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Thank you Beretta. I have seen some of those posts, was one of things i checked out to see what ppl didn't like about the area. I don't feel like I have much in common with the posters I saw who were unsatisfied. Some of those posts raised my eyebrows!
As long as I don't suddenly develop any allergies, can pay my bills and not experience a large change in cost of living, and can find employment within a month or two I think I'll be ok. I expect it'll take some time to make friends and truly be accepted into community. That's to be expected anywhere. I just hope the overall friendliness hasn't shifted to resentment as more and more outsiders come into the area. I understand if it has, I'd be upset too if ppl poured into my city and changed what I loved about it. I'd be welcoming at first but there would come a point where I'd be like whoa enough stop. Has it reached that point?
I'm going to echo some of what others said with addtl explanation:
Your rental budget is a bit short for Maryville or Oak Ridge or Bearden (which are more expensive than other places because of the desirable location, schools and/or higher city taxes). You can find something in Maryville but you won't probably like it. Clinton, Walland, Friendsville, or some areas of Knoxville will be more affordable. There are a couple of long-term stay hotels and even a microhotel to give you a place to stay while you look for a place, but I also suggest you look at airbnb.com because not only might you find something affordable, but your host might give you some guidance on where to live.
For employment, the tats aren't a stumbling block (assuming you don't have marijuana leaf on your neck or something) but your break in employment will be. I would consider getting a server job at a restaurant or working retail if you can't get work with a temp agency. If you are drug-free then you have an advantage because one of the biggest hurdles an employer has in filling positions is getting someone who can pass a drug test. Marijuana stays in the system 30 days and many folks think a couple of days away from it is good enough.
If you're a real go-getter, find a club or nonprofit group where you can meet regularly and build connections quickly. Those connections make good references and know where the jobs are and who fills them.
You can probably find a job, but it will likely be $10/hr or so. Retail, food service, and the like typically don't pay well in east TN.
The employment gap is going to be a problem. The fact that you were terminated from your only job since 2012 is worse yet. Someone will probably give you a chance for a low end job since the economy is doing relatively well, but it's going to be an uphill battle, especially with no local references or connections. The temp agency bit is a good idea.
I'm from east TN, and I can tell you that the main reason I was hired at my job (though it's a career oriented position - I was living out of state at the time) was because I was from the local area. I work for a very large organization, and I don't remember my department hiring anyone who wasn't a local since I've been here.
I think your biggest problem is that with no source of income, you're going to find it very difficult to find a landlord willing to rent to you. You'll probably be in a hotel or a room sharing situation. You'll burn through $5,000 very quickly.
Put simply, there's no way I'd relocate to an area where I knew no one, had no safety net, and no job offer with just $5,000 in my pocket. That's setting yourself up to fail. Stay where you are until you get more money and your situation stabilizes some.
11-12$ hr is average for my current area but that is likely to be part time. There is simply no such thing as full time in retail. It was like this prior to 2012 and it hasn't changed. If anything it's worse now and is looking bleaker woth the mandated minimum wage hike.
I know being a minimum wage customer service type puts me in with the unwashed masses, those dirty lazy poor people. I like the work tho, I like being behind a register checking people out, I like being in the backroom pulling or pushing stock to the salesfloor, I like being on the salesfloor keeping everything looking nice and helping shoppers find what they are looking for. I take pride in the work I do and the service I help provide. I wasn't all together happy being a stay at home wifey but I was happy to take care of him and our home. That fell through. It took me some time to heal my heart and readjust to life on my own. I'm ready to move on.
The info everyone has shared has been helpful. My wrist tattoos should be as accepted as no big deal and work is available in the area I'm looking at. I'd have a hard time getting an apartment in any state, (including my current) with no source of income. I know I'd have to gain employment first, then apartment. If it means working at subway, no problem (they have good subs for a chain). If it means working 2 jobs to get started, no problem.
Reading the forum I see the area has changed a LOT in the past 10 years. As money moves in the demographics begin to change. I don't want to walk into something where I'm hated by the richer for my lower income life and hated by the people like me cuz I'm another trying for the same jobs. Being an outsider is hard, being an outsider and unwelcomed is even harder.
The 5k I have is what is have after moving/travel expenses. If I can secure a job/home within a month or two I'd be fine. If it means subway or subway and b'king to start as i make connections and keep looking for opportunities im ok with that. I don't have family, i don't have ties to ny aside from living here and loving that its a near perfect mix of country and city. Have never enjoyed the cold and snow. Its a very economically depressed area. I just don't see a reason to stay aside from fear..what if I fail, what if it doesn't work. I'm more afraid of my neighbors hating me than i am of having to work two jobs to get by.
So maybe the questions I should be asking are
1. What is life like for the working poor in Knoxville/Maryville area?
2. Where is the best/good place for the working poor to live in the area?
3. Would I be able to find acceptance as a working poor ny yankee in the area?
4. What are some clubs/non profits i should take a look at? I am into books, gardening, animals (pets and cows), and art. I would also like to be part of a church.
5. What is with the crime statistics? I've read Tn reports on crime differently and it's mostly domestic/drug (theft) related. Is there anywhere I'd have to be concerned about assault, murder, rape?
6. I'd plan on being in area around jan(ish), thus missing the best time to get into retail. How do things typically look employment wise (retail/food) in the first quarter of the year?
P.s when I traveled i had planned to stay in tn/sc/ga area and settle down. I came back to ny for love and it was nice for a while but proved to be a mistake. Life goes on.
This is a little scary for me but I would like to move while I still feel confident. It's easy to talk ones self out of making any big change and the relationship (and not working for so long) did affect my confidence. I'm feeling like my old self now (a year later) and I'd rather hit the ground running in a new place then spin my wheels here in ny telling myself I'll do it in another 6 months or after another grand saved.
Last edited by Morningstarsally; 11-19-2018 at 10:54 AM..
I am concerned about employment prospects with such a gap in my work history and dont think i can count on my most current job to be a good reference. With this in mind where would I stand as a new out of stater looking for employment?
I'm going to give my standard advice to someone who isn't interested in a white collar job, and under the circumstances I think it applies even more. Get a job in or near your current city with a national company such as Walmart, McDonalds, BP, etc. Work hard for six months to make a reputation for being a great employee and make a move with the company. Simply go to your general manager and tell them you're interested in moving to the knoxville area and ask if they could find you an open position. You will need to be flexible on timing and open to the idea that you could wind up in a neighborhood that might not be your first choice, but it eliminates the worry of being jobless and trying to rent, or running out of funds or being forced to take a really horrible job to make ends meet. I have done this more times than I can count and it has always worked for me. It also gives you some time to really do some more in depth research on the area before committing, since it's not likely you are in a position to visit before moving.
I think you will find a job with proper explanation. I would just say you stayed at home to take care of the kids. Of course, they will probably call your previous employer so be willing to explain why you were terminated from your last job.
Even with my entry level, I will ask for reason in gaps in employment but as long as it makes sense, and I think you can do a great job, and can pass a background check, you're still hireable.
Dubble T gave some great advice about internal transfers. I really do think it would do you good to come down and visit us and see if you actually like it here first.
During my year of travel I spent much of my time in tn/sc/ga. I loved the area. So much I had planned to stay. I almost bought a home in Pegram during that time. Nashville is a little too big for my liking tho. Knoxville appears much more my type of city.
I love the country also but I don't see it as practical to try to live there. I don't think there is much difference between small town ny and small town tn in that they are both difficult for transplants to be accepted (grew up in small town ny, cows outnumbered ppl).
Im a people person who also likes to enjoy my time by myself when im home. I talk to cashiers and sometimes other shoppers when im out running errands. I talk to my bank lady every week when i see her. I talk to my customers when im working. In my city this friendliness is considered not normal, I'd love to be some place where I'm not the only one.
As a visitor it'll always be different than the realities of living there day to day. I'd love to be where the weather I love most is longer than two months. I don't start to really enjoy it until it hits 80-90, I'm lucky to get a good month of that here. Winter snow usually starts oct and doesn't disappear until mar, Apr sometimes. You guys will get as much snow all year as I'll get in an hour. Although it would be nice to be some place where I can still see it (just a little) once or twice a year.
I need greenery, trees, forests, lakes, streams. I want to stay on east coast. I want to be able to be near a city for the cultural (ethnic food,art), near shopping (target/walmart, aldi, ULTA, thrift store, book store), near the country (hiking, fishing, farmers markets, taking a country drive, cows would be a plus, fields of corn). I want everything within 20-30 min from me.
I want to be where people are still friendly, believe in God, lean conservative, have a live let live view, don't expect the government to provide everything as deserved handout, where having a gun doesn't make one a evil gun freak, where independence coexists with helping your neighbors, where it's still ok to hunt and love venison.
Ive looked at a lot of places. Ive traveled to a lot of places during my time traveling. Knox area looks to be as close as i can get to perfect. It's not perfect. There's the allergies/haze, traffic looks to be bad and probably getting worse, crime is high, there's the opioid epidemic, and i think fire ants exist there. But the pros out weigh the cons.
I worry about getting initial employment. Once I get a job, any job, I'm back in the game. With a work ethic and finding satisfaction in the service industries I can rebuild my work history.
I worry most about not being accepted by my neighbors and coworkers. The we love you as a visitor we don't want you to stay. I want to be part of the community. To live in a place where I'd be shunned for where I came from underneath a superficial friendliness would probably be the worst life I could imagine. That is my biggest fear.
I currently live in a place where I have the landscape I love best but no love for the weather. My city is economically depressed and in decline. I belive the minimum wage raise we are scedudualed to get is only going to lead to making situation worse. I have nothing to stay here for aside from my art contacts. I dread another winter (6in snow and many more feet ahead). I have the money now to try to make the move, who knows what may happen in months ahead. I could put my car in a ditch or get hit due to the bad weather, heating expenses could slowly erode my savings, I may meet another guy who convinces me to stay another year, or I wait so long it's easier to let the dream slip away because why take the chance/risk.
As desperate as employers are for help nowadays, I have no doubts you will find work. Whether the pay is enough to sustain yourself is the question. You may have to work 2 jobs for a bit. I think I would live in a small town and commute to Knoxville where there are better employment opportunities.
OP I think you will succeed where you land. I think you will find more acceptance of those from elsewhere in towns or cities that have a lot of transplants. I am sure Nashville has that and some suburbs or smaller nearby cities tht would suit you but believe Knoxville area will as well given the retirees moving to that area.
Your communication skills and attitude will allow you to thrive in Tn I believe. I have moved with work a good bit and experienced this first hand. I know Tn some but not s well as the residents. So listen to them as you are doing.
Good luck Tn would be lucky have to you in their workforce and as a neighbor
I agree with the most recent comments, your ethic and drive seems to be high. I have no doubt that you can be successful in the Knoxville area with that and can be accepted!
Just plan things out in advance on a weekend trip maybe, and start applying for jobs online.
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