Need advice, help (Seattle: rental, job market, neighborhood)

[StartMeOver]

I am originally from Seattle, but moved to a large city in a different part of the country six years ago. This year I decided to quit my job and move to Houston for a change of pace since the job market in Houston is excellent for my field of work (mid-level corporate accounting).

I've been in Houston for about six weeks now, and I am pretty sure I do not like it at all, other than the neighborhood I live in, which looks like a cuter version of West Seattle with palm trees but minus any hills.

The main reasons I do not like Houston are mostly related to my job search. It's not that I can't find a job, it's that I do not want any of the jobs that I could get fairly easily. First, the majority of them are in gas and oil, which everyone else here thinks is so great. I think I might be the only person here who does not want to work in gas and oil. Pretty much all the accounting departments at gas and oil companies have massive turn over rates and can't retain employees longer than two years. This makes me think the job climate here might not be focused on good management at all, which is not an environment I want to work in.

Some of the places I've interviewed at are big name international companies, and I am shocked at how unsophisticated they are when it comes to dealing with people or fostering an environment that is good for moral and retention. To sum it up, my whole job search has rubbed me the wrong way and I was not expecting to be in a situation where I could easily get a job but am really turned off at the way things work here.

This is just a wierd place. People I've met outside of my search seem pretty friendly, but the ones I've encountered in my job search come across like they have very rigid requirements of others, while they think very highly of themselves. Other unpleasant things are their lack of any skyline views thanks to no zoning laws, roads here are pretty bad, and suprisingly they add taxes on to everything here.

The problem is that the job market in Seattle doesn't seem to be as good. While I have a somewhat marketable resume, its not so marketable that I could find a job as easily as I could find one here (though I don't want any of the jobs here).

The main reasons I am considering moving back to Seattle is because my family is there, it has water, and I wouldn't have to get a job in the gas and oil industry. That aside, there are still things I don't like about Seattle such as the rain, the rental options are not that great, and I don't really like the popular politics there so much. Also it will not be cheap to move again and it might take me a few months to find a job in Seattle once I moved.

Any advice on what I should do would be welcome. Also, if anyone knows anything about the job market for accountants there, please feel free to chime in.

[BaconBurgerTaco10]

I'm a revenue assurance analyst and I work closely with accounting folks within telecommunications. They seem pretty happy and have not seen a lot of coming and going in the last four years.

Check out finance positions within telecommunications? That's all I have. Oh and Houston sucks, it's Texas.. . Good luck.

[Hemlock140]

When I think about our accounting department, probably 2/3 of them are close to or at retirement age, meaning that there are going to be plenty of openings in the next few years
unless the economy causes them to stay after age 70. On the other hand, the University of WA and other local colleges are cranking out many new degrees in accounting, and there are still many people moving here from other states with good experience to compete with. It's very hard to get a job from afar, yet moving here and then looking for work is risky. There always seem to be a few accounting jobs available at public agencies, try looking at this website:

AWC JobNet - Search Jobs

[Kayela]

Well - we also have bad roads and looove to tax things, and instead of oil and gas it's high tech and avionics.

Have you looked into contract positions? Or even making a transition to something like business analyst? A lot of firms around here seem to contract out a lot of work like legal and accounting when it's not their main focus - preferring to operate through vendor partnerships instead.