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OP, you sound like you've got your act together more than most people twice your age. I don't see you ending up destitute. Time to move.
And BTW, I don't know about your industry, but a lot of employers only accept local candidates. If that's the case for jobs you're looking for, you'll just have to move where you're going if you don't know anyone there.
I’m an old lady and don’t believe in crushing any young person’s dreams. In the end, we most regret the things we really did want to do but did not. So, I do think — with 2 suitcases and enough cash — you might consider getting an extended stay hotel room or Airbnb and buying your vehicle there (the taxes are high). You don’t want to rent an apartmeng until you know where your job will be. The traffic there is crazy and you will want to live near the job if you have to go in to the work site every day.
If you can bag a few job interviews ahead of time (explaining you are moving there and will be in the area that week to secure housing) go ahead and set up a couple of weeks in a extended stay hotel and take Uber to your interviews or lease a car for a couple of weeks. Maybe do this for a month. At the end of your set time evaluate your next steps.
A decent Airbnb in Silicon Valley for a month will cost you $1800 - $2K.
This... life is meant to be lived and you seem to really have your act together. Everyone will tell you why you can't do things, but be smart about it.
Get the car now..
Get your resume and cover letter professionally done now...
Sign up to get your degree now.. some universities will take into work experience to earn credit....
Can you find a larger company where you live now that has locations around the country? Meaning, once you have your foot in the door, you could put in for a transfer later on?
Plan your next vacation in one of those areas....
Contact a Recruiter/Headhunter in both areas... their job is to find and place candidates, and they get paid big $ to do it.
This... life is meant to be lived and you seem to really have your act together. Everyone will tell you why you can't do things, but be smart about it.
I suspect the reason here is your age, OP. If you said you were 30, they'd ask why you're still living at home.
At 22, my parents had kids and had lived in several states as a family. My dad worked on construction projects and, given the times, I doubt he got a job before they moved.
Now, 22-year-olds are considered barely out of diapers.
Financing a car while unemployed is a issue. Renting might not happen without a cosigner since you have no history renting. Buy a cheap used car for cash and find roomates who own dishes and tv so you only need a sleeping mat. Expecting to buy an entire apartment of everything from shower curtain to dish soap will cost more than you can imagine even if you get used furniture. You will also need new clothing.
I have the clothing ready here all new never worn, more of a California closet wardrobe that I am not allowed to touch until I move. As for apartment essentials I was going to go with a minimalist design until I feel comfortable enough to grow into better things for my apartment, a TV is not included in that budget as it is not only a distraction but not something I cannot live without. My primary essentials are what I will need to live such as the couch, bed, bathroom stuff etc.
But it is good to note I should probably find the job and then finance the car! Thank you for your reply!
Quote:
Originally Posted by WorldKlas
I’m an old lady and don’t believe in crushing any young person’s dreams. In the end, we most regret the things we really did want to do but did not. So, I do think — with 2 suitcases and enough cash — you might consider getting an extended stay hotel room or Airbnb and buying your vehicle there (the taxes are high). You don’t want to rent an apartmeng until you know where your job will be. The traffic there is crazy and you will want to live near the job if you have to go in to the work site every day.
If you can bag a few job interviews ahead of time (explaining you are moving there and will be in the area that week to secure housing) go ahead and set up a couple of weeks in a extended stay hotel and take Uber to your interviews or lease a car for a couple of weeks. Maybe do this for a month. At the end of your set time evaluate your next steps.
A decent Airbnb in Silicon Valley for a month will cost you $1800 - $2K.
Very true, I suppose I should look for a month's worth of AirBNB probably $30-45 a day but it will definitely give me time to job search and get to know the areas and options I have.
I may search for areas alternative to Silicon Valley if I find that I need to adjust for any reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by YorktownGal
I totally agree with WorldKlas. DO A TRAIL RUN. Set up a few job interviews. Living in an extended stay and take uber around.
Why not contact to head hunters or recruiters while home? Companies in the process of hiring don't care where you live now. Living outside of local area will not hurt your chances
Companies don't hire immediately. There are weeks of interviewing all the candidates. HR has endless discussions about about who to hire. Managers have to be consulted. Along the line, someone will take a two week vacation which holds up the process. It takes time for background checks.
Even if you find your dream job immediately, the start date could be a month later.
If you are not a local-canditate it does hurt your chances slightly as you are considered a risk as the employer could not be sure unless explicitly mentioned that you WILL follow through with the move, what I went ahead and did is mention that I am for-sure moving and that I am interested in employment in the area as part of my Cover Lette declaring my intent. With that being said I am aware that the start-date could be a little stretched so I had planned to apply for occupations in those areas once I hit the budget mark that would allow for 3 months worth of expenses saved.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheShadow
Just an FYI...most apartments will not rent to you unless you already have a job, and can show that your monthly earnings are 3x the rent. So getting an apartment before getting a job might not be a thing you can do. I wouldn't want you to arrive with just your suitcases and not be able to find a place to live. As an alternative, there are extended stay hotels (with kitchens in the suite) where you can rent for a couple months if you arrive without a job. The benefit there is they are fully furnished with everything you need, including pots and pans, dinnerware, etc.
I have read this actually and agree. That was my fear as well, I want to try to pre-qualify over the phone and let the land-lords know my situation and my idea to move, that way there are no shocks on either end and I would know before moving out of state that I have somewhere to sleep upon arriving.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheShadow
It looks like the cheapest rents are in downtown San Jose in the area with numbered streets. They start at around $1700 for a 1 bedrm. And most will expect first and last months rent, plus a security deposit.
In the worst case scenario, San-Jose is definitely something I can consider, there are numerous areas in California that are beautiful and worth staying for I think. So if I need to adjust to live the life I would like then I am prepared to make that change.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmcahacker
OR.....depending on where in Michigan you live you could also buy a brand new 2019 Chevy Cruze with 315 miles for just under $15,000 instead of a 5 year old luxury class car for $20,000. That's just the first car listed in a random Detroit zip code so it also stands to reason that you could find the same car or similar with the 20k to 30k miles that you are looking at in a Mercedes for probably half that or better. This goes directly to my "wants vs needs" statement. You have no job and in order to secure one you NEED a dependable car yet apparently you WANT a Mercedes. I'm sure a Mercedes is nice but they are not the only reliable car out there and they are more expensive to insure and maintain no matter what city you live in. There's nothing wrong with wanting nice things if you can afford them but until you have the actual steady income to back it up then it's foolish to assume you will always be able to afford wants vs needs. It's great that you believe in yourself so deeply but why in the world would you want to put yourself in more debt than you have to right out of the gate???
Unforunately, a Mercedes IS one of those cars I didn't want to choose but for the sake of living below my means the 2015-2016 Mercedes was what I ended up going with, I could finance a nicer car like a new 2017 Porsche, or something along those lines but after comparing a 1 & 5 year maitenence record sheet it appears that the Mercedes is my better choice than the Porsche or Range Rover I initially planned to buy.
With that being said the most important thing to me is being able to invest at least $1000 a Month into my Investment Portfolio.
Quote:
Originally Posted by psichick
If you're going to buy a luxury car, esp a MBZ, then don't forget to add in maintenance/repair costs, way more expensive than a Honda (for example). Also, registration for a $20k car will be about $400/yr or so. Not sure, it's been awhile and each car is different. If you have the VIN and kind of know where you'd want to live, you can check here: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/de...ecalculatorweb
Another thing you can do, I came to OR for 2 weeks and lived in an Extended Stay hotel. I had made sure to get as many interviews before and during that time period. I didn't get any jobs, but at least I was there, living about where I wanted to, experienced the commute time, the area, etc. It was a great little trip that made me push for moving even though I didn't have a job. But I also had a LOT more money than you'll have.
Oh yeah, most apartment complexes won't rent to you without a job or a job offer in hand. Most of them will rent to you if you can pay up front (a year's worth or a set amount) or show that you have enough money in an accessible bank account for the term of the lease
Yep! So I do have with me an average 1 & 5-year maintenance cost sheet for each of the cars I considered and add that into my annual budget of things to account for if need be.
But I do see the trend that I should perhaps land a job first to prove that I have sustainable income prior to moving, that way I could show up and not worry about not having a place to stay, I also planned to pre-qualify with those landlords if possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RamenAddict
IT didn’t revolve heavily around degrees years ago, but California is generally competitive. When many of the better companies have thousands of applicants, of course they are going to go for people with degrees. My family member works at one of the FAANG companies and has a degree from a top CS school, is bilingual, and had several years of relevant experience before starting. Her husband had undergrad and graduate degrees from top CS schools and a postdoc from a top CS school before he started at one of the FAANG companies. He also had work at another top tech company while getting his PhD. Many of their school friends also work at top tech companies. The issue is that you are 22 and have no degree. You are competing against people who are probably a bit older with impressive experience and/or have degrees from well recognized CS/CE schools. Even going for Silicon Beach (LA) is going to be highly competitive.
That is definitely a challenge that I could forecast to be problematic. Although I do have the skills I am not a hard believer in a document that says you could perform a task but sometimes that is important to employers so definitely understandable there. I need to come up with a plan to reach for a Certificate or perhaps earn credits towards Work-Experience to build that foundation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by parentologist
Get the job first, then move. Also, look at the cost of living where you're moving to. Silicon valley is incredibly expensive. Sure, you might see apartments on line that cost less - but take a look at the crime level, and the neighborhood where they are - probably dangerous ghetto shooting galleries.
Crime and Neighborhoods is definitely something I will add to my things to check for an ideal apartment.
Deja vu all over again: I was 22 when I blew town, that being Birmingham MI. Eons ago, and curious how times have changed: I had work waiting, in Reno, and my Plan B came through a month after that as-well. Made more money than I ever had in my life, literally, though if I'd known better I'd have known it was bird seed then as now. Perspective!
You're making more than I did, in adjusted dollars. And I had a STEM degree as a professional scientist. I had only a few years of lab experience and internship when I started. I had no work in Michigan, was moving TO a job, so the uncertainty was low. Back then, we relied on letters and phone calls. Cripes, long-ass time ago...Gen X, man.
I'd have been too cautious to move away from that kind of money at 22, though you will figure out eventually there is 2x, 3x available elsewhere all in good time. That will be an option in maybe 5-10 years, if you're decent at what you do. Friend of mine was complaining about $92/hr as a W2 contractor (sr. security expert/advisor), and I suggested he clam up. First World problem, for those w/10+ years in the parts of IT that actually matter (Cloud Dev, Security, couple other areas. AI, ML, IoT is coming at some point...)
No degree, huh? That will bite you, hard, sooner vs. later. You'll see. And you'll be scrambling to finish it, thinking about this thread in C-D the whole time I'm sure and "why, oh why, didn't I complete that check box from a school that wasn't Moo U?". You will, and salary will go from beer money to okay about two days after the ink dries. Then, you'll figure out later you need an MS, or MBA, and not from some ghetto place either. But that's later. Ivy MBA paid off hugely for me, at 39, later than many of my peers age-wise. I'm reaping that now, and have for about nine years.
"How" do you move, LOL. And you actually have real money to do this! I had the equivalent of $5K as backup funds. You should do well, depends how long it takes to find work, and maybe parachute back home if-not. I never did, moved West and never looked back. Step by Step:
STEP 1: Don't overthink the move
Pack whatever **** you have into scraggly old Toyota Camry. It better be reliable. For me, was an '81 Mustang Fox body. Ain't bragging about that, either. That's how much you need to leave with, no more or less. My Mustang was reliable, and your (whatever) should be, too. Mine never blew up, years later, either. Fond memories of Ford, thus...but to the point, you're traveling right. You do NOT need possessions. Have a garage sale, tomorrow, or pack it in the folks' garage (I did some of that, too, pre-move).
STEP 2: A Flophouse
I'd personally move into a rooming house, to do it over again, and I lived in a motel by the week my first month there: Reno, in my case. I winged it, being 22 and not really caring plus being highly resourceful.
STEP 2A: Live like a Vagrant, it Would be Eye-Opening (Seriously)
Since you're traveling light, you have tons of options. Living in the car is one, if you need to. In Silicon Valley, bet you would. I'm guessing life like that with the vagrants can be a hassle, but also strangely liberating other than dealing with mean cops, bums, thieves, and cutthroats. Hey, I've rubbed elbows with all long enough to know I never want to be any of the above, but they're people too. Having lived rags to upper middle class riches, across an arc of 29 years, I'll tell you all about how to live both ways.
STEP 3: Now that you live in a flop house, spend all day, every day, finding a job.
Better have a rock-solid, readable resume and at least one nice sport coat. Buy the latter at the Salvation Army or Value Village (great chain of donated goods here in Seattle area).
You don't need to do anything else if you live in a flophouse or are a vagrant in some parking lot, other than to make sure you don't get robbed (I never was). I'd keep life real simple. If you find a half-decent job, you can move into a scummy place in San Jose area with the vatos or other working class, or maybe better elsewhere. I wouldn't turn up in SV making less than a quarter-mil$, personally, but the equivalent of my house here in Kirkland WA down there in, say, Los Gatos would be $2.5M. Do the math on that mortgage. YMMV.
STEP 4: When you have accepted a half-decent job, in writing, find a half-decent place to rent for a year or two
I found an apartment in Reno for the princely sum of about (adjusted dollars) $600/month, after I had a job with a mining company (in my case) that paid about $50K in adjusted dollars. Worth every penny, too. Not quite scummy, I actually liked it there, and was 50% on the road anyway. Some crapped-out neighborhood is fine, live with the working folks, you'll love it as long as you don't have champagne tastes. I lived in a rodent-infested frat house last 1.5 years of my undergrad so anything otherwise was a major improvement. The new place had no rats. I loved it.
STEP 5: If looks like it might work, consider trading up with whatever equity (if anything) you've managed to squirrel away.
Buy a condo, or continue to rent in a better part of town. I bought a couple places after '99 and did some speculating and leveraging, which paid off handsomely. Alternative income sources help.
I'd also move where the work is. I did that twice more, landing in Seattle where I will stay remainder of my career. After, hard to say.
PITFALLS
No degree: bad in a place and industry where that's a bar for entry. In SV, you're 35 miles from Stanford U. That should tell you something about the competition. Not to mention Berkeley, USC, etc...
No job waiting: you're braver than me, it's a lot tougher now vs. way back when
Walking away from a $50K/year job because Michigan sucks (and yes, it does, compared to West Coast) isn't too clever, I must say. Unless you live in some hole like Kalkaska or Lansing.
Kiss "luxury" anything goodbye for 10 years, you can't afford it. Trust me. Put all that away or sell it to some pawn shop.
DON'TS
Don't bring more **** with you than fits in the lockable trunk and back seat of your jalopy. Period. I wouldn't acquire so much as one stick of furniture from "IKEA" or other dumb stuff for next few years or so. Buy everything at the goodwill or for free from colleagues and other giveaways. My mattress and couch were second hand for more than a decade. I'm just fine. My table was a spool from the power company, varnished and sanded. Rest of my stuff, including TV, was from Craig's List equivalent back then. I tossed the bulk away when I moved to SF in 1991, and that I didn't fit into a Ryder Truck (small one) just fine. By a wide margin, when I moved to SF area from Reno (for a job, in-writing), my most valuable possession was my motorcycle... and my 9mm SIG Sauer P226. Those two things, plus diamonds (portable wealth), are last-option get out of trouble devices, I (correctly) assumed.
Don't do anything stupid like "have a girlfriend" or pets or other anchors, until you're settled in. All that is more nuisance than you can afford, and anchors in life that truly do...not...MATTER. I had nothing, and no one, I could not walk out on in 30 seconds flat until 1995, when I bought a nice BMW used. I was 26. Life was pretty stable by then.
Best of luck!
Gothca! So what I am gathering is to live below my means, and use that extra money to cushion myself in whatever area possible. I may pursue some certification or perhaps a degree that will provide me credits towards my work-experience! So I got some searching to do to polish of what those next steps will be but this I think is a great foundation for what to look for! Thank you so much! And a hello from me to a fellow Michigander! Haha
So, my husband and I moved to Florida when we were in our mid-20s. We also had two very young children along for the ride.
Here's how we did it:
Hubby flew down first and went to some job interviews. He had applied via email and mail in advance (this was in 2004; obviously it's much simpler to apply online now!) and scheduled them for the 10 days or so that he'd be in Florida. While here for those days, he stayed in a hotel for some of it and with a friend from high school for some of it. He was offered two jobs and accepted one.
Also, while he was here, he looked at rental homes. Since we were coming with a family, we needed to be able to move into something in a safe neighborhood, so he worked with a real estate agent and grilled her about the neighborhoods. It turned out that the house he chose was in a lovely neighborhood, so that worked out great.
I want to say that he flew down in late May or early June? His start date at the new job was August 1. But then our closing was postponed (we were selling our home up north, which is not something you are dealing with, so that's good) and he ended up talking to the boss and getting it postponed to August 15 or something like that.
In the meantime, we packed up, sold the house, and the kids and I moved in temporarily with my MIL (up north) while he and his friends drove down our cars and a moving truck. We weren't going to make the 20-hour drive with a baby and a preschooler, so after maybe a week (?), the kids and I flew down to meet him. We had brought our beds, dining room set, and our clothes and things like that, but not a living room set (the one we had was a hand-me-down and we wanted to replace it anyway). The rental home came with appliances. Once we arrived, we went shopping and ordered our living room furniture to be delivered a week or so later.
The adventure began with a bang, because Hurricane Charley blew through our town within a week of us arriving. That entailed evacuation. Since we were without electricity and running water for almost two weeks and since we had small children, and since it was August and we were not used to the humidity, we ended up staying in a Central Florida hotel for that time. Once the town turned the water back on, we came back. That ate up a lot of our savings that we hadn't anticipated having to spend, but thankfully we had it to rely on.
I think that you need to go to wherever you are most heavily considering. Apply for jobs and schedule interviews all within the same week. Go to the interviews and secure housing for yourself at the same time. Because you are one single person, you could conceivably stay in an extended stay hotel, but that is going to be at a relatively high cost. If you do it for just one month or less, though, it's likely doable. Spend that month searching for housing. The good thing is that it's just you. I think $16,000 is probably plenty to get started, but ONLY if you have a job lined up! Do not move to a different state without a job. It might not be as easy as you think to find one, and if a couple months go by with nothing, you're going to have to use whatever money is left to go back home. Don't waste your money by taking that chance; line up a job and, if possible, decent housing before you officially move.
OP, you sound like you've got your act together more than most people twice your age. I don't see you ending up destitute. Time to move.
And BTW, I don't know about your industry, but a lot of employers only accept local candidates. If that's the case for jobs you're looking for, you'll just have to move where you're going if you don't know anyone there.
I read that as well, what I decided to do is be up-front with my intent to move in my cover letter and as well reinforce the idea that I am applying as I am moving. I also removed my address from my resume so when they ask I can sort of talk about my situation in a more interview-like manner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LMPA
This... life is meant to be lived and you seem to really have your act together. Everyone will tell you why you can't do things, but be smart about it.
Get the car now..
Get your resume and cover letter professionally done now...
Sign up to get your degree now.. some universities will take into work experience to earn credit....
Can you find a larger company where you live now that has locations around the country? Meaning, once you have your foot in the door, you could put in for a transfer later on?
Plan your next vacation in one of those areas....
Contact a Recruiter/Headhunter in both areas... their job is to find and place candidates, and they get paid big $ to do it.
Keep us posted!
I was naive about that! I never knew that some universities will take work-experience as credits! That is something I will definitely need to look into a little!
The company I currently work for is national, however, the salary and work do not match up to the cost of living I would have in either Florida or California, with that being said it does pinpoint what to look for in a company when applying I think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sheerbliss
I suspect the reason here is your age, OP. If you said you were 30, they'd ask why you're still living at home.
At 22, my parents had kids and had lived in several states as a family. My dad worked on construction projects and, given the times, I doubt he got a job before they moved.
Now, 22-year-olds are considered barely out of diapers.
Interesting, yes unfortunately many young people are viewed as that, something that I actually try not to find as you did mention I do try to be a little wiser than most people my age only because I am more focused on building my portfolio & self-development I never really cared for what people do my age if it did not involve that.
So, my husband and I moved to Florida when we were in our mid-20s. We also had two very young children along for the ride.
Here's how we did it:
Hubby flew down first and went to some job interviews. He had applied via email and mail in advance (this was in 2004; obviously it's much simpler to apply online now!) and scheduled them for the 10 days or so that he'd be in Florida. While here for those days, he stayed in a hotel for some of it and with a friend from high school for some of it. He was offered two jobs and accepted one.
Also, while he was here, he looked at rental homes. Since we were coming with a family, we needed to be able to move into something in a safe neighborhood, so he worked with a real estate agent and grilled her about the neighborhoods. It turned out that the house he chose was in a lovely neighborhood, so that worked out great.
I want to say that he flew down in late May or early June? His start date at the new job was August 1. But then our closing was postponed (we were selling our home up north, which is not something you are dealing with, so that's good) and he ended up talking to the boss and getting it postponed to August 15 or something like that.
In the meantime, we packed up, sold the house, and the kids and I moved in temporarily with my MIL (up north) while he and his friends drove down our cars and a moving truck. We weren't going to make the 20-hour drive with a baby and a preschooler, so after maybe a week (?), the kids and I flew down to meet him. We had brought our beds, dining room set, and our clothes and things like that, but not a living room set (the one we had was a hand-me-down and we wanted to replace it anyway). The rental home came with appliances. Once we arrived, we went shopping and ordered our living room furniture to be delivered a week or so later.
The adventure began with a bang, because Hurricane Charley blew through our town within a week of us arriving. That entailed evacuation. Since we were without electricity and running water for almost two weeks and since we had small children, and since it was August and we were not used to the humidity, we ended up staying in a Central Florida hotel for that time. Once the town turned the water back on, we came back. That ate up a lot of our savings that we hadn't anticipated having to spend, but thankfully we had it to rely on.
I think that you need to go to wherever you are most heavily considering. Apply for jobs and schedule interviews all within the same week. Go to the interviews and secure housing for yourself at the same time. Because you are one single person, you could conceivably stay in an extended stay hotel, but that is going to be at a relatively high cost. If you do it for just one month or less, though, it's likely doable. Spend that month searching for housing. The good thing is that it's just you. I think $16,000 is probably plenty to get started, but ONLY if you have a job lined up! Do not move to a different state without a job. It might not be as easy as you think to find one, and if a couple months go by with nothing, you're going to have to use whatever money is left to go back home. Don't waste your money by taking that chance; line up a job and, if possible, decent housing before you officially move.
I love this story! It definitely tells me that anything and everything can go wrong, job security is a trend I see a lot of in these responses so I would very closely consider getting a job first I think at this point! But I am also glad that you guys made it alright as well!
OP, I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, but have you applied for work through a temp agency? They deal with people in transition all the time.
This is an excellent idea. If you are staying in an Airbnb and looking for a job, you could do temp work and quite possibly that could also be a segway into an offer from a company you temp with.
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