Tampa IT jobs (East Lake, Tarpon Springs, Wesley Chapel: spring break, house, job market)

[MortonR]

I can speak for the midwest in that housing is not cheaper here, and that is based on current information. Compared to the northeast, certainly, but not the midwest.

Even when I originally moved here in the mid 1990s pay scales for skilled labor were significantly lower, and they still are. For what myself and family members were making in the midwest at the time we took a 25%-30% pay cut.

It has been my experience that when companies down here are recruiting they play up the "sun and fun" aspect of the area.

Not only are the salaries lower, the expenses, especially insurance, both car and homeowner's, are significantly higher here. And those are expenses you can't control for the most part.

I owned a 4,000 sf house assessed at almost $500k in a major midwestern city in 2008. I nearly went into hysterics (LOL) when my homeowner's insurance quote was given to me - $1100. And that included all sorts of extras, like earthquake insurance. To get auto insurance for two late model cars, even with a teenager in the house and on the same policy cost me around $2200 for the year (for both cars with the minimum deductibles.)

When I moved back here in 2010, my insurance on a 2200 sf house worth $180k was nearly $2000. My auto insurance for the same vehicles and coverage was nearly $8,000 a year.

Now granted, I was with State Farm on the cars and they were screwing me good - one of those, "Sure, we'll write a policy in Florida, but you're gonna PAY for it!" I have since found insurance with similar coverage for less, maybe $5000 a year rather than the $8000 that SF wanted.

It's still FIVE TIMES what I paid for similar coverage in the midwest.

That is the kind of disparity in expenses I am speaking about.

RM

[gulfer]

Good Stuff Morton.

Insurance was a big surprise for me as well. I know you need it, but you sure that there would be a better system.

[neptunefix]

$8000/yr for auto insurance? Sounds fishy. I was quoted at $1800 (actually half because it was 6 months) for our two late modelvehicles.

[Negotiator75]

It jobs are hard to get unless you are good at lying on your resume.

[Onthemove2014]

Originally Posted by Negotiator75

It jobs are hard to get unless you are good at lying on your resume.

You can thank HR and ignorant people who don't understand the field and think somone has to have prior knowlege and experience of every little buzz word or special software they use to be able to do the job. Also, thank companies for not wanting to train and expecting the other companies to give you experience before applying them

[Setnaro]

I would be coming from the northern virginia area.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by neptunefix

$8000/yr for auto insurance? Sounds fishy. I was quoted at $1800 (actually half because it was 6 months) for our two late modelvehicles.

As I mentioned, I was a customer of State Farm for 30 years, and when we returned here they kept telling us, "It's gotten more expensive since you left in 2008." To compound matters, I also had a teenage driver in the household at the time as well.

State Farm doesn't want to write policies here, at least that's my take on it. If they do, you're going to pay and pay big time. I kid you not, my auto insurance was nearly $8,000/year when I returned in 2010 with two late model cars with full coverage. We have good driving records and no wrecks.

I got the big sob story about the costs, after which I started shopping. I was able to come close to cutting the cost in half with another major carrier in a matter of a day or two. When I went back to State Farm to tell them I was leaving, suddenly they could "work with me." I challenged them on this, suggesting that they should have been "working with me" after I had been a customer for nearly 30 years. No response, as I expected. Shame on me for trusting them - I take full responsibility, as I should have shopped them right out of the gate.

They pulled the same crap with our homeowners policy. When we were ready to buy a house, they wanted around $3200 for a homeowner's policy. The same house with BETTER coverage ended up costing me around $1300 a year with another major carrier after I got my wind mitigation inspection.

Again, in my opinion, State Farm is going to put it to you if you want to do business with them down here.

As for coming from Northern VA, which means you probably work in DC or the surrounding area, your expectations for salary should be low, cause they're gonna be. I'll bet that you will be lucky to command 75% of what you are making now.

I'm not trying to be negative, it's what the market is like here and for that matter, has pretty much always been with a few exceptions.

RM

[Chi City]

Originally Posted by chitownjilly

OMG! My husband and I are running into the same problem EXCEPT we have owned a house down there for a few years!!

We are empty nesters and have decided to make the move. We sold our house in Chicago and now we are living in an apartment until my husband can find a job. He has twenty five years experience as a Systems Engineer and WILL NOT leave his job until he has a permanent position. His resume has our Tampa address on it, but lists his current position in Chicago. We can only guess that is a problem. He is working with a couple of recruiters but has mainly submitted resumes through the same channels everyone else is using. I would say he sent out twenty or so resumes and only had one interview!!

Its really depressing to be stuck in limbo!!!

So, what happened? Did you finally move? The reason I'm asking is because we're moving to Tampa soon. We're selling our house in Chicago and the plan is to move to Tampa and rent a home. We came/went (not sure if you're there yet) a few weeks ago and met with the real estate agent. We looked mostly in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa.

We're empty nesters too (daugher is a freshman at UW-Madison) and I'm in IT. Fortunately, I travel every other week with my job so I can do it from anywhere. My husband is going to look for a job there too (security is his field). I've heard that the job market is good...then I've heard that it's horrible. Not sure which is accurate, but we're so ready to move from Chicago!

So, what happened with your situation? I hope all went well.

[Beacher23]

I would also like to know how it went as I am a young IT professional in Ohio trying to get outta this state and move to Tampa, but with all these discouraging comments on this thread, its making me wonder if i should really sacrifice my good salary for sunshine and palm trees, or maybe i would just have to get a 2nd part time job. I've been researching alot about the Tampa area and have mostly liked what i've read about it, although i have yet to visit, which i plan to do this summer. The auto insurances sounds crazy, i'm only paying $240 every 6 months up here, and that sounds like heaven compared to FL! Is it just the Tampa area that pays lower for IT and has such high insurances or is it all of FL? I'm wondering if i should look elsewhere

[mateo384]

i paid like 350-something for my insurance for 6 months....fully covered. It was actually a lot lower than what i was expecting.