Best places to find jobs (Portland, Bangor: cheap apartment, consignment, homes)

[scottishlassie]

Im looking for information my husband and I want to make the move from upstate New York to Maine. My husband works in admin and I work in a nursing home and also make jewelry and sell it at craft fairs but will turn my hand to almost any kind of work. Are there any specific companies or places that are better to work for or find work in Maine. Would like to stay within the coastal region or within an hours drive. Our ideal place would be Portland. Call us crazy but we cannot take any more of upstate NY! We are mid 30's no kids 1 dog. Any advice would be grateful.

[Jonny88]

Administration?

[Maineah]

Jobs are tough to find in Maine. You may do OK in the nursing home thing and the jewelry is craft fair type of thing unless you can hook up with a shop to sell it on consignment. With gas at $4.00+ a gallon this summer there won't be any tourists buying jewelery. As far as your husband goes, administration in what field?...education....maybe... anything else hit or miss. Maine is just about the LAST place on Earth I would move to now with the economy like it is and fuel costing so much. Heating oil will be $4.00+ a gallon next winter. That's $1100 to fill an average oil tank and you'll fill that tank at least twice during the dead of winter when you're eating snowballs to make ends meet. 80% of Maine homes are heated with oil. You'll have to drive to wherever you work. Tack on $100.00 more than you pay now. Add in the lowest average pay in the Northeast, highest tax rates, high food prices, and housing costs and you'll begin to see the picture. I know we're supposed to paint a rosie picture on this forum but until gas and oil drops to $2.00 a gallon or less I'd steer clear of Maine if I could. The cost of living has to at least equal the quality of life in the place you live in. Right now Maine is NO bargain and the costs are definitly out weighing the tranquility and peace of mind you might find. It looks like it's only going to get worse. Others might tell you different. You can live in a cheap apartment in Bangor somewhere, work in a pizza place, and still eat snowballs to make ends meet. I'd look long and hard at the job market, pay scale, price of housing and very high cost of living before I decided to move to Maine at this point in time. If you're wealthy.... go for it.

[bangorme]

Maineah is right. I was shocked at the cost of living in Portland, and I'm from Maine! If after reading Maineah's post, and when you both have a guaranteed job in Maine, if you still want to move here, come back and we can give you some ideas. Until then, upstate New York isn't bad. My sister has lived there for 25 years and seems to be doing well. If you both have jobs, anyplace is a safe harbor until the economy turns around.

[namder1]

I too am looking for work....I've had 3 interviews at True Textile and all went to people already employed there....discouraging. I've got over 30 years as a R&D tool and die maker/machinist....you'd think there'd be a job out there....forget about it! Thank GOD I've got a few $ stashed away.....but that won't last forever either LOL. I've pretty much been looking local, but I'm sure I'm gonna have to commute to Bangor or Augusta eventually.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by namder1

I too am looking for work....I've had 3 interviews at True Textile and all went to people already employed there....discouraging. I've got over 30 years as a R&D tool and die maker/machinist....you'd think there'd be a job out there....forget about it! Thank GOD I've got a few $ stashed away.....but that won't last forever either LOL. I've pretty much been looking local, but I'm sure I'm gonna have to commute to Bangor or Augusta eventually.

be sure to look at the mainecareercenters in maine ,,,part of the dept of labor

they do have a website,,,but they also have regional offices to visit and put your name in,,,sometimes timing is everything, and its about finding the right door to knock on.....many companies,,,post jobs on mainecareercenter

[namder1]

thanks! Didn't know about that one!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by namder1

I too am looking for work....I've had 3 interviews at True Textile and all went to people already employed there....discouraging. I've got over 30 years as a R&D tool and die maker/machinist....you'd think there'd be a job out there....forget about it! Thank GOD I've got a few $ stashed away.....but that won't last forever either LOL. I've pretty much been looking local, but I'm sure I'm gonna have to commute to Bangor or Augusta eventually.

Long drive from Abbot to Augusta every day! Better get a Prius!

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by namder1

I too am looking for work....I've had 3 interviews at True Textile and all went to people already employed there....discouraging. I've got over 30 years as a R&D tool and die maker/machinist....you'd think there'd be a job out there....forget about it! Thank GOD I've got a few $ stashed away.....but that won't last forever either LOL. I've pretty much been looking local, but I'm sure I'm gonna have to commute to Bangor or Augusta eventually.

Machinist Jobs, Employment in Maine | Indeed.com



apply to companies that you'd like to work at even if they arent advertising, sometimes its all in timing

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

Machinist Jobs, Employment in Maine | Indeed.com



apply to companies that you'd like to work at even if they arent advertising, sometimes its all in timing

True enough, my wife has obtained a couple of jobs that way- sending resumes, making phone calls and actually going in to places to ask. It's like 'carpet bombing', eventually you might get lucky and hit something worthwhile.

There was one time, after I'd got out of the Army (and couldn't get unemployment because Reagan changed the rules) I was so desperate for work I was going around to bars where guys who had jobs hung out after work and asking anyone and everyone if they knew where I could get a job. It worked- A guy asked me if I could weld plastic, I told him "Sure, no problem." (But I was thinking, 'weld plastic? you can 'weld' plastic?')

He told me where to show up the next morning- he was the foreman on a job renovating a very large indoor swimming pool, sandblasting, repainting, etc.

I showed up the next morning and he put me to work. Several of the large PVC pipes for the pool filtration system had developed cracks and needed to be mended. He showed me the equipment- a 'torch' that was like a hollow soldering gun with a bent tab on the end, tanks of inert gas, and 'welding rods' made of PVC.

I spent about an hour and a half playing with the stuff, figuring out how it worked and practicing with it until I felt comfortable enough with the process to have a go at the pipes. It only took me a day or two to get all of the pipes fixed up, the guy kept me on until the whole job was complete.

Sometimes you just have to keep asking. I had no clue that it was possible to 'weld' plastic before then but it turned out that it wasn't really all that difficult.