The Old New York, New York Forum

The Job Market

I am a univeristy of tennessee graduating senior, planning to graduate in may 2004. I have always wanted to move to New York, work there and live in a nice place. My question is, how hard is it to find a job in NYC and find a nice place to live in Manhanttan? when you compare the cost of living of Memphis, TN to NYC, things are relatively different. What must I do do prepare me for the relocation from a large town to a HUGE town?

Dorian McKinney
Saturday, October 11, 2003

Impossible to say how the job market will treat you here, but it's safe to say that it's not the feeding frenzy for techies that it was a few years ago. For a new grad, it could be ugly. Look in the classifieds in www.nytimes.com and judge for yourself.

Conversely, housing has become much much easier to find, but be prepared to pay at least $1500/mo for a shoebox and you won't be disappointed. With entry level salary, you'd probably have to find a roommate situation. Check the Village Voice online. And don't be too fixated on Manhattan; many people live out satisfying lives in the other burroughs, too. Or so I've heard.

Charles Lewis
Monday, October 13, 2003

try to find a research programming job at one of the universities. it won't pay very well for NYC, but probably OK for kansas ($55-$70K a year). It will have the advantage of being laid back and flexible hours and you will be able to hang out and have some fun. this is what I did when I graduated (I grew up in north dakota) and it worked out very well.

rz
Monday, October 13, 2003

$1500 for a shoebox if you want to live in the center of it all. My 1 hour commute from NYC is around 2/3 of that, and cheaper can be found if you look, and are willing to live out in 1 hour commute land. I'm 10 minutes walk from the train.

Most people get to NYC though and want to be stumbling distance from the bars.

www.MarkTAW.com
Tuesday, October 14, 2003

What must I do?
Scrape together as much savings as you can. Come on up. Don't listen to the people that say it is impossible, but don't expect it to be easy. Get a no-frills place, worry about a nice one later. Get a job. Then get a better job.

Good luck.
-R

Ran Whittle
Tuesday, October 14, 2003

1500 is a bit high if you're willing to have a roommate... it shouldn't be too hard to find something for around 2500 a month total for a converted one bedroom.

anon
Tuesday, October 14, 2003

I've only known a few people who tried to move here and had to bail on it in the first year. With the recent troubles though, the mortality rate has been rising even among long-time residents.

My favorite was this guy from California whose parting words were "I don't think I'm going to start liking the smell of urine anytime soon." I did not try to dissuade him.

Charles Lewis
Tuesday, October 14, 2003

"My question is, how hard is it to find a job in NYC and find a nice place to live in Manhanttan? "

It is not hard to find "A" job but it can be hard to find a really good job. however, i didn't have any trouble finding a job that was reasonable.

"What must I do do prepare me for the relocation from a large town to a HUGE town?"

there is nothing you can do to prepare yourself for a move to nyc. there is no other city like it in the world. just move, and you won't regret it. if you do regret it, you can always move somewhere else.

rz
Tuesday, October 14, 2003

That whole smell of urine thing seems to be the main reason people leave the city. Everyone I know who left has given it as one of their top three reasons.

Gustavo W.
Thursday, October 16, 2003

In NYC you have to be a lot more careful with the people you do business with: Landlords, realtors, dry cleaners, house painters, even the corner store. While I don't want to completely vilify them--many are fine, upstanding folk--you are far more likely to screwed by one of them here than in a smaller city. It's just seems to be a fact of life that as a population gets larger, the number of people who don't give a shit about you grows much faster than those who do.

Keith Wright
Thursday, October 16, 2003

I moved to NYC January 1995, splitting my time between florida and NY. Between pneumonia twice & a broken foot/ankle within 7 months, I decided it was not the place for me.

That said, I lived in two places: 221 chelsea (22nd between 7th and 8th avenue in the city, and somewhere out in queens on Jewel avenue after the ankle breakage, to be closer to my work. I was lucky enough to "reverse commute" from the city out to queens. The 400 square foot "railroad apartment" (really a studio) on the first floor was about $1500/month. The 800 square foot 1 bedroom apartment out in queens was half that, and had off-street parking. And was still just a few minutes from the train to get into the City if desired.

Andy
Saturday, October 18, 2003

God! How I envy you.

I left the West of Ireland in 1984 for the bright lights of London. Then left London for the U.S. in 1986. Never looked back.

I live in Atlanta now, and I'm comfy enough that I think I'll stay. If I want to go to NY, well, Delta's ready when I am.

That said, here are a couple of things I've learned over the years:

1. You can never have enough intel. That's why God invented the web, and this blog. Do as much research as you can ahead of time.

2. The web is no replacement for shoe leather on the ground. Go to NY for a week or so and stay in youth hostels or at the YMCA. Walk around and decide what you think of the place. Get to know the subway.

3. Use friends. Find someone who lives there, or has lived there.

4. When you move, don't be afraid to use the YMCA while finalizing accomodations. Don't rush, and don't be rushed, into accomodations. RememberL you'll bethere a while.

5. Keep your job 'til you find a better one.

6. If worst comes to worst, you're only a busride from home.

I hope these aren't too blindlingly obvious.

Patrick Carroll
Monday, October 20, 2003

With the smoking ban in bars here, I've actually stopped smoking... which has had the side effect that my sense of smell is recovering. Not always a welcome perception here. I've been joking that they need to put smoke-scented air fresheners in some of these places.

Charles Lewis
Tuesday, October 21, 2003

I grew up in NY, live and work in NYC, and I love it. Funny part is, I can't stand cali or any other places for that matter.
Move to NYC, you might not like it, but you'll never regret it.

Adrian
Friday, November 21, 2003