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Old 06-07-2012, 02:45 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
2,514 posts, read 5,007,528 times
Reputation: 2924

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Moderator cut: off topic

Keep an eye on Craigslist, network like crazy, and you'll probably be OK. Do you know anybody in Portland? Do you have any interests or hobbies that people in Portland might share? If you belong to a basket-weaving club in Chicago, look for basket-weaving clubs in Portland and ask them about housing and job possibilities.

Last edited by Kimballette; 06-11-2012 at 05:18 PM.. Reason: off topic

 
Old 06-07-2012, 02:47 PM
 
Location: las vegas
65 posts, read 94,648 times
Reputation: 62
Moderator cut: off topic

Also, to the topic creator, what do you consider a "decent" job? Can you flip burgers? Or perhaps do telemarketing? Those can be easier to find sometimes..

Last edited by Kimballette; 06-11-2012 at 05:19 PM.. Reason: off topic
 
Old 06-07-2012, 03:07 PM
 
Location: PNW, CPSouth, JacksonHole, Southampton
3,731 posts, read 5,737,554 times
Reputation: 15080
Rass, if I were you, I'd be calling temp agencies in Portland, right now (assuming you have any skills a temp agency could use). They'll be impressed you're thinking ahead. Also, I'd be getting experience waiting tables where you are, prior to September, so that I could slip into that niche as soon as I hit town. You'll need to be experienced and polished as a waiter, to be considered in this town. Portland is a hard nut to crack. Everybody wants to live here, but there is no economy. Sounds like you'll do fine, though (if you can find a living situation with multiple/responsible roommates).

Which reminds me: In our old metro, a Norwegian Lutheran Fundamentalist Christian kid moved there to do an internship. It's a Baptist/Catholic town, but still, through his Lutheran Youth Christian group, he found great roommates....like instantly.

So, if you have those sort of connections, now's the time to use them.
 
Old 06-07-2012, 04:03 PM
 
Location: las vegas
65 posts, read 94,648 times
Reputation: 62
Quote:
Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria View Post
Rass, if I were you, I'd be calling temp agencies in Portland, right now (assuming you have any skills a temp agency could use). They'll be impressed you're thinking ahead. Also, I'd be getting experience waiting tables where you are, prior to September, so that I could slip into that niche as soon as I hit town. You'll need to be experienced and polished as a waiter, to be considered in this town. Portland is a hard nut to crack. Everybody wants to live here, but there is no economy. Sounds like you'll do fine, though (if you can find a living situation with multiple/responsible roommates).

Which reminds me: In our old metro, a Norwegian Lutheran Fundamentalist Christian kid moved there to do an internship. It's a Baptist/Catholic town, but still, through his Lutheran Youth Christian group, he found great roommates....like instantly.

So, if you have those sort of connections, now's the time to use them.
OR, just end up sleeping in some woods during the nighttime! NO RENT!
 
Old 06-07-2012, 04:17 PM
 
Location: Myrtle Creek, Oregon
15,293 posts, read 17,607,247 times
Reputation: 25231
Quote:
Originally Posted by rass33 View Post
I don't plan on living on hotdogs and noodles for 20 years. I'm just trying to make it on $8,000 until I find a decent job to sustain myself.
Minimum wage in Oregon is $8.80 an hour, and it's not enough to live on in Portland. After deductions, you will only take home about 1300 a month. Out of that you have to pay rent and utilities, which leaves you about $600, assuming you can find a roommate to share expenses. Food and commuting expenses will leave you $200 in your pocket, out of which you have to buy clothes and cover medical expenses. And of course, at a minimum wage job they will cut your hours any time they want. If you come down the the flu, you don't get paid, and you can go through $100 worth of cold cure in no time. You may also want some kind of entertainment, and there are always unanticipated "incidentals" like getting burglarized (don't forget renter's insurance) or mugged. Poor people are the most common victims of crime because they are helpless.

If you have a skill that is in demand, a "decent" job may be possible. Other than that, they don't exist.
 
Old 06-07-2012, 04:21 PM
 
Location: Myrtle Creek, Oregon
15,293 posts, read 17,607,247 times
Reputation: 25231
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnimalloverJJD View Post
Hehe, so 8000$ is like NO money at all? What the hell happened to this country? Whats the difference between someone whos considered "dirt poor", and someone who has 8000$ in cash? The answer? NOTHING!
$8k will get you through about 6 months in Portland in a cheap flop, and it's really easy to be unemployed for 6 months in Oregon.
 
Old 06-07-2012, 04:24 PM
 
159 posts, read 408,310 times
Reputation: 325
I don't think it is as bad as you're making it out to be. I know a few people there who have found decent jobs and not of the service job variety. Yes, I've already contacted a few people concerning my living situation in the Portland area so we'll see what happens. I can work with computers and I also have ability as a technical writer, but I do not plan on working in those fields right off the bat. I'm sure there is more to do in Portland besides waiting tables. Just yesterday I saw all kinds of jobs posted at PDX airport, hotels, telemarketing firms, etc. so stop all the doomsday rhetoric.

I have noticed that people in Portland seem to have an anti-social mentality when it comes to relating to people in other parts of the country. Nobody in Chicago, NYC, Phil or even Detroit would ever tell me to go sleep under a bridge or in the woods months before moving to another city. They would give me sound advice and instruct me on places where I could find employment. Detroit is one of the most economically depressed areas in the country and I would have never recieved such an asinine response as become a waiter or sleep under a bridge like another poster said. It kinda makes me wonder about the mentality of people in Portland or if you're just posting on here to agiitate instead of actually help. To be honest, it sounds like your post is half serious/half joke but whatever the case may be, I appreciate the advice.
 
Old 06-07-2012, 04:30 PM
 
159 posts, read 408,310 times
Reputation: 325
Believe me when I say this Larry, I'm from the south side of Chicago, getting robbed is the least of my concerns. If I can live in bad neighborhoods in Chicago and make it, TRUST ME, i can survive in Portland.
 
Old 06-07-2012, 04:31 PM
 
159 posts, read 408,310 times
Reputation: 325
Once again you gave me the worst case scenario and nothing that actually helps me out.
 
Old 06-07-2012, 05:47 PM
 
Location: Sometimes Portland, other times LA
600 posts, read 1,465,396 times
Reputation: 247
Look, people here, who actually LIVE here for the most part, are giving you honest advice. Take it or leave it. Everything Larry has said is accurate. You posted what you should do, people are answering and you dont like or agree with the answers. Move on. Nobody here gains anything by lying to you about the job market, wages or living expenses. Out of curiousity, how old are you?
By the way, if you are looking for specifics that will "help you out" as you put it, ask more specific questions
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