[polish89]

Hello,

My husband and I are planning on moving to Las Vegas from Midwest at the end of September. We are sick of winters and just decided to try something new. We have a good amount of savings and both work in service industry and don't have any jobs lined up yet, we do have some connections though. I still wonder how hard it would be to get a decent job in a restaurant/club with knowing some people. I'm 26 and my husband 29.


I'm also looking at 2 apartment communities in two different areas of Henderson. We want to be within 15-20 minutes from the strip as that's where most likely we would like to work. We don't have kids so schools are not important. We are very active people and being close to parks and gym would be nice. Could someone describe the two areas and the biggest differences between them ? My husband will probably go to check out both but I would like some more information from someone that maybe lived there or is familiar with the area.

Ps. We would like to stay under $1000 a month with pet fee and any other fees.

Thank you very much

[polish89]

Anyone please ?

[Rochound]

Apartments for under $1,000 are going to be very scarce in decent neighborhoods close to the Strip. Henderson does have some nice choices. My family moved to Vegas in the early 60's. Working the service or F&B industry will give you a lot of job options in Vegas and the surrounding communities. You may want to consider working for one of the 'locals' casinos first. Your living choices will be vastly increased and locals tip very well. If you are going to go to school to learn to be a dealer (Black Jack/Craps etc.) then you will most likely have to work at a locals casino or downtown before you can audition for the Stip properties. There are stacks of free books available with all of the apartments listed in them and they will let you know if pets are allowed, what the size or weight limit is and the amenities available to you (gym, pool, covered parking etc.) Have your friends send you a few, most are probably all online now. If you are set on finding a place to live that is very close to the Strip you will may end up in an area that you won't be happy with. Also, the high-rise apartments close to the Strip are very expensive. I like the quiet so living close to the Strip would drive me crazy. You are a lot younger than I am and may look forward to the fast paced lifestyle but consider this...if you get a job and start on the graveyard shift you will be sleeping during the day and you may not want to be in a family neighborhood. Kids play and trust me, you won't be able to sleep. Back in the 60's people put signs on their doors that said 'night worker' so the residents would be respectful enough to honor that. Vegas isn't the small town it used to be. My advice for your safety and well being is to not live too close to the Strip. Find jobs you like and spend time getting to know the different areas of town. UNLV is close if you haven't already gone to college and they offer a very good variety of Hospitality Mgt and Casino Mgt majors. You will need to get a health and alcohol card to work in the food industry. Best of luck to you and I hope you find Vegas to be what you are looking for.

[Rochound]

PS There are usually a lot of jobs in that industry. When you do the first part of your interview they will ask you several questions that are a kind of 'test'. They are looking for team members that want to stay and not just bounce around from job to job. (If you are the kind of person who has held down a job for quite a while that will be very much in your favor.) So, you will want to let the employer know you plan on staying for more than 2 years. They will also want to know if you are willing to work any day and any shift. The answer is YES. Typically you will have a choice of shifts and days off once hired; not always but most of the time. They are looking for real team players plus most of our casinos offer a lot of training classes and it's too expensive to hire someone that's going to quit in 6 months because they don't like the hours or want on a better shift. Now, I may get bombarded with comments for discussing this...we have a culinary union and I don't think it's needed at all. Thankfully, not all employers have to use them. My advice is too look for jobs that don't require you to join the union to get a food service job. The management knows that people look for union jobs because they don't feel appreciated or have good leaders/management. That isn't the case with most all of the companies here. Many offer tuition reimbursement, good health insurance and 401k plans. Most important, they support diversity and promote from within. Hard work and excellent customer (Guest) service is highly rewarded in this industry.

[yellowsnow]

It's not all roses and perfume. Tipped jobs are where the money is and where you should be too. The non tipped jobs can be quite horrible. Sure you can talk about bennies and 401k's but you don't get those things unless you work full time. And those jobs are hard to get.

Just for example, there is a supervisor at a players club who has been there for more than 20 years and has a degree from Penn State. She does get insurance/vacation/401k because she is full time. BUT she makes less than $13 per hour.

It's not likely you are going to just fall into a full time tipped job unless you are young and totally gorgeous. Much more likely you will get something part time and on-call when they need you. You can work your way up over time. Just don't expect too much when you first start out.

Casinos do not pay well at all. If you work hard at a tipped job, you can make up the difference.

[Rochound]

Yellowsnow is right. Back in the 80's and 90's when we really started growing, a lot of the new residents were already 'retired' and didn't need a lot of benefits so yes, that's what started a lot of the part-time jobs and over time they became permanent. Yellowsnow is also correct in the fact that the best tip jobs are for those drop dead gorgeous women and some men. Especially cocktail servers/bar tenders. I just thought the couple had really made up their mind to move here. It's become pretty expensive to live in Vegas. In the mid 80's I saw a bumper sticker on the back of a truck that owned by a fireman. It said "Welcome to Las Vegas. Now go home!" Harry Reid's recent letter about how wonderful the new Great Basin Natl. Monument is just makes me want to scream. He's address all of my letters so far but he won't address items like the lakes in Summerlin. They are a vast evaporation system and should never have been built in the first place. If the people from back east don't like the winters then they had better learn to love the arid desert because I will continue to fight to stop builders from creating 'little suburbia' here in the LV area to appease those of you who miss the green lush landscapes but hate the winters. You can't have both. Thank you for the balance Yellowsnow! I should know better than to write posts late at night.

[Rochound]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

It's not all roses and perfume. Tipped jobs are where the money is and where you should be too. The non tipped jobs can be quite horrible. Sure you can talk about bennies and 401k's but you don't get those things unless you work full time. And those jobs are hard to get.

Just for example, there is a supervisor at a players club who has been there for more than 20 years and has a degree from Penn State. She does get insurance/vacation/401k because she is full time. BUT she makes less than $13 per hour.

It's not likely you are going to just fall into a full time tipped job unless you are young and totally gorgeous. Much more likely you will get something part time and on-call when they need you. You can work your way up over time. Just don't expect too much when you first start out.

Casinos do not pay well at all. If you work hard at a tipped job, you can make up the difference.

Yellowsnow is right. Back in the 80's and 90's when we really started growing, a lot of the new residents were already 'retired' and didn't need a lot of benefits so yes, that's what started a lot of the part-time jobs and over time they became permanent. Yellowsnow is also correct in the fact that the best tip jobs are for those drop dead gorgeous women and some men. Especially cocktail servers/bar tenders. I just thought the couple had really made up their mind to move here. It's become pretty expensive to live in Vegas. In the mid 80's I saw a bumper sticker on the back of a truck that owned by a fireman. It said "Welcome to Las Vegas. Now go home!" Harry Reid's recent letter about how wonderful the new Great Basin Natl. Monument is just makes me want to scream. He's address all of my letters so far but he won't address items like the lakes in Summerlin. They are a vast evaporation system and should never have been built in the first place. If the people from back east don't like the winters then they had better learn to love the arid desert because I will continue to fight to stop builders from creating 'little suburbia' here in the LV area to appease those of you who miss the green lush landscapes but hate the winters. You can't have both. Thank you for the balance Yellowsnow! I should know better than to write posts late at night.

[airics]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

It's not all roses and perfume. Tipped jobs are where the money is and where you should be too. The non tipped jobs can be quite horrible. Sure you can talk about bennies and 401k's but you don't get those things unless you work full time. And those jobs are hard to get.

Just for example, there is a supervisor at a players club who has been there for more than 20 years and has a degree from Penn State. She does get insurance/vacation/401k because she is full time. BUT she makes less than $13 per hour.

It's not likely you are going to just fall into a full time tipped job unless you are young and totally gorgeous. Much more likely you will get something part time and on-call when they need you. You can work your way up over time. Just don't expect too much when you first start out.

Casinos do not pay well at all. If you work hard at a tipped job, you can make up the difference.

you can work in the casino cage and make $17+tips.. i did it for 3 years.. lots of stress though.... i now manage a retail store in the fashion show mall.. much less stress.. took me a year to become a manager but i work 40hrs a week and make in the mid to upper 40s... still low for retail management though.. i have a side business which allows me my "fun" money..

[airics]

this area is becoming the new california... california is out of reach in affordability... my friend lives in commerce. (los angeles).. 900sf small tiny older home 275k..... with 275k here, you can do very well....

watch where you choose to live.. i "love" the look of summerlin but wouldn't live there.. the people seem "snooty".. but that's my opinion... Henderson was ok to me but looks like a "city" to me..

i wanted the most suburb for the money.. im near aliante and centennial hills... a bit far out.. but i can be to the strip in 20 minutes. (35 in heavy traffic... darn spaghetti bowl)...

[mattywo85]

What can someone expect their take home pay to be for a 50k/year salary?