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My boyfriend (of 6 years) and I are moving from Southern California to North Carolina in the next few months because CA is getting to expensive and frankly I want to slow life down and start over somewhere. I wanted to know if anyone can tell me what they think about North Carolina and relocating there: jobs, lifestyle, areas to live, etc? I am a CA credentialed teacher, but recently I received my NC Teaching License too...and I will be actively looking for teaching jobs in NC. I have had such a difficult time trying to land a teaching job or just getting on my feet in California...sometimes I feel like it is the worst state (taxes, laws, unemployment, expensive). Plus I have lived in SoCal all my life and I want to escape the rat race. My boyfriend has family in the Asheville area who we can live with rent free (on 20 acres!) until we get on our feet. We have visited and really love what we have seen and heard of the state so far. This is a really big life decision I am making and I am nervous (leaving family/friends/only life I have ever known), but excited at the same time. I figure I have only one life to live, so why not take a chance and see if we can build a better life out there. Any (friendly) comments, advice, suggestions about NC and/or relocation in general would be so helpful and appreciated. I am only 23 years old and am excited to make this a life adventure (and road trip) I will hopefully never regret! Thanks!
Any (friendly) comments, advice, suggestions about NC and/or relocation in general would be so helpful and appreciated.
My only suggestion is to read thru the forum and see how many other people have the same goal, and what advice has already been given to them, eg, there is a 9.4% or more unemployment rate.
Regarding teaching positions, a friend who has an 8th grade job says, "take anything you can get". Otherwise, I suggest developing a Plan B, such as substitute teaching or free-lance tutoring.
Asheville is a lovely, unique city, and it's great you have a place to live. But please look at other locations for a job, eg, the Greenville-Spartanburg area of South Carolina probably has more jobs.
Last edited by goldenage1; 02-21-2012 at 11:50 AM..
As suggested here already, find the job first, then move. You may want to cast a wider net and consider some small towns in neighboring states in the South to give you more options if you really want your first gig as a teacher. Public school teaching jobs are hard to get right now almost anywhere. I would try to get any type of job first, move there, get to know people, networking, and try to land a teaching job later. NC is a beautiful state (western part with the mountains), but unemployment is high. I am more partial to the western part of the state, but Raleigh and Charlotte are great cities as well.
I hate to say this, but I doubt your prospects at getting a job here are going to be any better or easier than in CA. School districts here set up on a county by county basis (with a few cities having their own districts), which are then fairly tightly controlled by the state. The state govt. now is pretty much broke, so the school districts have suffered greatly with budget cuts. Many districts aren't even hiring teachers anymore unless absolutely necessary. Not trying to scare you or anything, but just being honest.
As far as where to live, well that is of personal preference. Western NC typically attracts the more outdoorsy types..the east of course the beach crowd. The Triangle is considered by most in the state as the place to be to get the best quality of everything in NC. Quality of life is excellent, with plenty of arts, sports, healthcare (3 level 1 hospitals within 30 minutes tops of each other) etc.. This has been the part of NC that really never relied economically on manufacturing, so it has fared a bit better than other parts of the state. Charlotte has a large banking, insurance, and financial sector which makes it another great place in the state to live,although it is the largest city in the state so if you're trying to escape hustle and bustle it may not be for you (or maybe neither would the Triangle). Of course our hustle and bustle compared to SoCal is probably not even comparable.
If you are a more conservative minded person, the West (with the exception of Asheville) is the most conservative part of state and might fit your tastes. When I say west, I mean anything west of Greensboro, not just the mountains. The major cities and the eastern part of the state are the more liberal areas, so if you are more liberal minded then those areas may fit your tastes. Just a FYI to maybe help you decide.
All in all this state has something for everyone and is a beautiful state. If you can live in Asheville rent free for a while you will have to explore and feel out places. Good luck with your teaching prospects and before you know it you'll be hooked on Krispy Kremes and saying y'all
Oh and one more thing on the teaching jobs. My girlfriend is a teacher and i'll give you a bit of advice that she was talking about once. By law districts in this state have to post their job vacancies online (either the school district website or the state department of public instruction site). Just because they are posted many times does not mean that they particularly exist. What I mean by this is many of the districts have gotten into the habit of hiring from within the schools before they will hire from outside. Most will hire a qualified substitute teacher or switch teachers around at a school before they hire anyone and the online job postings are basically just a legal courtesy that they follow. Of course this isn't true of all of the job postings. My advice is that if you don't get a job right off the bat, get in as a substitute teacher or something along those lines. Unemployment is high here, so teachers are holding on to their jobs for dear life. Don't get discouraged, but it might take a while. Again good luck
I appreciate the friendly advice and comments about my job search as a teacher in NC. I know it is going to be difficult. CA is the same with hiring teachers within the district---it's terrible everywhere. I am a full-time sub in CA--I plan to do the same thing in NC. I really love the state and if it is going to be just as difficult in CA to land a teaching job than it is in NC, I would rather try my luck in NC because I can see myself building a better life out here in the future. (Better life=being able to purchase property w/ land b4 I'm 40, haha--it's sooooo expensive in CA, esp on teacher salary) Anyways, I will take this advice and not give up. Nothing great in life comes easy. I am just thankful I will have a place to live rent free while I search search search out here!
You're very lucky you can live rent-free for a while. Some schools will interview you based on your application and resume, but like a lot of these people said, many will hire within the district. I think you should sub or try to get a job as a TA to get your foot in the door first. Make yourself known around the schools. One of my friends graduated from college with a degree in elementary ed and could not find a job. She was an ESL TA for two years and whenever a position became open, she was the person they asked to fill it. I would not suggest coming to NC to teach though. Asheville is a nice area at least. It's a bit expensive for NC, but cheaped compared to SoCal.
I just moved here a little over a year ago, Weather is great Homes are cheap I have a 24hundred sq home built in 2004 and only paid 159k for it, My husband had a job waiting even tho we took a cut in pay it was well worth it we moved from NE, I couldnt stand the harsh winters anymore
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