What's the job market like in Seattle? (Tacoma, Bothell: low income, credit)

[DavesEnergyGuide]

I'm about to graduate with a political science degree. My only experience is is doing catering to pay my way through college. So I would be looking at jobs hiring for entry-level or recent graduates.

[azoria]

Job market here pretty well sucks, unemployment rate over 8%.

My daughter graduated with a degree in political science from UW a couple of years ago. She worked in Seattle for Banana Republic after graduation......

She's now in Chicago working as a barista. A degree in political science would seem a hard sell right now. You might be better off with the catering.

[SeattlitefromNC]

WA State's unemployment rate is so bad that the state's abysmal unemployment rate qualifies it for the federal extended benefits program.

Something to keep in mind before moving here ...

[JoeGuy]

I have an above average resume of skills - procurement, contract negotiations, corporate security, technical advisor, credit negotiation, shipping, inventory control - oh yeah - and I know microsoft office (duh - every frickin ad asks for this idiotic ability).

I have only gotten 4 bites; i.e., interviews in the last year.

I'm 44 with two degrees.

[JesseJB]

Run for mayor. You'd win.

I have a BS and have been a phone jockey for 3 years. Degrees in Seattle are about as common as high school diplomas everywhere else. They guy pulling your espresso shots might have a Masters.

[ComfortablyNumb]

If you are feeling Washington, perhaps look into Tacoma or some Seattle suburb. Seattle itself is SATURATED with graduates, often of the ambitious type, and like Jesse said, a lot of your service working people will actually have college degrees.

Good luck, though.

[ElektroDragon]

Ouch.... is there no optimism out there? I'm trying to buy a house in Bothell and you guys make it sound like its going to be a death sentence if I lose my work at home IT job which is based outside WA, especially given my wife is unemployed with only an Associates in art. I guess I'll take my chances. I can think of no better place for me as an IT guy and her as an artist considering we love this climate and scenery. But seriously, you are scaring me. As if the economy hasn't done enough of that already.

[Midas AG]

See, you guys think 8% is high, where I am right now, its over 14%, and we are losing jobs everyday. (West side of Michigan). The wife and I are planning a move to Seattle in August, and she will find a job in health care, and I'll take just about any job I can while I finish my degree/ flight training. Considering I am going to be a pilot, I can fly anywhere, and will just live in the beauty that is Seattle. Plus, she's getting her nursing job,a dn healthcare will never diminish.

[70Ford]

I finished my last contract in Iraq, August 3rd. I got back home, August 13th. I got serious September 1st. I got an interview in October - $18 an hour. That's poverty level wages in Seattle, BTW. I didn't get it. I was the "second choice", which colloquially is known as "loser." I had another phone interview for another position in November...which took about 10 minutes and went absolutely nowhere. I said to Hell with it in December, made some calls/emails and here I am, back in Iraq...same company/same job title/another year on contract/just a different location. The good thing about it is that I have a job, I can support my family and I'm not making poverty level wages. There's a lot of negatives, too. I think not being able to pay the rent...or eat....or have new anything is a bigger negative, so here I am.

IN Seattle, if you make less than 45 K a year, you qualify for low income housing assistance. If you make less than 50?K(somewhere around there), you qualify for utilities assistance. If I remember right, you're also pretty close to qualifying for food stamps, if like me...you're part of a family of four.

It is amazing how expensive Seattle is compared to a lot of places in the U.S.A. If it wasn't such a good match for my family, I'd probably leave. I mean..a regular sized fish dinner is like 8 bucks. It's two pieces of fish, french fries and cole slaw for god's sake.

Ivar’s Fish ‘n Chips 4pc $13 - - - - -3pc $11

http://www.ivars.net/index.php?page=...kilteo-landing

[Midas AG]

Well, here in Michigan, an $18/hour job is damn good, but if your not making $35k a year, your struggling. A fish dinner is the same price too, within a dollar or so. I understand you think its expensive, but its just a little more than here in Michigan, without the beauty, and actual job prospects.

Hell, if the wife and I find jobs in the $10-15 dollar an hour range, while going to school, we will be making more than we are here, and in a better place as well.