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Allright, sorry for the bluntness but I think I need some real straight forward answers and the full reality and likely bitter and harsh truth about the Portland area as it stands
Small back story on me. I've thought/dreamt about moving to the Portland area since 2000 since my college days getting my IT degree. But the dot.com bust of 2002-203 ruined that so I had to find work locally. The last two years since my long term relationship went south, i've been looking to take the next step in my life being an early 30's bachelor and starting to get the snowball rolling to build up to hopefully move to Portland and continue and advance my IT career.
Sadly, the information i've been getting the last few years and more recently in regards to the job situation, especially IT has been pretty much been all bad in the past posts i've made here and on other forums seeking information and advice on how to go about this.
I've never been really getting ANY good news in regards to the job outlook for people, especially for those of who don't even live in the area and I trying to secure work which is made all the more harder by the fact that it seems most of the jobs are filled internally via word of mouth, coworkers, friends and proffessional networking, leaving apparently A LOT of people both local and out of state with nothing but scraps of possible jobs posted public which are ALREADY most of the time already filled and companies are just covering their legal obligations and asses to post jobs to the public, available or not.
So I just have to ask, WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING IN IN PORTLAND??? I mean, seriously, I know the economy is still pretty fragile but IT IS slowly recovering but it seems I hear NO JOY or SUNSHINE at all coming from the Rose city for almost anyone online in comparison to many other cities around the country Why? What the hell has screwed your town over so much thats its sounding like nothing more then a green and rain soaked depressing land scape of no hope or happiness for those living and wanting to come there?
1. Was is that so many hopefuls and desiring people across the country moved to Portland over the years that it basically saturate your job market to the point where its in its state right now, where essentially nothing is available? Or is it that apparently from what I hear a lot of people your area are just to damn lazy and or depressed they don't feel like making changes to help improve the market for other people?
2. Is your weather to blame in some way for your area's lack of progress in the job market/economy vs other cities across the country?
3. Is there some type of weird "personality" among the people in the Portland area that has most of them not wanting changing or desiring compared to other more progressive and growing areas like Seattle?
4. Is the geographic location not able to sustain or simply a poor choice in general a growth spurt potential in the job market?
5. What are other familiar sized cities like Denver, Salt Lake City, Reno and others doing different that make them more successfully in the slowly recovering economy that Portland simply can't or refuses to do as well?
6. If Portland has turned into such a greenland of near depression and economic stalemate, where else would you suggest for someone like me to move too but still remain in the Northwestern region so I can remain somewhat close to family in the Yakima region? And if you suggest California, im gonna smack you.
Sorry if this is coming off as a bit of a stern and rude rant, but I'm honestly sick of hearing nothing but BAD and depressing news coming from the city i've so really badly wanted to move to all these years. Its like I hear nothing freaking good from hardly anyone and I'd just like to know WHY at least so I can determine if I TRULY want to move to this area and spend God knows how much time and energy into trying to make connections, networking and people to get myself a decent paying NON programming based IT position, but sounds like you can't get a damn barista job at Starbucks is what im basically hearing from everyone.
I've got some personal goals I'd like to achieve within the next year and I'll be damned if I have to put them off for long if I have to scrape and claw tooth and nail just to find ANY job in Portland, let alone IT. If its all doom and gloom there, I may have to just give up on my dream based upon harsh reality and figure out a plan B of where else to move in the North West region thats not such a depressing story to hear over and over and over.....
Oregon is always slow to participate in economic upturns - the upturn tends to start later in this state than others and we tend not to hit the highs other places hit. We're not well diversified in terms of employment, and we're heavy on the manufacturing end of things (electronics and wood products, mostly). So the recovery starts later and slower here - check the stats for previous recessions. Portland is better than the rest of the state. Lately the area has been doing a little better than average, but then we were starting from a lower low.
Generally newcomers either love it and want to stay or hate it and leave quickly. The ones who stay because they love the area and are willing to take a lower wage job to stay are the competition.
[b][i]1. Was is that so many hopefuls and desiring people across the country moved to Portland over the years that it basically saturate your job market to the point where its in its state right now, where essentially nothing is available? Or is it that apparently from what I hear a lot of people your area are just to damn lazy and or depressed they don't feel like making changes to help improve the market for other people?
Well, after working 50 hours a week and getting home when do I have time to "make changes to help improve the market for other people." What the hell does that even mean? I know several people who started their own small businesses and employ a number of people, but they did that for themselves and to make money--they didn't do because they felt bad about the job market for people who want to move here...
Quote:
5. What are other familiar sized cities like Denver, Salt Lake City, Reno and others doing different that make them more successfully in the slowly recovering economy that Portland simply can't or refuses to do as well?
Denver and Salt Lake City have done slightly better because they are regional centers for areas of the country having a boom in natural resource production for one. It provides a nicer base for the economy and Denver has traditionally been more eager in attracting bigger companies. They are also both state capitols which provides government jobs. At the same time the unemployment rate in Denver Metro is about the same as the Portland Metro The Reno economy sucks--it's no better than Portland and that town has an unemployment rate over 10 percent.
There are jobs in Portland availble--I get offers from recruiters every week or so. A lot of people give doom and gloom scenarios as it can be a tough market to break into for certain fields. There's a glut of people applying for jobs with irrelevlant skill sets and degrees listed on their resume--or they're way too overqualified--I turned down tons of people with JDs for lower level positions when hiring in the past. On the other hand just about everyone I know here who stuck around for the most part has a decent job and some people have pretty good jobs in a variety of fields. What do those people have in common? They all stuck it out, networked, worked their butts off, and had skillsets that were either lucrative or highly flexible. Portland isn't a place you move to simply to make tons of cash, but I know people who moved here from Seattle simply because their money went a lot further than the high cost of living up there and they're happier down here. But for all the talk that there are "no jobs here"--well, where the hell do people think all those commuters and clogging up I-5, I-84, and Highway 26 every morning are going... People sometimes act like they've never heard of the larger companies out in Washington County that fricking a quarter of the people I know end up working for(Nike and Intel).
Would you take a contract position in IT? There's a lot of those around, some lead to permanent positions and with some you get benefits and so on. That's what I'm doing, and for now I'm actually making about the same amount of money as when I was a permanent employee. I can refer you to some people if you're interested...
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves.........
As explained to you in the other threads, get the right IT skills and you can get a job in Portland.
Having the right IT skills is one thing. Actually wanting to do them and LIKE them is totally another. I'm adaptable up until to the point where I have to do things that I have no interest in or hate doing and then I just simply have no desire to go any further. Lifes too short to waste my time with things and people that I don't agree with and I realize that will hinder my progress for things and life and i'm ok with that. Its more important for me to be true to myself and make myself happy rather then giving into societal demands or even work industry. I've done work and for people I don't like in the past and I refuse to put myself in that situation again. Sitting for hours on end trying to figure out coding language or manage a database server with thousands of not millions of entries for days on end? Put a bullet in my head, please. I've done Visual Basic, Access, C++, web HTML and some Java over the years and I nearly died of utmost bordem. Give me something to work with, hands on and meeting and talking with people, clients and or customers in regards to technology and I could go on all day.
Same reason why I ignore family members and friends who hound me or give me a hard time for not wanting to have kids. I know what I want and don't want and thus I walk my own path, even if it makes more lonely or less succesfull in life compared to other people and im ok with that.
I"m just bitter and angry that the town and area that i've visited several times through my life and a few times within the last 2 years and have really liked and enjoyed what I saw is turning into nothing more then a time and energy sync for months on end with no real gaurrentee of anything. I'm well aware that life isn't freaking fair, doesn't mean I have to like it...
Dude,
Have you actually investigated any positions in this town or are you gleaning all your info off goofy web based blogs populated by anomymous folks who can say ANYTHING?
Sounds like you are the one who doesn't want to change.
I know we've asked before for you to specify exactly what it is you want to do. My company also has openings...the jobs are out there. But so far you've told us only what you don't want to do.
1. Was is that so many hopefuls and desiring people across the country moved to Portland over the years that it basically saturate your job market to the point where its in its state right now, where essentially nothing is available? Or is it that apparently from what I hear a lot of people your area are just to damn lazy and or depressed they don't feel like making changes to help improve the market for other people?
2. Is your weather to blame in some way for your area's lack of progress in the job market/economy vs other cities across the country?
3. Is there some type of weird "personality" among the people in the Portland area that has most of them not wanting changing or desiring compared to other more progressive and growing areas like Seattle?
4. Is the geographic location not able to sustain or simply a poor choice in general a growth spurt potential in the job market?
5. What are other familiar sized cities like Denver, Salt Lake City, Reno and others doing different that make them more successfully in the slowly recovering economy that Portland simply can't or refuses to do as well?
6. If Portland has turned into such a greenland of near depression and economic stalemate, where else would you suggest for someone like me to move too but still remain in the Northwestern region so I can remain somewhat close to family in the Yakima region? And if you suggest California, im gonna smack you.
Sorry if this is coming off as a bit of a stern and rude rant, but I'm honestly sick of hearing nothing but BAD and depressing news coming from the city i've so really badly wanted to move to all these years. Its like I hear nothing freaking good from hardly anyone and I'd just like to know WHY at least so I can determine if I TRULY want to move to this area and spend God knows how much time and energy into trying to make connections, networking and people to get myself a decent paying NON programming based IT position, but sounds like you can't get a damn barista job at Starbucks is what im basically hearing from everyone.
I've got some personal goals I'd like to achieve within the next year and I'll be damned if I have to put them off for long if I have to scrape and claw tooth and nail just to find ANY job in Portland, let alone IT. If its all doom and gloom there, I may have to just give up on my dream based upon harsh reality and figure out a plan B of where else to move in the North West region thats not such a depressing story to hear over and over and over.....
You know, I've wanted to be Supreme Ruler of the World for many years, and I don't see that happening, either. But you don't see me going off on some uber childish rant about why someone else isn't making it possible for me to have what I want.
1. Yes, everyone in Portland is too damn lazy ... not to mention selfish ... to make the focus of their lives, creating a job for you to come here and, no doubt, find fault with.
2. No.
3. Yes. People in Portland have weird personalities. Ones found nowhere else on Earth.
4. What? Can write you that question in a way that sense someone of it makes could?
5. Size is irrelevant. No one wants to live in those cities, so they have to do something to make it more attractive to people to come and fill the jobs that need doing.
6. I have no recommendations for anyone who thinks suggesting that they'd smack me if they don't like my suggestion, is a way to get someone's help.
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