Tomorrow morning, far earlier than I’d like, I shall be leaving Michigan and driving to Austin to find work. I have no real worries that I won’t find something quickly. Upon obtaining employment and a place to stay my wife will be following me.
For the meantime I will be sitting a nice lady’s home until the middle of August. If I should need temporary housing beyond that I have distant family I can stay with though I will be actively looking for another home to sit. I don’t really wish to stay with them.
I’m pretty much all packed up. Said most of my goodbyes.
Thursday evening I will be staying at a hostel in Memphis and making the final leg of the trip to Austin Friday morning.
So, if there’s anyone in the Austin area that don’t find me an obnoxious tool, drop me a note and we’ll do lunch. If you live in the Austin area and do find me an obnoxious tool, drop me a note anyway. I’ll just insist you pay for lunch.
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if you don’t mind me asking, what spurred such a drastic move? if you do mind me asking, then just good luck!
I’m sure Kevin will speak for himself, but it’s hardly a secret that Michigan’s economy is in the tank, especially Southeastern Michigan, with some of the highest unemployment in the nation. The IT sector (which we both work in) is particularly bad right now; I’m involved in a training program for displaced workers, and I’m agog at how many people, especially IT people and automotive people, in their 40s and 50s are there with me looking shellshocked; they’ve got college degrees, they’ve got years and years of experience, and there are no jobs to be had for anything even close to what they were once making. Most of us are either out of unemployment insurance or close to it, and/or what they call "underemployed," i.e. working jobs close to minimum wage and hoping for something better.
Lots and lots of people in this sector are hightailing it out of here for greener pastures. I envy Kevin, I can’t do that or I would. I’d love to live in Austin. While he’s taking a gamble, I have little doubt that it will pay off for him. But if anyone wants to help him out while he’s down there, that would be awesome…
What kind of work are you looking for?
Best of luck, Kevin. Always a big, stressful adventure to uproot one’s family — but opportunity to reap many rewards.
HankB
zach,
Dean has it partially right. IT work out here is nowhere to be found.
However, I believe God wants me down there for some purpose. Texas has come up a number of times in my life and just feels like the move I need to make. So far, money has come my way to pay for the trip, free housing while I’m down there has presented itself… in many ways all I’m doing is just driving my car to get from here to there. Everything else has been taken care of by powers outside my own.
Dave,
IT stuff. Desktop support mostly.
‘Course, I’m still trying to get that "writing" thing going too…
Kevin,
best of luck to you. Even with providence falling your way, it takes real courage to do what you’re doing.
btw, send me your resume on email. I have contacts in Austin who I can send it on to.
Kevin,
I predict you’re going to do just fine in Austin.
Good Luck
Godspeed, Kevin.
Good luck in Austin, Kevin. I often visit my brother in San Antonio, so maybe I’ll look you up when I’m down there some time.
IT stuff. Desktop support mostly.
Get Oracle DBA certification, it’s six figures easy.
Good luck finding work in Austin.
That is just about the worst job market in Texas. I really do wish you the best but going from Michigan to Austin for work is…well its not likely to help.
The job market is Austin is saturated with recent graduates of UT making $25k per year with their MBA’s. Austin is the "coolest" place to live in Texas – and I mean that in the nicest way, it really has a very good quality of life and is a very liberal town – and all the hippies flock there.
Austin has essentially 3 industries; government, education and high tech (Motorola and AMD both have wafer fabs there). Jobs in Austin are very hard to get. Good paying jobs are nearly unheard of.
Not trying to be a bummer. I’m just saying. After 10 years living in Austin we gave up and moved to Houston. If you want a good paying job that’s the place to go where you’re just about assured of success.
I don’t know about GM but I do know for certain that over the last year or so Ford has moved a bunch of its systems support to Bangalore. That’s got to have a serious impact on the IT picture in Detroit.
Chrysler outsourced the entire group I was with to India.
DaveW, you aree absolutely right. I live din Houston for 9 years and its definitely the best place to find a job, and also buy a house for that matter. Theres no economy in texas thats stronger.
Good luck Kevin.
I really hope you find something out there. Because here you’re lucky to have a full time job. I left IT for that very reason.
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