Bilingual "job skill" in SA (Houston, Dallas: real estate, house)

[Glühbirne]

Hello!

For the last few months, my husband and I have been doing a lot of research on San Antonio. We have it on our radar as a potential place to relocate to within the next couple of years.

We currently live in a rural area in Northern California. Although jobs aren't very plentiful, fortunately for us, good employees aren't that plentiful either, so we have been able to keep pretty good jobs. Sadly, good jobs or not, my husband is not willing to continue living here. I have my conditions, though. At least one of us has to have decent employment in SA (or whatever area we ultimately end up choosing) before we move. I have a good job with a very promising company that I love. I have made it clear to my husband that I'm not going to give it up to flip burgers somewhere so that he doesn't have to wear a coat 10 months out of the year.....

For me, being bilingual has been a very important job qualification. I have other qualifications too, but being bilingual seems to be the one thing that really gets a lot of employers interested in me.

As I look at the statistics for SA, I see that it's predominately hispanic, so on one hand I'm assuming that there is probably a lot of need for bilingualism in many fields, but on the other hand, I'm thinking that bilingualism is probably pretty common among job seekers too.

Should I assume that my language skills will be worth a lot less when I begin a job search in San Antonio? What do you all think?

[ashbeeigh]

Being bilingual in the job market isn't necessary, but it is a plus. Whenever I add "I'm also bilingual" I get a good response from potential employers.

This is by no means a community where Spanish is necessary (and I'm sure where you are coming from you can understand this) but there may be times where you run into people/situations where it can be helpful.

[Glühbirne]

Thanks for the response.

Community-wise Spanish isn't needed here, either. The tiny town where we live is predominately white and the few Mexican immigrants that live her permanently all speak at least enough English to get by.

My employer is agricultural and uses migrant workers for a lot of thier field work, so they need people like me to communicate with thier employees... and people like me are hard to find in areas like this.

I guess I'm just a little scared. I'm not a "kid" anymore and I'm afraid of having to start all over again at the bottom of the ladder just for the sake of moving to a warmer climate. Part of me thinks that a big city will have a lot of really sharp competition and I might have to take a pay cut.

I tell my husband with my mouth that I'm willing to do this so that he can be happy, but my brain hasn't caught up with my heart yet. I'm not even sure I'll like big city living. My husband is from rural Mexico and is not familiar with big city living either, so I can't even be guaranteed that he'll like it, but he is so adamant that it's what he wants. I'm scared the grass will be worse and he's positive it's going to be greener...... so right now I'm just trying to reconcile all of that into some reasonable expectations.

We have a very humble little life, but I am happy. We are very blessed in many ways and at this point in our life we have a higher income than we have ever had before and we are on the move up career-wise. I get annoyed at the snow and sometimes its annoying that there are only three restaurants in town to choose from, but I'm scared poopless at the idea of starting all over again in a metropolis. I love looking at real estate ads for SA. I love the thought that we could buy a cute, ready-to-move-in, spacious, comfortable house for what a shack costs here...... but that would be at our current income and I'm afraid we won't be able to make our current income there.

Sorry for rambling. LOL I like hearing myself talk, I guess.

[Chaka]

Depends what you do - in some fields being bilingual is essential, in others a huge advantage but not necessary.

In general, salaries are lower here than other cities of comparable size. Also in general cost of living is low, but you need to factor in property taxes and other elements (eg when I moved here I had to drive everywhere, where I moved from, I barely used my car, so that was an added expense).

[jbiggs]

Originally Posted by Glühbirne

Thanks for the response.

Community-wise Spanish isn't needed here, either. The tiny town where we live is predominately white and the few Mexican immigrants that live her permanently all speak at least enough English to get by.

My employer is agricultural and uses migrant workers for a lot of thier field work, so they need people like me to communicate with thier employees... and people like me are hard to find in areas like this.

I guess I'm just a little scared. I'm not a "kid" anymore and I'm afraid of having to start all over again at the bottom of the ladder just for the sake of moving to a warmer climate. Part of me thinks that a big city will have a lot of really sharp competition and I might have to take a pay cut.

I tell my husband with my mouth that I'm willing to do this so that he can be happy, but my brain hasn't caught up with my heart yet. I'm not even sure I'll like big city living. My husband is from rural Mexico and is not familiar with big city living either, so I can't even be guaranteed that he'll like it, but he is so adamant that it's what he wants. I'm scared the grass will be worse and he's positive it's going to be greener...... so right now I'm just trying to reconcile all of that into some reasonable expectations.

We have a very humble little life, but I am happy. We are very blessed in many ways and at this point in our life we have a higher income than we have ever had before and we are on the move up career-wise. I get annoyed at the snow and sometimes its annoying that there are only three restaurants in town to choose from, but I'm scared poopless at the idea of starting all over again in a metropolis. I love looking at real estate ads for SA. I love the thought that we could buy a cute, ready-to-move-in, spacious, comfortable house for what a shack costs here...... but that would be at our current income and I'm afraid we won't be able to make our current income there.

Sorry for rambling. LOL I like hearing myself talk, I guess.

Sounds more like your husband is looking for a quick stepping stone to his homeland if he ever chooses to leave the US! Are you ready to follow him?

If you have a good job where you are then tell your husband to stay put! If he can not share your life then possibly he needs to be the one to go to SA first and see if he can make it big before you give up everything to follow?

[Chaka]

Making a big change is difficult, and you both have to want it to make it work. If one of you doesn't, I can pretty much guarantee you'll both be miserable. SA has a lot to offer, it's also probably very different from where you are now. You and your husband have a lot to work out before you decide if this is a move you should make.

Good luck!

btw -it's warmer, but it's been in the 90s almost every day since April 1 (with a few days of a cold spell thrown in) and I think we've only had measurable rain once since then. This is a little unusual, but it's not just warmer, it's HOT.

[majormadmax]

Lightbulb

While there are a large number of service-related jobs here where being bilingual would be an advantage, for the most part jobs in the white collar market do not require it. It is nothing to be worried about, and it is easy to have a modest and comfortable life here with the low cost-of-living. But it might be a good idea to visit first, so you have a better idea of what it's like to live here. It's not for everyone (as FCF notes), but for the most part people love this city and find it easy to call it home. We have felt the economic downturn but not nearly as bad as most parts of the country. We have a strong economic base with the military and tourist industries, and a reputation for being a very family-friendly town.

Good luck with your decision!

Cheers! M2

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

Lightbulb

While there are a large number of service-related jobs here where being bilingual would be an advantage, for the most part jobs in the white collar market do not require it.

What would the health care industry be considered if not white collar? Definitely not a requirement, but a huge advantage at all levels, esp higher up the medical ladder.

Also there's a sizeable media sector that is Spanish-language based and very much white collar.

I have friends who work as certified translators in very high end situations, definitely white collar/corporate. They do not interact with the service-industry element, their translation skills are used frequently in international business situations.

Just to say it's not only the service industry/blue collar sector where bilingualism is useful.

[majormadmax]

Never said it wasn't useful in white collar jobs, I am simply pointing out that it isn't as necessary as it is with some of the blue collar service jobs in this area...

[TrapperL]

I don't think you'll be happy here especially about the job. Bi Lingual is not all that critical here. Most everybody is already so it's not going to bring more bucks in the paycheck. As compared to Houston or Dallas, expect to make about 60% of the money that they pay in the those towns. San Antonio still has grossly cheap wages. Median income in San Antonio is $36,000 PER HOUSEHOLD, not per individual. Many families work several jobs, kids included, to get this average. Yeah, there are a few that make considerably more but the key word is few. As compared to to Kalifornia, we make minimum wages here, when you can find a job.