Nearly impossible to find a job in Maine? (license plate, vacation)

[maureenb]

Ya, sorry to go off topic, but...I don't know what to do with this piece of info: chicken feed used for cat litter. As a farmer, it raises my hackles, in some non-descript, fundamental way. Even though I'm pretty sure Three Wolves is using commercial feed; what better use for GMO grain, really.

Forgive my contentious reply - I'm not aiming at anyone, but rather at "something."

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by nep321

Seriously. For the past year or so, I have been searching internet job sites (Indeed, Career Builder, etc.) and it seems extremely difficult to find a job that I would be qualified for and pays reasonably well. I have a master's in accounting with 6 years of experience (not a CPA) in corporate tax accounting (NOT public accounting with clients). I don't want to go back to public accounting. I want to stay in corporate/internal tax accounting.

Why is it so hard to find one of these jobs? I even tried looking for general accounting jobs and found.........nothing.

I am 29 years old and right now I am getting paid $75K plus 10-20% bonus here in CT. I get 23 PTO days per year and work 40 hours a week. But I love the Portland area of Maine and would love to live there. I visited once for a weekend two years ago and thought it was an awesome place and has everything I want. Four seasons, quaint New England charm, liberal people, gay friendly and beautiful scenery. And I love that it has light traffic, low stress and a more laid back lifestyle.

What would your advice be? I almost feel like giving up. Not only that, being an out of state candidate makes it MUCH harder to be taken seriously by employers. Ugh!

Stay in CT. You make enough to afford frequent visits to Maine. If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

[Guineas]

To the OP, you're doing really well as a 29 year old in CT.

Here's some perspective, when I was 29 years old I was working 80-100 hours a week at minimum wage in medical residency with 10 days off a year and always worked on weekends. I make more now, but my wife who is a full-time pediatrician makes just $120k a year working 60 hrs a week (and overnight call), and that's after 7 years of post-college education and training (and debt), far longer than your accounting masters. You're making way above the median HOUSEHOLD income in America and you work 40 hrs a week with 23 business days off per year and presumably every full weekend and holiday off.

My advice would be to cherish your job, keep getting promoted, and visit Maine during your 23 days off a year. You don't know how good you have it. If your budget is "fragile" at $75k a year, you're not budgeting well, or you need to combine resources with a significant other: get married. If two people in your household made $75k a year ($150k total), you would be in the top 9% of American households. Not exactly poverty wages. My wife and I made minimum wage during our residencies, but we didn't feel like we were in poverty partly because we combined resources and budgeted wisely.

[Darksword]

I'm in a similar boat to the OP, though a bit older at 34. Same salary, same time off and good benefits, currently working in D.C.

I visited Maine last year during the fall and loved it! One of the most beautiful places I've seen. I felt like just staying there, heh. But after reading this thread I think making the move there would mean a major change, considering the job market and pay. Maybe taking a small vacation every year would be ideal.

[mainegrl2011]

I read on the forum that Maine is a frugal state--one example being the governor is paid $70,000 per year. You can google to find a list of pay for all governors for comparison.

If you are set on Maine, be prepared to take a pay cut. I've seen accounting jobs posted online, but I seriously doubt they will pay you anything close to what you are making in CT. Let me take a look see...

You might want to sit for and pass the CPA exam. It will look good on your resume. Here's a couple of jobs you could start with and maybe work your way up. "They" say you gotta get your foot in the door.

http://www.maine.gov/bhr/state_jobs/career/650200.pdf

http://www.maine.gov/bhr/state_jobs/career/051100.pdf

JobsInME.com search results "accounting" within 50 miles of Portland
JobsInME.com - Job Results

State of Maine jobs:
Maine Bureau of Human Resources: Direct Hire Jobs

Career Opportunity Bulletin

thenewtexan who posted that you might want to stay in CT and visit the Portland, Maine area frequently may have offered you good advice. I don't see that you are going to make anywheres near $70,000 a year in Maine anytime soon.

You could also check job openings in the University of Maine system.

Employment Opportunities - University of Maine System

If you find something that meets with your approval, congratulations! I heard recently that if you first work for the IRS and then leave and open your own business, you will have a booming business.

PS I knew an accountant who worked for the Jackson Lab many years ago. You might want to check with them. (Yes, I know the Jackson Lab isn't in Portland.)

https://jax.silkroad.com/epostings/i...levelid1=49416

[slyfox2]

While you are really far from retirement, that's what I did. Of course in the area I was in, wasn't making what you make after 40 years in the field. But if I'd moved to Maine early on, I would have made after 25 years, the same salary as what people where I lived got as a starting salary.

But even you do decide on a serious pay cut, remember that because of the job situation here, the liklihood of anybody in Maine hiring somebody from out side Maine for a job is small. Jobs here, such that they are, go to full time Mainers who actually live here. And there is a bit of a priority for anyone who has lived here a whole year, meaning at least one winter. You are really not considered a real Mainer until you've been around for at least one year, and preferably 2 or three.

As my realtor said about people who are enthralled about Maine from a summer visit: MANY ARE CALLED, MOST ARE FROZEN.

It is what it is.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Darksword perceives:
"I visited Maine last year during the fall and loved it! One of the most beautiful places I've seen. I felt like just staying there, heh. But after reading this thread I think making the move there would mean a major change, considering the job market and pay. Maybe taking a small vacation every year would be ideal."

Very perceptive and that is why each and every license plate in Maine says, "VACATIONLAND".

[Newdaawn]

Nep321 - do yourself and the rest of us a favor and STAY in CT.

[JoulesMSU]

It all comes down to cost of living. You are making $75k in CT but CT is way more expensive to live in than ME. If you dropped your pay scale you could potentially find a job here that would essentially be the same as what you have.

For example (just making up numbers), say you make $75k/year but spend $65k/year in CT. If you move to ME for a job that "only" pays $60k/year but your expenses are $50k/year here, then what's the difference? In this scenario you are still +$10k/year and now you are living in ME (your stated goal).

I had to explain this to a friend of mine who had moved to CT from Michigan shortly after college. After a few years he decided he didn't like it there (surprise, surprise) so he wanted to move back home, but he couldn't find any jobs in MI that paid as well as CT. I had to explain to him that of course jobs don't pay the same, it doesn't cost nearly as much to live in Michigan. I told him take a pay cut and he'd still be making just as much as he was, if not more. He finally did the math himself and realized it was true. He moved back, took a job that paid less, but he is now much better off financially than he was in CT. And he's living in a state that he wants to as well. Worked out good for him.

It was the opposite for me. I moved here (to Maine) from Michigan in August. I got a $15k raise when I moved here, because MI is WAY cheaper than ME. However, despite the "huge" raise, nothing really changed. I am still about the same as I was back home. I make a lot more, but I also have to spend a lot more too. In fact, I think I was saving a little more money back in MI (only paying $680/month for rent as opposed to over $1000/month now for a similar sized place, only paying $3.10/gallon for gas instead of $3.50, only paying $2.29/gallon for milk instead of $3.69, only paying 4.25% income tax instead of 7.95%, etc.)

But I wanted to live in Maine, so here I am. It's been good so far too!

Everyone keeps asking me how I "like the winter here?" - like they think this is the only state that gets snow lol. Maine (or at least Portland) has gotten a lot less snow this year than Michigan has, so I tell them "it's been great!" lol

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by nep321

... shopping plazas look fairly gritty and weathered down. And many of the roads look beat up. How come?

I try to stay out of politics. As a by-stander, I can tell you of what I have observed [from a distance].



Businesses:
In Ct; you might see a town with six different city offices with various planners and inspectors who regulate things. If you wanted to open a dental office it would be regulated to within a medical park. A zoned area where a corporate body of doctors, dentists, and lawyers has fronted a few $Million to make a beautiful landscaped complex with a half-dozen buildings, flower plantings and shade trees. In such a medical park a dentist can lease office space.

In Maine there is a much greater tendency to see a break if the forest where there sits a house converted into a dental office, physical therapy clinic, or hair salon, by itself. The owner has that license and that is the business they wish to conduct.

In one example the city has $10million tied up in office buildings, infrastructure and 40 city inspectors and staff to regulate that all businesses. [I once owned an apartment building in Ct. I am familiar with Ct municipalities that have six different offices, each in charge of different aspects of life. You must comply with all of them, their inspectors, their regulations and their fee structures. [Even when their regulations are contradictory] I have dealt with Ct municipalities before] It requires a significantly stronger economy, and a higher level of taxation to support all of that.



Roads:
Here it seems that a town may have Fred and a truck. Fred can make a pass a few times every year with some blacktop that he plops in place with a shovel, and stomps down with his foot. Most of the time Fred has a dozen other jobs that he does for the town. As roads get real bad the town council debates it, and contracts for a road crew to resurface a stretch of road. The debate will take 6 months and it will only pass after many residents have made complaints.

Down there, towns will more likely keep road crews on salary along with all of the equipment. So the crews can be working on roads nearly year-round. Along with town arborists to trim the trees, and landscapers, etc.



Strong economy, densely populated, crazy high tax base, high Cost-Of-Living; as compared to a weak economy, sparsely populated, medium tax base, and low Cost-Of-Living.