Young, Broke, Dumb, and Moving to Hawaii! (Honolulu, Hilo: lease, insurance)

[CheshuR]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Honolulu isn't an option. It would be like posting in the New York City forum and wanting your plan to work in Manhatten. No point in suggesting ideas that would simply fail on Oahu.

So you need better focus on how to make a plan work in Kona or Hilo.

Alright, I'll look more into them and see about the transit routes in those places. Recommendation of Kona vs Hilo? Climate aside.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by CheshuR

Recommendation of Kona vs Hilo? Climate aside.

For young/single guys - Kona.

[hunterseat]

In what are you certified? Just wondering. My guy is a master carpenter and finally got a job offer 6 months after we left the island. But he did work in the trade for one company that was VERY biased towards locals. We were grateful for that job, don't get me wrong. Then another company that he'd applied for before we got there hired him about 4 months after we got there but that was based on his QC/R&D background.

We got a young man certified as a lifeguard - they're everywhere so that's a good one to have. ETA: the water park hires and trains.

Do you speak any Japanese? If you did you'd have a shoe-in for the hospitality industry! It's not a matter of not being too good, but are you good enough? Big competition!

I talked to a guy who looked to be pushing 40. He'd never been off the island. He worked at the recycle place taking in plastic bottles.

Can you do USAJOBS.com? You might find something there.

I think you might need your own car...

[delmioquartiere]

When I was on Maui last I met a guy that told me about his job that he landed at the Grand Wailea resort. He did room service and pulled down $200 plus a night and had no experience before that with hotels. Someone took a chance and hired him. Good luck with your journey!

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by delmioquartiere

When I was on Maui last I met a guy that told me about his job that he landed at the Grand Wailea resort. He did room service and pulled down $200 plus a night and had no experience before that with hotels.

Is that considered good? What did he make the other nights?

[OpenD]

Kona is spread out, with only rudimentary bus service, and the economy is heavily dependent on tourism. Unfortunately tourism has fallen far below expected levels this year, after a number of bad years, and now we're coming up on the end of the summer season, when a lot of layoffs occur and smaller business close until the end of the year when things gear up again just before the holidays. This is the time of year when a lot of people get ready to hunker down and draw down their savings.

Hilo is more compact and urban, with only rudimentary bus service, and the economy is heavily dependent on government services and agricultural supplies. Have any prior experience shipping orchids?

All in all, with your small bankroll, I'd still recommend you head for Honolulu, where the bus service is much better and there are more jobs and the unemployment rate is lower, and where there is always room for another tent down by the beach. You can get all the mangoes and fish you want at Safeway, and return flights to the mainland are cheaper from there, so even though your burn rate will be higher in Honolulu than on the Big Island, if you are really as much a go-getter as you think you are, you'll have more opportunity to test that out in the Big Pineapple.

[hotzcatz]

Well, WhiteViper1 & OpenD are both right. Probably best to choose between Honolulu and Hilo and drop Kailua-Kona off the list. I'd lean towards Hilo since folks don't usually hire folks fresh off the mainland and in Hilo you'd have a chance to stretch it long enough that you'd last long enough to find employment. But Honolulu has it's own possibilities, too. Although Honolulu is an awful lot like Manhatten, it's just one with coconut trees.

Here's the bus schedule for the Big Island: Hawai'i County Mass Transit Agency — Hele-On Bus

Another consideration is if your certifications will transfer to Hawaii. Not all mainland certifications transfer.

[OpenD]

Just noticed, the unemployment rate in Honolulu was only 3.8% in April, whereas the Big Island rate was 5.7%, and unemployment in Kona was said to be higher than the county average.

[Iowaloha]

I just moved here in May. I had 20k saved when I left my job on the last day of April, and by the time I started my job here (just this Monday) I was down to about 8k. You can save the 1500 I paid total in the process of getting my car here, but other than that, you'll be cutting it real thin with what you're saving. What exactly is your experience in retail management? I didn't read through the whole thing, but didn't see anything about your educational background. Do you have a college degree?

It's not necessarily about finding a job, it's about finding one in time. I've got a college degree, over ten years of management experience and 8 of multi-unit management dealing with several millions of dollars in budgets, and it still took me over a month from when I landed on the island just to get a return phone call from all of the applications I put in.

I'm not going to discourage or encourage you. You're not looking for that, and it doesn't really matter personally to me. Depending on your management experience, I might be able to help lead you to some jobs that I was offered and turned down, but I'd need to know a little bit more specifically about your educational and work history.

Forgot to say, it would be a small miracle if you were able to get interviews lined up before you got here unless you have a very specialized skill set someone is looking for. If you don't have a local phone number and local address, your resume isn't even getting sniffed.

[Joliefille]

Honolulu is where most jobs are, but is very expensive to live. Try to find a small apartment in Pearl City or Ewa close to a bus stop. I know there is a hostel on the North Shore, but there are no jobs there.