How does the job market in Portland compare to other cities? (Tigard: rent, felony)

[eric351982]

My brother from NY says that the wages here are really really really low compared to the cost of living.

[Mini-apple-less]

The job market in Portland is terrible.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by eric351982

My brother from NY says that the wages here are really really really low compared to the cost of living.

Where at in New York? I know NYC the wages might be higher but when put to the cost of living they are actually lower than here.

[almostjay]

Just sharing my experience in hopes that someone finds the information useful. I am a mechanical engineer with a Master's in Engineering Management and several years experience in R&D and manufacturing.

I've been in Portland for one month, and my job search has yielded the following:

5 phone interviews
2 in-person interviews (with another one pending)
1 job offer (for a low paying - $40k - non engineering job I applied for because it sounded interesting)

I haven't heard back from the second in person interview yet (it happened yesterday), but I expect the offer to be in the $60-70k range if they liked me. I believe the offer from the other "pending" in-person interview will be in the same range if that comes to fruition. I would likely accept either of these positions if offered, as it seems to me that $60-70k is a reasonable amount to earn in order to be able to live nicely out here. I am married, and my wife is working hard to re-establish her photography business out here and eventually supplement our income.

I have no idea how to get into Nike or Intel at my level. I see jobs at Intel that look strikingly similar to my current job that require a PHD at a minimum. That's pretty scary, assuming the supply exists to meet that demand (they have hundreds of open positions). That said, I'd really, really prefer to not have to commute to Beaverton or Hillsboro anyway, so I haven't even applied to those places yet. I want to live in Portland, and I want to minimize my commute, so i've focused my job hunt with those things in mind initially.

For reference, I had just crossed the 6-figure salary threshold back in the NYC metro area. Based on our spending so far and my research on the real estate market and what not, a 30-35% pay cut from that level seems like it won't impact our lifestyle very much, if at all. Hope this helps.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by almostjay

Just sharing my experience in hopes that someone finds the information useful. I am a mechanical engineer with a Master's in Engineering Management and several years experience in R&D and manufacturing.

I've been in Portland for one month, and my job search has yielded the following:

5 phone interviews
2 in-person interviews (with another one pending)
1 job offer (for a low paying - $40k - non engineering job I applied for because it sounded interesting)

I haven't heard back from the second in person interview yet (it happened yesterday), but I expect the offer to be in the $60-70k range if they liked me. I believe the offer from the other "pending" in-person interview will be in the same range if that comes to fruition. I would likely accept either of these positions if offered, as it seems to me that $60-70k is a reasonable amount to earn in order to be able to live nicely out here. I am married, and my wife is working hard to re-establish her photography business out here and eventually supplement our income.

I have no idea how to get into Nike or Intel at my level. I see jobs at Intel that look strikingly similar to my current job that require a PHD at a minimum. That's pretty scary, assuming the supply exists to meet that demand (they have hundreds of open positions). That said, I'd really, really prefer to not have to commute to Beaverton or Hillsboro anyway, so I haven't even applied to those places yet. I want to live in Portland, and I want to minimize my commute, so i've focused my job hunt with those things in mind initially.

For reference, I had just crossed the 6-figure salary threshold back in the NYC metro area. Based on our spending so far and my research on the real estate market and what not, a 30-35% pay cut from that level seems like it won't impact our lifestyle very much, if at all. Hope this helps.

You could always try Adidas seeing they are in North Portland, if you want to do Nike without living in Beaverton. Good luck with the interviews you have had, especially if they sound promising.

Pay might be lower here compared to NYC, but with the cost of living so much higher, it made a $100K job feel like a $40K job here.

[Nell Plotts]

Lots of NIKE employees live in Portland, I did. Heck, apply on line and see if you get an offer. They operate a shuttle from the MAX if that is an option for you.

Intel is further west, they too operate a shuttle from the MAX so a commute from Portland is longer. I haven't worked at Intel but I have years in HR. It doesn't cost anything to apply, a PHd may be more a desire than a prerequisite. You can always say no.

[rzzz]

It's hard to gauge the job market in Portland. I feel like the employment stats aren't really telling the whole story. There seems to be a large contingent of underemployed "freelancers" who are not counted on the unemployment rolls but are only sort of half-scraping by. Anecdotally, everyone told me not to move there without a job offer, but every employer who I talked to told me they'd only be interested after I moved out there.

[urbanlife78]

There are also a number of people in Portland that work under the table so they get counted as the unemployed even though they are employed.

[almostjay]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

You could always try Adidas seeing they are in North Portland, if you want to do Nike without living in Beaverton. Good luck with the interviews you have had, especially if they sound promising.

Pay might be lower here compared to NYC, but with the cost of living so much higher, it made a $100K job feel like a $40K job here.

Thanks for the well wishes. I am confident that I can get a job here, but still concerned that I'll be able to find a "good" job. $40k really isn't enough. Portland's COL is reasonable, but certainly not low. I feel like $60-70k is the minimum starting point required to live the "close-in", nice life that this place is known for.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by almostjay

Thanks for the well wishes. I am confident that I can get a job here, but still concerned that I'll be able to find a "good" job. $40k really isn't enough. Portland's COL is reasonable, but certainly not low. I feel like $60-70k is the minimum starting point required to live the "close-in", nice life that this place is known for.

You would be surprised what $40-50K gets you in Portland, especially when there are things like the cost of food and no sales tax that really begins to add up in savings. But to really enjoy Portland and have plenty of money left over for random fun things, $60-70K will easily do that.