Ex Portland resident, might move back. (Detroit: how much, lawyers, job market)

[whatisacup]

I grew up in the NYC suburbs, lived in Portland for a few years up to 2009 and moved to NYC because of a job offer. My girlfriend is trying to convince me to go back to Portland, she wants to go to Lewis and Clark for law school. I do miss the city a lot, however, I'm concerned about the job market.


I had two jobs in Portland, both paying around 40-45k a year. I was comfortable on this salary, I was happy. Most of my friends in PDX (most clueless college grads who still need to hit reality) are telling me this salary is very difficult to obtain in Portland, I wanted to hear other perspectives on it.


Like I said, I'm happy on the salary I mentioned. I have a communications degree (I know, kind of pointless), plan on getting my MBA and have some experience. I also have a lot of experience in mechanical trades, which typically give me the best job offers.


So for someone with 5 years work experience, is that salary considered significantly high in Portland? Is Portland a wasteland for jobs? I know unemployment is high, I know the job market isn't good, but I've been getting various job offers throughout 2007-2010.


Any positives?

[Xanathos]

40-45k doesn't seem like it would that difficult to obtain. I mean hell, that's only 21 dollars an hour. I know secretaries that make that. Then again, I know nothing about your field. I do know that when I moved here last year and started my job search, I had more than a couple of companies try to offer me 15 dollars an hour for IT positions that should have been worth 6 figures. Took a while for me to find one that wasn't completely trying to take advantage of the job market.

One thing I can say definitively is that this area is 2nd only to Detroit in terms of how horrible the overall job market is, so that doesn't bode well for you. And most people I know don't give any weight to MBA's, so I'm not sure what pursuing one of those will do for you. The secret is sort of out that the biggest thing a lot of MBA's bring to the table is the ability to write a great memo. I have a buddy who is a hiring manager for one of the local companies who's flat-out stated he circular files any MBA he sees. He calls them "Master Bull*#@! Artist" degrees. So your work experience is what people are looking for.

[Charvelle]

It's really tough here. Moved here a year ago (wife relocated), and very difficult to get any helpful response out of locals, even good/family contacts. I think everyone's pretty frightened about the fact that things really haven't picked up at all in the last five years. The housing market is down 10% year on year (each year) for the last three. As a relative newcomer there is an insularity which seems pretty clearly related to the economic stagnation, and for that reason we will probably move on in a couple years, but that's only my take. Plenty peope love it and find work, although only/usually through friends and several grades down from where they were before.

Funny the MBA comes up. I'm starting one here; funded, though, I wouldn't pay for one right now. Agree that there is much more to the process than thinking MBA=job. Now, if you were thinking of starting a business, which I probably am, it is a different equation.

Good luck.

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by Xanathos

One thing I can say definitively is that this area is 2nd only to Detroit in terms of how horrible the overall job market is, so that doesn't bode well for you.

I wouldn't say that's totally true
City Unemployment Rates: Vegas Struggles, Washington on Top - Real Time Economics - WSJ

We're definitely not the best job market, but others are just as bad or worse.
Detroit, Vegas, Chicago (kind of surprising), and most of California.
Then again this is only overall unemployment, and the market varies for different types of positions.
Just crazy to think that over one in ten people you see in the city are unemployed!

[OscarLevant]

Originally Posted by whatisacup

I grew up in the NYC suburbs, lived in Portland for a few years up to 2009 and moved to NYC because of a job offer. My girlfriend is trying to convince me to go back to Portland, she wants to go to Lewis and Clark for law school. I do miss the city a lot, however, I'm concerned about the job market.
....
Any positives?

Here is my .02 ...

If you have to move start looking for a job ASAP, and be prepared to make alot less. I have a masters degree and 13 years experience and was unable to find a job in PDX in 4 years (seriously) My degrees are in Comp Sci and biomedical informatics in-case you are wondering.

If you are able to find a position, be prepared to settle for a lot less compensation. If you still have friends in PDX ask them how much their bills have gone up since 2009 and make sure you can afford it. My water had doubled in the past couple of years and PGE had a few rate increases, that along with everything else going up (.. gas, groceries, etc) ate away at my wages. I might be the exception, but I held the same job in PDX since 2000 and for the last 5 yrs never received any type of increase, hence the looking for the past 4 yrs.

The positive is that depending on where you live you can get away with not having to drive that much thanks to the Max, bus and a bike. Also if you can find someone to split bills with then your dollar will go farther

[Charvelle]

Listen to Oscar. Also, if your partner is heading to law school, make sure she's up on the job prospects for lawyers here: there are very, very few jobs. Search for the stories in Portland Business Journal. Nationally, this is a terrible time to go to law school unless and (possibly even) if you get a free ride. Of all the places nationally, Portland is probably one of the worst to try to get work with a JD. I know people who've come out of L&C and waited years to get an interview. Seriously.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by davemess10

I wouldn't say that's totally true
City Unemployment Rates: Vegas Struggles, Washington on Top - Real Time Economics - WSJ

We're definitely not the best job market, but others are just as bad or worse.
Detroit, Vegas, Chicago (kind of surprising), and most of California.
Then again this is only overall unemployment, and the market varies for different types of positions.
Just crazy to think that over one in ten people you see in the city are unemployed!

The thing is people are not flocking to these cities as they are Portland. Just look on the various City Data city threads. You will see that none of them have as many posts about people wanting to move to Portland as these other cities. That goes for all of Oregon too.

All these people are chasing what few jobs there are. The other cities do not have as fierce a competition.

[Charvelle]

That's a really good point, Minervah. One of the headaches here is that there are so many wildly over-qualified people for each job and sector that it disrupts healthy recruiting practices; a lot of the employers I chatted to, and some of the agencies that pretend to offer career advice, had bizarre approaches to differentiating yourself that would stick out a mile to an experienced HR manager. I imagine that it is easier to get work in most of those other areas, CA excepted, if you are well-qualified.