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I have read a lot of good info on this forum about living in Oahu. I was wondering what advice you guys and gals had for me.
I am a single 22 y/o male. I am planning on moving to Hawaii, hopefully near honolulu in July. I am in the Army National Guard, and planning to transfer to the Guard unit in Kapolei. My current plan is to take classes at HPU and get a civilian job in the security industry. I am moving from Oregon.
I know that Hawaii is super expensive, but I have a good amount of life insurance money to live off of till I get a solid job.
My plan is to visit Hawaii during spring break to find an apartment. I was thinking of a 1br apartment with all my utilities included. Hopefully keeping it all around $1000-1200 a month. I am just moving by myself.
What kind of advice do you guys have for me? What's the job market like for a young white haole? Being a veteran with tattoos, how bad is tattoo acceptance in the workplace? Since I'm young, do you guys think I will be happy starting a new life in paradise?
I have read a lot of good info on this forum about living in Oahu. I was wondering what advice you guys and gals had for me.
I am a single 22 y/o male. I am planning on moving to Hawaii, hopefully near honolulu in July. I am in the Army National Guard, and planning to transfer to the Guard unit in Kapolei. My current plan is to take classes at HPU and get a civilian job in the security industry. I am moving from Oregon.
I know that Hawaii is super expensive, but I have a good amount of life insurance money to live off of till I get a solid job.
My plan is to visit Hawaii during spring break to find an apartment. I was thinking of a 1br apartment with all my utilities included. Hopefully keeping it all around $1000-1200 a month. I am just moving by myself.
What kind of advice do you guys have for me? What's the job market like for a young white haole? Being a veteran with tattoos, how bad is tattoo acceptance in the workplace? Since I'm young, do you guys think I will be happy starting a new life in paradise?
Any and all advice is super appreciated!
On the limited information you've given - I see minimum wage in your future - and you aren't budgeting enough for an apartment.
As far as tattoos in Oahu - cover them up in your interviews and when working unless you are an auto mechanic or dog the bounty hunter.
You can get a studio apartment in town on your budget but utilities might not be included. If you are willing to go out of town you might find a nice little studio, utilities included. Maybe a small ohana rental unit.
IME no one gives a flying fajita about tattoos in Hawaii. They don't warrant even a slightly raised eyebrow here. They don't denote ex-felon status and are very often viewed as just a cultural statement. People are way more likely to comment approvingly when they see a nice tat. I have seen some very visually stunning tats, including many from Micronesia and Polynesia that are absolutely fascinating, especially on older immigrants. Just yesterday I commented "ooo---nice tat" and the tat owner replied that it was a pic of his oldest son. So cute, btw---fantastic artwork.
Single guy with a plan. You'll do fine.
You can get a studio apartment in town on your budget but utilities might not be included. If you are willing to go out of town you might find a nice little studio, utilities included. Maybe a small ohana rental unit.
IME no one gives a flying fajita about tattoos in Hawaii. They don't warrant even a slightly raised eyebrow here. They don't denote ex-felon status and are very often viewed as just a cultural statement. People are way more likely to comment approvingly when they see a nice tat. I have seen some very visually stunning tats, including many from Micronesia and Polynesia that are absolutely fascinating, especially on older immigrants. Just yesterday I commented "ooo---nice tat" and the tat owner replied that it was a pic of his oldest son. So cute, btw---fantastic artwork.
Single guy with a plan. You'll do fine.
Some people do give a flying fajita about tattoos. You would have zero chance of getting a job where I work if you had exposed tattoos and I'm sure many companies in Honolulu have the same policy.
I have read a lot of good info on this forum about living in Oahu. I was wondering what advice you guys and gals had for me.
I am a single 22 y/o male. I am planning on moving to Hawaii, hopefully near honolulu in July. I am in the Army National Guard, and planning to transfer to the Guard unit in Kapolei. My current plan is to take classes at HPU and get a civilian job in the security industry. I am moving from Oregon.
I know that Hawaii is super expensive, but I have a good amount of life insurance money to live off of till I get a solid job.
My plan is to visit Hawaii during spring break to find an apartment. I was thinking of a 1br apartment with all my utilities included. Hopefully keeping it all around $1000-1200 a month. I am just moving by myself.
What kind of advice do you guys have for me? What's the job market like for a young white haole? Being a veteran with tattoos, how bad is tattoo acceptance in the workplace? Since I'm young, do you guys think I will be happy starting a new life in paradise?
Any and all advice is super appreciated!
My 2cents...
It is a fun place for a young, single guy. I was 23 when I moved out there and had a blast. Nice scenery, year round beach weather, tons of outdoor activities, exotic women... what more could a single young man ask for.
Prepare to spend at least $3000 to move into an apartment (first and last months rent plus deposit for most places). I recommend a roommate to save on expenses, you don't move there if you want to live in a nice building, you move there for the stuff outside the building.
Job market is not that great unless you want a service job like valet, hotel, bus boy, waiter, etc... takes a little while typically to make contacts and get a professional job.
There are contract hotel security companies that would probably hire you (guardsmark was the one I worked for), I used to work with a bunch of ex-marines when I did that. Pay is not that great (~$10 - $14 an hour) but you get medical and get a foot in the door.
Tattoos are not as big a deal out there as they are a lot of other places, it really depends what kind of job you are going for but overall I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Young, White, and Military is not the favorite demographic of a lot of the locals. Guys may test you from time to time but if you don't escalate the situation it should be fine.
You are probably setting your career back doing this so keep that in mind. At least you are taking classes!
A lot of people get stuck in dead end jobs without any hopes of improving their situation or enough money to move away so have an exit plan and keep enough in the bank for a rainy day or two.
Hey all.
My current plan is to take classes at HPU and get a civilian job in the security industry. I am moving from Oregon.
I know that Hawaii is super expensive, but I have a good amount of life insurance money to live off of till I get a solid job.
My plan is to visit Hawaii during spring break to find an apartment. I was thinking of a 1br apartment with all my utilities included. Hopefully keeping it all around $1000-1200 a month. I am just moving by myself.
What kind of advice do you guys have for me? What's the job market like for a young white haole? Being a veteran with tattoos, how bad is tattoo acceptance in the workplace? Since I'm young, do you guys think I will be happy starting a new life in paradise?
Any and all advice is super appreciated!
Something to keep in mind while apartment hunting is that Downtown HPU has no parking and Windward HPU has parking at a steep cost. You may want to find a place near the campus you will be attending most regularly. Someplace close so you can bus, bike or moped to class. Moped's are not allowed on the Pali, Like Like, H1 or H3. (mopeds don't have the same stigma here like in the mainland, lol) If you are going to be taking classes downtown (business oriented majors) then I recommend looking in the Nu'uanu, Punchbowl, Makiki areas. You can find a one bedroom in the price range. I did. But it took me a month to find someone who would accept me without a job lined up. So, keep that in mind and bring a printout from your bank showing your savings if you don't have a job.
Roommates def make things a little cheaper and with you being a 22 yr old guy, I'm sure you could find people your age who would want to share the rent. Other students.
Its hard to say if you will like it here. Some do Some don't. I like it here.
It may be hard to find part-time work... I moved here a few months ago myself. I got a bunch of offers for full time work, nothing really part time. But we have completely work backgrounds so that point might be irrelevant.
Good luck, you can totally make it work.
Last edited by IslandDreamin; 03-15-2012 at 05:52 AM..
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