Career Tips

Relocation


I've been in my current career about 15-16 years.  I do accounting (Senior Accountant).  I took a brief stint off to try selling mortgages and did fairly well with it.  I got out right before the market dropped and returned to my accounting field.  I enjoy what I do and have a great resume (ask me, I'll show you).  I'm having a railroad issue with countless placement agencies out here in California who are quick to drag me into the office but then drag their feet in lining me up with a job, or give me numerous reasons as to why they can't match me.  The last one being "it's slow" and I reminded the recruiter of their posts on Monster, amongst other places.

Seems to be a repeating theme here in San Diego, at least for me.  I'm qualified but tired of being  run around in circles and passed over for positions I definately qualifiy for and nobody telling me why.  Although now and then I get "overqualified".  Presently I'm in a position that pays horribly and no room for advancement, and I live in one of the most expensive places in the nation.  I'm considering moving to the East Coast and giving eyes to either Buffalo or Rochester NY.

Does anyone have any suggestions?  I'd be open to hearing any advice anyone might have about my next steps.

Thanks!

Can't help you with why you aren't getting placed where you are, except I suspect that you are overpriced for this job market, even though with your background I'm sure you're worth a good wage. Firms would rather pay less, and get less, these days.... Or could be your age; you didn't say how old you are, but based on your years of experience in one field, you could be getting to that point where age discrimination subtly begins.

Can  help you with your options on moving, though! Do not move to Rochester or Buffalo! Western NY has a pretty high COL compared to the typical wage, and the economy there is not good. We moved OUT of Rochester several years ago because there are no good jobs left that pay well in the fields we were in.

Move to south-central PA! That's where we ended up. The COL is much lower--property taxes are half to two-thirds what they are in Western NY, even though housing prices are slightly higher. Sales tax is still 6% in most counties, there is no sales tax on clothing; flat-rate state income tax of about 3.2%, whereas last I knew, the top tax rate in NY was 6%;, and wages are higher or at least equivalent. The job market in many areas here is still strong, and our unemployment rate is generally lower than much of the Northeast.

Just my opinion, but I'd stay the he** out of Western NY; my brother-in-law got laid off months ago and can't find a job after 20-plus outstanding years in his field. My sister changed jobs a couple years ago, but makes much less than she did years earlier in the same position elsewhere, My niece moved to PA to get a good job, my nephew to D.C., and so on. Almost every week I meet someone from Western NY who moved to PA for better work opportunities. Met a guy from Lackawanna last week. Kodak is all but gone, Xerox a mess, etc.

Zitrome,

If you read through the many posts here, you will see you are not alone in your predictament with temporary agencies, it is everywhere. That and lack of follow up after an interview are probably the two most frequent posts. I have been reading them for several months now and they appear in all forums, particularly the Vent.

Can't help you with relocation but did want you to know you are not alone in your frustration. Good luck.

Anne Marie,

I'm 37, almost 38. I am not that old.  I still got at minimum another 30 years to give to someone.  I haven't been high-priced either....but you're right.  Companies would rather pay less for less experience, and that I have repeatedly run into.

I have started putting my resume out, but I'll be honest I hadn't thought about P.A. at all.Anyone in particular you'd suggest I might send my resume to?

Thanks!

I know things are tough in western NY. But the housing market in Buffalo is one of the cheapest around. Look to craiglist at RE and rental listings. If you are selling a house anywhere then buying one in Buffalo you should come out ahead. It is just a matter of finding the work you need.

If you're in finance I don't know of any specific agencies or companies you could contact, but this area is loaded with large manufacturing and services companies who might hire in that department. Harrisburg and Lancaster both have a lot of financial-services companies, bank headquarters, etc. York & Hanover are more blue-collar manufacturing. We have a lot of company headquarters in this area and large branches of large companies such as Johnson Controls, BAE, Harley Davidson, etc. We are also loaded with colleges, universities, and large medical centers in this area--throw a stone and you'll hit 3 or 4 universities. I assume these places would have positions in finance. Between Carlisle, Shippensburg, York, Lancaster, and Elizabethtown, I can count--without trying--10 colleges or universities. There are more.

Also, we are close enough to work in Maryland to take advantage of typically higher wages and live in PA, where the cost of housing is dramatically lower. Lots of people commute to Bel Air, Hunt Valley, ####, and Baltimore from southern and mid York County, and to eastern MD from the Lancaster area. Most of these places are a half-hour to 45 minutes from where one would live in PA.

Wage wise, about all I can say is that in some fields, the pay is far higher than for equivalent work in western NY (my husband makes about 1 1/3 times here what he would there). Most people we meet from NY tell similar stories.

Well, you need to make up your own mind, of course, but overall I'd say the COL here is lower and the employment outlook and wage scale higher than in Buffalo or Rochester. The salary calculators will tell you that wages are  higher in Rochester than here, but the higher cost of living way outweighs that difference. I just about hyperventilate in the grocery store every time I'm up in NY and have to go grocery shopping--the food prices are so much higher, I get sticker shock!

In reality, we have not found the wages to be higher in Rochester across the board. They are much higher in my husband's field here, but lower in my field. I have read that in certain parts of PA, there is a shortage of skilled labor. At my husband's firm, they have left positions unfilled for months because they cannot find enough exceptionally qualified people.

And, lastly, while housing in Buffalo may be cheaper than here, it's not by much. That wasn't true years ago when we moved. Housing prices here were about 10% higher than in western NY, but the prices in NY have started to catch up. I sell real estate part time, and try to keep up with what's going on in both markets. Some parts of the Buffalo area you can get really nice  homes really cheaply, but that's because there aren't any good jobs left in those areas. The chemical companies are gone, steel industry gone, etc. 

Whatever you do, best of luck to you!

 

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