Has anyone had any luck getting a job and relocating from out of state? (Tampa: rent, felony)

[d-fens]

Have any of you done this recently? I'm to the point where I'm desperate to get any job and I feel like the only reason I'm not being hired is because I live out of state. I'm at the point where I am about to quit my job and move down and take whatever position I can get and then see if I can at least get an interview because right now I haven't even gotten that. It's days like these I wish I never bothered to get a degree (a masters no less) and never did all the internships I've done because I feel like it was all a waste. I should have gotten a medical degree or went into law enforcement because teaching jobs aren't hiring anywhere.

[algia]

If you have a job already...in this economy...why in the world would you want to quit it????? so you can come and starve here instead!!!!!!!!?

[d-fens]

i have two jobs here, and they both are god awful. i live in dc and the cost of living is killing me. i make the same amount of money on my menial job working in a bar as the job i have working at the university. i also hate cold weather and if by december i don't have a job in in florida or one of the other states i am trying to move to i will relocate without a job.

[algia]

When you get here you will soon realize that you are trading the cold for a salary that will be half of what you're making at one of your jobs now!

Are you working outside? I lived in cold 27 years and never had a problem with it as my job was indoors!

The cost of living here is also higher compared to what you will be making........you may end up having 3 jobs just to stay afloat!

I personally LOVE DC, been there in the winter time and I love the fact that there is so much culture, museums etc! if I lived there I highly doubt I would have considered any other place! The warm weather here won't pay your bills! I wish people would realize that! too many move here and then get the cold shower of "reality"!

I would suggest Texas (if warmer weather is all you care about) and if you want a better pay............if you want to slave for the sake of warm weather then be my guest and move here!

[d-fens]

For the record, no, i will not make half of what I make here. I make $28000 dollars here. I doubt I would only make $14000 on any of the jobs I'd take, even the most menial. A cost of living calculation had said I would need to make $19000 to live the same way I live in any of the metro areas in Florida I want to live in. Teachers with masters degrees start somewhere in the range of 37-40 thousand in Florida. Actually, most jobs in other fields I apply for make more than what I make here. I rent one bedroom of a house in the VA suburbs of DC for $735 a month. I could rent a two bedroom house in Florida for that much. So the whole "everyone is richer up north" mentality is wrong. I don't care for any of the so called "culture" in the DC area. It is either stuck up types that think they know everything there is to know about everything or political blowhards that try to shove their beliefs down your throat. The only cold weather place I would consider living is NYC or the northern NJ area where I moved from about a year ago. I actually had a job offer in Florida but passed it up because I thought this was a better opportunity in the long run. I'm seeing that was a bad, bad decision now so I'm trying to correct it by any means.

[algia]

I would have thought someone with a Masters Degree would appreciate culture (Museums, theater, dance etc)! I guess not! I was not referring to the quality of people (you go ahead and move here and THEN see "stuck up" LOLOL Have you been here before? more than 2 days?

Look, you can move here all you want, in the end if fishing is what you are interested in and football, then great! I am only pointing out the obvious, there are TONS of people here with MASTERS and other degrees who are unemployed and readily available.........

I am wondering why you think there are no unemployed people here dying for a job and dying to put all that education to good use! however, the unemployment rate amongst the education here is horrible! I am not sure why you want to join them!

I hate to also tell you that 37-40k in FL is JUST above poverty rate, how I know this? well because my kids finally qualified for Medicaid for kids! It may seem like a lot for a single person...but in the general scope it isn't!
Remember in Florida more space (square footage) means more money out of your pocket on the electric bill! at 90 degrees out I don't think you'll be shutting your air off often!!

If you want to move here that's fine, but I can't tell you that everything will be pink when you get here! Do you have a car? you'll need one....as nothing here is in walking distance! the money you'll be saving on rent you'll be spending on gas! We don't have reliable public transportation here, nor Metro...you'll have to count that in! Groceries are also NOT cheaper!

[algia]

I think I figured it out! When we went to DC and also NYC they had all these commercials on TV about visiting Florida, and as advertising people are, they were of course very appealing! We get the ones here with Visit California and Wisconsin! But that doesn't make me want to move there, maybe indeed VISIT! I can imagine how good those commercials look when you see snow outside, unfortunately they are not meant to show the day to day life! Florida/Tampa is not that much different than the rest of the US....

I remember liking DC a lot also because people looked very very good! dressed nice and without fat hanging out of their pants/skirts! It reminded me of Europe where people have self respect!

You will see plenty of homeless people, just as they gather by the Post Office in DC, you will see PLENTY of stuck up people, just as from time to time you will see people using their turn signals....or let you in the other lane without giving you the death look! you will see the same traffic, some days worst, some days better.........maybe you'll see the beach sometimes, sometimes you won't because you'll be way to busy working........and it will only be on your screen saver! and sometimes you won't go because of the red tide! which stinks! you may see a dolphin or stingray, but you can also see them at Sea World without the risk of getting stung (stingrays)...

To me to escape the cold is really not a good excuse to move somewhere! you have to be lucky to find a job that starts that high......as there are people with YEARS of experience sitting unemployed and others who move back where they came from and who realized it was a much better idea to VACATION here than take a pay cut and live here everyday!

Tampa is no different than other cities, we have crack towns here too.......along with those beautiful beaches....this is trailer park country.....as you and others will find! but we do miss on public transportation and education here sucks! everyone know that.........graduation rate we are 45 out of 50 states! hmmmmmm!???

[d-fens]

Okay, have you ever lived in DC though? Do you understand the cost of living? Do you understand what $28000 is in DC? You are still missing the point that I am making 9-12 thousand less than the number you are appalled by. So in the big picture, do you see that I am making far less? I mean you say you love it in DC, but if you haven't lived here you wouldn't understand. You bring up the issue of electric bills. Fair enough, but in the winter (check that, 9 months out of the year) I have to run my heater here, even though I usually don't for the fact that I can't afford it. I have a car and I have to drive to work because of my schedule at two jobs. I spend money on gas. I'm forced to live in a house here with transients and criminals because it's all I can afford. Just two weeks ago my one roommate was arrested on felony drug charges. Someone he owed money to came knocking on the rear entrance of my house about a week ago. I have had police at my house on a regular basis since I moved here in November either looking for former residents (one is wanted for murder) or asking if I have seen one of my neighbors. A cab driver was shot in the face right outside my door in January. It's not even that this is a big deal because I grew up in a place not entirely different from this, but I didn't spend 5 years and thousands of dollars on college to get out and be living the same if not worse. I figure if I'm going to live in squalor I might as well not have to deal with cold, damp, darkness nine months out of the year. So don't tell me why my life in DC is better.

[algia]

How long have you been at that job? is that the ONLY job in DC? are all the jobs in that field pay the same? or is that a starting salary?

I am not sure your degree will be appreciated here as it should! and as many other here also should be appreciated! the mentality here sucks and employers are taking advantage of people with or without education every day! that's something I don't like!

[d-fens]

Well, it doesn't change the fact that I don't like DC. Like I said, the only cold area I like is NYC/North Jersey. Other than that none interest me. So I'm either looking to go to Florida, California, Las Vegas, Texas, Arizona or the NYC metro. Other than that I have no interest in other areas. I'd rather be honest with myself than just take jobs because it is a so-called "good opportunity". I'm done with this conversation.