Security Professional looking at Charlotte. (for sale, real estate, mortgage)

[Guardian77]

Hello everyone. My family and I are planning on relocating to Charlotte in the next year or so to be closer to family and get away from the madness of the DC Metro area. I am originally from Richmond but my parents were born and raised in Charlotte, so it not a hard decision for either one of us to make it our only choice. My only concern that I have is the job market. My job to be specific. I am a security consultant for a gov't contractor here. We travel to all US states and territories doing vulnerability assessments on military sites and give them recommendations on their security plans, policies, etc. I've been doing job searches but haven’t found much in that realm. I am currently an ASIS member and working on acquiring my PSP certification, with 7yrs of the Corps to back me up. Any other Security Professionals out there with any advice, or any one for that matter that can shine a light down the right hall for me?

[jayswife]

Hi there, I'd love for you to be able to talk to my dh right now. We moved here from the DC area to escape the taxes and high real estate costs. Unfortunately he could not find a decent paying security job in Charlotte. He ended up going with a DOD contract and is now working in Iraq. He did not want to become a police officer because that is not his route but that was the only option he was given. Next year we will have to put our home up for sale and move once again (he was in corps for 8 years so we're used to that..lol) My advice to you is to do lots and lots of research. My dh had many job offers back in Va but zero in Charlotte. He thought it would even himself out because our mortgage is smaller here but it hasn't. It's been very difficult. Charlotte is a great place but maybe you should go into mortgage loans or banking to find a decent job here. Good luck.

[Guardian77]

Wow. So a career change might be the only way. I'm not looking to go back over to the sandbox. I will have to do some more digging then to see what I could transition into. Thanks for the info, and good luck.

[New2CLT]

What about transitioning to security/IT? Seems to be a lot in that area... I've been doing IT research in Charlotte. Of course most seems to be with consulting for Wachovia or BofA. Check dice.com or http://www.g-c-i.com . What about Goodrich?

Good luck!

[Dave037]

A lot of retired LEO's go into fraud investigations with the banks. Thats a possible option for u.

[s0mmy]

I agree that DICE is probably your best bet in getting a job in security. Most of the company in Charlotte hire their employees from their contractor staff. Its a "try it before you buy it" arrangement. I too have moved from the DC area and I'm currently work as a contractor doing security work for one of the major companies in Charlotte. I'm not doing the same type of job that I was doing when I left the DC area (System Security Officer), I am currently managing firewalls (something I done in the past) but I'm still in the security field and it a much slower pace which is welcoming since I have enough stuff to stress me (closing on a new house and family is still north until the we can move to the new house). The one thing I must warn you about working for some contractors in Charlotte is they are not like the contractors in the DC area. I worked for Lockheed Martin and Northrup Gruman, as a contractor on a Government contract which I received pretty good benefits compare to my current employer. The one main grape I have with my current employer is that we do not get sick day, personal days or holidays. Although I rarely get sick or take off, it's nice to know you can and still get paid. I also have to work additional hours each day to have an upcoming holiday off and not have it affect my pay.

[Guardian77]

I have noticed that there are a lot of IT security positions there. As far as contractor positions, I know that you really have to research the company before putting your name on the dotted line. I learned my lesson with one company before joining this one. No benefits, the pay was always screwed up, and you could never count on upper management to side with you if the customer had a problem. I think taking the time to crosstrain in IT will be worth it.

[s0mmy]

Be aware of working for "6 month" contracts too. These are usually the contracts which may not extend any benefits to you due to the length of the contract being shorter then 12 months.