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PotPies I have been just glancing through the thread and haven't read through all of the posts so forgive me if my questions have been covered already:
1. What other cities around the country are you looking at? I was born and raised in Oakland but now live in Houston, one of the nation's healthiest economies/job markets (and that in many ways is NOT saying much). Moving here was something I should have done 10 years ago. Houston is working out fairly good so far.
2. If you are THAT tired of office politics, have you considered starting your own business?
Give someone else the opportunity to work for YOU. I am trying to do so, but I'm a graphic designer and the things I do have gotten to the point where a high-school graduate can do half of them while answering phones and painting her fingernails. For half the hourly rate. You might be able to bill a client much more for your services, and it might be easier for you to get a small business loan.
PotPies I have been just glancing through the thread and haven't read through all of the posts so forgive me if my questions have been covered already:
1. What other cities around the country are you looking at? I was born and raised in Oakland but now live in Houston, one of the nation's healthiest economies/job markets (and that in many ways is NOT saying much). Moving here was something I should have done 10 years ago. Houston is working out fairly good so far.
2. If you are THAT tired of office politics, have you considered starting your own business?
Give someone else the opportunity to work for YOU. I am trying to do so, but I'm a graphic designer and the things I do have gotten to the point where a high-school graduate can do half of them while answering phones and painting her fingernails. For half the hourly rate. You might be able to bill a client much more for your services, and it might be easier for you to get a small business loan.
Hello... Well I am looking at DC in addition to SF. Mostly I am trying to find somewhere where a lot of data is being crunched, cause that is my background and experience. NYC fits the bill but I have already been there and done that. Maybe I should take a closer look at Texas though, and thanks for the idea.
Your idea about starting my own business is good, but given that im in a mid-life career change from financial data in NYC to internet data in SF, Im not sure I could attract the clients just yet. It is food for thought though.
Im sure not all offices are that bad. My brother actually seems to like the people he works with. But people get off on the wrong foot with me when they crowd my space, use tones I dont like, barge in on me, etc. Respect is a mutual and reciprocal thing with me, and if you don't treat me with it I usually don't send it back, and its hard to fake at this age (40) for me. I could do a better job being phony when I was younger.
Hello... Well I am looking at DC in addition to SF. Mostly I am trying to find somewhere where a lot of data is being crunched, cause that is my background and experience. NYC fits the bill but I have already been there and done that. Maybe I should take a closer look at Texas though, and thanks for the idea.
Your idea about starting my own business is good, but given that im in a mid-life career change from financial data in NYC to internet data in SF, Im not sure I could attract the clients just yet. It is food for thought though.
Im sure not all offices are that bad. My brother actually seems to like the people he works with. But people get off on the wrong foot with me when they crowd my space, use tones I dont like, barge in on me, etc. Respect is a mutual and reciprocal thing with me, and if you don't treat me with it I usually don't send it back, and its hard to fake at this age (40) for me. I could do a better job being phony when I was younger.
I am 43 and also find that my tolerance for the regular and sundry BS of the workplace is getting less and less. My feeling: seek out only the best firms AND fight for regulatory changes in workplace behavior. Some things can be legislated, and other times it's best to walk away from a bad situation even if it means you are unemployed for a while. If one votes with his/her feet, that might send a message to someone, "maybe we need to look at why that person quit on us."
Companies would do well to realize that even in a recession there is still a "war for talent" and the best and brightest people WILL STILL bail on you if they are treated poorly enough, if only to start their own firm or take something that pays less but the environment is better. I have walked away from "bad" jobs on more than one occasion, and been almost penniless as a result. Positioning yourself in the right city does help a LOT.
It is no one's fault the economy is horrible. Fixing this economy is the job of the political/governmental system as well as the business sector. Not any one individual "employee". And we as a society need to hold some feet to the fire to get this done.
I am 43 and also find that my tolerance for the regular and sundry BS of the workplace is getting less and less. My feeling: seek out only the best firms AND fight for regulatory changes in workplace behavior. Some things can be legislated, and other times it's best to walk away from a bad situation even if it means you are unemployed for a while. If one votes with his/her feet, that might send a message to someone, "maybe we need to look at why that person quit on us."
Companies would do well to realize that even in a recession there is still a "war for talent" and the best and brightest people WILL STILL bail on you if they are treated poorly enough, if only to start their own firm or take something that pays less but the environment is better. I have walked away from "bad" jobs on more than one occasion, and been almost penniless as a result. Positioning yourself in the right city does help a LOT.
It is no one's fault the economy is horrible. Fixing this economy is the job of the political/governmental system as well as the business sector. Not any one individual "employee". And we as a society need to hold some feet to the fire to get this done.
Well, this place was a small (<25) company so apparently they can get away with a culture that other places can't. Theres other places I've worked such as trading companies in New York that think they can get away with that kind of culture (pushy to the point of lacking basic human respect). I guess I'm too old for it now.
Having worked for some top minds in NYC, who treated me with more respect when I was younger and less skilled, I have a basis for comparison. Its tough that the benefit of the doubt often goes to the employer and not the employee in a firing situation, but I guess thats the breaks.
Thanks for the post and I feel a little better walking away from that place. I guess maybe the economy will pick up eventually and this will be a memory. And I got an interview call from somewhere in the SF yesterday so I'll get over this.
Well, this place was a small (<25) company so apparently they can get away with a culture that other places can't. Theres other places I've worked such as trading companies in New York that think they can get away with that kind of culture (pushy to the point of lacking basic human respect). I guess I'm too old for it now.
Thanks for the post and I feel a little better walking away from that place. I guess maybe the economy will pick up eventually and this will be a memory. And I got an interview call from somewhere in the SF yesterday so I'll get over this.
I am VERY wary of small businesses (to work for). Those are the ones that seem to respect people the least IMO, and here I am, ironically, someone who encourages people to start businesses. I have had the best experiences either in non-profits or divisions of major national firms.
I also am happy I have lived, for the most part, in cities with a more "relaxed" attitude, which greatly helps in the workplace. I grew up in the Bay Area which is a fast-paced, stressful place. Now I live in Houston which is far more "slow" and "friendly". I also lived in Phoenix for a while which also had a relatively pleasant and slow pace of life.
I was working in the North Bay area (Novato) but then I was fired by my overbearing, uncivilized, micromanaging managers.
I have been looking for work ever since. I had to put my stuff into storage in March and move in with my brother in the Midwest cause I had eaten through all my savings and unemployment.
During this time I have had millions of phone interviews, 10+ face-to-face interviews, etc.
Is the economy really that bad? It doesn't sound like it from what people say but its impossible for me.
I am a Data Analyst/Data Scientist/Statistician which I thought was a growing area but apparently I was wrong.
Is it just me? Or is anyone else finding it very hard to get hired in the area? I'm really neither stupid nor incompetent, I have a masters degree and I am ready to work hard, but apparently employers have little problem tossing my resume straight in the trash.
Are you somehow under the impression that this recession is A) over and B) temporary? Much of the reality has been glossed over by official BLS reports that don't include people who simply gave up looking after getting tired of begging.
I wouldn't blame yourself too much unless you've got some "issue" not being described here. There are just too many people looking for similar jobs. Tech jobs in the South Bay seem to account for much of the hiring going on now. Averages usually mislead.
I think there's major misunderstanding of the root cause of this recession, and why it's global and stubbornly persistent. The idea that bad mortgages and Wall Street games are the main factors is shallow analysis. Something more fundamental has enabled economic growth for the past century, and it no longer exists in cheap enough form to allow growth-as-usual, i.e. hiring-as-usual. Evidence shows that the economy has finally hit the Peak Oil wall.
Well, this place was a small (<25) company so apparently they can get away with a culture that other places can't. Theres other places I've worked such as trading companies in New York that think they can get away with that kind of culture (pushy to the point of lacking basic human respect). I guess I'm too old for it now.
Having worked for some top minds in NYC, who treated me with more respect when I was younger and less skilled, I have a basis for comparison. Its tough that the benefit of the doubt often goes to the employer and not the employee in a firing situation, but I guess thats the breaks.
Thanks for the post and I feel a little better walking away from that place. I guess maybe the economy will pick up eventually and this will be a memory. And I got an interview call from somewhere in the SF yesterday so I'll get over this.
is it possible to go back to what you did in NYC? i've moved around a lot and every time i leave the bay area i live to regret it. my background is all in that area, my skills were all based on that area, and somehow going other places, "something" is always missing that doesn't work out.
Are you somehow under the impression that this recession is A) over and B) temporary? Much of the reality has been glossed over by official BLS reports that don't include people who simply gave up looking after getting tired of begging.
I wouldn't blame yourself too much unless you've got some "issue" not being described here. There are just too many people looking for similar jobs. Tech jobs in the South Bay seem to account for much of the hiring going on now. Averages usually mislead.
I think there's major misunderstanding of the root cause of this recession, and why it's global and stubbornly persistent. The idea that bad mortgages and Wall Street games are the main factors is shallow analysis. Something more fundamental has enabled economic growth for the past century, and it no longer exists in cheap enough form to allow growth-as-usual, i.e. hiring-as-usual. Evidence shows that the economy has finally hit the Peak Oil wall.
Thanks, maybe 13 months isn't that unusual these days. I saw something on CNN about a guy who just got hired after 4 years.
is it possible to go back to what you did in NYC? i've moved around a lot and every time i leave the bay area i live to regret it. my background is all in that area, my skills were all based on that area, and somehow going other places, "something" is always missing that doesn't work out.
I can't go back to what I was doing in NYC, because I essentially (unknowingly) was one of those people contributing to the mortgage meltdown... I was helping to build default and prepayment models using data analysis so that mortgages could be securitized. A lot of jobs in that area no longer exist after 2008.
I can't go back to what I was doing in NYC, because I essentially (unknowingly) was one of those people contributing to the mortgage meltdown... I was helping to build default and prepayment models using data analysis so that mortgages could be securitized. A lot of jobs in that area no longer exist after 2008.
oh heck. serious bummer! but like you just said, 13 months isn't so unusual these days. i've always done best going through an agency as was said earlier by mayorhaggar. they speak better of me than i do of myself. i went to one interview that wanted data mining. i'd been away from the bay area for three or four years and had no clue what that was. had they just asked me on the phone, i would have said no, i don't know! and i'm sure it could be taught in a few minutes but that was asking too much.
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It depends on your field, but it's still tough
