Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Tampa Bay
 [Register]
Tampa Bay Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-26-2013, 04:08 PM
 
58 posts, read 77,679 times
Reputation: 24

Advertisements

Hello everyone,

Before I start, yes I used the search function. But I still did not really get the answers I was looking for. I should start off by saying I am a young man who has lived in Michigan my entire life. I currently go to college and I will graduate next May. I will be 23 when I graduate and I will have a degree in Finance from a Big 10 school.

Basically, I want to get out of Michigan, and I want to go somewhere warm. I did some research, and Tampa is one of the cities that interests me. I am not a winter person by any means (I HATE the cold), and I really like warm weather and I have always enjoyed FL when i traveled there; although I have never been to Tampa. But the city seems very fun, the people apparently are nice, and you don't have the rat race like you do in NY, LA, Miami etc.

Finally, I have nobody to support but myself. I am not going to just stay in Michigan my whole life because it is the safe thing to do. I will be in the best position of my life to make a move out of Michigan. I can live on a budget for a while until I find work, and I can spend the rest of this year building my savings for when I do move. Living cheaply is not a big deal to me, and it will only be my family and a handful of good friends I will be leaving behind in Michigan.

So I was wondering if Tampa is a good match for me in your eyes. I know I will most likely have to provide more specific info, and I will gladly do so. I just want to start preparing early rather than wait a month before to make a decision. Also, if Tampa is not a good match in your opinion, any ideas? I have also been looking into Houston, Austin, Dallas, Phoenix, and Jacksonville. I will add more to my list too, but so far Tampa interests me most.

Thanks for the help

Last edited by Manimarco; 05-26-2013 at 04:22 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-26-2013, 04:25 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,414,136 times
Reputation: 14611
Can't give you any recommendations, but wanted to congratulate you on earning a great degree - hard work on your part, I'm sure. Hopefully it'll produce a rewarding career for you. Good luck.

Our economy (jobs/housing) is starting to comeback after several horrendous years. Maybe before heading down this way, get in a few interviews or get a feel for the area, because it can be tough to get used to the heat/humidity from May-October.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-26-2013, 04:28 PM
 
58 posts, read 77,679 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by BucFan View Post
Can't give you any recommendations, but wanted to congratulate you on earning a great degree - hard work on your part, I'm sure. Hopefully it'll produce a rewarding career for you. Good luck.
Wow thanks a lot man. I knew this was a great forum.

Edit: Yea I want to get an interview, but I have no idea how one would go about doing so in a city so far away. I am sure I will figure it out though. I will for sure be visiting Tampa, along with some other cities. Also, if it matters, I do not like cities that feel super small/like there is not much to do. I know Tampa is not a small city, and it is considerably larger than Grand Rapids, so I doubt that would be a problem. But that is my main concern.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-26-2013, 04:33 PM
 
Location: North of South, South of North
8,704 posts, read 10,892,988 times
Reputation: 5150
Well the good thing is that it's always sunny and warm in Florida. (this is a joke )

Finance is a decent career path here. It certainly is not Wall Street, but it is pretty good.

But no one can realistically tell you that this is or is not a good place for you. Not being tied down with children plays in your favor. Not having a family network may or may not be tough for you.

While it may not be a rat race here, a lot of people drive like it is. Crazy drivers. I certainly have lived in places which were a much slower pace, so I would have to say it is not a true rat race but it is not sleepy town either.

Weather is usually good, IMO, with the best weather coming over the next 6 months, IMO. Contrary to false rumors, we do in fact have seasons here....just not icy cold weather much. At least half of the trees lose their leaves over the winter. I am with you on not liking the cold, but keep in mind that there are times here in the winter where it will be colder than you might think. NOT Michigan cold though....LOL!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-26-2013, 04:44 PM
 
58 posts, read 77,679 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by PriusH8r View Post
Well the good thing is that it's always sunny and warm in Florida. (this is a joke )

Finance is a decent career path here. It certainly is not Wall Street, but it is pretty good.

But no one can realistically tell you that this is or is not a good place for you. Not being tied down with children plays in your favor. Not having a family network may or may not be tough for you.

While it may not be a rat race here, a lot of people drive like it is. Crazy drivers. I certainly have lived in places which were a much slower pace, so I would have to say it is not a true rat race but it is not sleepy town either.

Weather is usually good, IMO, with the best weather coming over the next 6 months, IMO. Contrary to false rumors, we do in fact have seasons here....just not icy cold weather much. At least half of the trees lose their leaves over the winter. I am with you on not liking the cold, but keep in mind that there are times here in the winter where it will be colder than you might think. NOT Michigan cold though....LOL!
Yea, I saw from good ole wikipedia that there is a finance sector in Tampa. I don't really like the culture of NY/Wall Street anyhow. Besides, I want to one day be self employed.

Haha I heard the driving could get crazy down there. But it is good that you say it is not a sleepy town. I don't wanna move to a city where everyone is a retiree, lol. But for me it is more of a cultural thing. I want to live in a place where people take the time to enjoy themselves. From how you describe it Tampa has a good balance.

As for weather, I am sure the change in temp is a good thing. As much as i swear to myself that the novelty of warm weather will never go away, I think I will appreciate the seasons.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-26-2013, 04:45 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,414,136 times
Reputation: 14611
Raymond James to lay off 160 - Tampa Bay Business Journal

We do have a lot of banks in the area - seems like everytime I go to my SunBank branch, there's new people in there - probably the manager/higher level people in the branch have Finance degrees, but not all of them.

Not sure where else one w/ a finance degree would work: maybe the investment field. But as you can see from a recent story, Raymond James just laid off over a hundred people.

What about Federal Service? (MacDill AFB). https://www.usajobs.gov/
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-26-2013, 04:52 PM
 
58 posts, read 77,679 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by BucFan View Post
Raymond James to lay off 160 - Tampa Bay Business Journal

We do have a lot of banks in the area - seems like everytime I go to my SunBank branch, there's new people in there - probably the manager/higher level people in the branch have Finance degrees, but not all of them.

Not sure where else one w/ a finance degree would work: maybe the investment field. But as you can see from a recent story, Raymond James just laid off over a hundred people.

What about Federal Service? (MacDill AFB). https://www.usajobs.gov/
Thanks a lot. I will give that a look. I will end up applying to all kinds of places if I choose Tampa, but it never occurred to me to look into the public sector.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-26-2013, 05:08 PM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,414,136 times
Reputation: 14611
If I had a finance degree, I'd also consider looking at health care organizations - especially in light of the new health care law compliance.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-26-2013, 07:05 PM
 
Location: Tampa
443 posts, read 558,363 times
Reputation: 572
Tampa is not a place I recommend to any young person looking to start a career. Have you done much research into number of opportunities as well as average salaries?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-26-2013, 08:38 PM
 
58 posts, read 77,679 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by craigtnelson View Post
Tampa is not a place I recommend to any young person looking to start a career. Have you done much research into number of opportunities as well as average salaries?
I appreciate the response,

I looked at avg salaries and cost of living. Tampa seemed fine in those aspects. But as for # of opportunities, no, I can't say I have given it a lot of research. I looked over what sectors make up most of the economy and a few general thinks like that. But nothing really substantial.

But to be honest, the situation has to be pretty bad for me to rule out a city for that reason. As I said earlier, I am going to be 23 when I move with nobody to care for but myself, so I don't mind taking risks. I will not just move to a city because it is the safest bet.

You are right though I should give that more thought. Out of curiosity, are there any other Southern cities that you would recommend? I hear Houston is a good bet, and i have family in Dallas as well.

Thanks
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Tampa Bay

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:47 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top