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Hello! I came across this forum through google while doing some research on moving to Oahu... I was born &raised on the ninth island (las vegas), my family &i visit Oahu frequently becuase my mom was pretty much raised there. She was born in the Philipines and moved to Wahiawa when she was 2 years old, went to Leilehua HS... Her family relocated to central Vegas when she was around 17 years old in a small cul-de-sac, met a guy who lived two houses down (my dad), fell in love &have pretty much been in Vegas ever since. I am the oldeset (25) &have a brother who is 18 &graduates this June, &a sister who graduates next year. My parents are planning on moving to Oahu after my siblings graduate --however, the more impatient ME would like to be out of vegas some time this year.
When we visit; everyone with the exception of my dad (who is white) &my boyfriend (who is black &puertorican) are mistaken for locals everywhere we go... until we start speaking of course lol.
I dont have doubts that my boyfriend &I will have a hard time fitting in the locals of Oahu in terms of making friends &being social &involved in the community. However, I worry about us finding jobs. He would like us to both find jobs each making at least $15/hr before we move &of course have 3 or 4K in savings.
My boyfriend is 24, has worked as Sales Associate for over five years for one company at a large tourist attraction here &is now a parts driver for a car dealership. Is it unreasonable for someone with his lack of experience &no college degree to find a job making at least $15/hr in Oahu?
I also have very little experience... Ive done technical support for Apple &their iOS devices, some retail experience, &an Associates degree in medical assisting however I haven't been able to find a job in Vegas to make use of that degree. Is it hard to find a medical assisting job with a degree but no real job experience in the field?
I guess I'm just wondering if our "plan" is unrealistic &see where it needs to be adjusted for two people who dont have much experience. Ive been searching through these threads and reading for months to try &answer my own questions, so I do appologize is much of this has already been covered previously -I must have skipped over it. Thanks in advance for any input &advice!
Is there any of your mom's family or long time friends still on the island? A lot of jobs go to folks who are known to or part of the extended ohana. You could ask some of the on-island relatives/friends if they know of anyone hiring as well as if they know of any sort of inexpensive housing. If you can live on less, then you'd not need the higher pay so if anyone had an ohana unit for you to rent, that might be another answer to finding work at $15 per hour.
Is there any of your mom's family or long time friends still on the island? A lot of jobs go to folks who are known to or part of the extended ohana. You could ask some of the on-island relatives/friends if they know of anyone hiring as well as if they know of any sort of inexpensive housing. If you can live on less, then you'd not need the higher pay so if anyone had an ohana unit for you to rent, that might be another answer to finding work at $15 per hour.
unfortunately for me, every living relative has made their way to a more inexpensive vegas over the last 20-30 years. do you by chance know what an average pay for entry level jobs would be? I've been thinking about contacting hiring agencies out there to further my research.
That would be a good idea and there's always Craig's list or the Star-Bulletin online. $15 /hour might be difficult. $3-4K as transition money is TOTALLY inadequate. Use the "search forum" feature to read stories of other people who came over , some better prepared than others. Good luck!
Last edited by eureka1; 04-01-2013 at 03:51 PM..
Reason: Forget somthing
He would like us to both find jobs each making at least $15/hr before we move &of course have 3 or 4K in savings.
To be honest, it sounds to me like you have just pulled those numbers out of thin air. They seem completely unrealistic.
What makes you think $15/hr is enough to live on? Or that you could earn that much without any particular job skills? Or that you'll be able to find any jobs at all right away? $3-4K in savings could easily be gone in a month, and likely would not even get you into an apartment. Almost all landlords are going to require you to be employed before they will rent to you, and by the time you find a job good enough to qualify for the apartment, all your savings could be gone. If you sit down and figure out a realistic budget, I think you'll find out why people are routinely discouraged from moving here who only have $10,000 in savings.
And I think you need to do a lot more homework. Use the Search function to dig into the archives here for previous conversations about all the key questions you have.
Note, the chances of finding jobs before you move is nil. You need special skills that are short supply in Hawai'i to be able to do that.
In addition, the kind of jobs you're likely to find with no special skills are generally going to be lower paying. A burger flipper WITH previous experience might be able to make $9 to start.
Sorry, but being eager to get OUT of Las Vegas is not a good enough reason to move TO Hawai'i if it is just going to throw you into poverty.
Moving with a whole household of employable people might be a more successful venture or if they would help subsidize your move, that would help, too. Since they are planning on moving back themselves, if they'd help send you over first to start scouting things out, that might be helpful. You'd be able to find an apartment for the whole family to rent when they moved over as well as perhaps have leads on jobs for them if you were already over here for several months first.
As a single female person, it is pretty easy to find house-to-share places or rent a single room somewhere. It gets more difficult as a couple. But check on Craig's List and see if there is some sort of inexpensive place somewhere, although it is doubtful that it will be one all by yourself. Rooms to rent instead of apartments or houses to rent. Sometimes it gets down to rooms to share, those are not usually a very comfortable situation and usually is only after folks know each other pretty well so is probably not an option for a newcomer. However, if there are folks on the mainland subsidizing your living quarters, that would go a long way towards making it work.
I'm beginning to see signs posted in store windows such as "part time dishwasher wanted". That would be minimum wage, though, with no benefits. But, at least it's employment and would mean you'd not need as much money from the mainland.
The mall and waikiki is filled with help wanted signs, doubtful though that they pay $15. I always joke to myself that many of the jobs here, and even office jobs downtown, can only be taken by those still living with mom and dad (not uncommon here at all). These young guys driving their flashy cars more than likely still live at home and will for awhile. My co workers niece just got a temp marketing/admin assistant position for the whopping $11.50 hour and they expect her to HAVE A CAR LOL. Don't always be fooled by the lure of Hawaii. Chances are you'll be indoors all the time and wonder where Hawaii went.
agree with above, single person has it a little easier in finding roommmates, shares, and they probably could get by with a little less than that $15, although they'd be paying a lot of your take home in shared rent, so weight that.. People do do that. You really do need to think in terms of moving money being enough for TWO, not one. That amount is not the best for even one person if figuring sharing $550 to $800 per month, but still no guarantee of a job. I dunno. There's always the hostel route in Waikiki for a bit. Since you have parents who I assume you could always 'go back to', you don't have a lot to lose, but I would at least have $5000 for each person, but still the issue of housing is a thorn. I do not think you're going to be able to sail into town, 2 young adults with little experience, no jobs and be able to rent an apt. You're going to have to have the job first before someone will rent to you. Even a share might not want someone loafing around all day looking for a job. I think hostel route may be best until you can firm up employment and give someone the sense that you plan to be around a bit.
My friend (with 2 kids) just moved off Dillingham in a 1 bedroom for about $1050 and would probably not be your 'dream' location to live (local oriented, not beachy lol) and would definitely NOT be the location for most of the posters on this forum, but she found it driving around. (BTW, even though she is single mom , her family lives here on island, she was born here, her parents, her sisters, ex husband, cousins etc, She has that support system many mainlanders do not have.
Anyway, good luck if you decide to. I think like the above poster said, to either wait till your parents move, or gather up a group. Hawaii is strange, some people do well here, some people even with the best intentions and good skill set, do not. I know a couple who came here in 2004, with good skills, she a paralegal has thrived, but he, as an accountant, has had issues for years and is a really good guy, but he just does not have luck here, although accounting positions do come up. Luckily they do have family on the mainland who have helped out for things like buying a condo, but they keep making the monthlys (and yes, they are over 40), he has gone back to school and I do think they are considering a move back to Illinois down the road. But again, they have the family support.
Then again, who could ever forget that "Journey of James" story on hawaii stories several years ago, about the young guy from alaska who blogged for a good 3 years on his move to Hawaii, moved here on a whim after a vacation, started working at Daiei, rented a hostel room, rose to work at zippys, got an apt, moved onward to a higher restaurant, met a girl, married, had a baby, got a better apartment and just thrived last I read (a few years ago). So everybody has a story, and I have rambled more than I should have.
Do research. This isn't the only place for opinions, but err on caution side for Hawaii if you can. But, if you have a back up plan and have somewhere else to go back to, you have a lot more than others in your situation.
Hello! I came across this forum through google while doing some research on moving to Oahu... I was born &raised on the ninth island (las vegas), my family &i visit Oahu frequently becuase my mom was pretty much raised there. She was born in the Philipines and moved to Wahiawa when she was 2 years old, went to Leilehua HS... Her family relocated to central Vegas when she was around 17 years old in a small cul-de-sac, met a guy who lived two houses down (my dad), fell in love &have pretty much been in Vegas ever since. I am the oldeset (25) &have a brother who is 18 &graduates this June, &a sister who graduates next year. My parents are planning on moving to Oahu after my siblings graduate --however, the more impatient ME would like to be out of vegas some time this year.
When we visit; everyone with the exception of my dad (who is white) &my boyfriend (who is black &puertorican) are mistaken for locals everywhere we go... until we start speaking of course lol.
I dont have doubts that my boyfriend &I will have a hard time fitting in the locals of Oahu in terms of making friends &being social &involved in the community. However, I worry about us finding jobs. He would like us to both find jobs each making at least $15/hr before we move &of course have 3 or 4K in savings.
My boyfriend is 24, has worked as Sales Associate for over five years for one company at a large tourist attraction here &is now a parts driver for a car dealership. Is it unreasonable for someone with his lack of experience &no college degree to find a job making at least $15/hr in Oahu?
I also have very little experience... Ive done technical support for Apple &their iOS devices, some retail experience, &an Associates degree in medical assisting however I haven't been able to find a job in Vegas to make use of that degree. Is it hard to find a medical assisting job with a degree but no real job experience in the field?
I guess I'm just wondering if our "plan" is unrealistic &see where it needs to be adjusted for two people who dont have much experience. Ive been searching through these threads and reading for months to try &answer my own questions, so I do appologize is much of this has already been covered previously -I must have skipped over it. Thanks in advance for any input &advice!
Try Quartzite, AZ. Lots of room to grow, and your $4K will last 10 times longer.
Try Quartzite, AZ. Lots of room to grow, and your $4K will last 10 times longer.
Really? That was a joke, right? How can anyone compare these two and even recommend someone considering Hawaii would instead consider the Desert?? I'm sure some love it; but I just don't get it!!
I completely understand your desire, there is no where else in the world quite like Hawaii indeed. I am planning on moving back with my GF when she passes the CPA as well, but I lived there for years and to give you an idea of what we'd be looking at moving back vs. what you are looking at doing, it's going to be tough. We are about your age, late 20's and she early 30's, but we would be moving with accounting education and CPA licenses in hand (we won't leave Seattle until licensed to give us both and edge, also we intend to try to find jobs before moving as well--which can be tough if you're not there but we can stay in a relative's guesthouse until we do get something going), experience, and more in savings, and with all that said, it still makes me a bit leery sometimes and keeps me up at night. That passes, however, as I too have lots of family there and know the in's and outs personally. 3-4k in savings simply isn't enough IMO. I don't want to sound like a jerk, but even with us coming with roughly 350k+ in savings, it's still a risky venture, I simply cannot imagine anything less than 25k working out, but us accountants always play it safe.
Of course you can plan on making some concessions to enjoy a different kind of lifestyle, I know I rarely watch TV or use the computer while I am/was there. I go for about 2 weeks every couple of months (away from the busy tax season) scoping things out and re-educating myself more and more on the islands. It always feels like home more than soggy Seattle, and it is SO hard to leave the longer I stay.
Oh yeah, sorry about the grammar/jibberish, it's been a long couple of nights without more than 3-4 hours of sleep....taxes....
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I'm sure some love it; but I just don't get it!!
