[parking]

I was laid off from my previous job. Plus, l bought a home here 4 years ago. I made such a good living, I kept the home empty.

Originally Posted by nebulous1

Why would you relocate before you had a job?
I would have a start date in writing first.
Also, I have interviewed in tourist type towns, and I agree...if you lose a job in your field, you will have to cashier to stay off the streets.

[parking]

Thank you for the kind words. I have hounded the water, cable, power, and other organizations. I have retooled my resume many times. As a matter a fact, I paid a company to have it tailored to Upper Management, and IT positions. I also had it lowered to fit entry-level positions. Vegas is cool town. Unfortuantely lady luck is not shinning on new residents. The thing I'm started to notice is that the people on this board have jobs currently. Which is a blessing from God!!!! If you were in my shoes, you would be concerned and worried to.

Thank you for your reply.

Originally Posted by ackackack

parking,

I know that most companies operate like large corporations and aren't too quick at getting that position filled. So if you recently applied for posted positions, expect to wait at least a week, maybe as many as three weeks. If you applied for unposted positions, good luck, most companies don't entertain unsolicited resumes. I can't emphasize enough about hounding the utilities (water, power, gas, phone, cable) and the local governments here. This valley doesn't have many opportunities for people of your caliber, but the utilities and governments usually offer a fair starting wage and will entertain someone with a resume that indicates a proven ability to take on new challenges, as well as an education beyond high school. It sounds like you may have both. In the past I have retooled my resume to demonstrate the key points that the particular employer was looking for. It is a pain, but it has worked like a charm. Large corporations also use a matrix to identify candidates, if you don't have those key words or skills in your resume, it goes in the trash.

I understand why you don't want to except just any job for the sake of working. I would do the same. The reason I would, and have, is that I have a very strong resume and I don't want to screw it up with a job that I took to pay the bills. I don't want to explain that I took a job at McDonalds or Best Buy because I needed to pay the rent. Why wouldn't they think you weren't taking their job offer for the same reason? Did you tell the interviewer at Best Buy that you were taking their job until you found another one? I don't buy that logic that is offered. Above all, you are learning the hard way about what kind of town this truly is. That said, I don't buy the "this town only takes care of those with connnections" crap. It is still the case with good service industry jobs like bellmen for example, but 90% of the people here are from somewhere else and they don't care for this place anymore than you do. The important thing is to find a good person, regardless of where they are from. I still wish you all the luck in the world with your search, but if you decide to get out of here, and can with your shirt on your back, you may look back someday and realize that this town did you a favor.

[parking]

That is pretty sad. UNLV wouldn't hire you kills me.

Originally Posted by PhotogRyan

Parking,

I graduated a couple years ago with an IS degree from UNLV, and during my senior year, I heard all the horror stories of the grads in my major landing $13/hr jobs at the casinos, which turned out to be true.

The IT job market (or from what I recall of it, mid-2005) was pretty rough. I couldn't even find a decent job in tech support of all things, with 3-4 years of experience I accumulated during school. Up until my graduation, I threw out so many apps in every industry, and nothing ever materialized. Even the school I graduated from (UNLV) wouldn't take me in for an interview.. what a kicker.

I left for SD without a job and found something in two months in the hotel industry. I worked for a year, and now work as a data analyst making $20k more than my friend back home who does the exact (and maybe even more complex) same thing.

If you do find a job, I'd say that you won't be offered anything impressive.. it's just how the market is over there unfortunately.

Have you tried using an agency to find you some leads (sorry, didn't read all the responses)? I know it's not ideal, but it has worked favorably in my situation (my current job). Good luck!

[mw555...5]

Oh my god, do I feel your pain!! We're going through the same thing. I've been unemployed for three months. I left my old job here in Vegas hastly, because they started treating me badly. I thought oh well, no big deal, there's plenty of jobs out there!! I thought I'd take something less desirable until I find 'the one', but of course , I am too stubborn. I have a job interview Monday, it's not what I want, but at least I'll have something. To make things worse, my car broke down a few weeks ago. Thankfully, I have an angel of a roommate who's offered to chaufeur me. My roommate is in your field actually, I'll ask him, but I don't think he knows anything. Apparently, there's a lot of unemployment due to the growth as well. It's very frustrating. I hope you find something, good luck to us both.

[PinkString]

There was a report on Fox5 news earlier, and they said the reason why the unemployment rate is rising in Las Vegas is because there are just too many thousands of people moving here every month.
So for those having alot of trouble finding work, you may be applying for a job, but there are also hundreds more applying for the same one.
Don't give up though. Just make it an 8-5 hour job every day looking for work. Go everywhere, places you normally wouldn't apply. Something will come up, but you have to be out there constantly looking.
There are still hundreds of jobs each week in the RJ classifieds. And hundreds more on job sites.

[parking]

I am sorry to hear that you are having problems too. It is very frustrating being unemployed for such a long time. Hang in there!!! Like I said, it's stressing me out. If you ever need a ride to a job, email me. Parkingmanager@yahoo.com

Originally Posted by mw555...5

Oh my god, do I feel your pain!! We're going through the same thing. I've been unemployed for three months. I left my old job here in Vegas hastly, because they started treating me badly. I thought oh well, no big deal, there's plenty of jobs out there!! I thought I'd take something less desirable until I find 'the one', but of course , I am too stubborn. I have a job interview Monday, it's not what I want, but at least I'll have something. To make things worse, my car broke down a few weeks ago. Thankfully, I have an angel of a roommate who's offered to chaufeur me. My roommate is in your field actually, I'll ask him, but I don't think he knows anything. Apparently, there's a lot of unemployment due to the growth as well. It's very frustrating. I hope you find something, good luck to us both.

[parking]

Thank you for your imput. I am currently doing what you mentioned. Making it a full-time job looking for employment.

Originally Posted by PinkString

There was a report on Fox5 news earlier, and they said the reason why the unemployment rate is rising in Las Vegas is because there are just too many thousands of people moving here every month.
So for those having alot of trouble finding work, you may be applying for a job, but there are also hundreds more applying for the same one.
Don't give up though. Just make it an 8-5 hour job every day looking for work. Go everywhere, places you normally wouldn't apply. Something will come up, but you have to be out there constantly looking.
There are still hundreds of jobs each week in the RJ classifieds. And hundreds more on job sites.

[mw555...5]

Thank you very much Parking! That's very kind of you. Yeah, it's stressing me out as well, not good for the self-esteem either. Hopefully, I will get this job on Monday. When my car was working, I did make it a 8-5 job of looking for a job. I will still hold out for what I want, eventually I will get it. My roommate had the same problem when he moved here too. I have yet to ask him, I will today. The internet doesn't really cut it for looking, because like PinkString said; there's a lot of competition. Ahhh...The wait game! It's hard to be patient for so long. If there's any way I could help you, (I'm not sure how...) let me know. I'll try asking people for you. Good luck!

[ParkTwain]

Originally Posted by mw555...5

Oh my god, do I feel your pain!! We're going through the same thing. I've been unemployed for three months. I left my old job here in Vegas hastly, because they started treating me badly. I thought oh well, no big deal, there's plenty of jobs out there!! ...

The poor treatment of employees in LV companies is also part of the story around here, I think. There is a definite autocratic mindset among management; seems to be in the water here versus other cities where I've lived, especially versus the U.S. Northeast. And I don't work anywhere near a casino or gambling establishment. In my experience in 4 years here, I have seen little evidence that management understands that it is counterproductive to dominate employees who are knowledgeable and competent. The places of work aren't friendship clubs, but rather work organizations. Do I have to be my supervisor's friend to keep my job? I would expect competence to be acknowledged, but my experience here is that it is not. The odor of cronyism pervades even in knowledge-oriented work, where competence is key to business success. It mostly gives me the creeps and would be the main reason for my leaving work in Vegas.

I have tried to understand what would be driving this mindset, things such as: (1) not much competition for some companies in some lines of business, so employers act as if employees in some fields don't have many alternatives and is a by-product of the relatively undiversified LV economy, (2) history of "sleaze" in business dealings, proceeding from mobbed-up casinos in previous decades, (3) Vegas as the "last chance" stop for some categories of workers (not necessarily a "last chance" for professionals, for whom there were very thin employment opportunities in Vegas in the past). I'm still trying to figure it out.

To Parking:
Given a hypothetical scale with "pure cronyism" on one end and "pure meritocracy" on the other, I would guess that the San Fran employment environment (esp. in high tech fields) is around 80% to 90% meritocracy whereas Vegas is maybe 20% to 30%.

[parking]

I read a posting named, "Type of People that Move to Las Vegas ." It talks about the kind of people that move here because they're many jobs here. That may have been true many years ago. Today is something different. It is now stated in the RJ that unemployment rate is at 5% due to the increase of populations. I kinda think its higher. If anyone is planning to relocate to Vegas, try to locate employment first. By a prepaid cingular phone (Wallmart) for $20.00 and situp a phone number with the area code 702. With the internet; from where ever your located at, you can submit applications/resumes. This way you can test the market from where ever your located. When I moved here, I was under the impression that there were tons of jobs. I haven't seen one after submitting hundreds resumes. I fell into that trap.

Good Bless and Good luck.