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Wow wasn't expecting so many responses, a lot of good information in all your posts. Really appreciate all your insights and I'll try to address some of the questions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Repatriot
When you say "I work in IT" - so do a lot of people and this is very broad - what do you do, and which industry? Do you know the demand here for what you do and industry?
I'm a Senior .NET Developer focusing on web development and data analysis via SQL Server. I'm not sure how thriving that particular industry is as mentioned in my original post I've only started researching recently although I did see a bunch of openings in my field but I am yet to reach out to recruiters in the area.
About the public transport, this is news to me to be honest as I assumed public transport for the most part wasn't an option apart from within Downtown Raleigh. Public Transport wherever I've lived has been pretty much non existent for the most part so anything half decent (doesn't have to be NYC Subway level) would certainly be an upgrade.
As someone mentioned that the Triangle area is better than Central PA, yeah I'm sure this is the case that's sort of the reason why I was looking for a comparison with the Tampa/St. Pete area if possible as from a social/life perspective that's sort of what I'm looking for. The job market in Raleigh/Charlotte for IT seems a bit more robust than it is in FL and is still projected to grow so that's predominantly why I'm considering NC.
A visit would be helpful I agree, although I'm trying to gather as much information as I can because perspective from folks actually living there would give a more realistic picture, more than I'll be able to gather over a weekend I suppose.
As per sports, yeah I've experienced that for the most part in Tampa with the Bucs, Lightning and the Rays. Although I prefer the NBA, so at times I've made the hike to Orlando to watch the Magic. This isn't a deal breaker though as long as the area has offerings in terms of nightlife(restaurants/bars/clubs). For example you can live in New York and keep yourself busy with the city without having to go to a NBA/NFL/NHL/MLB game.
About the public transport, this is news to me to be honest as I assumed public transport for the most part wasn't an option apart from within Downtown Raleigh. Public Transport wherever I've lived has been pretty much non existent for the most part so anything half decent (doesn't have to be NYC Subway level) would certainly be an upgrade.
This is 100% dependent on where you live. If you look at the bus routes and plan where you live on the same route as where you work, it's definitely a great option. If not and you have to transfer, it's less of a option (if non-existent due to travel times).
You're completely right that you'll have more options if you work or live downtown (Raleigh, Cary, or Durham) as that's where most of the bus routes congregate and the bus hubs are. That may change over the next few years as the transit referendum gets implemented but that's the case for now.
If you are single, move into or very near DT Raleigh or Durham. If you find a job in between the two in/near RTP, explore both on weekends before making your decision to see which one is the better fit for you.
Appreciate all the response guys. Quick question in terms of the competition for jobs. Are employers fair with salaries in terms of cost of living and your experience or due to competition do they typically try to use this to their advantage and pay a bit less?
Any apartment complexes around the mentioned areas of downtown Raleigh/Durham/Cary that you would recommend that I look at?
Also, are there any more local websites such as triangle explorer that you would suggest or instagram accounts ?
......Are employers fair with salaries in terms of cost of living and your experience or due to competition do they typically try to use this to their advantage and pay a bit less? ....
depends what you're comparing it to - salaries are way lower than the NE and lower than CLT, I don't know PA but I would suspect they are lower here than say VA and DC. Net I think it is worse, not better COL/pay-wise here. I could be wrong, and there are many considerations to factor into that.
Are employers fair with salaries in terms of cost of living and your experience or due to competition do they typically try to use this to their advantage and pay a bit less?
IME, the local .NET market is heavily slanted toward contract positions and / or H1B visa holders. I don't know hard numbers, but I would suspect that impacts salaries. Your best bet is to find some IT headhunters or staffing companies and see what they've got. That will give you a sense.
Are employers fair with salaries in terms of cost of living and your experience or due to competition do they typically try to use this to their advantage and pay a bit less?
I used glassdoor just to get an idea of what my potential salary could be in case I needed to negotiate. For the offers that I did receive, I found glassdoor to be fairly accurate. All my offers were above what I made in VA (Southwest.) I chose the one that I felt was a better fit for my skill set. It also happened to pay 30% more than my previous salary.
I was with my old company for over 10 years doing embedded C/C++. Now I work in Java. I find that people around here seem to stay with a company for 2-5 years and then move on. Nowadays, this is the faster way to increase your salary.
Like others have suggested, I recommend that you visit the area. You have a lot of living choices. Also, send your resume in to some of the IT companies, you might be surprised how fast you get some feedback.
Moved here from CA last May and am enjoying the area a lot. I also work in IT, but in the Security realm. The broad IT job market appears to be strong though.
I live in Cary and work in Raleigh and would say the area is multi-cultural. Coming from a diverse area in CA, this was also one of my concerns, but have been pleased with the mix here. Going along with that is the cultural food offerings. There is an abundance of good Indian and Mediterranean options, though quality Mexican and Chinese is somewhat sparse. Definitely plenty of good places to eat though.
As for activities, I can't comment on nightlife, but can say that the outdoors is very easily accessible. If you enjoy hiking, biking, swimming, boating, etc... you'll find plenty of options here. Check out Umstead State Park for hiking and mountain biking, and Jordan Lake for swimming and boating.
Besides missing family and friends, we don't regret moving here and have really enjoyed it so far. Good luck to you!
Raleigh is an awesome place. I relocated here 9 years ago from Dominican Republic after the company I was working for had a position opening here. I work in IT as well, specifically in wireless telecommunications. There are a lot of opportunities for people with a technical background in this market. Yes, there's a lot of competition, but depending on how well you do your homework, it shouldn't be hard to get a good job here (your best friends will be LinkedIn, Indeed and Glassdoor).
There are a lot of things to do here. Add the Raleigh area in the Meetup app and you'll find a lot of things to do always.
With my job I've traveled to about 15 different states in the US, but I always find that coming back to Raleigh is just right.
Hope that helps.
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