Austin....jobs...move???

[WillysB]

Originally Posted by Exiled Texan

Apply everywhere. Go where you get a job. No place is perfect. Just read a WSJ article though about how Washington DC was the strongest economy in the country.

Government employment has recently exceeded private sector employment. So that strong economy is at the expense of the rest of the country.

[centralaustinite]

I agree with Exile and WillysB.

DC/NoVa has probably the strongest job market in the country, I've heard that it is the only area of the country that is adding jobs that pay in the 6 figures. If my husband would lose his job (god forbid), we would head to the DC area to look for work.

Let the job search determine where you end up. That is the only way to do it in this economy.

ca

[cruickies]

We are coming to Austin on 8 April. Have left two good jobs in London, UK. will pack up the house, the kids and the cats and moke the move with no jobs to go to!!! Very scary indeed! Goodluck to you!

[shankaupas]

Originally Posted by cruickies

We are coming to Austin on 8 April. Have left two good jobs in London, UK. will pack up the house, the kids and the cats and moke the move with no jobs to go to!!! Very scary indeed! Goodluck to you!

Just curious but why to Austin from the UK? I've never been to the UK but I can't imagine that they are anything remotely alike.

[horkey76]

My husband and I are doing pretty much the exact same thing. We are in our mid 30's - 3 kids (10, 12, 15) and we are planning to make the move July 2010 since that is when our lease will be up here in Virginia. I have lived in this area my entire life. Have never moved more than 20 minutes away from my parents. But it is time in our lives to make a change that will be the most beneficial for our family....not only today...but for our kids and their future as well.
We have chosen the Austin area for many reasons.
My husband will be looking for a job just before we leave or shortly after we arrive. I work remotely for a software company that allows me to work from anywhere.
My salary/benefits will remain exactly the same whether I am working in Texas, Alaska or Virginia.
So it is a bit easier of a transistion for us in some respects as we have the stability of my job. We will still need his income once we arrive though.
I have been searching these forums pretty much all day long trying to get "real life" answers to questions that "real" people have. Not searching some random website and getting one person's opinion. It has been most helpful and beneficial in our decision...not only IF to take this huge leap of faith...but WHERE to land when we do.
We ARE taking that leap of faith this summer and we are so excited.
I wish you and your family the best of luck in our decision. Sometimes you just have to step out on faith and trust that there will be solid ground to land on.

Hope this helps.

[estal8r]

Originally Posted by horkey76

My husband and I are doing pretty much the exact same thing. We are in our mid 30's - 3 kids (10, 12, 15) and we are planning to make the move July 2010 since that is when our lease will be up here in Virginia. I have lived in this area my entire life. Have never moved more than 20 minutes away from my parents. But it is time in our lives to make a change that will be the most beneficial for our family....not only today...but for our kids and their future as well.
We have chosen the Austin area for many reasons.
My husband will be looking for a job just before we leave or shortly after we arrive. I work remotely for a software company that allows me to work from anywhere.
My salary/benefits will remain exactly the same whether I am working in Texas, Alaska or Virginia.
So it is a bit easier of a transistion for us in some respects as we have the stability of my job. We will still need his income once we arrive though.
I have been searching these forums pretty much all day long trying to get "real life" answers to questions that "real" people have. Not searching some random website and getting one person's opinion. It has been most helpful and beneficial in our decision...not only IF to take this huge leap of faith...but WHERE to land when we do.
We ARE taking that leap of faith this summer and we are so excited.
I wish you and your family the best of luck in our decision. Sometimes you just have to step out on faith and trust that there will be solid ground to land on.

Hope this helps.

My wife and I (both in our id 30's as well) have made a similar decision to make a move out with the family to the Austin/Round Rock area this summer from Hawaii. Although the islands are beautiful, the price for living in paradise definitely reaches deep into our wallets! We think that change for us would do us good. I've visited the area several times while doing defense contract work at Ft. Hood, and love the Austin area.

I have read through the posts on this thread and will take all the good advice given. When we make this move, my wife will be out of a job. I will continue to have some stability with my current job, since I can work from home or while on travel. We're looking for a community to raise our little ones, and eventually want to buy a house in the 200-250k price range.

My goal is to make the move, get the family settled in, and then possibly get a job that doesn't require much traveling like I do now. I've dropped many resumes out, but so far, no bites...I attribute this to the same reason posted earlier by jemeh5: I'm not local to the area. I am really hoping that once we get settled in, I can land decent job in the information security field.

I'll definitely subscribe to this post to stay updated on the replies.

[mlassoff]

I just moved from Austin to the Connecticut coast and I live right outside NYC. I am an IT trainer and consultant and get the perspective from many areas of the US. I agree that the DC/NOVA market right now remains the strongest... They are government jobs and pseudo-government jobs (work with government contractors like Lockheed or Booz Allen Hamilton), and many of them pay well with good benefits.

My impression of the Austin market now is that there will remain some large company opportunities (Dell, TI, etc) but that much of the market will be for positions with IT service providers. I was the VP of one of the largest in the Austin area before I left and we had 30 odd IT techs and 10 programmers at any given time and we were hiring. On the other hand, I heard many stories of IT folks in Austin-- especially developers-- who were unemployed for months on end.

Good luck to you.

[justwaitimthinking]

To the OP - I'm not in Austin but have been researching it for about a year now as like many posters before me I am looking to move to Texas for a variety of reasons. I've been reading this forum and asking questions here and there. From what I can gather, Austin's market is better than others (like Portland Oregon where I'm at), but not as 'strong' like the articles out there would lead you to believe...you might get lucky and land a job within a month, you might be out of a job for over a year with no prospects. It's a crap shoot in these times. I've posted questions on this forum hoping for a moral boost more than anything (knowing the risk of picking up and moving)...so I assume you are kinda in the same boat.

So, for moral boosts...as long as you and your family stick together you'll be fine wherever you go, even if it doesn't work according to plan. Don't live off more than needed and buy a home well within means, and when I say that, I say don't buy a home according to the salary you are used to (whether that be $40-60k plus per year or over $100k), buy something in a good area that suites your needs but you can flip burgers if it comes down to that and pay the bills. That's what nice about Texas as apposed to some other higher-priced cities (like DC), you can find a well-suited home in a good area and school districts for around $150k. The problems arise when people want to buy a $300k+ home because they are used to paying $600k, so think nothing of it. In this economy, and probably for quite some time, the 'norm' lifestyle really needs to be changed up for those of us that don't have the most stable income and can be out of a job anytime. You mentioned you have a down payment...if I were you I'd be looking to pay off most of the home with that down payment, and in a few years (hopefully) the economy will pick up and jobs will be a plenty, then you can buy-up. But, that's just my advice, which isn't always best for everyone! Wish you the best of luck...but remember, as long as you and your family stick together it really doesn't matter what else happens, you'll be fine!