Looking to move to CA to begin a career! (San Diego: job market, transfer)

[centauri]

I am about two semesters away from finishing up with an A.S. in Networking Technologies with some certs (Sec+, CCNA, if not CCENT, etc.) I would stay for the 4 year program here, but it does not have my interest which is InfoSec. The school is supposed to start it next year, but our state senate decided to put a hold on it for a couple of years so that option puts me into another school. I would stay in Florida, but the locations of most of these schools lack the job market for IT peps.

My professor suggested that I should haul ass to either Washington or California when I graduate, and I am heavily considering it.

The question that I have is where should I start looking in California? I am open to both NoCal and SoCal. I do have family in San Diego, but I am willing to go anywhere.

[Bonez765]

if you are going to work in tech, then the Bay Area it is. however, i will warn you, the Bay Area is ball dropping expensive$$$$$. but if you make the right amount of money, you can enjoy the place. i will say if you are a single male, avoid silicon valley to live there if you can. there's no coincidence that San Jose is called Man Jose.

[centauri]

Originally Posted by Bonez765

if you are going to work in tech, then the Bay Area it is. however, i will warn you, the Bay Area is ball dropping expensive$$$$$. but if you make the right amount of money, you can enjoy the place. i will say if you are a single male, avoid silicon valley to live there if you can. there's no coincidence that San Jose is called Man Jose.

I believe it, I will try to avoid the valley if I can, I just hope I can compete in the market. I know an A.S. is not much, but it is better than nothing and looking at some of the tech programs at some of the schools, it looks some of the creds may transfer so I can finish out my 4 year out there.

As for the Bay Area, I would not know where to begin to look... For both a job and a place, and all I know is that I should stay out of Oakland.

[djmanu]

I would consider South California too if you prefer it (even SD), there's a huge IT market as well and it's cheaper.
Where are you in Florida ?
I think Florida is not so bad for IT and COL is cheap ...

[centauri]

I live on the other side of I-10, a place that the cops call "Jack and Kill" lol. I have considered to stay in Florida, but it is not really a place to begin an IT career. For one, no one really want's to pay you anything and most of any entry positions around here are Break-Fix and call center ops, and when you want to work in Security and Networking, those are usually the last place you would want to start.

As for SoCal, I do have family in San Diego that will help me out. Also they are the one's that is heavily pushing me to go to CA.

[Bonez765]

Originally Posted by centauri

I live on the other side of I-10, a place that the cops call "Jack and Kill" lol. I have considered to stay in Florida, but it is not really a place to begin an IT career. For one, no one really want's to pay you anything and most of any entry positions around here are Break-Fix and call center ops, and when you want to work in Security and Networking, those are usually the last place you would want to start.

As for SoCal, I do have family in San Diego that will help me out. Also they are the one's that is heavily pushing me to go to CA.

if you have family in SD, then go to SD.

[oddstray]

Alternately, for InfoSec go to DC and its environs (VA, MD) and work for defense contractors.

[djmanu]

Originally Posted by centauri

I live on the other side of I-10, a place that the cops call "Jack and Kill" lol. I have considered to stay in Florida, but it is not really a place to begin an IT career. For one, no one really want's to pay you anything and most of any entry positions around here are Break-Fix and call center ops, and when you want to work in Security and Networking, those are usually the last place you would want to start.

As for SoCal, I do have family in San Diego that will help me out. Also they are the one's that is heavily pushing me to go to CA.

South and Central Florida have lots of networking engineering opportunities:

Florida Ranked Second-Fastest-Growing Job Market For Technology | WFSU

but if you prefer to move to socal I would move to SD as you have family over there ...

[eureka1]

InfoSec folks can sometimes find work in Vegas, working for the casino companies. Good luck to you wherever you end up.

[8to32characters]

Both Northern and Southern California are more expensive places to live than Central and South Florida, but goods and services are of much higher quality here, IMO. Also, there are many more entry-level professional opportunities for those in your field and others, and salaries tend to be higher and more proportional to the COL. Florida, OTOH, really isn't a place for entry-level professionals, and salaries there tend to range from low to very low and are completely out-of-whack with the ever-increasing COL. Non-salary benefits are typically much better in California vs. Florida, too, mostly due to the much stronger union presence and participation rates in California, which is NOT a RTW state, unlike Florida. Finally, the culture of California's major cities is a lot easier to acclimate to than that of Florida's major cities, unless you're from NYC, Long Island, or New Jersey.