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After talking about if for 2 weeks yesterday my husband kissed me goodbye and headed out with hopes in finding a stable good paying construction job. He will be making a 3 day stop in Arizona for a small job then head out to ND. He is 26yrs has his own truck,tools and has worked in framing,pipelayer and solar panel. We are ready to start a family but we want to have something to offer and here in California he only makes enough to cover the bills. He left without having any leads but is confident he will find a job asap.
Any advice will be appreciated, what city should he start looking at? Is $17 hour resonable to ask or is it too much? Does construction die in the winter due to the cold weather? Is there construction work in the city....
I would like to live close to the city some stores I frequent often are Target,forever 21, sephora, macys, starbucks,Michaels,ross,marshalls so it would be cool to live in a city that has all this however it is not neccessary I underatand we must make sacrifices and I'm willing to do what it takes to have financial stability.
I would start with jobnd.com first. If he has a CDL license, I see this in the newspaper and billboards constantly, needing drivers. As for construction, first hit the job corp in the city, and then start calling the big developers. Depending on where he is going, try to find a point of contact to help out. As for winter, if the concrete is in, they keep working throughout winter and don't stop. The construction workers in our neighborhood work all week long.
Most of the stores you mentioned above don't exsist here except for Target and starbucks.
Also, keep in mind that housing is much more available in Bismarck (although tight), Fargo, and Grand Forks. Quite a bit of construction in those towns too, and many of the trades workers in those towns have moved on to the oil towns. The shopping is better in those towns too. Minot and Williston will be adding lots of retail later, but housing is a priority now. New retail stores in the oil patch just can't pay enogh to keep workers - maybe that changes in a couple years when more housing is available. $17 / hr is way too low in the oil patch - it hardly pays for rent there.
I will be giving updates when my husband arrives and let's me know what's going on. As much as I would like to live in a city with restaurants and retail stores, it is not my priority. I would like to join him by the end of the year or sooner. I am aware there is sacrifices to be made and I'm willing to make them in exchange of a better future. If he finds a job I'm going to move out of our apt and rent a room from my aunt( save as much as possible) until we get a place out in ND. My husbands goal has been to move out of California before we start a family and this is the perfect opportunity for us. 17hr is what he is going to be aiming for, he has the experience and actually made more in previous jobs when there was a construction boom out here.
Good Luck to you guys! I am from the Bay Area and I am here because of work too. I am Military though but I can say he won't have much of a problem finding a job here no matter what it is.. But when the winter comes...... He better be ready..... Lots of layers and stuff to wear
Thank you! I'm sure if we end up making the move we will miss California deeply!
Update: My husband arrived in Bismarck yesterday night. This morning he called as many leads as he could however didn't get many answers. He was told to wait for Monday since most companies do not work on weekends. He did however get a 2 day job at the fair in Minot and Monday he is supposed to work doing some framing. The guy is going to pay him $14hr but it's a small contractor, so he will probably do that for a few days but continue looking for a $16+Hr job with a company that has secured work lined up.
Minot might be an option. 1/4 of the town was severely flooded a year ago. Most people are in the re-building process, but those who cannot do it themselves have to wait for many months for a carpenter. A friend was recently told it would still be several months before they could get someone to put in windows, etc. Working inside houses would be good in the winter.
Maybe he could work out some sort of deal like living in a spare bedroom while he's working on that house or other homes in the area.
FYI, there is tons of construction going on in Fargo and there are lots of affordable small apartments to rent. He might want to knock on a few doors there if he doesn't find what he is looking for in the Western side.
Any new word from husband? I'm headed there now with the same idea. I'm ten hours out
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