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Moving to California after Graduation. No job lined up yet. Tips?
Posted by
sentry7
on 26 Mar, 2017 13:25
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Hey guys,
I'll be completing my undergrad studies in May; BS in Physics. I pursued an engineering track in my coursework, so I took some courses of that nature as well as gained hands-on experience (in addition to stuff I learned on my own). I ultimately want a job that is more electronics engineering-oriented than anything. My current resume is attached.
As far as the move is concerned, everything is already set; flight is booked, hotel is reserved etc. I've been applying for jobs recently saying in the resume/cover letter that I am already committed to relocating, but I feel as though that's not as strong as actually being in the area. Once I actually get to L.A. (where I'm staying temporarily), my plan is to start applying to places like a madman and even pay visits to lots of tech startups in the area. Hopefully, I get a walk-in interview.
Can anyone give me some insight on steps to take, do's-don'ts,...?
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#1 Reply
Posted by
rrinker
on 26 Mar, 2017 15:55
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The best advice? Do not move to such a high cost of living area UNTIL you have secured a job there. Save your money while on the hunt. And don't be so dead set on one part of the country. a 10K less salary in a different part of the country could actually be a big increase in what's left over after paying living expenses.
Also don't get discouraged, keep the applications flowing even if you have some interviews lined up. Much better to return a call with "sorry, I've already accepted a position" than to sit around waiting for the call.
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#2 Reply
Posted by
rstofer
on 26 Mar, 2017 16:14
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Silicon Valley, where the jobs are, is somewhat north of LA. Every major electronics and software house in the world has a building in Silicon Valley. Well, at least the major players...
LA and SV have horrific housing prices and the traffic in both places is unbelievable. When I took a job in LA, I started driving from the office in a circular pattern until I found something I could afford. The rent was cheap and the commute was just a couple of miles. I left LA 40 years ago and I'm not going back!
Take more software courses. The job prospects for EE's is pretty grim while CS is looking pretty good:
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/electrical-and-electronics-engineers.htmhttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htmYou can drill down in these web pages and find out where the jobs are located (across the US) and how much they pay, by region. You will find that Silicon Valley pays well and has growth potential.
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#3 Reply
Posted by
rx8pilot
on 26 Mar, 2017 16:45
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I hate California, especially LA, but really the whole state. Unless you make a massive pile of money, it is a shitty place.
If your expectations are appropriately low, it may be fine. As soon as I am able to escape this place - I am out and will never return.
Sent from my horrible mobile....
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#4 Reply
Posted by
Elf
on 26 Mar, 2017 18:13
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I also would not recommend moving to California, absent a stable high paying job (six figures) or strong family ties. I escaped California after living there for a few decades (Irvine & Santa Barbara) and couldn't be happier.
The market is tough for recent graduates without work experience, from what I can tell, and there are certainly many jobs elsewhere across the nation. If you want to move for work and don't have strong ties to a particular area, you can have your pick of places. Between the high cost of living and inflated real estate prices, high taxes, drought issues, constant fires, mudslides, and earthquakes, California is probably not the best place to seek out if you have a choice. A million-dollar home in California can be a $200k home most other places in the country.
I try not to even travel to California on vacation any more. The last time I drove down I got stuck with a $30 fine for "toll evasion" due to not having a FasTrack pass or actual paper money on hand, with the Bay Area bridge toll bridge cartel. Every single north-south route through the Bay Area is tolled, cards are not accepted, and out of state license plates are no excuse.
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#5 Reply
Posted by
steverino
on 26 Mar, 2017 18:51
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I guess I don't know any better, but I'm living happily in the outskirts of Silicon Valley.
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#6 Reply
Posted by
IanB
on 26 Mar, 2017 19:06
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"Los Angeles" is huge, stretching from Pasadena in the north all the way down to Irvine and Orange county in the south. There could be a job to find anywhere in that area, but as others have noted the traffic is horrendous and the commute could be hours unless you live reasonably close by. So don't commit on where to live until you first find a job.
You could also consider looking further south around the San Diego area, especially in software. Things are a little bit calmer and saner down here.
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#7 Reply
Posted by
rx8pilot
on 26 Mar, 2017 20:34
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In LA, 10 miles can easily be an hour on the road.
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#8 Reply
Posted by
DimitriP
on 26 Mar, 2017 21:29
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Every country, state, county, city, even neigborhood has it's issues.
What I'm curious about is how the idea to move from VA to CA right after graduation came about.
On the plus side, you have a couple fo months to tweak the resume and send it out everywhere , including California.
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CA is so huge and diverse, that saying you're moving there, you might as wall say you're moving to North America. Hard to help with out knowing that city.
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#10 Reply
Posted by
Vgkid
on 26 Mar, 2017 22:42
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Try looking towards NC, though you are closer to DC/NOVA
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#11 Reply
Posted by
Nusa
on 26 Mar, 2017 23:22
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My #1 problem with the whole LA basin is the air quality. It's bad enough just visiting (sometimes...there are good days and bad days), but I wouldnt want to breathe it all the time.
You should start applying for jobs NOW. Your school probably has resources available to help you in that search...take advantage of them. Many companies actually recruit at schools...attend any job fairs that happen. Companies that are serious about hiring you will fly you out for an interview. They may lowball you on the salary, but even then they'll usually pay some moving expenses. Keep your options open geographically, unless you really have a strong reasons to move to particular places.
If you do decide move on your own, be prepared to work shit jobs (waiter, pizza-delivery, janitor, etc) until you find what you're looking for. If you're anywhere near hollywood, you'll be competing with all the out-of-work actors for even those jobs.
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#12 Reply
Posted by
cncjerry
on 26 Mar, 2017 23:58
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I've lived in the North Bay area for nearly 25yrs and I don't recommend moving out here either for your first job. It is ridiculously expensive. It you want a technology job go to the Seattle area or Austin first. North Carolina as well. Seattle will save you 10% in state taxes alone. Gas prices are about 30 cents or more higher than anywhere else, apartment rent will make you want to slit your throat and SF parking is the worst in the country. We moved from DC thinking the parking would be better and found out that DC was #2 and SF #1. One thing to remember is when there is a tech layoff of like 10K jobs, many times a lot of those jobs are out here.
Having said all that, I would rather live here than anywhere. NorCal weather is great and if you don't like it you can drive to where you do. On many days there is a 45 degree temperature delta between SF and northern Marin county, sometimes even more. Not one drop of rain from May until September or even later.
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I lived 2 years in LA, Manhattan-Beach, and that was enough. In those 2 years I saw the beautiful mountains 3 times because the rest of the time the air pollution was so bad, I could not even see the high buildings in downtown. But there is for sure plenty of work in LA, if you can cope with the rest. After LA, I moved to San Diego in the south of CA and it was clean and empty in comparison to LA and also lots of engineering jobs. May be an alternative for you.
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#14 Reply
Posted by
bills
on 27 Mar, 2017 05:18
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Commieforina (California) is not a great place to live unless you like sitting in traffic, paying high taxes, public transportation that does not go any where people need to go, and almost everything is over priced. (expensive)
Not to mention the social problems.
There is an exception the eastern part of the state is ok, but no jobs in your field.
Sorry for the doom and gloom but this state is out of control.
Edit. I forgot to mention the crappy condition of the roads.
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#15 Reply
Posted by
NiHaoMike
on 27 Mar, 2017 05:33
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I agree with LA (usually) having very bad traffic, but San Diego generally is much better than Austin. (In Austin, it only takes a little bit of rain to slow things to a crawl.)
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#16 Reply
Posted by
Galenbo
on 27 Mar, 2017 08:30
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In LA, 10 miles can easily be an hour on the road.
That's exactly the same average in a radius of 25km around Brussels and Paris.
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#17 Reply
Posted by
rx8pilot
on 27 Mar, 2017 16:03
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Paris is 40 square miles. Los Angeles is over 500 square miles. Everything is far away. It is all too common to settle into a 24-36 month rental and get a job 25-30 miles away. Public transportation is rarely useful since it takes double the time if you are lucky. There are plenty of other cities in the world with very slow traffic, but most of them are small and have far better public transportation options.
Sent from my horrible mobile....
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I am eternally happy that I moved out of California some 40 years ago. Even back then it was becoming insufferable. Oregon has much nicer atmosphere, but the politics here are becoming insufferable also. Now I see why people retire to Belize where the official language is English(!).
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#19 Reply
Posted by
Elf
on 27 Mar, 2017 17:44
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Oregon has much nicer atmosphere, but the politics here are becoming insufferable also.
It's all the people that have been moving up from California
(I moved to Southwest Washington in 2011 but the character has been changing noticeably in the past few years. I think a lot of people have been moving up to treat it as California Lite, at least judging by the license plates I see, rather than trying to appreciate the Pacific Northwest for its differences.)
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The opinions expressed here have all been good, but the one overriding principle that has been shown is that you should wait before moving to any area and that a super job offer may come your way that, in all metrics, is much better than anything that you may find in a given area.
The idea that one area is better than another is strictly subjective and only you will be able to make that judgement over time. However, given that we all grow more mature in our thoughts and pragmatic with experiences, the area that pleases you now may very well not please you over time.
Bottom line: Wait for your job options and locations and carefully weigh your decision based on cooler, more pragmatic opinions/thoughts because the decision you make now may very well be a very regretful one. You may find it difficult to move to a new job location later on, because you just can't predict what your budgetary constraints may be later on.
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#21 Reply
Posted by
tggzzz
on 27 Mar, 2017 17:52
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Now I see why people retire to Belize where the official language is English(!).
Not entirely surprising, since until 1981 it was called "British Honduras". The head of state is still Lilibet "Windsor", and there are 1500 British troops stationed there.
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#22 Reply
Posted by
james_s
on 27 Mar, 2017 18:51
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Seattle is insanely expensive too, they say we are about 10 years behind San Francisco in that department. There are far too many people here and they keep flooding in, I really wish people would stop moving to Seattle. If I hadn't bought my place years ago there's no way I could afford to live around here anymore.
LA is a fun place to visit but I would never want to live there. The key to getting around there is use the light rail, I discovered that on a visit and found it was much faster and more economical than trying to drive on the clogged freeways.
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Victoria, BC, Canadia apparently imposed a 15% tax on foreigners buying real-estate. So now all the rich Chinese buyers are going to Seattle and Portland. Here in Portland we saw a big surge in sales of homes > $1M. And real-estate (and rentals) are being pushed up by government actions both locally and regionally. The "Silicon Forest" is seeing the same kind of effect that hit the Silicon Valley a couple decades ago.
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#24 Reply
Posted by
DavidDLC
on 27 Mar, 2017 21:12
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Any place but California, now in San Diego there is also a high increase in housing, both for buyers and renters. And the traffic may hit you on the 805 or 5 interstates if you don't live close to your work.
David DLC