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.
Yeah man. lol. The lady talking about the 30 degree weather must have been crazy. The average high in Dec/Jan is 70 something degree's with the average low in the 50's. That's like summer here and we swim.
Internet forums draw interesting responces but it's really nice to get all kinds of perspectives to be able to consider things I may not consider.
It's interesting how different peoples perceptions are though.
Many people complain that Tampa/St Pete is boring to them, yet for me with the background I have it would have more entertainment than any other place I have ever lived times like 5 with short commutes to 5-6 other hotspots on top of that!!
Others talk about jobs and bad schools. This of course has my attention and more research into the schools will have to be done of course. As for jobs Im pretty sure I have explained over and over again that I work in the service industry for tips. I work with people who go down for the florida season and make tips, I have friends who have gone down there, I have gone down there to visit. So when people tell me you can't make money in Florida they arn't giving advice with me in mind at all, they are just being negative and venting to fill their day -- their motivation for posting may be constructive but they are thinking more about their fields of work than mine or they don't really know about my field of work.
My concern is not the pay because I know what the pay is for those jobs and I know that it is good during peak season at a busy establishment. The question in my mind is will I be able to get one (a service job) at all -- and when people tell me I cant get one at all I have a hard time taking it seriously because my life experience has always been that if you get up off your fat lazy ass and stop feeling sorry for yourself and you present yourself well and you keep following leads and you have a resume and dress well and have letters of recommendation that you can land a job within a couple months at worse in my field -- ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS A TOURIST SEASON COMING UP!
There's little doubt I am coming to Florida -- the only real uncertainty is where I will be living. It sounds like those who give Tampa the thumbs down generally give Florida the thumbs down in general and don't really seem to be able to point to a city that is better besides the stereotypical ones like New york or Los Angelos -- both of which are not on the table for me in the near future for cultural reasons among other reasons that I wont get into. I think the moral of the story is that the grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence for a lot of people. Maybe the grass seems greener to me and it won't be but that's an experience i will have to have on my own.
And i know you mentioned this before, and its good to get some perspective from this Forum, but remember, there are about a dozen or so posters to this Forum, yet the Tampa Bay area population is close to 2 million people(360k in just the city limits of Tampa alone). Soooo....
..it gets freezing cold in January/February (even March) as the temperatures fall in the 30's and by the beaches is feels even colder because of the wind.....we cannot use our pool between October and April/May....
I realize that sometimes temperatures will get as cold as 30 degree's in the middle of the night on rare occassions. This passage however would make any reasonable person think that your talking about Canada weather.
Can't use your pool between october and april?? That's unfortunate for you but not the norm. Last time I was in Florida was in March and I was lounging in a pool and jacuzzi, and walking around in shorts with no shirt and sweat forming on my brow. Im not too worried about coldness in moving to Florida, more concerned about humidity. Won't be in Florida during the summer though so hopefully I can adapt.
Still really caught up between Tampa and Ft Lauderdale but I have a better understanding of some of the contrasts. Tampa seems more balanced and Lauderdale feels like the kind of place I might go and always be traveling to Miami (and Miami is a place I would like to avoid due to the things I have heard about it) Who knows -- maybe I will end up just going to Orlando! I got a lot of school research to do in the meantime.
when you say youre in the service industry what part do you mean? i have friends in the area who are in the service industry and have lost their jobs and have had an *impossible* time finding another one, and i really do mean impossible (not for lack of trying).
your comments have lead me to believe that you will probably be pretty happy here and seem to have a good interest for the place (which is great, we always need good people down here), but id hate you to move down here and not be able to find a job. maybe we can also point you in the direction of where to search for your particular field.
also, when you say tech school, can you tell us what for specifically? we have ptec in the area, which is an accredited tech school that many people in the area go to. i had numerous friends go there, but am not familiar with its quality (though i think ive heard good things along the line). maybe we could help you on that end too.
when you say youre in the service industry what part do you mean? i have friends in the area who are in the service industry and have lost their jobs and have had an *impossible* time finding another one, and i really do mean impossible (not for lack of trying).
your comments have lead me to believe that you will probably be pretty happy here and seem to have a good interest for the place (which is great, we always need good people down here), but id hate you to move down here and not be able to find a job. maybe we can also point you in the direction of where to search for your particular field.
also, when you say tech school, can you tell us what for specifically? we have ptec in the area, which is an accredited tech school that many people in the area go to. i had numerous friends go there, but am not familiar with its quality (though i think ive heard good things along the line). maybe we could help you on that end too.
Cool man. Now we are getting into specifics that will really help me to make a decision.
While I haven't yet picked a specific focus I know that I want to go to an accredited tech-school that has a good record of placement of it's graduates into job positions.
My service history includes customer service, retail, supervisor and such but really what has me interested in the Florida area is the fact that I have over 10 years experience working in restaurants at all positions. I have 4+ years experience as a server, a barback, a runner, even have done some bussing and kitchen work. End goal is to have experience bartending as it would make for a good 2nd job in most states or something to fall back on.
Right now I work in a fine dining restaurant at a support position (barback/run). I have met many people I work with who work the Florida season and have given me very good insight into that which I feel is probably more accurate than some of the advice I get here for the industry. The industry starts hiring in November to gear up for the peak season (Jan-April) in many area's in Florida thus making it pretty likely that you find a job of some sort in a restaurant by January if your constantly looking between november and january. I also had a friend do this and stay in Florida for 5 years since he also went to school there. I even have people who may be able to help me find a position ahead of time in south florida or on the west coast south of here. The goal is to serve somewhere but I can save money without serving and may find a job easier if I lower expectations.
Anyone who has any specific help to offer would be great!! The doom and gloom attitude of recessions will not put my life on hold. My world is not dictated by the news or by fear.
Cool man. Now we are getting into specifics that will really help me to make a decision.
While I haven't yet picked a specific focus I know that I want to go to an accredited tech-school that has a good record of placement of it's graduates into job positions.
My service history includes customer service, retail, supervisor and such but really what has me interested in the Florida area is the fact that I have over 10 years experience working in restaurants at all positions. I have 4+ years experience as a server, a barback, a runner, even have done some bussing and kitchen work. End goal is to have experience bartending as it would make for a good 2nd job in most states or something to fall back on.
Right now I work in a fine dining restaurant at a support position (barback/run). I have met many people I work with who work the Florida season and have given me very good insight into that which I feel is probably more accurate than some of the advice I get here for the industry. The industry starts hiring in November to gear up for the peak season (Jan-April) in many area's in Florida thus making it pretty likely that you find a job of some sort in a restaurant by January if your constantly looking between november and january. I also had a friend do this and stay in Florida for 5 years since he also went to school there. I even have people who may be able to help me find a position ahead of time in south florida or on the west coast south of here. The goal is to serve somewhere but I can save money without serving and may find a job easier if I lower expectations.
Anyone who has any specific help to offer would be great!! The doom and gloom attitude of recessions will not put my life on hold. My world is not dictated by the news or by fear.
I think you'll like it down here in Florida. Sure, we can occasionally get down into the 30's for about an hour or two but you'll find people in Florida really like to exaggerate the cold. Last December here in Orlando we had twelve days with high temperatures of 80 degrees or higher.
ptec may be up your alley, however, as far as im aware, they arent horribly helpful placing after youre finished. im not sure any school in this entire area really has any substantial placing after graduation. i could be wrong on ptec, but ive known at least 10 people who went there, and perhaps one of them was "hooked-in" to a job after he finished. I'd check their website, see if you can find any hard stats.
as far as i know, the restaurant industry has been hit hard here, and jobs are not a dime a dozen like they used to be. We'll see about this new season as it starts, however, my server friends have had had some difficult times pulling hours, and tips have significantly declined. id suggest trying to secure a position before you come down, however, you may end up having no problem. in fact, i only know two or three people in the industry, so i could be very wrong. again, googling for some stats in the service industry for the past two years might turn out to be helpful.
i agree with your last comment: you shouldnt put your life on hold, you're young, i say come down and enjoy what we have to offer.
We'll see about this new season as it starts, however, my server friends have had had some difficult times pulling hours, and tips have significantly declined.
Are you talking about recent peak seasons or are you talking about right now? I know it's been a tough summer from talking to people down there. I also know people who went down last season and made almost the same as they made up here.
If I can't get a job as a server I may take a support job like barback or runner (I've done this before) or even promoter. Recently someone cautioned me that barbacks don't make as much down there because people sit at tables and drink instead of going to the bar but I would think in a busy club or bar that it would still be good money -- not everyone can get a table and even then the servers have to tip out the bar and the more tips the bar gets the more tips I get. Above and beyond all that, the kitchen closes well before the bar does!!
Orlando crime is way over exaggerated. IMO, Tampa proper has more crime. Remember, the actual population of Orlando city limits is small, so the stats make it look a lot worse than it really is. Also, murders are way down over last year to this year.
As far as night life, nothing in Tampa compares to downtown Orlando. Orlando is more happening than Tampa or Ft. Lauderdale in my opinion. Again, I'm comparing Ft. Laudy with Orlando, not including Miami.
The Tampa Area is better than the Orlando Area IMO because you factor in places I like such as St.Pete and Clearwater. Two very welcoming cities with a lot of charm and surprisingly, a decent amount of culture. If you're talking city of Tampa vs city of Orlando the two are very different and Orlando seems newer, a bit more plastic, but also younger demographics. For the 20's crowd there's more going on in downtown Orlando but for 30's/40's age bracket I'd go with Tampa. The above poster mentioned Orlando as more happening than Ft. Lauderdale and from people I've spoken to this seems very hard to believe.
IMO, it sounds like Ft. Lauderdale is more your style. It has jobs and plenty of clubs and cute young women and men. There is really no reason to even visit Miami if you don't want to, FTL has everything you need. I live near it, it's a really nice, happening small city.
That said, I'll be moving to Tampa/St. Pete in a few years, I hope.
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.
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.
