Harlingen/RGV job opportunities for my husband (Port Isabel: RV parks, home)

[MAtheBanker]

Hello! I was relocated to Harlingen by my employer and my husband will soon be joining me from Arizona. We are doing a lot of research to find out what his best course of action would be for job opportunities.

His background: He's 37, Caucasian (I don't know if this is important or not), English speaker only (again, not sure if that's important), has work history ranging from driving commercial vehicles, fixing vehicles, dismantling vehicles, manufacturing work, warehouse work, he has a forklift certification, plumbers apprentice certification, he has every tool known to man, he can lift anything and be on his feet for 10 hours a day (which is what he does right now), he has construction experience, remodeling experience, demolition experience, and tons of other things I'm sure I'm forgetting, but you get the idea

He has mentioned taking welding classes to become certified and/or also getting his CDL to possibly become an owner/operator. He is very interested in the petroleum industry but we aren't sure if getting his petroleum engineering degree is right anymore due to the volatile petroleum industry right now.

I make enough to support us both (we have no kids), so if he decides to go to school full-time that wouldn't be a problem.

Since we only know the economy in Arizona we are pretty clueless as to the route to take for him here. Ideally he'd like to make $20/hr. Is that possible here with his experience?

You can be blunt. We do not take offense easily

[Mark Senior]

Just curious, you joined city-data in 2009, you Location is "Deep South Texas" I suppose has been that location since 2009, you have 3,800 posts and 3800 reps. But need help on the valley? Location is Deep South Texas?

[MAtheBanker]

Originally Posted by Mark Senior

Just curious, you joined city-data in 2009, you Location is "Deep South Texas" I suppose has been that location since 2009, you have 3,800 posts and 3800 reps. But need help on the valley? Location is Deep South Texas?

You do realize you can change what your location says at any given time, right? I actually changed it from Harlingen, TX to Deep South TX today. Why? I don't know. But I can assure you I am new to the valley. Why would I lie about that?

[DorianRo]

Originally Posted by MAtheBanker

Hello! I was relocated to Harlingen by my employer and my husband will soon be joining me from Arizona. We are doing a lot of research to find out what his best course of action would be for job opportunities.

His background: He's 37, Caucasian (I don't know if this is important or not), English speaker only (again, not sure if that's important), has work history ranging from driving commercial vehicles, fixing vehicles, dismantling vehicles, manufacturing work, warehouse work, he has a forklift certification, plumbers apprentice certification, he has every tool known to man, he can lift anything and be on his feet for 10 hours a day (which is what he does right now), he has construction experience, remodeling experience, demolition experience, and tons of other things I'm sure I'm forgetting, but you get the idea

He has mentioned taking welding classes to become certified and/or also getting his CDL to possibly become an owner/operator. He is very interested in the petroleum industry but we aren't sure if getting his petroleum engineering degree is right anymore due to the volatile petroleum industry right now.

I make enough to support us both (we have no kids), so if he decides to go to school full-time that wouldn't be a problem.

Since we only know the economy in Arizona we are pretty clueless as to the route to take for him here. Ideally he'd like to make $20/hr. Is that possible here with his experience?

You can be blunt. We do not take offense easily

It will take him time to find work being that hes an anglo. . . Its gonna be a HUGE culture shock. . . I would try get a job for the state/federal government. Companies don't pay anything down there. He may not like it down there either chances are. The only caucasians mainly in the Valley are snowbirds/retirees confined to RV parks or at the island/Port Isabel. In a sense its very segregated. RARELY did i ever see hispanics/Anglos mix in the area. It was almost like going back in time 50 years.

$20/hr in the valley? Thats gonna be tough unless you land a state job. Companies pay $8-10 an hour down there. But its cheap living there. If you can land a job at 15-17 bucks an hour down there you're doing ok really.

[MAtheBanker]

Originally Posted by DorianRo

It will take him time to find work being that hes an anglo. . . Its gonna be a HUGE culture shock. . . I would try get a job for the state/federal government. Companies don't pay anything down there. He may not like it down there either chances are. The only caucasians mainly in the Valley are snowbirds/retirees confined to RV parks or at the island/Port Isabel. In a sense its very segregated. RARELY did i ever see hispanics/Anglos mix in the area. It was almost like going back in time 50 years.

$20/hr in the valley? Thats gonna be tough unless you land a state job. Companies pay $8-10 an hour down there. But its cheap living there. If you can land a job at 15-17 bucks an hour down there you're doing ok really.

I'm not worried about the culture shock. I've been in the valley since I was relocated in April and I never experienced culture shock. The city we lived in in Arizona has a very high Hispanic population and my husband works with mainly Hispanics. We get along with everyone and we can tolerate if it's not reciprocal so I'm not worried about that.

We worked hard to get out of Arizona because we were tired of the area we lived in. My husband grew up in small town Kansas and is excited to get that feel back. We want to eventually buy land with our without a house, especially if it's a fixer upper since he knows how to do all of the work himself. He's going to love it here.

He's willing to work less than desirable jobs (manual labor type) so we're hoping that makes the pay higher. We will see. He found a company near Corpus that pays $800-$1500/week to drivers. He doesn't have his CDL but he has extensive experience as his family owned a trucking company. He'd be away from home a lot but he would love to be on the road.

It's going to be a struggle, for sure, to find a good job for him, but we are fighters

[ChristieP]

The problem is twofold:
1. He doesn't speak Spanish
2. RGV historically has the highest unemployment rate in the entire state

[hellpaso]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

The problem is twofold:
1. He doesn't speak Spanish
2. RGV historically has the highest unemployment rate in the entire state

^^This. His best bet would be to try to get into a school for further training. The types of jobs you referenced will most likely not be available to him.

[gguerra]

Originally Posted by MAtheBanker

His background: He's 37, Caucasian (I don't know if this is important or not), English speaker only (again, not sure if that's important), has work history ranging from driving commercial vehicles, fixing vehicles, dismantling vehicles, manufacturing work, warehouse work, he has a forklift certification, plumbers apprentice certification, he has every tool known to man, he can lift anything and be on his feet for 10 hours a day (which is what he does right now), he has construction experience, remodeling experience, demolition experience, and tons of other things I'm sure I'm forgetting, but you get the idea

Ignore the negative comments. They never seem to end. There are opportunities here for ALL of the jobs you described. CDL jobs abound here and as a matter of fact there is shortage. There are lots of CDL jobs just a couple of miles from where I work. Mechanic, plumber, warehouse and construction work is easy to find. I don't think he will have any problem finding a job. High tech and white collar on the other hand is not so plentiful but even then there are jobs. The pay may not be as high as he would like but it should be adequate especially if he's highly skilled as it sounds. Cost of living her is among the lowest in the country. Get on the job sites like indeed, monster, careerbuilder etc and sign up for alerts. They will email you daily with job opportunities. Yes the unemployment numbers here are higher than a lot of places but that is not for lack of jobs. Some could be for lack of qualified (skilled) job seekers .

[MAtheBanker]

Originally Posted by gguerra

Ignore the negative comments. They never seem to end. There are opportunities here for ALL of the jobs you described. CDL jobs abound here and as a matter of fact there is shortage. There are lots of CDL jobs just a couple of miles from where I work. Mechanic, plumber, warehouse and construction work is easy to find. I don't think he will have any problem finding a job. High tech and white collar on the other hand is not so plentiful but even then there are jobs. The pay may not be as high as he would like but it should be adequate especially if he's highly skilled as it sounds. Cost of living her is among the lowest in the country. Get on the job sites like indeed, monster, careerbuilder etc and sign up for alerts. They will email you daily with job opportunities. Yes the unemployment numbers here are higher than a lot of places but that is not for lack of jobs. Some could be for lack of qualified (skilled) job seekers .

Thank you for the great information and the vote of confidence My husband found a school in Arizona that will allow him to get his CDL in a very short period of time and for an affordable fee. We're going to do more research on the school to make sure it's credible, but if this works out, I think getting a trucking job would be perfect for him.

It's not the end of the world if he doesn't make a lot of money. Like I mentioned earlier, I make enough to support us both, he just wants to finally have a job where he has personal satisfaction that he's getting paid what he's worth. I know it never really works like that but if he loves the job, that's more where the satisfaction comes from.