Its been a year since I was on here: How bad is the job market? (Houston: rental, credit)

[Exiled Texan]

Originally Posted by mgrif426

Seriously, listen to IntheCut- he is dead on, my friend. Yes our town is 'cool' and quirky and sunny- but the job and housing are horrid! The high cost of living drove many Californians here over the last 10-15 years. Then AZ and NM lost some of their folks to us. This was seen as the land of milk and honey- where hills were green and so was the money. Now the Hill Country is not dotted, but crammed, with Italian "villas" and little 2 bedroom 'bungalows' close to town go for 500K. A 2BD condo downtown cost 350-700+K, a tiny house in SoCo is the same. Tarrytown is way overpriced and so is westlake. If you care about the school districts those are the two hotspots. (Tiny Apt. rents for 1200-1800 in westlake and way higher close to downtown- which is now comparable to Santa Monica)
Here is a case in point about the inflated prices here: I have a 4500 sf 'executive home' in the midwest (4 bds, 3.5ba, 3 fireplaces, 1 acre, contemporary with walls of glass, gourmet kit, etc.) I can't get over $500K! I was lucky just to lease it out. If I could crane it to Austin, put it on a similiar street in the best school district, it would quickly bring more than $2M.
Like your wife, I have a BBA from right here at UT- then I also have a JD, plus 18 years in construction and design, and experience in Admin. Law. Left my business in the midwest, can't find work, have applied all over for everything I am even remotely qualified for. I have been out of work- for over a year now! I can't even get an interview! With 2 kids to support too- it is very, very discouraging and scary. My advice is to hang on to your job for dear life. I'm even thinking that maybe now California is the place to head because now that everyone has left there, the job openings will be greater-LOL.

Good luck. You are almost too experienced, if that makes sense. You should try starting something up on your own.

What you say is the truth though regarding Austin's cost of living in the most desirable areas.

[Muzzle of Bees]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

In my little niche of IT, many potential applicants have done time at the State or have graduated recently from a TX university. For my field and what I need to hire, these candidates aren't learning the required skill set at State agencies and all of the TX universities are at least 10 years behind the curve. My last 4 hires have been from AZ, AZ, MS, and OH.

The people you are speaking of are slackers who would be bad employees regardless of the job. They want the money, but not do the work. The state has been outsourcing many of its IT functions as well. So the bad employees are uncertain and grasping at straws. I have worked for the state for 12 years. In the areas of networking, database and application development. These systems are available to use and learn.
The state runs the latest Microsoft, Novell, Linux/UNIX, Oracle, Sybase and .net technologies.
I find it hard to believe you cant find local qualified candidates?
By the way the state still has better benefits for the average worker so I would not leave now to risk working for some small locally owned shop for less benefits.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by Muzzle of Bees

I find it hard to believe you cant find local qualified candidates? By the way the state still has better benefits for the average worker so I would not leave now to risk working for some small locally owned shop for less benefits.

Well, my niche is GIS which has only admitted it is an IT discipline a decade ago. Unfortunately a lot of GIS folks haven't admitted this to themselves, no TX universities have so they're not graduating anybody with any computer science background. The state is generally well behind also on how GIS is utilized and they usually put staff in such narrow focused roles that their experience is shallow.

Sorry, state benefits suck compared to most private sector companies. Maybe they didn't years ago but they do now. My wife has worked there for over 10 years and I did for 6 years so I'm pretty aware of the benefits.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

Sorry, state benefits suck compared to most private sector companies. Maybe they didn't years ago but they do now. My wife has worked there for over 10 years and I did for 6 years so I'm pretty aware of the benefits.

Really?

How many paid holidays do state employees get? How much vacation time per year? Do they get sick leave AND vacation, or just PTO? Do they have a pension plan, other than 401k/403b? Any other retirement benefits, like health care? What percentage of the employee's health insurance premium does the state pay?

C'mon, if it weren't for the benefits and job security, no one would work for the state.

[Cardiff Giant]

Originally Posted by haylo7580

Can anyone tell me if there are an abundance of call center jobs in Austin?

Check The Home Depot too, they have a call center/data center here in town. I worked there for about 18 months when we first moved here until I was able to find something that matched my skillset a bit more closely. It's not a bad company to work for. Good luck.

www.careers.homedepot.com

As for the job market here, while I am not actively looking I've been trying to fill an opening in our group. 2 of the most qualified candidates bowed out at the last minute saying they landed positions elsewhere (more $$$). This tells me that things may be improving but I could be mistaken. My .02.

On the other hand, UT has been laying people off (IT and admin staff) over the past few weeks.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by atxcio

C'mon, if it weren't for the benefits and job security, no one would work for the state.

Those benefits become less and less as you forgo pay increases for YEARS. During my 6 years there, I was allowed to give 1 raise a year. I had 14 employees. So most didn't get a raise for 6 YEARS. It was definitely a morale killer.

I wouldn't say it's that secure anymore either. My wife's current task is to figure out which 8 of 80 in her division get laid off at the end of the year.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

Those benefits become less and less as you forgo pay increases for YEARS. During my 6 years there, I was allowed to give 1 raise a year. I had 14 employees. So most didn't get a raise for 6 YEARS. It was definitely a morale killer.

Yeah, I've heard things like that about the salary. You aren't going to keep up with your private-sector colleagues in salary, that's for sure. But benefits-wise, even just the 1-2 extra days of paid holidays state workers get can take months to earn as an entry-level private sector employee (2 weeks pd vaca per year, or 10 days, or a little less than 1 day earned per month).

I wouldn't say it's that secure anymore either. My wife's current task is to figure out which 8 of 80 in her division get laid off at the end of the year.

Definitely not as secure as it once was, especially with budget cuts... but still, if you are the type who comes in late a lot, wants to leave right at 5:00pm on the dot (or earlier), calls in sick a bunch... or just generally slacks... you're probably likely to keep your state job.

[Exiled Texan]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Really?

How many paid holidays do state employees get? How much vacation time per year? Do they get sick leave AND vacation, or just PTO? Do they have a pension plan, other than 401k/403b? Any other retirement benefits, like health care? What percentage of the employee's health insurance premium does the state pay?

C'mon, if it weren't for the benefits and job security, no one would work for the state.

Newly employed state workers, not matter how senior, get about 2 weeks vacation a year. Health care is okay, at best. Sick days are okay (you need to be sick to use), but I don't think you get any maternity leave.

If you work till at least 60, you get a pension about 50% of your average last 5 years salary. No 401K matching, etc.

[Cardiff Giant]

There is maternity/paternity leave (3 mos.) but it is unpaid. It basically guarantees you'll have a job when you return.

I've gotten one 3% increase over the past 3 years. This year we are getting a one time payment for our yearly increase and that's not guranteed. It will probably be about 2%. I work hard so I hope to get 3% LOL.

The state budget is flat until 2012-13. It's going to get worse before it gets better.

[inthecut]

How about starting your OWN company? I did it myself after years of btching, and realizing I'd never get rich working for anyone else..can't fire myself either...also, Austin is ranked always in the top 5 cities for start-ups, and tech is part and parcel with VC's and start-ups..anyone ever think of starting their own thing? Seems like that would be the logical way to go...