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I have been calling a few agencies and looking online. My husband is going to be sending out resumes now and will go down there ahead of us if he gets one. I am hoping to finish out my kids school year here so will wait until closer to the to look. The problem is that I think a lot of employers don't look at resumes from out of state. They see an out of state address on the resume and toss it. Any advice? Thank you!!!
Most IN-state resumes are getting tossed, too--it's a tight job market in NC, especially if you don't even know what city you will be in. In part due to people like yourselves relocating from out of state, pretty much every job will have much fiercer competition than the same job would in most other places or than it would have 10 years ago.
Uprooting a whole family "on a wing and a prayer" to a state you know nothing about, and (I am guessing) have no family or friends here, but especially no jobs, is very, VERY foolish. Don't say you weren't warned.
So yes, even though you didn't word your title in the form of a question, my response is "Yes, you [would be] crazy for just moving here without finding at least one job and then working from there regarding the best place to live."
Also, housing costs are so high everywhere between Milwaukee and Chicago that I am sick of being "house poor."
I used to live in Chicago. I remember Chicago being one of the most affordable big cities in the country. The only reason I could think of it being so cheap is the heavy snow in the winter, because it's a pretty great world class city. Maybe I'm off base here, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember you could buy a pretty decent, affordable house in one of the close neighborhoods. Maybe things have changed, but I think you could probably get a pretty nice house in one of the suburbs for 300k.
In contrast, here in the DC area, Northern Virginia, dumpy 40's fixer uppers can easily start at 550 grand. An average middle class house could easily run 700 thousand. New York area is worse, and from what I've heard San Francisco bay area is getting even worse.
Anyway, getting back to Chicago vs. Raleigh. I know the Raleigh area has this reputation for having a cheap cost of living but I'm not sure how accurate that is... and that might be out of date information. Maybe you could buy a house for 150k, but I don't think you would like the area you would be in, the quality of the house and the quality of the school your kids would go to. When I was looking at houses in the Triangle area, decent middleclass-ish houses seemed to be 200-300k (and of course in the nicer areas you can find houses much more expensive than that). You'll notice a lot of people on this board talking about how companies like to pay lower salaries in the area, because of the impression that it's a lower COL area and because it's in the south. I suspect on average, salaries in Chicago are going to be quite a bit higher. So, I think housing might be comparable, with high salaries in Chicago area. BTW While we are talking about Chicago, when visiting a friend in the Raleigh area last year, her kids in their 20s told me that they find the area boring as paste, and can't wait till they can move some where exciting. One of them said he was trying to get a job in Chicago.
I'm not trying to rain on your parade. There's many things I like about the area, but like many have said it's no Shangri La. It isn't super cheap. It's a very pleasant, safe, small suburban city.
Last edited by VASpaceMan; 01-14-2014 at 12:16 PM..
To answer the OP's question....yes, you are crazy! To move a young family 1000+ miles from family and friends with no jobs, 4-5 mo $ is simply irresponsible. Please go about chasing your dream in a much more planned manner so as to minimize the stress and anxiety for your entire family.
Unless you have lots of money, this place is B O R I N G. Yes, the mountains are three hours away. Yes, the beaches are two hours away. You know what that means? It means we live in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.
And nobody but nobody is getting interviews or jobs. Rethink it, OP. I'd kill to be back up North where at least there is some culture.
You would want to curb that spirit of adventure in this economy. One of you should secure a job here before you start the relocation. Hope it works out for you.
Unless you have lots of money, this place is B O R I N G. Yes, the mountains are three hours away. Yes, the beaches are two hours away. You know what that means? It means we live in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.
I'd kill to be back up North where at least there is some culture.
Can you please clarify for those of us unfamiliar with the area what culture is lacking that makes it boring for you?
Unless you have lots of money, this place is B O R I N G. Yes, the mountains are three hours away. Yes, the beaches are two hours away. You know what that means? It means we live in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.
And nobody but nobody is getting interviews or jobs. Rethink it, OP. I'd kill to be back up North where at least there is some culture.
I lived within NYC proper for twenty-eight years and spent another fifteen on Long Island; I visited museum's maybe two dozen times during those years and attended maybe a dozen Broadway shows. Since moving here in 2007 I'd say I've been able to keep up my lifetime averages without much of a sweat. We get the same touring production companies here that you can get anywhere and the museum's are pretty darn good.
Nobody is trying to sell Raleigh as being on par with New York City but I'd be willing to go toe-to-toe with some other major cities. And for certain we're not in the "middle of nowhere". I mean, the original poster is moving from the Milwaukee area, not exactly itself a cultural mecca.
Oh and by the way, Manhattan is also pretty boring if you don't have a lot of money, trust me on that point.
We have lived here for 4 years now and still love it. It is a great location, especially for kids. The summers are hot, but honestly the only difference I found between summers here and up north is that it doesn't cool off as much at night. I would agree that moving here without jobs is risky (we did, but without kids, and it did take several months to get established) but I also know from experience that people here can be prejudiced about hiring out of state applicants, so if you are here you might get a job you wouldn't otherwise. A couple of ideas- maybe one of you could come ahead and try to get a job lined up before moving the family, or maybe you guys could both get part time jobs you are overqualified for (ex. Retail, etc) to work in while still interviewing for jobs in your field. There are ways to make it work! Don't give up the dream!
We have lived here for 4 years now and still love it. It is a great location, especially for kids. The summers are hot, but honestly the only difference I found between summers here and up north is that it doesn't cool off as much at night. I would agree that moving here without jobs is risky (we did, but without kids, and it did take several months to get established) but I also know from experience that people here can be prejudiced about hiring out of state applicants, so if you are here you might get a job you wouldn't otherwise. A couple of ideas- maybe one of you could come ahead and try to get a job lined up before moving the family, or maybe you guys could both get part time jobs you are overqualified for (ex. Retail, etc) to work in while still interviewing for jobs in your field. There are ways to make it work! Don't give up the dream!
Thank you so much for the positive encouragement. We certainly are hoping to have jobs before moving and have started sending out resumes. We hope to find something before the new school year starts. My husband also had the idea of going on ahead and looking so maybe we will try that.
This is something I have dreamed about for 4 years now with my husband ready to get out of this area as well I hope we can make it work.
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"house poor"
