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I KNOW **** is expensive but I just think that I am spending the same amount in Florida only a few hundred dollars extra and getting less for my money. Those are the sacrifices! Do I sound worthy now of being a New Yorker? Haha.
No, you don't. You sound like a very young girl with stars in her eyes and unrealistic ideas of how your life will be in "The Big City." You're working retail, don't have a job lined up, and even if you share an apt or room with someone in BK for as cheap as possible, if you don't get one you'll find yourself on a Greyhound back to Fla. If your job is seriously underpaid, which I suspect it will be, you're not going to be living some NYC culturally sophisticated lifestyle. You'll be broke, lonely and worn out.
I'm not telling you not to move; people do it everyday. Hell, I've lived in a handful of places myself, and my most recent move to Chicago was more or less on a whim, but I do think you need to measure your expectations... a lot. And I think you need a better plan than you and your sister shimmying up to NY and having things somehow fall into place.
Sorry to join the chorus here, but they're right. Best of luck.
I meant NYC is expensive! I know I'll be paying a lot more. As for now I live with my parents, ready to venture out in the real world. I have money saved and I am very good at managing it (I am not the type that just spends a couple hundred on makeup/clothes etc) You could say I'm frugal. I wrote that my degrees are in Anthropology/Interdisciplinary Studies: Social Sciences with minors in sociology and spanish. Yeah I have savings. Psshh..I've lived in FL all my life and probably been to the beach a grand total of 20 times haha. No I won't mind being away from family..just my parents but I'll get over it. I'll have my sis. I have family and friends in NYC! I am 23, single..I just need a freakin job! Anything to start at! Not picky (I work at Walmart) :P
If you can speak a lot of languages, you have a foot in the door. I'm a clinical psychologist from Wisconsin, and I make way more out here than I would there. Of course, the cost of living is more, so it evens out. But, my education is just like many other applicants (Master's degree in psychology from university of WI, a very good school), but I am also fluent in four languages (native-level in two of those). (I know that sounds weird but I grew up speaking Italian and English at home in relatively equal amounts. I don't have an accent in either but I'd say I'm a little more comfortable in English because that was the language of my schooling.) I have provided services to people in all four of those languages (English, Spanish, Italian, German) though English and Spanish get used the most. Being multilingual really was the only reason I got hired. I see that you minored in Spanish, do you speak any other languages? On any resume they are a huge plus, especially in a city where almost every language on earth is spoken by someone.
For someone in anthropology, I believe the city or boroughs or someplace hire cultural resource managers, and the preferred degree for that is anthropology. You could also try to get assistant work or something at one of the many colleges, but to get any decent paying job in academia you need many more degrees! But, it would be easier to further your education if you are working at the college. Your sister's degree in communications might be a little more marketable, she could try at an advertising firm or something. You have a chance of being able to start a life for yourself here, but you need to think it through and not look before you leap. Have a job set up here before you move. Any job is better than no job, but you want a job in a place where you can advance to better paying jobs relating to your degree. Before I was a clinical psychologist, I was a research assistant at the school I was going to, and then after that I was basically a clerk at a psychologist's office, then progressing a full-fledged psychologist. Mind you, this was with a master's degree.
It doesn't really matter what your degree is in as long as you have good grades, internships and you came from a good school. You can still get into a lot of fields that pay decently after a few years if you can get that first break and prove yourself. I've seen people with degrees all across the board making 100K plus salaries. It is important as far as setting your career trajectory and getting a position starting at the highest possible salary, but after about 3 years, your degree takes a backseat to your experience. Keep in mind that your level of competition will be very high in NYC and people will always be trying to out do you all the time. It's cut throat and people lose their jobs all the time - turnover is very high across all industries in NYC so you'll have to be prepared to potentially be looking for a new job every few years. It's very much an up or out mentality - either you get promoted to a leadership position that allows you to live well, or they eventually replace you with the new batch of recent grads that will work harder and cheaper to prove themselves. It's good to have big dreams of making it in NYC but you have to keep in mind this is not the movies or MTV where people with arts degrees live in swanky downtown condos, barely do anything at work and still manage to party and drink at the most glamorous and expensive spots. All of that stuff is financed by rich parents - that's the part that you don't see, which contributes to the illusion that it's easy to just move here, get a job, and adjust to the lifestyle without any problems. Make no mistake about it, you'll be living like a recent 3rd world immigrant, so be prepared to humble yourself. Also, be prepared to be worked to the bone. People work hard here and rarely work only 40 hours. If you're only working 40 hours you're not doing enough and will likely not be promoted to a real living wage job. Bottom line is, if you're really intent on moving to NYC to start your career be prepared to live in terrible conditions, be prepared to face cut throat relentless competition for any corporate job and be prepared to work very, very hard. I'm not talking about clocking out at 5 like at Wal-mart. You have to go way way above and beyond your role if you want any chance at progression here because that's what everyone else will be doing. Good luck!
Biskit makes a good point about going into different fields. I know journalism majors in finance, Art History majors in construction management, and biology majors in finance as well. You can always contact a temp agency and work temp jobs for $10+ an hour. I know people who got full time offers that way.
You mentioned interest in Queens College; you could probably get a place walking distance from the college for $800. My girlfriend use to live there and she paid that price for a small studio. Will be tough to share that with your sister, but it's one of those sacrifices you'll have to make to save money. Flushing, NY area should have basement apartments with that price, and no lease required.
Location: where people are either too stupid to leave or too stuck to move
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ybflady13
Hey thanks man for being understanding, I know it's cliche of me to think of NYC! But baby, I know people and I have family from there. My parents grew up in NYC. I want to experience what they experienced in a cultured city. The diversity in Ft. Lauderdale is ****ty compared to the diversity in New York. It's like a hellhole here meaning that there are not many educated folks. I am a recent grad with majors in Anthropology and Interdisciplinary Studies and it would be difficult to find a job here in my field. There are tons of museums for me to look at and I must try at least or I'll end up regretting it in the future. Also, I hate driving, I get freaked out about it. I KNOW **** is expensive but I just think that I am spending the same amount in Florida only a few hundred dollars extra and getting less for my money. Those are the sacrifices! Do I sound worthy now of being a New Yorker? Haha.
One thing ny doesn't need is two more transplants. This city gets less interesting every day. Why is it so hard for these types to find happiness?
I am sick of native new yorkers bitching about transplants. People move from city to city all the time, what makes YOU so entitled to live here? At some point in everyone in the city's ancestry is at least one transplant. If no one wanted to move here, the city would die. If it's so f--king uninteresting for you to have to deal with the tremendous burden of living in a city where there are residents who used to live in other places, then why don't you leave? Jesus, the arrogance of some people amazes me.
Okay. I'm a recent transplant, so I'm not going to say transplanting to NYC is a stupid idea. But it is one that requires a lot of thinking and preparation. I've been wanting to come to NYC for a real long time. I came from oversea from a major city, and NYC is the only place in US that feels remotely like home. However, I'm SO GLAD that I didn't move here till now. Trust me, half of it was because I didn't move. Half of it was just one reason or another it didn't happen, but I'm so glad that those half-thought-out plans fell through. Now is a much better time, since I'm much more established in my career and actually make a reasonable income.
I really don't get the sense that you have thought this out besides you want to. Determined yes, thought out, I just don't get the sense of it. You can tell me "you don't know me" all you want, but hey, if you can't come across that way now, what makes you think you can convince someone else to give you a job?
I don't understand why you think this would be THE CITY for your field. Have you considered DC? A lot of museums there too. And aren't there actually more volunteer jobs in museums than paying ones? What is "all other qualifications" that you have? You said your family was from here, do you like have a "old money" last name? What makes you different than all those other people who are competing for the same job? If you're working retail to pay your rent, how are you suppose to find time to find your real job?
Have you ACTUALLY gauged the job market here for your field? You said you have friends here. Borrow an address, and send out some resume. See if you get any feedback before just diving in. What's wrong with starting where you are. Get some experience in a place with lower cost of living. Have a rock solid resume before moving here?
Getting an MBA? Have you thought about this thoroughly? Or did you go through the same thinking process as you did when you picked your major? (In case you're wondering, I picked my major based on marketability on getting a job post grad.) MBA is one of the most useless degree if you don't know how to leverage it. I have an MBA, but I generally discourage people from getting it till they know how they are going to use it. I've always said that MBA is for business leaders with a vision. Till you know what that vision is, you don't qualify for an MBA no matter what the admission officer tells you. They just want to get your tuition, and they are more than happy to have you throw away your money.
I don't think you've given us much to work with other than tell you to stay away. Another approach, post here how much you expect to spend. How much you expect to make. How many hours you're expecting to be working. You said that there is bucket of money for "other things". Tell us what you think those "other things" are. Where do you think you want to live, how much commute do you want to deal with every day, and how much room (sq ft) do you and your sister want. And we'll tell you how much more you actually have to spend. How many of those "other things" that hasn't even come under you radar. How many more hours you will still need to work. Of course, all of this is totally useless if say you have a rich family who will give you a $4K allowance each month, or maybe your sister already has a job offer with good salary that can float both of your. Give us something concrete to advise you on. I've seen this board give great advice with that kind of approach.
With that said, it's your life. This board will tell you all the reasons why it's a bad idea, and if you still go through with it, you've been warned. But at the end of the day, it's still your decision and yours alone. There is something to be said on doing what makes you happy. (We just want to let you know that realistically, you probably won't be happy.)
I am sick of native new yorkers bitching about transplants. People move from city to city all the time, what makes YOU so entitled to live here? At some point in everyone in the city's ancestry is at least one transplant. If no one wanted to move here, the city would die. If it's so f--king uninteresting for you to have to deal with the tremendous burden of living in a city where there are residents who used to live in other places, then why don't you leave? Jesus, the arrogance of some people amazes me.
I'm a native and I agree.
This thread was horrible. Why do people feel the need, just because they're miserable, to try & bring others with them? Hey, you don't like it here. . . uh -move? What's hard about some of you leaving? I love my city, I truly love it here and I'm never leaving home. Technically I did, (Brooklyn native now in Astoria - I know Queens?! But whatever, it's the same city)
OP, you seem driven. Go for it, I'd advised to have some money saved up just in case you do have interviews set up, you can fly/drive here rapidly. Be diligent with your search and don't give in to rejection, it'll happen, move on. You seem passionate about this move so you'll find a way some how. If you girls are really serious though the first thing I'd do is make sure you have money saved to make trips.
While I agree that few things are more tiresome than the "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE IN MY TOWN!!" shtick, the OP seems like she has a lot of lofty and unsubstantiated ideas about what her move will be like, and no apparent plan. I've moved on a whim twice in my life, but the first time was to a small Midwestern city with my husband that we could easily afford to live in with our savings even if finding a job proved difficult. It fortunately did not. My second whimsical move was to a larger and more expensive city that I didn't move to until I'd secured a job and a place to live. A little more planning and security can do her no wrong.
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But whatever, it's the same city)
