with a 2 hour commute per shift worked. I couldn't find anything in my field or with decent pay. Oh, and I have no benefits. Here, implants will do more for you than a degree.

Best of luck. I did hear there is a lot of opportunity in the Dakotas. Yeah, I know, no one WANTS to live there.

[MomMom]

Las Vegas is a wonderful place to live, but I wouldn't move here without a job. We still have the highest unemployment in the country, but with people still moving here and the people already here who don't want to leave, any job you apply for, you're going to have stiff competition... even for part time and minimum waged jobs. It might be doable, but you'll have to have some $$$ to fall back on and sustain you while you are looking for employment, and it might take a while now in this economy.

We also have the worst rated school district in the country. Your kids will get a standard ho-hum education, but nothing more. Unless you can do private schooling, where generally the education and student to teacher ratio is better.

Why aren't you looking into Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Maine, Vermont...where the economies are booming and schools are rated highly?

Honestly, if you had made this decision maybe 5 years ago during the economy boom; to just pick up and move to Las Vegas because you had great vacations here, I'd probably offer the opinion of "why not?"

Jobs were much easier to come by then and your chances were greater of succeeding right off the bat. It's a different economy now, especially here in town. If you have nothing to lose at this point, you might find yourself and your family in worse shape by picking up and moving here with no means of employment.

Please, do a bit more research on other areas of the country before you settle on LV. There are so many here unemployed and doing other menial jobs who have the same skill sets as you and your wife. Have you ever even taken a trip here and ventured out of the tourist corridors to see our neighborhoods and areas of the valley?

Nevertheless, if your mind is set, try and secure a job first so you can eat, pay rent, etc., You mentioned Henderson in another post, the high school there is Coronado and it's a pretty good school.

And yes, Las Vegas is a great place to raise kids if you are involved with your kids and have good family morals, just like any other place. You don't have to have a "Las Vegas Strip" influence on your family if you don't want to. We have many beautiful family friendly neighborhoods and areas, far and away from the Las Vegas Strip and its adult themed amenities.


Las Vegas is the most fantastic place on earth to live, imo, but not if you can't eat, can't afford gas, don't have a place to live, have no money for bills, have no money to enjoy anything...etc.


Good luck to you! Let us know how you're doing!

[bellagio67]

fantastic feedback everyone....... not what I'm looking to hear but I need to be honest with myself to protect my family's future. I've been coming to Vegas since 1989 and it's always felt like I was coming home..... not to the strip but outside the city...... It's breath taking how beautiful it is.

It seems attractive because it appears that there are some fantastic property deals. If we get in in the next few years we're hoping that in 15 years time real estate will rebound and we will make up some of the equity we've lost in our personal financial crisis. Is this a poor strategy? I see 2 bedroom condos in the Lake Las Vegas area for $150,000 having originally sold for $800K. I know about the troubles out there but I'm trying to plan long term. Also working a couple of min. wage jobs is ok as long as I can find them...... guess I just keep telling myself what I want to hear. Not so smart.

[bay bridge]

Originally Posted by bellagio67

fantastic feedback everyone....... not what I'm looking to hear but I need to be honest with myself to protect my family's future. I've been coming to Vegas since 1989 and it's always felt like I was coming home..... not to the strip but outside the city...... It's breath taking how beautiful it is.

It seems attractive because it appears that there are some fantastic property deals. If we get in in the next few years we're hoping that in 15 years time real estate will rebound and we will make up some of the equity we've lost in our personal financial crisis. Is this a poor strategy? I see 2 bedroom condos in the Lake Las Vegas area for $150,000 having originally sold for $800K. I know about the troubles out there but I'm trying to plan long term. Also working a couple of min. wage jobs is ok as long as I can find them...... guess I just keep telling myself what I want to hear. Not so smart.

Boy!! Someone needs to slap you on the head!! But, why don't you first fly out here to see if you can get employment. Why would you mess up your family's life because you are going throgh some mid-life crisis??