Bay Area, CA: How is the job market for engineers? Looking to move there from Houston

[RockhetHD]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

My wife is going to start graduate school in one of the schools in the Bay Area this Fall semester and I need to find a job over there and join her in the next few months. I have a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering and 3-1/2 years of work experience working for an oilfield services company in Houston.

Can anybody who lives in the Bay Area or is familiar with the area tell me how the job market is over there for a mechanical/manufacturing engineer? Looks like most companies over there are into the technology sector, solar, medical devices and aerospace. Will they be willing to hire someone with an oil industry background?

Since I am physically in Houston, what is the best way to go about networking with people over there for job opportunities - Linkedin, Facebook etc.?

If anybody has any leads to job opportunities over there can you let me know - saintforlife1 at gmail.com

TIA!

Main thing that make the job situation so tough in the Bay Area is lots of unemployed folks with high end degrees and extreme competition for only a handful of jobs, with that said you and your top tier degree WILL NOT stand out, you will be just another unemployed highly educated person. Thats why I got out!

I would just looks somewhere else honestly or stay put in H-Town.............
If you really want out of H-Town then try Dallas, Tx but the Bay Area will only set you back, and make it hard for you to recover...........
You got lots of unemployed folks to begin with, then you got top notch Universities like Sanford, Berkeley, San Jose State, UC Santa Cruz and Santa Clara University, all Pumping out more highly educated unemployed folks each semester. So you got all These quality unemployed folks with top notch degrees fighting over the little jobs that are left, its pretty bad. Lot of jobs are leaving the Bay Area because of the anti business California State Government and high cost of living, and High Cost of doing Business, and most of these job are NOT coming back.

And even if you land a job, it will be for lowball pay because of the high number of unemployed folks. Besides the recession, I am starting to think that the anti-business antics and high corporate taxes of the California State Government is what is killing the San Francisco Bay Area / Silicon Valley job market. Companies are laying off, moving operations to cheaper parts of the country and not expanding because of the high corporate taxes and high cost of living and High cost of doing business.
Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area's job market is not what it used to be.

[blauskies]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

With a Master's degree and 3-1/2 years or industry experience, I currently make $75k + 10% bonus. I am due for a raise soon, so I will probably be closer to $80k soon. Of course, this is in Houston which probably has the lowest cost of living among the big cities in the US (and no state tax).

In the Bay Area, with its increased cost of living, I am expecting to make $90-95k. Is that realistic? Should I be aiming lower? Or can I expect to get paid more than that?

Don't forget to deduct 10%+ of that from your gross salary, add in high sales tax and everything else, you will in the end make more living in Texas.

I live in a income tax free state too, Florida (South Florida) but the salaries here tend to suck and the cost of living is high. I have been looking at CA for years due to the higher number of opportunities that exist (existed?) there. I almost moved to the Bay area in the 90's for several job offers but passed. I still see a good number of jobs in the Engineering field, which is what I'm in, but many are in the Medical Device sector and that's something I do not desire or have experience in to be even qualified. Medical device companies tend to be strict on this experience.

Tesla and Apple both fit my background, and are hiring. I'm a little skeptical with Tesla, they did indeed lay off a bunch of people back in 2008 then after getting a boost they started rehiring and have a big list of jobs available on their site, whether or not that's fluff for PR is a question? The market for their cars is specialized and not near the stability of a big player like Nissan. One has to wonder once the investing stops and profits don't meet expectations, what will happen with them?

[saintforlife]

Anybody know of some good head hunting companies / staffing companies in the Bay Area that focus on non-IT engineering recruitment?

[blauskies]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

Anybody know of some good head hunting companies / staffing companies in the Bay Area that focus on non-IT engineering recruitment?

Indeed.com

[4decision]

I'm an EE with many years of experience in semiconductors and also at system level in the Silicon Valley. I've moved to Houston a few months ago, paid off a nice house and fortunately HP offered me a job with $84K yearly salary and 10% bonus, at the same time a very profitable test equipment maker in the Silicon Valley gave me 31% higher with same bonus plan but paid out every six months, $3K for relocation assistance and possibly reimbursed car shipping cost. At this point I don't know which job offer is better. I know take home income for both is about the same (10% California state tax) without the extra income from renting out the house, and if I rent a decent apartment in the Bay area (less personal comfort than own bigger house). Some said to stay in Houston due to already settled (no labor and time to repack), family, close commute to HP with more than one traffic route, much better personal living ( big house paid off with only property tax, insurance and low hoa). Others said to move back to Cali due to best weather, more fun for single people, friends to hang out with, more jobs in case.

Which job would be best for me for many years ahead?

[4decision]

I wouldn't move back to the Bay area for a base salary less than $100K with 10% bonus.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

If you are a SW person there are many opportunities. HW, not so much.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by blauskies

Don't forget to deduct 10%+ of that from your gross salary, add in high sales tax and everything else, you will in the end make more living in Texas.

Well, there are a couple areas where Houston does not come out on top in terms of costs:

-Property taxes - While most of the time they're lower in TX due to lower housing prices, the percentage is much higher (3% in TX vs 1-1.25% in CA). So, you'd probably be looking at paying the same for a $250k-300k house in Houston as you would in one in the $800k-$900k range in the Bay Area.
-Utilities - A friend of mine who has a large house in Houston pays $600/month in energy costs in the warmer months. Nothing even approaches that in the Bay Area.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

A friend of mine who has a large house in Houston pays $600/month in energy costs in the warmer months. Nothing even approaches that in the Bay Area.

Oh, I don't know about that: PGE's new SmartMeters have a way of mysteriously jacking up bills - they got us for $800 a few months a year or so ago (2br1ba in SJ).