Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
For IT type jobs in Traverse City -- I think Munson Medical is your best bet. The power companies -- Consumers or Cherryland Electric also may occasionally have an opening. Assuming there were openings though -- the pay will be at minimum 33% less than what you would get in Grand Rapids. You'll then be trapped in the job since you have no other employment opportunities in the area. The employers know this and exploit the fact. You'll get pay raises less than the cost of living so fall even further behind your peers in other areas.
Don't expect a whole lot of respect for what you do either. When they think you're easily replaced by others who work for cheap -- you're going to be exploited. For these reasons, I'd recommend working in Grand Rapids where things are a bit better and use the weekends for trips up north if that's what you want.
IT professionals and rural areas like northern MI are just incompatible. You'd be further ahead finding another profession -- IT is dying anyway. There are many more people than jobs and to make matters worse -- the government adds to the problem by authorizing H1B visas for workers from other countries looking for work in this field.
This may make you feel better, but otherwise is just anecdotal. From Wikipedia on the high-tech industry in Quincy, WA:
"In July 2006, it was reported that high tech giants such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft were building facilities for hosting computer server farms because of the cheaper electricity from the Columbia River. The local utility district offered the companies electricity about half the national average. Current construction by Microsoft of a 1.5 million square foot facility will hold 150,000 computers, with an expected rise with further construction to 800,000. However, as of February 08, further development of these projects is stalled and continued development is in doubt, as the Washington State tax climate changed to the tech giants' disadvantage."
I would think that it would be more of a problem for the tech giants to set up shop there because there would be the opposite problem that you faced in small-town Michigan - the tech jobs would be there but the skilled workforce would have to be imported.
I'm sure that we could use your skills here in SoCal, but I'm also sure that you'd hate it. Virtually every problem, other than the hot summers, comes down to having too many people here. We've been here now for almost 35 years and will be glad to retire elsewhere.
BTW, I'm in IT myself, but on the software-development side of the house.
Thanks to magellan for the link to to the IT billet for the Grand Rapids construction company. I did hit them up.
Thanks SparrowTemp and JMLowman for the comments on Traverse and Southern California.
Re Traverse:
Does not sound great for prospects. Yeah, Higgins Lake is really where I wanted to be but the area shows an over -4% in local jobs, which there was nothing there to begin with. My hope was the 30 years later there might be some little tech community tucked away in some nearby town or close enough to commute.
Re Socal:
I have lived, shopped and worked in Sand Diego (National City, Chula Vista, Coronado), Long Beach, Rancho Cucamonga, Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, Chino Hills, Rialto, Los Angeles, Tustin and Sherman Oaks. Had many good times in Solana Beach and La Jolla. While the San Diego area is much nicer than LA (in my opinion), both places are crowded and expensive and the fresh water fishing and activities are few if any. Also, I am not sure if there is any deer hunting at all since they are only like 70 pounds the ones that I seen while going to Alpine and other places east of San Diego. I used drive up the 5, 805, and 15 all the time. I actually met my wife (who is from LA/Hollywood) while living in San Diego. I used to shop at the Chula Vista Mall and take the trolly to Dick’s Last Resort in the Gas Lamp district downtown, across from the San Diego convention center, Seaport Village and Kansas City Barbecue.
Yeah, I would never make the mistake of thinking that I cannot be replaced (it’s already happened and while I was on top of my game) and I know pretty much in general that I am an at will employee unless I own my own biz, no matter what we all do. I accept that most organizations operate under the premise that if they think they can cut you and the expense of your salary, they will. I also believe that the only reason companies post positions is because they have a problem or a need and cannot do it with current resources or existing in house skill sets. I know they didn’t just decide to add to payroll and would rather to continue to hire a minimum of people to get the jobs done and maximize their return. I know organization “negotiate” to get you in as low as they can too. I think of the interviewing courtship dance much like dating. One day you could be a real nice situation and have your pick of what to do on a Friday night, or find your stuff on the curb.
Well if anyone knows of anything Linuxy or otherwise in Michigan, if the cash is good and it is close to Higgins Lake I might not be able to say no. The only good thing about the economy dive is that people that could not afford anything, now can. I knew it could not go on forever like it was. The Yin to the Yang keeping the universe in harmony.
After senior year, once I attend a university ( if I get accepted into one in Michigan) I plan to study 4 years here. Though after my undergraduate I plan to attend a graduate school oos ( though I still would consider the in-state graduate schools).
What's your major going to be? Most 17 year old's don't think about graduate school so early. Don't make it anything IT related and keep in mind how much your education is going to cost versus what your income potential will be. People didn't use to have to factor this in - the advice was always just go into something you really like to do and the rest will work itself out. Now you can get a high level degree and find yourself unable to get a job and in massive debt which you can't even get rid of via bankruptcy.
What's your major going to be? Most 17 year old's don't think about graduate school so early. Don't make it anything IT related and keep in mind how much your education is going to cost versus what your income potential will be. People didn't use to have to factor this in - the advice was always just go into something you really like to do and the rest will work itself out. Now you can get a high level degree and find yourself unable to get a job and in massive debt which you can't even get rid of via bankruptcy.
Well I plan to major in science ( biology, pre-med etc....) and countinue to medical school, though reguardless if I don't attend medical school I still have intentions in graduate school.
I really like Northwestern Michigan but my wife is tiring of the cold. We went to a wedding two weeks ago just outside Dallas, TX and really liked the area. My new company has a VERY large presence in Dallas so work for me would not be an issue, thankfully. The neighborhood where we were ( Allen) has beautiful homes with pools for around $250K-$300K. Instead of shoveling snow, we'd be in the pool from April thru October every year. We're thinking about it and after doing lots of research the past few days, are realizing it is a distinct possibility we'll move there eventually. The real estate market is about at the bottom there. A real buyer's market. So, who knows? It may happen
I really like Northwestern Michigan but my wife is tiring of the cold. We went to a wedding two weeks ago just outside Dallas, TX and really liked the area. My new company has a VERY large presence in Dallas so work for me would not be an issue, thankfully. The neighborhood where we were ( Allen) has beautiful homes with pools for around $250K-$300K. Instead of shoveling snow, we'd be in the pool from April thru October every year. We're thinking about it and after doing lots of research the past few days, are realizing it is a distinct possibility we'll move there eventually. The real estate market is about at the bottom there. A real buyer's market. So, who knows? It may happen
Hey!
Come to Texas - Americas very own convection oven 3 months out of the year, you'll love it! We need more euchre players here too.
Seriously though my family made the move from SE Michigan in 2007 we're about 20 minutes from Allen in a more countryish setting. It was a big move but we love not dealing with snow. You acclimate to the heat, or vacation back in MI for a couple weeks in August. Seriously, I can go swimming on a 98 degree day and then get out of the pool and feel cool with the wind blowing on me and I love it. Here in North Texas you can go fishing on a boat in March in your shorts or you can have an ice storm. It's sometimes crazy weather but the sun usually shines even when it's cold and the spectacular thunderstorms that you can see coming from miles away. Yesterday we a had a big storm at sunset. It passed through, and on half the horizon you could see the sun setting and the other half was still the storm moving out with deep black clouds and spectacular lightning. It was weird seeing both at the same time. Out in the country you can watch your dog run away for about an hour before he disappears. We've got about 8 sold signs on empty lots in our neighboorhood waiting to break ground. I have no idea where all these people are coming from.
Welcome to the chicken fried chicken nation if you decide to come!
I don't think getting used to the heat would be a problem. Everything down there is air conditioned and my thinking is as long as you have a pool, you can always cool your body with a dip Another great thing about Dallas is that you can fly non-stop anywhere in the country. We have two small dogs(Yorkies) and want to know what kind of pests do homeowners deal with regularly? My wife thinks that snakes are an issue. From what I've read, seems mosquitoes are the biggest nuisance.
\
Quote:
Originally Posted by grhtex
Hey!
Come to Texas - Americas very own convection oven 3 months out of the year, you'll love it! We need more euchre players here too.
Seriously though my family made the move from SE Michigan in 2007 we're about 20 minutes from Allen in a more countryish setting. It was a big move but we love not dealing with snow. You acclimate to the heat, or vacation back in MI for a couple weeks in August. Seriously, I can go swimming on a 98 degree day and then get out of the pool and feel cool with the wind blowing on me and I love it. Here in North Texas you can go fishing on a boat in March in your shorts or you can have an ice storm. It's sometimes crazy weather but the sun usually shines even when it's cold and the spectacular thunderstorms that you can see coming from miles away. Yesterday we a had a big storm at sunset. It passed through, and on half the horizon you could see the sun setting and the other half was still the storm moving out with deep black clouds and spectacular lightning. It was weird seeing both at the same time. Out in the country you can watch your dog run away for about an hour before he disappears. We've got about 8 sold signs on empty lots in our neighboorhood waiting to break ground. I have no idea where all these people are coming from.
Welcome to the chicken fried chicken nation if you decide to come!
I don't think getting used to the heat would be a problem. Everything down there is air conditioned and my thinking is as long as you have a pool, you can always cool your body with a dip Another great thing about Dallas is that you can fly non-stop anywhere in the country. We have two small dogs(Yorkies) and want to know what kind of pests do homeowners deal with regularly? My wife thinks that snakes are an issue. From what I've read, seems mosquitoes are the biggest nuisance.
\
The biggest problem for our dog has been the Bermuda grass. She's allergic so we give her a steroid pill every other day to control it. We haven't had a problem with any other pests. We do have a pest control company come in about every 6 weeks and treat the exterior for ants spiders etc. Fire ants would be a real problem if you had them. Our dog did get real sick once and the vet speculated she may have eaten a frog of some sort but we could never verify it. We do see snakes every now and then but they haven't been a problem.
I rarely see skeeters even in a wet spring like this year. The 2 or 3 I have seen were huge though. I once saw the biggest bullfrog of my life while fishing down at the local pond. His head was darn near as big as my fist.
We were gonna catch it and deep fry it- just kidding.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Another great thing about Dallas is that you can fly non-stop anywhere in the country. We have two small dogs(Yorkies) and want to know what kind of pests do homeowners deal with regularly? My wife thinks that snakes are an issue. From what I've read, seems mosquitoes are the biggest nuisance.
