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Old 06-13-2017, 06:47 PM
 
Location: Des Moines Metro
5,103 posts, read 8,547,523 times
Reputation: 9793

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Quote:
Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat View Post
1) Is employment really that grim, or are you guys just being pessimists? I look at the Iowa Workforce Development job listings as well as Indeed site occasionally over the past year or two we've been pondering this, and it always seems like there are plenty of jobs that we are qualified for or willing to do that are hiring.
Just because it's online doesn't mean they are actually hiring. Also be aware that some businesses have "ghost" ads: they want to look like they are doing okay (Hey, we're hiring!) but they really aren't. This is where some inside information can help. Work your contacts. If your people use Linkedin, work it. Not all fields do.

Here's what you can do: plan on coming out here for a short vacation and apply to a bunch of jobs. Be sure to include the line: I will be visiting Iowa the week of June 25 - 30. Could we schedule an interview during that time? Obviously, you'd give them longer than that.

See how many interviews you get.
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Old 06-13-2017, 07:27 PM
 
459 posts, read 2,220,556 times
Reputation: 422
Quote:
Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat View Post
Thanks for all the responses and town recommendations, I'll look into them. We've stayed in Forest City before, and I liked the town.

A couple of things to clear up perhaps:

1) Is employment really that grim, or are you guys just being pessimists? I look at the Iowa Workforce Development job listings as well as Indeed site occasionally over the past year or two we've been pondering this, and it always seems like there are plenty of jobs that we are qualified for or willing to do that are hiring.

Are these sites misleading? You guys have a pretty low unemployment rate, especially compared to Philadelphia (which has a pretty bleak job situation - most private companies are located outside of the city due to the tax situation here, therefore not very accessible via public transit, and therefore not really accessible for us).

I didn't post our whole resumes on here, because I didn't think it was too relevant. But, for instance, who's going to hire a billing clerk who lives 1,000 miles away? Or someone for route sales? Or a security guard? And then try to coordinate a job interview, moving, etc. when they could find someone locally to start tomorrow? I'd sort of have to question the sense of anyone who'd even want to do that, honestly. On the other side of it, how many job interviews is one (me) supposed to go on (which would include air fare, car rental, hotel stay, calling out from my current job for a day or two) for the chance at a job that starts at maybe 11 dollars or so an hour?

We've done the long-distance move before, as well as having done it with my parents when I was younger, and the saving up to cover living expenses and finding work after is much preferable to me, and it would be hard to convince me otherwise on that one ( I've been hearing this one for a long time is all - and things have always worked out for us as we're willing to take the opportunities that come along).

2) One thing that I perhaps should have mentioned but didn't is that we'd not be owning anything until our lives were kind of straightened out. Depending on how long it takes exactly, it would be some combination of temporarily staying in extra uninhabited space relatives have and renting our own place.

One thing we definitely don't want is to get invested in owning a place and then get jobs nowhere near it. Currently in Philadelphia our commutes via transit are 45 minutes and 75 minutes respectively (one way). So we are used to that aspect of life. But like a lot of you have correctly mentioned, where you work is an important part of where you live. Part of the appeal of Mason City was between the big box stores, restaurants, grocery stores, the few hotels, seemed like it wouldn't be that crazy to expect to find a way to bring in some income even if it's not a career (which I have yet to get anyway!).

3) Like I also said, 55k isn't a number to get too caught up on. According to our budget, we would be putting 40k towards a house up front (this doesn't include the additional year to two of living expenses we'd have saved up, which could also go towards a house assuming we found employment in less than one to two years) - the more we can pay off the better. Our relatives have bought really nice houses in very small towns for 40k. I understand they cost more than that in Mason City. If we put 40k towards a 60k, 80k, 100k house it's not really the end of the world for us if it turns out we like Mason City and we can make it work with employment. We're only two people and don't need a big house, or a particularly nice one, just close to habitable.

4) Sort of wish I never said anything about a car, because some people took it the wrong way. We currently have no car in Philadelphia. In fact we would buy one here in Philadelphia now, except that we'd rather be putting our money away for the time being. It seems like we would need two in Iowa - but the idea of living somewhere where the possibility of not having to depend on two cars comes into play - especially later in life, assuming we stick around until retirement age - is to Mason City's advantage.

Based on what you're describing, you will have no problem finding full time work in Mason City. There is a diversified employment base and if you're willing to work for $12-15/ hour, you'll have plenty of jobs to choose from. Now, if you're wanting a $60K or $80K per year type job...it will be a tough road to hoe in northern Iowa. Very few positions for high paying professional type jobs (I think this is what other posters mean when they say the employment outlook is bleak).
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Old 06-14-2017, 03:53 AM
 
Location: Midwest
1,283 posts, read 2,213,136 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pepe1 View Post
Based on what you're describing, you will have no problem finding full time work in Mason City. There is a diversified employment base and if you're willing to work for $12-15/ hour, you'll have plenty of jobs to choose from.
Yes - this is what we make in Philadelphia and are able to make a go of it, even putting away about half our income into savings. Mason City has a lower cost of living, so I assumed it was reasonable to imagine things work work out there too.

I know owning a house has its own costs as well - but I'm guessing in the long run we'd do better with a modest house there than paying the close to 1k per month rent we pay here for a 1br.
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