Husband is interviewing at PSU (Portland: fit in, apartment, rentals) - Oregon (OR) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

gosling357 · 04-01-2013, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyAMG

42K is terrible for a masters degree of any sort. I won't get into the merits of degrees but it sounds like this one lives up to its low salary expectations.

If your standard of living is high where you are then don't mess that up to follow some odd dream to move to a place you have never been.

42k is about $1200 clear per paycheck or $2400 a month. I live in a typically priced Portland home and my mortgage is $2200. An apartment would take one whole pay check or at least the majority of one.

Your degree dosen't sound in demand to me. My wife speaks 2 languages fluently and her degree is in Language Education. After working at a head start here-yeah, a Head Start, that's all she could find- for 4 months and horrible experiences in education as a teacher Tucson, my wife has given up on education career. She was lucky enough to get hired as a property manager, after a year she's getting big bonuses for keeping occupancy up, attracting new clients and cutting costs. She makes double what she made at anytime in education. She wishes she would have gotten out of her career field sooner.

I tell you that because you and your husband should see what other jobs you can do. My wife applied for the job only because it said they were looking for people who spoke spanish. She thought it was for a government agency or some sort of educational thing but was a private management company looking for a responsible, obsessive, perfectionist to run 2 crappy apartments with high Hispanic populations.

But if your one of those people that says "but I love helping people" then learn to be satisfied with your job offers. For years I told my wife they are taking advantage of you and poorly compensating you and she would say "it's for the kids its, I love the kids, I have to help the kids, I do it for them."

For the record, I know vets with no degree whatsoever making more money than 42k.

Andy - what do your veteran friends do, and how much do they make? Do they also live in Portland?

AndyAMG · 04-01-2013, 06:32 PM

All are former USAF Aircraft mechanics like myself, and all live in the Portland metro area.

One works for a company that delivers liquid nox and lox. They flash cool tanks at the ship yards so people can clean the holding tanks. He just stands by the truck.

The other works as an assembly technician at an aircraft fastener manufacturer. Monotonous, tedious lots of lifting and bending over but nothing worse than the military.

The other is a delivery driver for a company that delivers tooling to machine shops. He has a rigorous schedule and has to deliver and account for everything he delivers which can sometimes be thousands of high value pieces.

All are male, mid 30's and make over 20 an hour, overtime is available and that pushes the salary up to about 50k.

My other friend who lives in Tacoma has no education and was a Land Mobile Radio Technician in the USAF he gets 65K working for a contractor that sets up mobile radio networks for large companies and government entities. He also does encryption and security over wireless networks, his wife is an RN.... they do well.

Steve Pickering · 04-01-2013, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gosling357

Steve -left you have given me a lot of information! May I ask what you do for a living? Your feedback makes it all the more strange to me that they would want to interview someone literally across the country. I wonder why that might be?

I am retired. Have been since 2000. But I am active in Local Politics and stay abreast of issues in the State.

Minervah · 04-02-2013, 12:54 AM

Have you been to Portland and do you have a really strong desire to live here? I think that will determine your success in relocating here.

$38,000 is not a lot of money. I survived on that as a single person before I retired and I don't own a car nor do I have the latest electronic gadgets or travel extensively. My paycheck was mostly eaten up in the usual ever increasing rent costs, food, medical bills and other general cost of living expenses one finds in Portland. I think it would be difficult for tow people to live on that amount.

As far as your getting a job, it won't be easy but again if you are determined and strongly persevere you might be able to find something. This is just not an easy city to which to relocate if you don't have a job with a decent salary waiting for you. But I don't think you intend to move unless your spouse gets the PSU job so that would be your determining factor.

So I think the bottom line is this, if you have fallen in love with Portland and want to make it your home, if your husband gets the job at PSU, come on down. You can be creative about the salary. You can start with a temp agency to find a job for yourself. That's the best way to do it. The important thing is that you will be in a place you love.

I would, however, put off the plans for the family for awhile. Without your working at least for a time, it will be pretty difficult for you trying to support three people on just the one salary.

sezzam · 04-07-2013, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minervah

...
So I think the bottom line is this, if you have fallen in love with Portland and want to make it your home, if your husband gets the job at PSU, come on down. You can be creative about the salary. You can start with a temp agency to find a job for yourself. That's the best way to do it. The important thing is that you will be in a place you love.
...

This.

$42K is probably the best that job pays, but a PSU job comes with decent health insurance and a few other benefits. And, my guess is the job is not too demanding and work comes in batches to the tune of academic quarters (yes, Oregon universities run on quarters; not semesters).

If you do move to Portland, the smart thing will be to live near a MAX line. It can also help if you live near shopping (and don't buy a car). Depending on your taste, housing around the Lloyd Mall (MAX ride is free up to Lloyd mall) or somewhere around the Beaverton Transit Center are some options. Living around Tanasbourne in Beaverton/Hillsboro is another option, but that requires changing from MAX to bus.

You can also spend a bit more and find an apartment on the NW side. Spend even more and rent near the PSU campus and completely avoid commute and be very close to all kinds of shopping.

Good luck.