Need some reassurance (Phoenix: lease, job market, quality of life)

[Lovegun]

I am a 25 year old male. I live in Chicago.

Not fond of it. My career sucks, weather horrible, and the people just as bad.

I lived in Phoenix before Chicago. Said I would never come back to Phx.

Now I'm dying to get back to Phoenix....besides the heat, the quality of life is so much better in Phoenix.

I'm worried about the economy there, I had a hard time finding work here in Chicago one year ago. I work Helpdesk/deskside/tech support. Is anyone in this field unemployed? Should I stay put or jump the gun? Is it only going to get worse? My lease end of May. Please help...

[gophins72]

try to find a job before moving. if you can, then that sort of answers your question for you.

[Lovegun]

Originally Posted by gophins72

try to find a job before moving. if you can, then that sort of answers your question for you.

I've tried this before. It almost never works because my experience can be found locally, why would a company want to hire me out of state

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by Lovegun

I've tried this before. It almost never works because my experience can be found locally, why would a company want to hire me out of state

In this economy it is dangerous to move without a job unless you have like 6 months worth of living expenses stashed away. Even then I would be very leary to do it b/c there are people out there that have been unemployed for a year and they're still looking.

I'm in the same situation as you are, but I damn sure wouldn't leave my current job without having something lined up in PHX. I got my last two jobs when I wasn't living in the particular city I eventually moved to so you never know. Just try applying for the jobs in PHX that you're interested in while you're in CHI-Town and see what happens.

[intmd8r]

I so feel for you and wish you the best of luck.

That being said, the job market is bad in the entire country right now and I agree about being cautious if you don't already have a job.

We know someone who very recently attended a job fair here in Phoenix and they had 200 jobs to offer; 14,000 people showed up.

That's not to say that the jobs aren't out there, but I would search jobing.com and careerbuilder.com, etc before making a move.

An interstate move is not cheap ~ if you spend that kind of money and don't have any way to make money when you get here, you could find yourself really hurting.

This economy sucks everywhere.

I certainly hope you're able to find something and make it back to Phoenix if that's where you really want to be.

[sh9730]

All of the above posters are correct, however, Phoenix is sort of the "help desk", "call center", capital of the USA (nothing compared to India unfortunately), so since the OP is in that sort of career his chances of finding employment may be somewhat improved.

[azriverfan.]

This is so typical of ex-Phoenix residents. They complain about Phoenix while they are here and then after they move, they realize the grass isn't greener on the other side and want to move back. Unfortunately, like others have said, the market is truly horrible here and I would stick it out in Chicago because there are no jobs here. I would wait two years before considering a move back to Phoenix. This is just not a good time to move here.

I understand this might be a "help-desk, call center" capital but a lot of people are settling on those jobs because they can't find jobs in positions they are qualified for like middle management or finance. In short, even the call center jobs are hard to get now

[teach1234]

The grass is always greener, unless it's in Phoenix in the summer...

[Lovegun]

Originally Posted by teach1234

The grass is always greener, unless it's in Phoenix in the summer...

Well, the grass was greener on the otherside. That's about it. I moved from Phoenix thinking I can always move back. Chicago is no place for me I thought Phoenix was over populated and hostile, man was I wrong after living here. I am way better off in Phoenix. Now that the economy has tanked I feel trapped here.

[chipnjaz]

If you have the drive and motivation, you can make it anywhere. This is the USA.

It has to start with you, not with anyone on this board.