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Old 01-01-2008, 11:32 PM
 
10 posts, read 26,197 times
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Just a quick overview of my situation. My wife, 4 year old daughter and I currently living in South Louisiana. My wife was born and raised in West Valley Utah. We met online (before there was a "true" internet, just BB) in 1993. She moved down here in 1999 and we were married in 2002. I am Baptist, and she is Mormon(inactive). I have a degree in Industrial Technology. I have been mainly in sales since I got out of school, and mainly in outside sales since. I was with a flooring distributor out of New Orleans, and doing well, but Katrina ended that. I then got a job with an Oilfield Company, but really do not like it, and am not doing well with it. My wife has no degree, but makes a decent living with a company that she has been with for 7 years now.

Well she wants to move back to Utah. I love it up there, and although I am not Mormon, I fit in better socially because I do not drink, smoke, or party. (Down here, there is a festival going on every week, with plenty of drinking. Now I have grown up around here, and though it is mainly Catholic in this area, I get along very well with the Cajun Culture, even though they are very clic-ish. My roots however are not here, and I have very little family here.

Onto my questions.

We have a house, so when we move depends on exactly when the house sells. Due to this, I can't exactly line up a job in Utah. Our plan is basically to sell the house, and using the equity we have built into it, fund our moving and living until we find a job. I am not comfortable doing this so haphazardly, but there really is no better way to do it. I am hoping it will not take more than a month or for both of us to find a job.

1. How hard would it be to find an outside sales position for a large company (I am done with small companies) Do I have to live in SLC to get this job. I do not have to get a job in sales, but it is what I have done mainly since college. Regardless, I would need to be able to make at least 40-50 k per year. Is that a reasonable salary on average?


We would like to live outside of SLC, her sister live in Tooele for a while, and when we visited, that was very nice.

2. Down here, it is not what you know, but who you know. Nepotism is widely practiced as well. Is this sort of practice popular in Utah?


3. In sales, would I run into many people who would not do business with me and my company due to a difference of religion. Again, down here, if you are not Catholic, it makes doing business difficult at times.

I really appreciate any advice I can be given, due to being so nervous about making this move so blindly. My wife has made it clear that she will not take no for an answer when it come to moving to Utah. She does understand about the house selling though. I just want to know that I can make at least 40-50k per year with a college degree in Utah. What would you expect me to be able to start off at? I know it is a difficult question, but I am really looking for some comfort, but I want the truth.
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Old 01-02-2008, 01:59 PM
j1n
 
Location: Southeast of the Northwest Territories
1,245 posts, read 4,641,655 times
Reputation: 468
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrLister View Post
Just a quick overview of my situation. My wife, 4 year old daughter and I currently living in South Louisiana. My wife was born and raised in West Valley Utah. We met online (before there was a "true" internet, just BB) in 1993. She moved down here in 1999 and we were married in 2002. I am Baptist, and she is Mormon(inactive). I have a degree in Industrial Technology. I have been mainly in sales since I got out of school, and mainly in outside sales since. I was with a flooring distributor out of New Orleans, and doing well, but Katrina ended that. I then got a job with an Oilfield Company, but really do not like it, and am not doing well with it. My wife has no degree, but makes a decent living with a company that she has been with for 7 years now.

Well she wants to move back to Utah. I love it up there, and although I am not Mormon, I fit in better socially because I do not drink, smoke, or party. (Down here, there is a festival going on every week, with plenty of drinking. Now I have grown up around here, and though it is mainly Catholic in this area, I get along very well with the Cajun Culture, even though they are very clic-ish. My roots however are not here, and I have very little family here.

Onto my questions.

We have a house, so when we move depends on exactly when the house sells. Due to this, I can't exactly line up a job in Utah. Our plan is basically to sell the house, and using the equity we have built into it, fund our moving and living until we find a job. I am not comfortable doing this so haphazardly, but there really is no better way to do it. I am hoping it will not take more than a month or for both of us to find a job.

1. How hard would it be to find an outside sales position for a large company (I am done with small companies) Do I have to live in SLC to get this job. I do not have to get a job in sales, but it is what I have done mainly since college. Regardless, I would need to be able to make at least 40-50 k per year. Is that a reasonable salary on average?

We would like to live outside of SLC, her sister live in Tooele for a while, and when we visited, that was very nice.

2. Down here, it is not what you know, but who you know. Nepotism is widely practiced as well. Is this sort of practice popular in Utah?


3. In sales, would I run into many people who would not do business with me and my company due to a difference of religion. Again, down here, if you are not Catholic, it makes doing business difficult at times.

I really appreciate any advice I can be given, due to being so nervous about making this move so blindly. My wife has made it clear that she will not take no for an answer when it come to moving to Utah. She does understand about the house selling though. I just want to know that I can make at least 40-50k per year with a college degree in Utah. What would you expect me to be able to start off at? I know it is a difficult question, but I am really looking for some comfort, but I want the truth.
I would not suggest moving without one solid job nailed down.
Finding and securing a sales position with a major (global or national) company would be, I would think, easier than with a smaller, local, mom-n-pop, or family company. If I were you, I would start doing some serious online research on major SLC-area employers, etc. Check out Hanjin Shipping for a start. Start sending out resumes...see if anyone bites. If your wife has any family/friends there, do some networking and have them put the word out for you. Chances are, that the local guy is going to get the position before the guy who has to sell his house, find a new house, move across the country, etc, etc before he can start. So do whatever inside string-pulling with Utah-based family that you can!
As far as what your projected salary might be, there are websites out there that can help you compare what you are making now in place "A" to what you might make in place "B" for the same type of position. Not sure what the difference in cost-of-living is between where you are currently and the Salt Lake valley? But hopefully salaries reflect those differences. They usually do.
Check out, or search for, some other threads on here with information on business and social relations due to difference of religion. You should find a bunch of good info.
Something to consider...
If you land a job prior to selling house, consider finding a property management company (or local friend!) to play landlord and rent your current house out for you until you can sell it.

Last edited by j1n; 01-02-2008 at 02:08 PM..
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Old 01-02-2008, 02:34 PM
 
Location: Utah
1,458 posts, read 4,116,642 times
Reputation: 1548
We moved to Utah in 2001...we were supposed to come check it out first, but didn't happen and we just picked up and moved. We did not have a house to sell, so that made it easier for us.

My husband had a few interviews lined up, but no job. Where as I would not neccessarily recommend this, we did it, and we LOVE it here. My husband is now in sales, and was doing this in W Valley. It is close enough to SLC so that if you land a job there, you can live in WV.
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Old 01-02-2008, 03:40 PM
 
10 posts, read 26,197 times
Reputation: 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by j1n View Post
I would not suggest moving without one solid job nailed down.
Finding and securing a sales position with a major (global or national) company would be, I would think, easier than with a smaller, local, mom-n-pop, or family company. If I were you, I would start doing some serious online research on major SLC-area employers, etc. Check out Hanjin Shipping for a start. Start sending out resumes...see if anyone bites. If your wife has any family/friends there, do some networking and have them put the word out for you. Chances are, that the local guy is going to get the position before the guy who has to sell his house, find a new house, move across the country, etc, etc before he can start. So do whatever inside string-pulling with Utah-based family that you can!
As far as what your projected salary might be, there are websites out there that can help you compare what you are making now in place "A" to what you might make in place "B" for the same type of position. Not sure what the difference in cost-of-living is between where you are currently and the Salt Lake valley? But hopefully salaries reflect those differences. They usually do.
Check out, or search for, some other threads on here with information on business and social relations due to difference of religion. You should find a bunch of good info.
Something to consider...
If you land a job prior to selling house, consider finding a property management company (or local friend!) to play landlord and rent your current house out for you until you can sell it.

Yeah, I really am uneasy about just moving with no job to move to. My wife is a receptionist/sales assistant here, so I am assuming she would get something really quick, especially since that is where she is from. I guess saturating the market there with resumes would definitly help, kinda preparing the way, but, being that I have to wait for the house to sell, scares me. I mean unless I just got an INCREDIBLE job in Utah, I can't see paying a mortgage here and renting in Utah. With the housing market on the down fall, I am afraid it may take longer than I am expecting to sell the house. Otherwise I would move my wife and daughter up to Utah and let them stay with her grandmother in West Valley while she looked for a job.

I really don't want to rent my house. I have dealt with tenants when I was younger in my families rental business, and I do not want to have a mess to deal with here when I am up there.
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Old 01-02-2008, 03:43 PM
 
10 posts, read 26,197 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lolagranola View Post
We moved to Utah in 2001...we were supposed to come check it out first, but didn't happen and we just picked up and moved. We did not have a house to sell, so that made it easier for us.

My husband had a few interviews lined up, but no job. Where as I would not neccessarily recommend this, we did it, and we LOVE it here. My husband is now in sales, and was doing this in W Valley. It is close enough to SLC so that if you land a job there, you can live in WV.

If you don't mind my asking, how long did it take him to get this job? Was he in sales before? Does he enjoy his job? How did you move? I mean did you drive your stuff over, or have a moving company do it? Did you have to put stuff in storage? Did you have any kids at the time of the move? sorry for all the questions.
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Old 01-02-2008, 03:51 PM
 
1,821 posts, read 7,709,106 times
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The good news is Utah’s unemployment is well below the national average, so that would help. However wages are also below average. Making 40-50k in sales probably depends on years of experience, type of sales etc. I know at least three people in sales living around where I do in West Valley, and I’m pretty sure they all make more than 60k. They all have at least 10 years of experience, and work for technology companies.

I too would probably conduct a job search over the Internet. Unfortunately, that’s the hardest, least fruitful way to go about searching. I would not, however, use major sites like careerbuilder.com, monster.com etc.

I would use aggregator sites like indeed.com, classified sites like KSL.com, or go to Utah.gov (where you can access Utah’s job bank, and also find links directly to the Web pages of Utah companies).
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Old 01-02-2008, 04:09 PM
 
Location: Utah
1,458 posts, read 4,116,642 times
Reputation: 1548
Quote:
If you don't mind my asking, how long did it take him to get this job? Was he in sales before? Does he enjoy his job? How did you move? I mean did you drive your stuff over, or have a moving company do it? Did you have to put stuff in storage? Did you have any kids at the time of the move? sorry for all the questions.
Don't mind! I have a very long story. Reader's Digest version.... My H was in construction (he had a licenced specialty). He's got a very confident outgoing personality, and was hired quickly (but he worked hard putting himself out there, followed every lead). Then after awhile he opened his own business, which was going well until we had an unforseen circumstance, and had to close down.

Owning your own business IS sales! So, no, previously he had no "sales" ex. He loves what he is doing now. (I had to work for a bit, but mostly I do volunteer stuff)

Husband drove here with a 24' Uhaul and the dogs, stayed in a hotel for a week until he found somewhere to rent. Kids and I (at the time 4 & 8) flew out 2 weeks later, and were happy to not have to stay in a hotel! Looking back, I wish we had gotten rid of ALOT of our stuff instead of hauling it a few thousand miles!!
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Old 01-02-2008, 04:18 PM
 
347 posts, read 1,561,457 times
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With the housing market the way it is, I would definitely put the sale of the house first. It's usually easier to get a job once you're in town. We just went through this, moving from Salt Lake to Austin, TX. We spent a lot of money flying back and forth. We ended up getting a job while still out of state but it took a long time. I would rather have spent a couple of months without my husband in order to find the right job, sell a house, etc. Just my opinion.
No you don't have to be Mormon to fit in. It's definitely part of the culture, so it's good to have a frame of reference as to what people are talking about when they drop Mormon phrases like "Conference Weekend" or "Relief Society". Just the fact that your wife is Mormon (nobody will actually ask if she's active or not) will give you a little more credibility.
There is definitely nepotism in Utah! Not all over the place, but Mormon families are BIG, so there is always a cousin or brother-in-law in the picture. It doesn't mean you won't get a job, but it certainly exists.
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Old 01-02-2008, 04:27 PM
j1n
 
Location: Southeast of the Northwest Territories
1,245 posts, read 4,641,655 times
Reputation: 468
Quote:
Originally Posted by coolcats View Post
I would not, however, use major sites like careerbuilder.com, monster.com etc.
I agree.
And when you do search online, go directly to online newspaper classifieds (SL Tribune, etc.)

Sounds like you have decisions to make. Tough ones. You need to decide how badly and quickly you need to relo. Badly enough to send your wife ahead while you deal with an uncertain real estate market back home? Are you prepared to live seperately...+/-2000 miles...while your house sells (or maybe doesn't)?
Let's say the house sells, and you haven't yet landed a job in UT. Do you have UT-based relatives to put you up for a little while you interview and then home search? What do you project that your house will sell for? Will that amount carry you for 6-12 months and then also buy you a suitable home out west?

I would work your contacts. Who do you know out there, and who do they know? Can they help you to get your foot in the door somewhere?
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Old 01-02-2008, 04:54 PM
 
10 posts, read 26,197 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lolagranola View Post
Husband drove here with a 24' Uhaul and the dogs, stayed in a hotel for a week until he found somewhere to rent. Kids and I (at the time 4 & 8) flew out 2 weeks later, and were happy to not have to stay in a hotel! Looking back, I wish we had gotten rid of ALOT of our stuff instead of hauling it a few thousand miles!!
Thanks for the reply!! Yeah I am hoping to have a large garage sale before we put the house on the market. Then I want to stage the house for saling by removing everything except bare essentials, bed, couch, few clothes, couple pots and pans. Hopefully this will help to sale the house as quickly as possible. I was gonna store everything in the garage, but I am thinking about hiring a freight company to ship it, and then take a week of vacation to fly up and put it in storage, that way I can get right out as soon as the house sells, and maybe just have a few things to take up there. I really want to give my current employer 2 weeks notice, but I can not do that until the house is SOLD. Luckily I can live with family for those 2 weeks. Well I have a very outgoing personality, I am even a part-time magician and balloon artist, so that will help on the weekend for extra income. I just want to find a company that will appreciate me.
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