Moving from DC to SA

[Penquin927]

A lot of jobs are not listed and I can tell you that a lot has to do with knowing someone to get your foot in the door. I work at USAA and my husband is retired AF and is now a DOD employee. There are jobs and if you have the background and skills you can get them. I friend that I met about six months ago who moved to San Antonio because her fiance was in the military and was stationed here. She was from Northern Virginia and she was very scared about finding a job. she did get a job in about three months with a government contractor ... she had an active security clearance so I told her not to worry at all because there are tons of positions for her background.

[Newk]

Originally Posted by Penquin927

A lot of jobs are not listed and I can tell you that a lot has to do with knowing someone to get your foot in the door. I work at USAA and my husband is retired AF and is now a DOD employee. There are jobs and if you have the background and skills you can get them. I friend that I met about six months ago who moved to San Antonio because her fiance was in the military and was stationed here. She was from Northern Virginia and she was very scared about finding a job. she did get a job in about three months with a government contractor ... she had an active security clearance so I told her not to worry at all because there are tons of positions for her background.

...and military takes care of their own.

[Newk]

Saw two Virginia plates driving home from work yesterday and a "Virginia is for Lovers" bumper sticker on one of the cars :thumbup:

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by Penquin927

A lot of jobs are not listed and I can tell you that a lot has to do with knowing someone to get your foot in the door. I work at USAA and my husband is retired AF and is now a DOD employee. There are jobs and if you have the background and skills you can get them. I friend that I met about six months ago who moved to San Antonio because her fiance was in the military and was stationed here. She was from Northern Virginia and she was very scared about finding a job. she did get a job in about three months with a government contractor ... she had an active security clearance so I told her not to worry at all because there are tons of positions for her background.

While networking does increase your chances for success, these days even having a military background and security clearance is no guarantee of employment in San Antonio. Over the past year there has been a very noticeable reduction of contractor jobs here, and I know several people who have had to go elsewhere to find work. The contract I was on was not renewed back in April, but I was lucky in that my company had an opening on a different contract that I could fill. Civilian hiring has reduced to a trickle if not stopped altogether, and I am constantly getting resumes from folks looking for jobs here.

So while military experience and a clearance still give someone an advantage, things are not a lucrative as they were just a few years back. And that's not unique to San Antonio, just yesterday I talked with another contractor from Virginia who says things are even worse in his organization. It's just a matter of the slowing economy and the government debt.

Hopefully it will pick up in the near future, but in the mean time I'm happy to have what we half-jokingly call "positive cash flow!"

Cheers! M2

[doss1]

Is it better to be a contractor or government employee?

[Newk]

Originally Posted by TexasNick

Is it better to be a contractor or government employee?

That is a very hard question to answer. Let's see if everyone gets paid the first week of August.

[getgoing2010]

We've been here 15 years coming from Annandale, VA in the DC Area and commuted to DC. Lived there 17 years and loved it....I also love San Antonio. We live in Castle Hills an incorporated city surrounded by SA on 410 between IH10 and 281 and a great central location.

You may want to look further north as your husband will work a bit from SA. The only drawback of San Antonio is the cultural offerings, other than that....get a house with a pool....lol.

[Newk]

Originally Posted by getgoing2010

We've been here 15 years coming from Annandale, VA in the DC Area and commuted to DC. Lived there 17 years and loved it....I also love San Antonio. We live in Castle Hills an incorporated city surrounded by SA on 410 between IH10 and 281 and a great central location.

You may want to look further north as your husband will work a bit from SA. The only drawback of San Antonio is the cultural offerings, other than that....get a house with a pool....lol.

Sorry, no Koreatown here like there is in Annandale. My mother-in-law teaches Kindergarten there.

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by newuser2

Hasn't Texas been operating on a deficit for awhile now though?

Technically, no-- the state constitution requires a balanced budget. To do that, they (the Legislature) will take money from one important thing (e.g. education or transportation) to pay for something else important that's running in the red.

As a side note, the City of San Antonio has a higher credit rating than the federal government.

I guess if I were coming from somewhere other than DC, SA might look better in comparison. But coming from DC where jobs - especially gov't sector - are stable, I'm wondering if it's a wise move or not.....

The federal government is one of the area's largest employers.