Anyone else graduate from UT Austin and can't find a job that pays well enough to live in Austin? (real estate, broker)

[cBach]

Go to New Orleans. Louisiana has now surpassed CA, NY, and every other state for filming.

Louisiana outpaces Los Angeles, New York and all others in 2013 film production, study shows | NOLA.com

[CptnRn]

If the OP could not afford to live in Austin in 2009 he would find it even more expensive now. So many people have been moving here and construction was almost nill durring the recession, resulting in a housing and apartment shortage. Rents have gone way up.

[CarnivalGal]

I have a Mass Comm. degree (advertising) and found it pretty easy to find jobs in marketing when I graduated. Granted, that was a long time ago. It may not be your dream job, but look into finding a job doing media sales. It sucks, but it gets your foot in the door. Also, if you the time, look into volunteering at your local public broadcast outlets. It's a great way to make contacts.

Almost no one I know that has a RTF degree is working in that field. It's just not a field that has a huge number of jobs. And many of the jobs that are required can be filled with interns willing to work for nothing.

[riaelise]

Hey OP, my suggestion. Try NYC or LA for RTF. NYC is probably THE place for a kid to break into the film world, but the downside is that NYC isn't cheap. I'm an NYU/Tisch School of the Arts dropout, but many of the folks that I know from there have found jobs in their field. Unfortunately, I make more money than them.

[winkosmosis]

You should probably move to California

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by simon22

So I graduate from UT Austin class of 2009 with a Bachelor's in Radio/Televison/Film. Upon graduating I found some unsteady part time work but nothing ever manifested from it. I tried looking for a job for about a year after that, still nothing. I'm in Dallas but I'm thinking about giving Austin another shot. It's been five years since I graduated and my resume is somewhat decent now. What do you guys think?

2009 was a tough year for most graduates. Your degree choice didn't help. But even those with finance degrees, which 4 years earlier seemed the gold standard of degrees, found a completely different landscape in 2009.

Now it's your resume that matters, and your networking skills, not your degree.

I've still never reconciled that friends of mine who are employers constantly gripe about the lousy candidate pool, while supposedly good candidates gripe that there are not enough good job opportunities.

Steve

[banal]

Originally Posted by simon22

So I graduate from UT Austin class of 2009 with a Bachelor's in Radio/Televison/Film. Upon graduating I found some unsteady part time work but nothing ever manifested from it. I tried looking for a job for about a year after that, still nothing. I'm in Dallas but I'm thinking about giving Austin another shot. It's been five years since I graduated and my resume is somewhat decent now. What do you guys think?

I found your problem. A degree like this is worth almost nothing if you don't know anybody in the business to get you a job.

[simon22]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Hey OP, my suggestion. Try NYC or LA for RTF. NYC is probably THE place for a kid to break into the film world, but the downside is that NYC isn't cheap. I'm an NYU/Tisch School of the Arts dropout, but many of the folks that I know from there have found jobs in their field. Unfortunately, I make more money than them.

I lived in NYC for three years, very little luck.

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

I've still never reconciled that friends of mine who are employers constantly gripe about the lousy candidate pool, while supposedly good candidates gripe that there are not enough good job opportunities.

Steve

Steve, what employers do you know who are looking for good candidates? My son is looking for a job, and I am wondering about what fields in Austin are actually looking for people.

[Oildog]

That's the issue with Austin. Great place to live, if you can find a job that supports you. I would guess you need to work your way up through smaller markets on the TV side though. Look in the Valley, Beaumont, Tyler, Corpus, etc. to try and get a start. Those I know in the industry have moved around a fair amount.