Mid Missouri to Tampa in Jan 2012 (Safety Harbor, Oldsmar: transplants, rental, job market)

[Jesus Freak]

Good afternoon to all!

I'll keep this as short as possible---

My wife and I are considering moving to Tampa (or a suburb), or maybe another part of Florida early next year. We are in our late 30's early 40's and are wanting a change of scenery, and hopefully a better job market to jump into. It's absolutely pathetic here!

I have an Associates degree and 5 years experience in the lower levels of the IT field, and my wife has several years of bank teller experience.

No kids. Will be looking to rent, at least for a while. Don't mind a 20-minute commute or so.

We will both need jobs and a place to rent, (1bdrm/bath type stuff, preferably with some sort of garage), nothing fancy, but don't want trashy, either.
We are from small town midwest, and are hoping to find a somewhat small town feel somewhere down there, but be able to enjoy some bigger city ammenities, too.
We don't live the night or party life, just like to have some places to go and have some basic fun at times. Church activities, too.

I am wondering---after looking at some prices for rental places down there, my concern is the job market. We don't mind working jobs out of our normal fields or 'price range' to get on our feet, but can you survive at least halfway comfortably while that process takes place? Are there 'survival' jobs available there if needed?

We are just average, middle class people looking to move and enjoy a warmer climate, and start new somewhere.

This is a HUGE move for us, and we will only have the money to do it once, so we gotta get it right the first time. We'll be coming with our truck, a small trailer with a few of our smaller choice posessions, and about five thousand in the bank, but that's it. Can it be done and survive?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and help; any construcitve input would be much appreciated!

God Bless,
Brad

[jambo101]

It would sure help matters if one of you could get a job before you arrived, maybe one of you could come down a couple of months ahead of time and get the job as the job is the anchor thats going to make everything work.
Might want to have a look at the job section in the Tampa Bay area to get an idea of whats up for grabs

http://www.tampabay.com/

[Jesus Freak]

Thanks jambo.

My wife and I had discussed doing that, but then decided that supporting basically two households during that time might be a waste of the resources to help us make the move successfully. She is losing her job at the end of the year too (more layoffs), so it's not like we are giving up anything long-term good up here to move.

We know we are moving, just not sure where yet. So we are just taking it as an adventure----one that hopefully turns out good.

I'll check out the paper; thanks for the info.

Let us know if you have any other thoughts---we're open to much input at this point.

[Keeper]

Well as I see it you are going to have several problems. You probably won't get a job living out of town as there are plenty of ppl in the area looking for the same type jobs. To have any chance you need a local mail address or phone #.

Tampa Bay is huge and not much feels like a small town IMO. There are a few places that might be considered small townish but even then commute time depends on where the job is located.

[Jesus Freak]

Originally Posted by Keeper

Well as I see it you are going to have several problems. You probably won't get a job living out of town as there are plenty of ppl in the area looking for the same type jobs. To have any chance you need a local mail address or phone #.

Tampa Bay is huge and not much feels like a small town IMO. There are a few places that might be considered small townish but even then commute time depends on where the job is located.

Wherever we move, we are moving completely. So we will have a local address, etc... but I am hearing that the businesses down there are hesitant to hire 'recent transplants' because so many come and go. So that part does concern me some. And, I don't blame them.

We realize that living that close to a major metropolitan area and hoping to have a small town feel is a very long shot...lol, but maybe more what I meant was, that we would be trying to find the best area that would be as close to that as we could get.

We realize that Florida is WAAAYYY different than what we are living in here---in good ways, maybe some bad, too. But we accept that, and are looking forward to the move and the challenge and excitement of living somewhere completely different than what we are used to.
My wife is from San Jose, CA, so she has a better idea of what this might be like than I do.

Thank you very much for the thoughts, they are appreciated. Please keep them coming.

[Ken E]

Originally Posted by Jesus Freak

Wherever we move, we are moving completely. So we will have a local address, etc... but I am hearing that the businesses down there are hesitant to hire 'recent transplants' because so many come and go. So that part does concern me some. And, I don't blame them.

We realize that living that close to a major metropolitan area and hoping to have a small town feel is a very long shot...lol, but maybe more what I meant was, that we would be trying to find the best area that would be as close to that as we could get.

We realize that Florida is WAAAYYY different than what we are living in here---in good ways, maybe some bad, too. But we accept that, and are looking forward to the move and the challenge and excitement of living somewhere completely different than what we are used to.
My wife is from San Jose, CA, so she has a better idea of what this might be like than I do.

Thank you very much for the thoughts, they are appreciated. Please keep them coming.

It sounds like your'e determained to move no matter what. Good luck with youre move.

[Keeper]

The problem is not with transplants leaving it is with all the IT ppl looking for jobs. You might find a job as telephone support but those start out at $10 an hour and many are contract jobs so you get no benefits.
I have several friends who have been out of work for over a year after the IT dept where they worked laid off around 300 ppl.

Not saying there are NO jobs just that the jobs that are out there are hard to get.

Also just to register your car in FL cost at least $400 the first time, plus deposits for electric and water.

No one wants you to come here and be unhappy. There are a lot of great things about Tampa but you need to know what you are facing before you move.

Oldsmar and Safety Harbor = small towns between Tampa and St Pete

[FloridaKash]

Move without a job, no problem. Make sure you have at least 6 - 9 months of living expenses in reserves. Also, be willing to take on a job when you get here that pays you less than you currently make to have some sort of income.

Once you get a bit settled, keep applying start networking. You may be able to find something that you would rather do. Job market is pretty tough here. Other's disagree and say they have no problem finding good work.

Either way, moving is an adventure. It can be exciting and/or scary at times, but that's what makes it fun. Just make sure you have plenty of money in reserves.

As for a 20 minute commute. You'll likely have a longer commute than this. Narrowing your job prospects to only a 20 minute commute from wherever you move to will possibly make finding a job that you would like more difficult. I would expand you commute time to around 45 minutes or so.

Best of luck.

[JohnInChicago]

Originally Posted by Keeper

The problem is not with transplants leaving it is with all the IT ppl looking for jobs. You might find a job as telephone support but those start out at $10 an hour and many are contract jobs so you get no benefits.
I have several friends who have been out of work for over a year after the IT dept where they worked laid off around 300 ppl.

Not saying there are NO jobs just that the jobs that are out there are hard to get.

Also just to register your car in FL cost at least $400 the first time, plus deposits for electric and water.

No one wants you to come here and be unhappy. There are a lot of great things about Tampa but you need to know what you are facing before you move.

Oldsmar and Safety Harbor = small towns between Tampa and St Pete

I take offense to this post, I'm an IT exec. I don't think people looking for IT work is a problem.

Registering your car is expensive the first time around. I did NOT have to pay a deposit with anyone for utillities.

[Spring Hillian]

FloridaKash has passed good advice. The reserves are important. If you get reference letters from your current utility providers regarding your hopefully good billing paying history with them, you most likely will avoid deposits on utilities.

Also agree on the commute time. 20 minutes is unrealistic unless you live and work in the same town/area.

Originally Posted by FloridaKash

Move without a job, no problem. Make sure you have at least 6 - 9 months of living expenses in reserves. Also, be willing to take on a job when you get here that pays you less than you currently make to have some sort of income.

Once you get a bit settled, keep applying start networking. You may be able to find something that you would rather do. Job market is pretty tough here. Other's disagree and say they have no problem finding good work.

Either way, moving is an adventure. It can be exciting and/or scary at times, but that's what makes it fun. Just make sure you have plenty of money in reserves.

As for a 20 minute commute. You'll likely have a longer commute than this. Narrowing your job prospects to only a 20 minute commute from wherever you move to will possibly make finding a job that you would like more difficult. I would expand you commute time to around 45 minutes or so.

Best of luck.