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First, forgive me for posting what is no doubt a common question about jobs. The search tools provided are wholly inadequate.
I lived in Raleigh (Morrisville) four years ago for six months. I didn't have any job interviews. IBM was hiring for $25/hour.
I was bleeding red ink. The day I added Charlotte to my online resume, I had six phone calls.
It turns out Charlotte had a lot of jobs at two big banks (see "Housing Scandal"). Now they are zombie banks: they are dead but don't know it (see "1.4 Quadrillion Derivative Scandal"). There aren't many jobs, and they've "reset" pay rates. I recently received a rare call from a recruiter for a job at.... $25/hour.
So I am thinking of selling my house and returning to Raleigh. I understand that this isn't the best time to sell; I understand the economy has crashed and burned and tipped over in the ditch nationally.
The questions are:
1. Has the IT biz picked up at all since I was last there?
2. What are the pay rates like (I have 20 years experience, can read/write code, graphic artist, J2EE, API/SDK, networking, complete front-end development, Javascript guru).
Maybe I am crazy to be thinking this, given the country as a whole is in a depression. But short-term, Charlotte is dead. And long-term, the banks can never recover.
I don't mean to insult you, but the first thing I thought of after reading your post is the old proverb "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence". I personally know 2 tech writers in the RTP area who are out of work and can't find jobs in that field. And it seems that every couple weeks, someone else I know has been laid off from their tech job. Charlotte may definitely be in a funk, but I'm not sure things are that much better here.
The IT industries haven't picked up at all since 2005. Well, actually they did, but then this little recession hit and the industry gains were wiped out. Loads of IT folks out of work here, especially in the "support" areas of technical writing, training, and testing. IT companies and departments here are continuing to lay off all the time.
I don't mean to insult you, but the first thing I thought of after reading your post is the old proverb "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence". I personally know 2 tech writers in the RTP area who are out of work and can't find jobs in that field. And it seems that every couple weeks, someone else I know has been laid off from their tech job. Charlotte may definitely be in a funk, but I'm not sure things are that much better here.
Understood. But I will need to sell my house soon anyway, meaning I might as well relocate given the expected future of the Charlotte economy and the fact I hate living in Charlotte.
So my choices are to sell my house and move into an apartment in Charlotte (that doesn't make sense to me), or to sell my house and relocate. This isn't about the "grass being greener". This is about finding the broken concrete with the fewest potholes.
I have looked national for "best places to live". There aren't any.
Tech writing in RTP is dead, VERY dead, and has been for at least 1.5 years. I was kept busy for 16 years as a training consultant or technical writer. I turned down many jobs. Recruiters called me all the time. Not any more. I have a feeling it will never be as active as it once was. (Who can predict the future? Not me.)
There are at least 40 or more states with better employment rates than North Carolina. Search the entire country. The job boards make it pretty easy to do that.
It makes absolutely no sense to come to the RTP area. It's just as bad if not worse than Charlotte.
At this point, I wouldn't worry about "best places to live." I'd just go where the jobs are. If I didn't have ties here, that's what I would be doing. (That's what I did 16 years ago when I came here.)
Last edited by lovebrentwood; 08-24-2009 at 06:27 PM..
1. Has the IT biz picked up at all since I was last there?
It's worse. IT is in HORRIBLE shape in this area. More going on in Charlotte, easily. More "pot holes" here. Easily.
And really tech writing in general is on life support. Most places nowdays just have someone do it as an "extra duty" vs having dedicated people for that. Pathetic but reality.
I'm a technical writer (requirements, but I think that fits under the TW umbrella), so I can at least ascertain that these jobs do exist in the area. I make $70k, and don't know a lick of code, so I can't imagine you'd cap out at $25/hr. I understand that's not the usual around here, but don't give up.
First, forgive me for posting what is no doubt a common question about jobs. The search tools provided are wholly inadequate.
I lived in Raleigh (Morrisville) four years ago for six months. I didn't have any job interviews. IBM was hiring for $25/hour.
I was bleeding red ink. The day I added Charlotte to my online resume, I had six phone calls.
It turns out Charlotte had a lot of jobs at two big banks (see "Housing Scandal"). Now they are zombie banks: they are dead but don't know it (see "1.4 Quadrillion Derivative Scandal"). There aren't many jobs, and they've "reset" pay rates. I recently received a rare call from a recruiter for a job at.... $25/hour.
So I am thinking of selling my house and returning to Raleigh. I understand that this isn't the best time to sell; I understand the economy has crashed and burned and tipped over in the ditch nationally.
The questions are:
1. Has the IT biz picked up at all since I was last there?
2. What are the pay rates like (I have 20 years experience, can read/write code, graphic artist, J2EE, API/SDK, networking, complete front-end development, Javascript guru).
Maybe I am crazy to be thinking this, given the country as a whole is in a depression. But short-term, Charlotte is dead. And long-term, the banks can never recover.
I'm an IT professional in RTP as a fulltime permanent employee (which is hard to find) and have also worked as contractor. As a highly certified network engineer and systems administrator with over 18yrs in the business, the average hourly pay I'm seeing out there is no more than $25 - $30/hr and no benefits. For developers you may get another $3 - $5/hr but again no bennies. Prices have climbed quite a bit so if you have a family to raise and are the only provider, $25/hr will be a struggle. Apartment rentals are climbing certainly especially in the RTP/Cary/Raleigh/Morrisville area. 2 bedrooms are averaging $850 - $950 if not higher. Auto insurance is up too, utilities, food, etc... Home prices are ok but depending on what and where you're looking a 3-4 bedroom is about 300k on average. +/- a few K.
I'm a technical writer (requirements, but I think that fits under the TW umbrella), so I can at least ascertain that these jobs do exist in the area. I make $70k, and don't know a lick of code, so I can't imagine you'd cap out at $25/hr. I understand that's not the usual around here, but don't give up.
Wow. You must be good. Honestly from what I can tell that's practically unheard of these days.
Wow. You must be good. Honestly from what I can tell that's practically unheard of these days.
Honestly I've only been doing it for 2 years total . As far as $, I'm making more here than I was in Detroit... which I didn't expect (I thought for sure salaries were lower here). I'm currently interviewing for a similar job at another company, so I just can't believe that the jobs aren't out there. As far as stability, I agree with everyone. Tech writers are probably the first to go... I'd like to get out of the field myself but it feels like I've pigeonholed myself, after only 2 years
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Honestly from what I can tell that's practically unheard of these days.
