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I have started this new topic not because I haven't found enough information on the other posts, but I feel that I have more specific questions, so I would feel a lot better if I could get some honest, helpful and encouraging replies. Advice and honesty are very most appreciated.
Me and my husband have been contemplating the move for a few months now, problem is, we do not have jobs waiting for us in Austin, and that really worries me.
I have spent the last few days on craigslist looking at endless job postings, but I am still not sure whether or not to apply, since I have no idea if CL website is a reliable site. Has anybody have had a good experience with CL's job ads?
A little about us: We are in our late 20's, with university degrees, no children and have been living overseas for the last 4 yrs. I am fully bi-lingual (English and Spanish) and speak 2 more languages fluently, though I am in no way a professional translator, or interpreter.
I have 9yrs. experience in the restaurant business and have been a language tutor as well. My husband is a professional blues man (this means we plays for money), as well as an Eng. teacher, and is also bi-lingual.
We are into organic food and ride our bicycles everywhere we go, not matter if it's raining, snowing or 80+ degrees outside. We are friendly individuals, honest and hardworking. We constantly look for ways to make a positive impact in our communities and we are looking for a community that we can fit in and feel at home, though globe trotters never feel "at home."
So my questions are:
- Will I be able to find work within the first week of my arrival?
- What are the wages for servers? Do servers get a decent amount of tips? I mean enough to live
comfortably.
- How is the blues scene in Austin, would my hubby be able to make a living or make a decent amount
of money if he plays? What bars do you recommend? Are musicians in Austin reliable and professional?
- Can we use our bike to commute pretty much everywhere for most of the year?
- How are the organic food stores and restaurants? How's the quality of their products? What about the
prices?
- Are the people friendly in Austin?
- If we rent a 1bedroom apt. or a studio, how much would we pay for it?
- Any specific neighborhoods we should really consider? Or avoid?
- Any other suggestions?
I think that would be all for now. These are only some of my initial questions and I would really appreciate every single word of advice and answer to my questionnaire.
Thank you all very much for taking the time to read my post.
great post, my life is so different from yours that I cant really post from experience on any of your questions. My sense is though austin would be perfect for you guys. As to whether you can get a job in the first week or if your husband can make a living playing the blues, the answer is probably highly dependent on how good you are.
Im sure a lot of people make a living on tips and we have a ton of restaurants here. But we also have a lot of supply of waiters/waitresses. The people that I know in bands do it as a hobby or have another job as well. I think the craigslist job ads are actually legitimate.
A 1 br or studio could be highly variable. Ones advertised near south congress are maybe 800 -1300 for a 2br. In east austin maybe 700-900 for a 2br.
Thank you very much for you input. I would like to get a job in the first week because relocating and moving is quite expensive, and I would like to have a job so that we do not end up digging into our savings, but if it takes me up to a month it would not be too bad. Regarding the musicians that you know, do you know if they make extra cash by playing on the side/ as a hobby? Also, what is the difference between south congress and the east Austin? Which one is more bike friendly?
So my questions are:
- Will I be able to find work within the first week of my arrival?
- What are the wages for servers? Do servers get a decent amount of tips? I mean enough to live
comfortably.
It greatly depends on where you work. I would put that you're fluent in Spanish in a prominent place on your resume as that will help greatly in the restaurant industry around here. An experienced server at a nice restaurant can definitely make good money. You generally have to be a bartender at the lesser restauarants to make pretty good money from what I hear (Applebee's, Chili's, etc.). Having been in the restaurant industry for 9 years, you probably know more about these questions than those of us on this board do (ie. a server at a seafood/steak restaurant can make good money as the bills are a lot higher than a Mexican food place).
I would get off of Craigslist and target actual restaurants. Without living here already it might be tough to be taken serioulsy for a server job, but contacting the managers directly touting your restaurant experience is the way to go in my opinion. Start searching through Austin restaurants and pick up the phone. I imagine that getting a server with 9 years experience would be welcome to the restaurant managers around here who are sometimes stuck with College kids. Good luck.
Your reply is very much appreciated, I am thinking of showing-up next week, before our move and see if I can get something arranged then. Thank you very much for the input.
So my questions are:
- Will I be able to find work within the first week of my arrival?
- What are the wages for servers? Do servers get a decent amount of tips? I mean enough to live
comfortably.
- How is the blues scene in Austin, would my hubby be able to make a living or make a decent amount
of money if he plays? What bars do you recommend? Are musicians in Austin reliable and professional?
- Can we use our bike to commute pretty much everywhere for most of the year?
- How are the organic food stores and restaurants? How's the quality of their products? What about the
prices?
- Are the people friendly in Austin?
- If we rent a 1bedroom apt. or a studio, how much would we pay for it?
- Any specific neighborhoods we should really consider? Or avoid?
- Any other suggestions?
I think that would be all for now. These are only some of my initial questions and I would really appreciate every single word of advice and answer to my questionnaire.
Thank you all very much for taking the time to read my post.
Regards
A week? Maybe - two weeks, probably - particularly if you're going the service/retail route. "Comfortable" is definitely subjective. You will definitely struggle to afford rent in the areas that will be 100% bikeable commutes. Also, you mention "80+ degrees" - we'll get that in February. How about 105+? The central part of Austin is fairly bikeable (taking weather out of the equation), but outside of that gets dicey.
The blues scene, and the whole prefessional music scene, is tough - particularly for a new act. Your husband will have to get a job and be a weekend musician for a while.
Folks are generally very friendly!
You're probably looking somewhere in the $800/mo range for an apartment. Won't be all the way central, older, and not in the hippest neighborhood.
Last edited by EzPeterson; 03-25-2013 at 09:13 AM..
Has anybody have had a good experience with CL's job ads?
So my questions are:
- Will I be able to find work within the first week of my arrival?
- What are the wages for servers? Do servers get a decent amount of tips? I mean enough to live
comfortably.
- How is the blues scene in Austin, would my hubby be able to make a living or make a decent amount
of money if he plays? What bars do you recommend? Are musicians in Austin reliable and professional?
- Can we use our bike to commute pretty much everywhere for most of the year?
- How are the organic food stores and restaurants? How's the quality of their products? What about the
prices?
- Are the people friendly in Austin?
- If we rent a 1bedroom apt. or a studio, how much would we pay for it?
- Any specific neighborhoods we should really consider? Or avoid?
- Any other suggestions?
I had -0- luck with Craigslist.org, but then again, I was looking for something very specific. If you're looking for a serving job, that might be different.
(Dunno about the music scene, sorry.)
Certain parts of the city can be navigated via bike, but certainly not everywhere. You can ride the bus and take your bike with you -- but again, the bus doesn't go everywhere; the further out you live, the more limited your options get.
Organic food stores and restaurants can be found in abundance in Austin -- caveat: PRICEY. I don't frequent them for that very reason.
Neighborhoods: Depends on where you want to live. Anywhere in Austin proper will be kinda spendy. Central Austin and downtown are way up there in terms of rental prices.
I would definitely suggest saving up for a while before you move to Austin -- make sure you have enough padding so just in case you don't get a job, you'll have an exit plan. Personally, there's no way I'd move to Austin (at least not in 2013) without a job lined up first, or if I didn't have friends or relatives to stay with, gratis, while I looked for work.
I have started this new topic not because I haven't found enough information on the other posts, but I feel that I have more specific questions, so I would feel a lot better if I could get some honest, helpful and encouraging replies. Advice and honesty are very most appreciated.
Me and my husband have been contemplating the move for a few months now, problem is, we do not have jobs waiting for us in Austin, and that really worries me.
I have spent the last few days on craigslist looking at endless job postings, but I am still not sure whether or not to apply, since I have no idea if CL website is a reliable site. Has anybody have had a good experience with CL's job ads?
A little about us: We are in our late 20's, with university degrees, no children and have been living overseas for the last 4 yrs. I am fully bi-lingual (English and Spanish) and speak 2 more languages fluently, though I am in no way a professional translator, or interpreter.
I have 9yrs. experience in the restaurant business and have been a language tutor as well. My husband is a professional blues man (this means we plays for money), as well as an Eng. teacher, and is also bi-lingual.
We are into organic food and ride our bicycles everywhere we go, not matter if it's raining, snowing or 80+ degrees outside. We are friendly individuals, honest and hardworking. We constantly look for ways to make a positive impact in our communities and we are looking for a community that we can fit in and feel at home, though globe trotters never feel "at home."
So my questions are:
- Will I be able to find work within the first week of my arrival?
- What are the wages for servers? Do servers get a decent amount of tips? I mean enough to live
comfortably.
- How is the blues scene in Austin, would my hubby be able to make a living or make a decent amount
of money if he plays? What bars do you recommend? Are musicians in Austin reliable and professional?
- Can we use our bike to commute pretty much everywhere for most of the year?
- How are the organic food stores and restaurants? How's the quality of their products? What about the
prices?
- Are the people friendly in Austin?
- If we rent a 1bedroom apt. or a studio, how much would we pay for it?
- Any specific neighborhoods we should really consider? Or avoid?
- Any other suggestions?
I think that would be all for now. These are only some of my initial questions and I would really appreciate every single word of advice and answer to my questionnaire.
Thank you all very much for taking the time to read my post.
Regards
Howdy!
- You will probably be able to find work as a server pretty fast.
- Wages are $2-$3 an hour (yes, you read it right), but depends on a place. You have to rely on tips. I presume tips are good.
- Blues scene is probably great, but I don't really know - not my type of music. There is definitely a huge live music scene here, which is part of the reason we moved.
- Yes for the bike!! Bike commuting in the downtown area is great, but be prepared for a lot of short but steep hills. No long sustained climbs anywhere, which I love.
- Well, there's Whole Foods for organic. There are other places with food like that too. I don't know it - we are cheap and shop at H.E.B.
- People in Austin are the friendliest I've ever seen
- 1-bedroom, depending on where. In remote suburban areas, maybe $600, but don't go there. Around downtown - $1,000 - $1,200, you can find places for less too. There are $8,000 rentals in the heart of downtown, I don't know what the market for those is and who in the right mind would rent that. You can always find moderately priced apartments in great areas, it's just not that many that are on the market at any given time.
- Consider South Congress, South Lamar, or anything south of the Lady Bird Lake, but north of Oltorf. Don't consider anything far away, like Round Rock or North Austin.
I am also a bike commuter as well as a recreational cyclist, and it's always great to know that there are like-minded people out there. It seems like Austin would be great for you!
Thank you very much for you input. I would like to get a job in the first week because relocating and moving is quite expensive, and I would like to have a job so that we do not end up digging into our savings, but if it takes me up to a month it would not be too bad. Regarding the musicians that you know, do you know if they make extra cash by playing on the side/ as a hobby? Also, what is the difference between south congress and the east Austin? Which one is more bike friendly?
South Congress is awesome and East Austin is not so much. East is nothing special and I heard it's less safe, but that I'm not sure of.
If you're a serious bike commuter, everything in the world is pretty much bike friendly, but I'd cast my vote for South Congress. Fantastic area, lots of cool people and fun little places.
South Congress is awesome and East Austin is not so much. East is nothing special and I heard it's less safe, but that I'm not sure of.
If you're a serious bike commuter, everything in the world is pretty much bike friendly, but I'd cast my vote for South Congress. Fantastic area, lots of cool people and fun little places.
I am not sure why you would talk about an area of town (East Austin) unsolicited and give an advice on some place you admitted you know little about. Um, I wonder..does some 'thought' (not enough) peppered with some unsure 'opinion' really help the OP?
Last edited by ImOnFiya; 03-26-2013 at 02:18 AM..
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