Stuck in Ohio- but Moving to So Cal in 6 months! ADVICE (San Diego: unemployment rate, wages)

[divagotstyle07]

Originally Posted by JohnSoCal

To the OP:

If you would like me to send you a private message, I can give you a few leads on good companies to work for in San Diego. I am not a recruiter and have no vested interest other helping you if I can.

San Diego is a great place to live and you will love it.

ABSOLUTELY!!! Please do!!! and Thank you!!!

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Divago,

You will have to keep us updated on your experience. I definitely think many of the comments and your situation will be appreciated by other that are looking to take the leap.

[divagotstyle07]

I certainly will!! As things progress, comments have evolved to be more supportive, and I've learned that I should follow what I know is right and my OWN opinion on things. Before the visit in December, I got answers I wasn't happy with, and made me question things. Now after spending 16 days there and talking to people living there, older, my age, family, strangers...it's clear and turns out I just need to have confidence in doing what I want to do!

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by JohnSoCal

A lot of you people assume that everybody in San Diego earns minimum wage. Having a degree doesn't mean anything unless it is job related like engineering, law, computer science etc.

The OP will have a Mechanical Engineering Degree which will make them pretty employable at a fairly decent salary probably around $65-70K to start. A single person can live pretty comfortably in San Diego on that salary.

Actually John I don't think that most people assume that everyone is earning minimum wage in SD. Quite the contrary. Most people over estimate what salaries are and don't take into account the sunshine tax.

Its always important to be honest and objective when people ask for advice. Even if it won't make them happy. I think all the comments are objective and for the most part accurate.

[earlyretirement]

I thought I'd mention this because I think it's relevant. I'm not posting this in any way to bring you down Diva but I thought it was very relevant. I was coming home last night and I always use the same TownCar service to bring me from the airport back home. They always have polite drivers so I always chat with them.

The driver I had last night graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree from SDSU last year. He said he along with a few of his buddies are still trying to find a job. So here you have a guy with a Mechanical Engineering degree driving airport transfers to pay the bills.

I'm sure he will probably eventually find a job (he said he was still "interviewing"). But he mentioned that his other buddy that also graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree is working in retail and still "interviewing" as well.

Again, I post this not to bring your spirits down but just to post realistic information. I only mention it because I asked him what his degree was in and I was surprised when he said Mechanical Engineering.

Diva, PM me if you want the name of the company I use. Maybe somehow you can connect with him if you wanted. Although it doesn't sound like he is having too much luck finding a job.

As mentioned in the post above directed to JohnSoCal, most people making the move here don't mistakenly assume that salaries/job market is worse than it is. They typically all are overly optimistic vs. overly pessimistic. I think it's important to establish that fact.

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

As mentioned in the post above directed to JohnSoCal, most people making the move here don't mistakenly assume that salaries/job market is worse than it is. They typically all are overly optimistic vs. overly pessimistic. I think it's important to establish that fact.

That is just a lack of doing research. I have moved to San Diego twice. Both times I knew exactly what to expect by researching. That doesn't mean asking for people's opinions on forums like this. It is very easy to find out what salaries to expect and what the job market is as well as cost of living etc. There are free web sites that give very detailed job information even including what individual companies pay for just about every job category and location.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by JohnSoCal

That is just a lack of doing research.

I couldn't agree more with this part. Just about every single person I've met has told me their salary was less than expected and it took much longer to find a job than expected. Of course this doesn't count people that already had a job offer and knew how much they would make.

[Cardiff Kook]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

I couldn't agree more with this part. Just about every single person I've met has told me their salary was less than expected and it took much longer to find a job than expected. Of course this doesn't count people that already had a job offer and knew how much they would make.

It's so strange that my parents who are both in their fifties found work within 1-2 months of moving out their in their respective fields making the same or a little more than they made in northern Virginia. They must have been very lucky

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by GMUAlum08

It's so strange that my parents who are both in their fifties found work within 1-2 months of moving out their in their respective fields making the same or a little more than they made in northern Virginia. They must have been very lucky

Absolutely no one is saying its impossible because its not. In fact I think its easier for people with a track record, lots of experience, references, etc vs people fresh out of college. Also much depends on your field of your career. Some are a lot better than others.

Not impossible and no one is saying that. I think the main point is SD can be a difficult place to cut your teeth in starting out.

[divagotstyle07]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

Absolutely no one is saying its impossible because its not. In fact I think its easier for people with a track record, lots of experience, references, etc vs people fresh out of college. Also much depends on your field of your career. Some are a lot better than others.

Not impossible and no one is saying that. I think the main point is SD can be a difficult place to cut your teeth in starting out.

although i do agree with all the above posts, again I will say this, & this time rather blatantly:

they don't know me...

and that's not to sound cocky or anything along those lines AT ALL, but I know how to use my resources and have personally contacted people who have been quite helpful and positive with me. And again, (yes I know some of you might hate me for this) I'd rather wait tables in SD than work an engineering job in Ohio

trust me, give me 3 months in SD (at most) and I'll be writing back telling you all I'm gainfully employed in my field.