So what is with the constant complaining about Portland anyway? Especially jobs? (Beaverton: for rent, townhouse)

[1ceTr0n]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

That is just what I was thinking. In order to nail down a really good job in IT you have to walk on water and glow in the dark. Plus, your skills become obsolete with dismaying speed.

One IT area I have seen activly recruiting is manufacturing control systems or embedded systems software, which does require programming but also can involve a lot of manufacturing process troubleshooting.

Yeesh, I better go elsewhere for more optimistic attitudes or hell, just change industries in general if everyone in IT is getting reamed in the butt that hard.

[Minervah]

Yeah, I better go elsewhere for more optimistic attitudes or hell, just change industries in general if everyone in IT is getting reamed in the butt that hard.

I remember the last place I worked had an IT department that had employees who had been there for many years. Then the company reassigned departments. They consolidated departments some of which had nothing to do with one another and they let the "excess" people go.

In the IT department, they began assigning all sorts of tasks to them while laying off people who had previously had those jobs, like being on the help desk. Ultimately, most IT jobs were outsourced. The IT folks really hated it. So much so they decided to boycott work for awhile. They all came back though, except for one person. Thing was, there were so many people who would love to be hired in their place they knew they couldn't win.

It puzzles me when in response to people telling of their experiences of working in Portland, those who have never been here say they are looking for a place with more optimism. I wish there were more optimism. I think we all do. But Facts are facts.

And I wasn't in IT but I got downsized too. I had to take a cut in pay and be in a department for which I was very overqualified as were the rest of the people there. But in this case, that's what the employers were looking for: more for their money.

[mullenium]

Im in IT and my fam and I are doing a relo to portland in August from Phoenix AZ

Ill be working from home for awhile with my current company so that softens the blow.. I mainly do VOIP installs for our companies work from home employees and other tier 2 type support. Im hoping I can utilize my work from home time with my current company to work and interview while living locally in PDX, ultimately finding something local before my current company decides to cut ties.

[1ceTr0n]

Yeah, if I could transfer with my current company, that would be a whole lot better, dunno if my salary would be increased due to increased living costs in Portland though but first a position has to open up in the first place, which is gonna be real rare

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by 1ceTr0n

So yes, I have a good idea of how big Portland is compared to my hometown. As far as weather, well I can't have everything but Portland has more of what I want and if weather is a trade off, so be it. I'm not very outdoorsey anymore, so doing alot of hiking and biking is not my thing. Day walks and hikes is about all I will wanna do if I move to that area. I have a cat, i'm not into dogs so i'm not gonna go dog walking either

So basically you're coming to Portland because there are a lot of women and you just want to play video games. Is that it?
I really think you should look to Seattle, it's bigger (more women) and more tech jobs.

You're two visits are also during two of the 3 best months in Portland, not a very good indication of the weather the other 8-9 months a year.


I'm not trying to be a downer here, but something just isn't adding up.

[Random_Walk]

Originally Posted by 1ceTr0n

Unfortuantely, programming really isn't my thing. I know some basic Cisco for my current job but beyond that, i'd rather drink drano then do code or database management.

A man after my own heart!

I did exactly one programming gig full-time. The team loved my work and loved having me there, but I hated dreaming in C++ and Qt every night that I went to bed with an unresolved problem bouncing in my head. Hard to get a good night's sleep in that world.

OTOH, you have to be prepared to stretch out a bit. I'm a UNIX/Linux guy, but I deal with a lot of Windows, .NET, PowerShell (a pitiful attempt at scripting that even /bin/sh can out-do), and in general? I make a very tidy living doing this, but I'd much rather tinker with Perl, REAL scripting (in a proper shell - csh or bash come to mind), Python... and do it on Linux, BSD or Solaris machinery.

Unfortunately, I'm at a point in my career where I'm doing more and more managerial stuff, project management stuff, people stuff, and paperwork stuff. I'll eventually end up doing purely managerial bits.

[Random_Walk]

Ah, but I forgot the moral of the story...

...always be willing to reach out to arenas where you may not be familiar. Odds are good that one of those places will lead you to a whole new world.

[christiner81]

well back to the OP, i think you can probably do alright here. I think most people don't quite realize that their equivalent job here will likely pay less, and the cost of living will likely increase until they're here and having to re-calculate their lifestyles. I don't know anything about IT wages and benefits, but i took a 20% pay cut to live here and everything is more expensive. I'm in a dual earner household so we have more wiggle room, but if i were on my own i would definitely not have as nice a cushion of savings and fun money. if you're alright with that possibility, then go for it.

if you can get a transfer with your company then hopefully you'd be able to keep/increase your salary level, and not have to deal with the temp side of things. good luck!

[1ceTr0n]

Originally Posted by davemess10

So basically you're coming to Portland because there are a lot of women and you just want to play video games. Is that it?
I really think you should look to Seattle, it's bigger (more women) and more tech jobs.

You're two visits are also during two of the 3 best months in Portland, not a very good indication of the weather the other 8-9 months a year.


I'm not trying to be a downer here, but something just isn't adding up.

Seattle is a cool town for sure but a bit too big for my tastes and the weather is even worse then Portland with a track record to match. And yes, moving to find more woman my type and to play games with more people like me is good enough reason for me.

[1ceTr0n]

Originally Posted by Random_Walk

Ah, but I forgot the moral of the story...

...always be willing to reach out to arenas where you may not be familiar. Odds are good that one of those places will lead you to a whole new world.

I'm not that adventerous or a risk taker