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Hello all, I stumbled across this forum weeks ago while trying to research possible moving sights for me. I currently reside south of Buffalo (towards Jamestown NY if anyone knows where that is). I graduated from a state university in NY in December of 2009 and have not been offered one job in my degree during a 1yrs time (I told myself when I graduated I would give myself one year to find a college related job in my home state before I decided to pick up and move).
Im looking for any advice on where to go in life, I have some money saved up (roughly $10,000) from doing part time restaurant jobs and saving up over the years. Remaining in Western NY is not an option I can consider any longer (poor job market, only available jobs are restaurant jobs, need to commute 30mins to the closest grocery store which is an extreme hassle when we receive lake effect snow, law enforcement hiring has been extremely poor recently)
Heres some background on me and what I am looking for
NYS Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Sociology (I also interned with my local Sheriff's Academy and the Senior Crime Scene Investigator wrote my a letter of recommendation along with a Performance Evaluation)
I have lived in Western NY all my life so I can deal with the worst of winters (200+ inches of snow last year)
Im a big hockey enthusiast (I love attending hockey games).
Im huge on the outdoors and really enjoy all 4 season (Here in western NY we have winter from October-April which is rough later down the line)
I have 10 years of restaurant experience and 7 years of cooking experience (so finding a restaurant job would be easy for me even though I really want to get out of that line of work but I use it as a fallback plan)
With my degree my main goal in life is to become a Probation Officer. I dont like the idea of working in jails/prisons (I worked in the local jail during my internship and couldnt stand seeing how many kids were in it). I would obviously settle on a police officer job, park ranger or something with TSA to at least start my career.
Im 23 and very active
I really want to move to a place that is close to a lot of amenities (restaurants, nightlife, jobs, outdoor rec, some water front (whether it be an ocean or a river)
Im not picky when it comes to politics
Would like something laid back but people still have the desire to work and make a good living, I enjoy being around positive people
I do have health issues (kidney problems) so Im not sure if moving to a warmer climate would alleviate stress on it or not
Im not a huge fan of humidity (could never see myself in a place like Florida for that sole reason). I dont mind dry heat or the temperatures that North/South Carolina usually have to offer.
My entire family is scattered along the east coast. I do have 1 cousin in Vegas. The rest of my family is scattered across NY, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Florida. Im not a homeboy by any means I would like to see my family occasionally (I know flights are always an option)
With all that said I have mainly been looking into the North Carolina or Colorado regions lately but I am open to other suggestions! I guess another thing to point out is I have been offered 7 interviews since July 2010 in Colorado (just could never afford all the flights that were required) in dif judicial branch fields and 4 interviews since September 2010 in North Carolina.
I dont mind dry heat or the temperatures that North/South Carolina usually have to offer.
North Carolina's heat is FAR from dry--the Southeast is probably the most humid heat there is.
To answer your question--they need more probation officers here (big scandal a couple of years ago about parolees getting "lost" by the system), but they are state jobs and the state is $3.7 billion in debt, so will be slashing jobs as hard as they can this year.
Yes, you can find restaurant jobs anywhere, including here. I would raise the bar a bit in my criteria, however, if you are going to "up and move" somewhere unfamiliar.
What particular part of NC have you looked at? The beach, Piedmont, and mountains are very different, as are urban and rural areas. NC has a little bit of everything.
Best plan would be to keep applying for jobs, of course. $10K savings is better than most people, but in this economy, you never know how long that will have to last you. Visit NC and consider a few different cities and feel them out. Do the same with Colorado or other states you are interested in.
The good thing, besides your savings, is that you're at the best time of life to just "pull up and move". Someone your age is more likely to see it as an adventure, even if you are stuck with "McJobs" and living off savings, than someone more "established".
Have you considered central new york, where there are more prisons and hence more opportunities for parole officers? I could see being outside of Syracuse/Oswego a good possibility, you would be more closer to civilization (considering Jamestown is more north of erie, pa, then it is south of Buffalo), still have access to hockey, albiet minor league, though it wouldn't alleviate the amount of snow that gets dumped in Syracuse.
I have been to North Carolina probably a dozen times in my life visiting places such as Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Northern Myrtle Beach (I have traveled between the months of January-May in most cases and was able to stand the heat during those times but I know that is nothing compared to the months of July-August). Out of those 4 places my favorite was probably Wilmington.
Colorado wise I have been to Denver and Fort Collins. Loved both places but I think Colorado is more of an "adventure" for me rather than trying to find a career if that makes any sense.
I do enjoy the ocean but Im also big on mountains (love the scenery and the chance for a good hike).
I have considered relocating to a different area in NY but the whole state seems to have a hiring freeze on any law enforcement work (besides NYC).. My neighbor is a retired probation officer who put 25 years into his job.. He loved it but advised me to get out of NY if that is the field I'm considering. Everything has gone very political and its not how good you are at your job but how much money you can throw towards the people hiring you (for instance, my local sheriffs academy CHARGES you $8,000 to join the force and you make no money while attending a full time academy not to mention you are not guaranteed a job when and if you graduate the academy)
I tested with the Rochester Police Department and have yet to heard my results from my written test (not to mention I still have to go through the physical test, 2 interviews, polygraph, etc) and I also tested with the New York State Department of Corrections 4 months ago and still have not received results.
Here is the NC state jobs listing for law enforcement, including probation officers. Go on and apply for some of the parole officer slots (good thing about applying with the state is that you can just do one application, then just change the specific job number for multiple applications), bearing in mind that open jobs are likely to be frozen very soon once the Legislature gets down to business.
Do bear in mind that, from what I can see, every one of these jobs is in "the boonies"--very rural counties. Buncombe is where Asheville is, but the others are mostly "flyover" counties within NC.
A huge hockey fan would want to be near Raleigh. You would not like the humidity, though. Mid-May through mid-September is pretty miserable - day and night.
I moved to NC from the west thinking the humidity wouldn't bother me too much, but I was wrong. ("Other people can take it, so I can too." But really, I can't.) You already know you can't take it. Colorado would be a better fit.
Sounds like you heard some Charlotte stories about how great it is and want to follow? I think Charlotte comes only second to Florida as a place where every Chautauqua County Resident who wants to leave wants to go.
NC's humidity doesn't hold a candle to Florida's. It will be higher than NY but, for the East Coasters, the humidity is easier of a transition than for those coming from (especially) the inland West. Interestingly, I found going to Colorado in the Winter unbearable because of the lack of humidity. My lungs hurt, my hands cracked and bled and my nose bled as well. My eyes burned from dryness and skin was flaky. I'll take the humidity any day! I guess it's all what one is used to???
Here is the NC state jobs listing for law enforcement, including probation officers. Go on and apply for some of the parole officer slots (good thing about applying with the state is that you can just do one application, then just change the specific job number for multiple applications), bearing in mind that open jobs are likely to be frozen very soon once the Legislature gets down to business.
Do bear in mind that, from what I can see, every one of these jobs is in "the boonies"--very rural counties. Buncombe is where Asheville is, but the others are mostly "flyover" counties within NC.
I see Henderson County, Rutherfordton County, Madison County etc. etc. on that list .... all within 1/2 hr. to Asheville or less.
IN the mountians DMan ... it's beautiful here, and looks like plenty of jobs in law enforcement. We have 4 seasons, but the 4th one is usually fairly mild. (except for the past 2 years, but that is out of the ordinary. Nowhere near what you have in NY.)
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