Scotland to Augusta, GA (Atlanta, Marietta: sales, real estate, apartments)

[Scotsman77]

We are currently living just north of Edinburgh - 'we' being a native Scot and his American wife. We have the daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren who have just moved into South Carolina - just east of Augusta, Ga. We are considering moving to Augusta - close enough to see the grandkids but far enough away to not spend every weekend babysitting

Our big question is - how easy is it for a former Wisconsinite and a never-been-out-of-the-UK (except with the service) Scotsman to find work in Augusta? The wife has tons of office experience, both in Wisconsin and in the UK. I've degrees in Business and Accounting and have worked the last 6 years as an office manager. We're willing to settle for any decent, honest work, but we need full time and we must have health insurance.

We know 'contacts' are very important and are eager to join the local church, get to know people and become part of the community - but first we need to get on our feet, financially.

Is there plenty of work to be found in Augusta?
How long does it take (on average) to find a full-time, permanent job?
Do most jobs have health/dental insurance available?
How hard will it be to rent a flat/apartment when one has no credit history in the US??

[Scotsman77]

We were really hoping for at least one or two replies to our post, seeing as some posted since have had dozens.

I'm the American half of this team and I'd really like to move back home. BUT - Wisconsin is not the greatest place in the world. There's problems there with only being offered 'part-time' work - i.e., 35 hours a week instead of 38/40 hours a week - and using that as an excuse to not offer you insurance. That forces people to work a second job in order to buy insurance privately. We don't want to come back into that type of situation.

I lived in southern Alabama for awhile in the 90's and really loved it, but Opal dropped a tree on my trailer and wiped me out. Back to Mothers - you know the song.

I've been told Augusta doesn't get hit by hurricanes - is this true?
Are most jobs full-time?
Do they offer insurance?

[jmarkey]

Try the Augusta Chronicle online for their classified employment section. I think it's chronicle.augusta.com

[Steven2149]

Ahhh... A Scotsman. Hello there, Sorry I didn't notice the post, or I would have replied earlier. I live in the Atlanta area and am somewhat familiar with Augusta. As far as finding a job, it depends on what your background is and what type of job you hope to find. The area has a decent (not exploding) job market. It is growing at a healthy rate, I suppose. Most of the jobs there, as well as anywhere else in the U.S. for that matter, offer health insurance as part of their benefits package. In looking back at your post, I see that you both have office and business experience. I'd imagine you will do just fine in looking for a job. Send me a private message and I can refer you to some job posting web sites, that I'd probably get punished for saying on here. They don't particularly care for links here, as the moderators will remove the post. A piece of advice though would be to search as many job resources (careerbuilder, monster, hotjobs, local papers, *definitely looking through employer web sites*)

On the same note... just out of curiosity, what is the job market like in Scotland? Haven't been there, yet, but plan to go asap. I've always known I had Scotish family history, but as I research it in more detail I am becoming increasingly interested in finding more.

[jmarkey]

My great-grandfather Ritchie came over from Edinburgh. Going to Scotland is my dream vacation.

Good luck!

[Scotsman77]

Hi,

I'm the Scottish half of scotsman77. Many thanks for the suggestion - I'll contact you privately.
The job situation is Scotland ? Not good I'm afraid. Edinburgh, being the financial and legal centre as well as having the Scottish parliament, is booming. For professionals it is probably good in the other cities - Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness. Beware - nursing and teaching qualifications may not be accepted. Sadly there is discrimination against Americans (and other non- native groups, especially non-whites). My wife has often been assumed to have a direct line to the White House, and assumed to be able to influence US foreign policy. Expect to be paid less than a native Scot with NO qualifications or experience whatsoever and to have the lowest job in the ofice.

That been said London is a better place for work, there are more very large and international companies, and the pay is the best in the country. You would have to seriously consider renting as the price of purchasing property has gone through the roof. Once you had a couple of years experience in London (especially with the NHS) it would be easy to transfer to Scotland.

All jobs are offered contracts, very difficult to fire someone after one years employment, 20 days vacation (plus 8 - 10 public holidays) is standard minimum by law. Healthcare is free. Taxes - personal, property/rental, sales etc are phenomenally high. The country (and I include Scotland very much in this,) is gorgeous and travel is cheap. Public transportation abounds and is easier than driving a private car.

[Scotsman77]

Hi. My daughter moved to Augusta this fall - her hubby is from the Aiken, SC area. She did mention the heat and humidity were quite high. I would imagine it was like when I lived in Dothan, AL - very hot and quite unpleasant the first year, but you adjust after a couple of years! Scotland is cold, wet, windy and gloomy - did I mention it was wet??? My husband is very much looking forward to living in a hotter climate and I can't wait to actually see SUNSHINE again!!

As far as real estate - the first thing we'd be looking to do is rent someplace. At least until we had jobs and a chance to settle in. My husband has never lived outside of the UK and I've been here for 4 years now, so I would imagine no one would consider us for even a tiny mortgage until we'd been working steady for a good 6 months. What is the rental situation down there? (We're not looking at luxury apartments, we're just plain folks, with no £1million house in London to sell...)

[Iwanttoknow]

Well it's my first time seeing your post too and, glad that I did. I live here in Augusta, Ga. I been here for three years now. Augusta, as far as a job is not really a good place. I looked hard for about a year and a half before I found a job. I plan to move to around Marietta, Georgia coming in 2007. Rethink your decision PLEASE!

[Georgiadog]

Augusta does get hit by hurricanes they come up from the gulf and the atlantic side is past due for a direct hit.Dont let anyone tell u we can get hit because we will.

[Augusta05]

Scottsman,

Sorry I didn't see your post until today (2 months later!). If you are still interested in moving to Augusta then you might want to try looking for jobs posted on the Medical College of Georgia website. (www.mcg.edu (broken link)) They do have office/business positions available (usually all of the time). Hope this is helpful.