Software Engineer re-lo from Md (Tampa, Orlando: house, job market, school)

[dwc0011]

All,

I am a software engineer, my wife an LPN (nurse), we have two children (elementary - middle) and are looking for a warmer climate. I am looking for information from people that are informed about the job market for programmers in the Orlando or Tampa areas. Also, which area would be better Tampa or Orlando? Keeping in mind that I am not looking to live in the city, I realize the city has crime. I live in the suburbs here I will live in them there. Sorry, I have just read so much bad about the city of Orlando that I can not believe people classify the whole surrounding area as bad because the inner city is going to hell.

Please give me sane and reasonable answers. Thank you ahead of time.

[Wendy Morris]

Originally Posted by dwc0011

All,

I am a software engineer, my wife an LPN (nurse), we have two children (elementary - middle) and are looking for a warmer climate. I am looking for information from people that are informed about the job market for programmers in the Orlando or Tampa areas. Also, which area would be better Tampa or Orlando? Keeping in mind that I am not looking to live in the city, I realize the city has crime. I live in the suburbs here I will live in them there. Sorry, I have just read so much bad about the city of Orlando that I can not believe people classify the whole surrounding area as bad because the inner city is going to hell.

Please give me sane and reasonable answers. Thank you ahead of time.

We have a great deal of contacts within the industry especially this sector but can your offer more information of your choosen area of expertise

[EasyCheeze]

Originally Posted by dwc0011

All,

I am a software engineer, my wife an LPN (nurse), we have two children (elementary - middle) and are looking for a warmer climate. I am looking for information from people that are informed about the job market for programmers in the Orlando or Tampa areas. Also, which area would be better Tampa or Orlando? Keeping in mind that I am not looking to live in the city, I realize the city has crime. I live in the suburbs here I will live in them there. Sorry, I have just read so much bad about the city of Orlando that I can not believe people classify the whole surrounding area as bad because the inner city is going to hell.

Please give me sane and reasonable answers. Thank you ahead of time.

Well the truth is its not just the "inner city"(ie parramore, although there really isnt an inner city in the traditional sense) that is going to hell, rather its suburban areas that not too long ago used to be really nice. Over the time span of 2 yrs, murders increased 100%. There are still nice areas if you make enough money but they won't be far from the bad areas. Just come check the area out before moving and by that I don't mean visiting Disney.

[dwc0011]

Thanks for the input. Yes, we are planning on coming down, hopefully once a month for the next few months. We also have an issue of needing to sell a house up here first, so we are crossing our fingers that does not take forever. Are there good places between Tampa and Orlando and would it make commuting sense to locate yourself centrally between the two?

Up here I do software engineering on various government contracts. I noticed that there were plenty of the same companies there as well.

Thanks again for the replies, I look forward to hearing more.

[dwc0011]

Originally Posted by Wendy Morris

We have a great deal of contacts within the industry especially this sector but can your offer more information of your choosen area of expertise

I work on government contracts up here so I have worked on a lot of different things. I have mainly done application development on various platforms using Java and C++.

[ucfjtm]

Originally Posted by dwc0011

Thanks for the input. Yes, we are planning on coming down, hopefully once a month for the next few months. We also have an issue of needing to sell a house up here first, so we are crossing our fingers that does not take forever. Are there good places between Tampa and Orlando and would it make commuting sense to locate yourself centrally between the two?

Up here I do software engineering on various government contracts. I noticed that there were plenty of the same companies there as well.

Thanks again for the replies, I look forward to hearing more.

I work as a software engineer on a government contract on the far east side of Orlando. Many of these government jobs are located in and within a few miles of UCF's research park - L3 Communications, SAIC, Lockheed Martin, etc.

You'll probably want to stay on the east side of town, and since you have kids, I'd stick with Seminole county for the much better school system. That'll put you in the Oviedo/Winter Springs area. Both have 417 pass through, which connects to 408, and 408 terminates IN UCF's research park. I live in Oviedo, but some of my coworkers live in the Avalon Park/Waterford area in east Orlando, and some live in Winter Springs. There are a few that commute from the Atlantic coast - Titusville, Merritt Island, Cocoa.. but I wouldn't advise that.. it's a bit of a drive and 50 can be horrible for traffic.

Are you looking for a new company or looking to relocate with your current company? What government clearances do you have? What experience? Keep in mind that salaries in this field are not as high as many other parts of the country.. so expecting near $100k with less than at least 10 years of experience isn't at all likely to happen. There are a few generous companies, but finding and landing a job with them can be very difficult. A few coworkers have relocated to relatively lower-cost areas (Oklahoma City, Austin, St. Louis, Knoxville, Charlotte, Charleston) and made the same or more money than they could get here. Having specific experience on certain programs can help land the right job, but having UCF's CS grads coming out for jobs every year makes this a competitive market among future employees.

[Rich_CD]

Originally Posted by ucfjtm

Keep in mind that salaries in this field are not as high as many other parts of the country.. so expecting near $100k with less than at least 10 years of experience isn't at all likely to happen.

Do you happen to know what a developer with 12 years experience using CodeGear's Delphi product can make?

[dwc0011]

Originally Posted by ucfjtm

Are you looking for a new company or looking to relocate with your current company? What government clearances do you have? What experience? Keep in mind that salaries in this field are not as high as many other parts of the country.. so expecting near $100k with less than at least 10 years of experience isn't at all likely to happen. There are a few generous companies, but finding and landing a job with them can be very difficult. A few coworkers have relocated to relatively lower-cost areas (Oklahoma City, Austin, St. Louis, Knoxville, Charlotte, Charleston) and made the same or more money than they could get here. Having specific experience on certain programs can help land the right job, but having UCF's CS grads coming out for jobs every year makes this a competitive market among future employees.

Looking to move to a new company. I have TS/SCI and 2 and a half years experience, before college I was military, doing an unrelated profession. I understand that the pay is a bit difference then up here ,but according to salary.com and a few other sites, the difference is not that huge, but the cost of living in MD is ridiculous. We are needing the nice weather and want an area that would be good for the kids and just as important as getting a good education we want them to be safe at school as well. Unfortunately like I said before I have to sell a house here, which I do not have a lot of equity in, barely enough to break even if that.