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I feel as though I should weigh in. While I don't agree with the OP's friends on the "mexican gang" thing. I will absolutely agree that New Mexico is a hostile place for people who have relocated here from other parts of the country. If for no other reason than one big dirty N word.
"Nepotism"
I hate to come on here and take a confrontational stance, however, my experience with trying to survive in Santa Fe or New Mexico as a whole has been less than stellar. I relocated here from Boston back in 2004 and after graduating from college with a BA in english I've attempted to find gainful employment, and been largely un-successful. Initially I assumed it was because I had a degree that didn't matter. So while working from short term contract to short term contract I re-trained myself as an automotive mechanic, and still had no luck. after that I re-trained as a welder. and still no long term luck, just more "come in for a day" contract work.
I did start to notice a pattern though. The only places that I would get a call back from a resume, were businesses started or run by other people who have relocated from other parts of the country. I've gotten desperate enough to apply to McDonalds, Jiffy Lube, waste processor or where ever. and almost every single time I walk through the door the first question i'm asked (if I'm even asked a question) is "where are you from?" It shouldn't matter!
And even though I have several native New Mexican friends, the only places that they all work are in jobs that they were given by friends or family. Not based on the skills they have at all, solely based on "where are you from?".
I understand that a family should support one another, but when it comes down to it, my experiences show that New Mexican business owners would rather hire their under qualified cousins than someone who can do a good job and actually help their business.
Sorry I know it's a heck of a first post, but I felt like it needed to be said.
Say what?
A sad tale but not the experience of those many I know who have moved here.
including me!
to which I respond, how did you get your job? Unless you work at one of the labs I'm going to guess that you had some kind of hookup within your current place of employment.
Fun fact though, I have gotten more call backs for interviews when I left my college degree off my resume/application!
As for me, no I didn't have any connections, and only knew one other person who lived here. I took courses, passed the tests, interviewed with companies, and started my career. It's the first job I had that wasn't salaried and I either made a living or not strictly based on my own effort. Happily for me it's worked out great. I love what I do, and I think that's the real secret of success.
Hang in there, I wish you well.
I feel as though I should weigh in. While I don't agree with the OP's friends on the "mexican gang" thing. I will absolutely agree that New Mexico is a hostile place for people who have relocated here from other parts of the country. If for no other reason than one big dirty N word.
"Nepotism"
I hate to come on here and take a confrontational stance, however, my experience with trying to survive in Santa Fe or New Mexico as a whole has been less than stellar. I relocated here from Boston back in 2004 and after graduating from college with a BA in english I've attempted to find gainful employment, and been largely un-successful. Initially I assumed it was because I had a degree that didn't matter. So while working from short term contract to short term contract I re-trained myself as an automotive mechanic, and still had no luck. after that I re-trained as a welder. and still no long term luck, just more "come in for a day" contract work.
I did start to notice a pattern though. The only places that I would get a call back from a resume, were businesses started or run by other people who have relocated from other parts of the country. I've gotten desperate enough to apply to McDonalds, Jiffy Lube, waste processor or where ever. and almost every single time I walk through the door the first question i'm asked (if I'm even asked a question) is "where are you from?" It shouldn't matter!
And even though I have several native New Mexican friends, the only places that they all work are in jobs that they were given by friends or family. Not based on the skills they have at all, solely based on "where are you from?".
I understand that a family should support one another, but when it comes down to it, my experiences show that New Mexican business owners would rather hire their under qualified cousins than someone who can do a good job and actually help their business.
Sorry I know it's a heck of a first post, but I felt like it needed to be said.
Zombie,
I can't tell you how many people I have watched move out of Santa Fe because of your same or even WORSE experiences. Greater Santa Fe is a RE agent and RE agents, the art community, the holistic-health community, and the home design/interior community are the few areas in SF that are mostly Anglo and mostly transplant-dominated (non-native) so they don't experience that same good-ole-boy-nepotism and work-ethic problems. Plus they have a career and financial stake in spinning things to the overly-positive.
Good luck to you---I wish more people did indepth research before they moved to NM. That is why City Data forums are so valuable, as we are allowed to talk about all the various perspectives to living in a community that you'll never get from just your RE agent or your chamber of commerce or booster organizations.
Okay mountainrose, I admit that us Realtors and Chamber of Commerce folks, and arts folk, and holistic healers, and builders and interior designers and nurses and doctors and therapists and accountants and lawyers and restauranteurs and State workers and Federal workers and LANL workers and bankers and probably others I'm leaving out, don't usually have to worry about nepotism. Hey, that must mean that no one with hiring responsibilities in those fields are "natives". Your feeling that most people in these professions are Anglos who have been transplanted here and therefore aren't aware of nepotism or bad work-ethics practiced by the "natives" sounds to me a bit racist. And while there may be fewer native New Mexicans (Anglo and Hispanic)than transplants in the above professions, the fact is that there are fewer natives than transplants in all professions just due to the growth of our city (and Albuquerque and Las Cruces and Silver City....) by us new-comers - we out-populate the native New Mexican population.
So, is there nepotism? Probably. Are there folks who are hard workers but can't find a job? Sure. There is, I heard last week, around 5% unemployment rate here in Santa Fe. Is 5% too high? Yes - Ideally everyone who wants to work should be able to get a job. Are the 5% unemployed because of nepotism? Maybe some, but let's not leave the impression that that's the norm.
Am I a booster for this community? You bet I am - and proud of it.
I feel as though I should weigh in. While I don't agree with the OP's friends on the "mexican gang" thing. I will absolutely agree that New Mexico is a hostile place for people who have relocated here from other parts of the country. If for no other reason than one big dirty N word.
"Nepotism"
I hate to come on here and take a confrontational stance, however, my experience with trying to survive in Santa Fe or New Mexico as a whole has been less than stellar. I relocated here from Boston back in 2004 and after graduating from college with a BA in english I've attempted to find gainful employment, and been largely un-successful. Initially I assumed it was because I had a degree that didn't matter. So while working from short term contract to short term contract I re-trained myself as an automotive mechanic, and still had no luck. after that I re-trained as a welder. and still no long term luck, just more "come in for a day" contract work.
I did start to notice a pattern though. The only places that I would get a call back from a resume, were businesses started or run by other people who have relocated from other parts of the country. I've gotten desperate enough to apply to McDonalds, Jiffy Lube, waste processor or where ever. and almost every single time I walk through the door the first question i'm asked (if I'm even asked a question) is "where are you from?" It shouldn't matter!
And even though I have several native New Mexican friends, the only places that they all work are in jobs that they were given by friends or family. Not based on the skills they have at all, solely based on "where are you from?".
I understand that a family should support one another, but when it comes down to it, my experiences show that New Mexican business owners would rather hire their under qualified cousins than someone who can do a good job and actually help their business.
Sorry I know it's a heck of a first post, but I felt like it needed to be said.
Completely false IMHO. I am a Native NM'er. I work for one of the largest companies in NM. My office is in a hall with 8 other people. Of those 8 only 3 are native to NM.
Of my closet people to me they are the following.
Wife - Native - Own her own Business - None of her employees are related
Brother - Native - Works for large corporation
Cousin - Native - Owns Business / No family employees
Uncle - Native - Owns Business / No Family employees
Father - Native - Works for large corporation
Friend 1 - Native - Works for large corporation
Brother in Law - Native - Works for small business / No family relations
F 1 Husband - Native - Works for Small Business with no relation
F 2 - Transplant - Works For small business
F 3 - Transplant - Works for large corporation
F 4 - Native - Owns own business / 1 Family employee
F 5 - Native - Works for Medium Size Bank
I could go on and on showing all types of variation. While what you posted may be your own personal experience it is in no way representative of what actually is going on with regards to employment as a whole in NM. IMHO.
There was a lot of nepotism back in Boston where I also moved from. It's not a "New Mexico thing." In fact I worked for a large private university in the Boston area whose policy was to give hiring preference to spouses, relatives, and even friends of employees. They were very open about it. I put in a good word for a friend of mine and they hired him. I assume this kind of thing happens everywhere.
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