California Folks, I need your Help!

jpachard · 11-21-2003, 09:14 AM

Well, Long story short, I just got laid off. My wife an I are planning on moving to California so now we have some real incentive. What we need are jobs! My wife is an RN and I'm a Designer/CAD/CAM programmer. If any of you know anyone who is hiring for these positions please pm me or respond to this thread. My grandparents lived in Morro bay but we are pretty flexible on where we live. We have friends in Santa Monica so we would prefer to be <2hrs from there. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We have looked on Monster etc. but we would also appreciate any local knowledge or help in this. Once again, thanks in advance.

Cheers, James

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

great tosee california is still looked upon as the land of oppertunity! or is it just that you want to live in the terminator's state? im in nor cal so i dont think i could help your job search.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

The RN part should be pretty easy...always a shortage. As for the other, there is still a fair amount of aerospace and other tech stuff, but it is spread all over the map. I think the commute is one of the biggest factors when talking job and where you live.

As for location, if you want to live on the west side (near santa monica) be prepared to pony up $750K plus or minus.

singpilot · 09:54 AM

I agree with Todd; The RN spot should be no prob. The spot for you I don't know about, not a bad thing, but the RN shortage here is talked about all the time. There is so much CAD/CAM stuff out here, surely something will turn up.

The BUYing a house thing is tough, but there are plenty of rentals close by, or buy farther out. Is the big California dilemma.

Best of luck to you!

jpachard · 11-21-2003, 09:58 AM

Hey Guys, Thanks alot for the info! We have a house here in the Boston area which we will have to sell. Our real estate values are like yours so we should do pretty well when we sell. Please spread the word and feel free to contact me. We have also been looking in the San Rafael/ Santa Rosa area. Fortunately I have been given a pretty good severance package so we will be OK for a bit. The moral support is really appreciated.

Cheers, James

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Isn't coming to California to look for tech work like moving to Arizona looking for water?

jpachard · 11-21-2003, 10:10 AM

Thom, You should try looking for tech work in MA, it's like looking for water on the sun! Actually, I have been a Solidworks user(3d modelling) for a while now and there seems to be much more work in your area, plus I don't have to put up with the crappy winters( we ran our heat for 9 months last year!).

Cheers, James

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Santa Rosa is a long ways from Santa Monica.

Moses · 11-21-2003, 10:22 AM

I have heard of recent engineering hires at the lab in Livermore. RN thing is easy. Hospitals are begging.

jpachard · 11-21-2003, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by nostatic
Santa Rosa is a long ways from Santa Monica.

I know...We were just out there on vacation and my wife really liked it there too! Moses, What lab is in Livermoore? I have been working in Biotech for the last 5 years so labs don't scare me too much :-)..

JA

JavaBrewer · JavaBrewer's Garage

San Diego has a good tech job market. Don't know about RN's. I suggest you base your locations off what job offers you get. Rent for a while to get the lay of the land so to speak. If you're intent on buying a home you will have more time to shop around. Never understood why people relocating buy a home after only 2 days looking??? My co-worker moved back to Bostonia 3 months ago (family, girl, etc...) and is already starting to grumble about the weather. Just wait till I send him some digital pics from my office in January

Good luck and if I can of more help let me know. PM me your resume and I can ask around. Our company doesn't do CAD but I'm friends with the HR dept. here.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

biotech: tons in San Diego (mostly La Jolla and north county), Amgen is in Thousand Oaks (north of LA, and south San Francisco.

Livermore is east of the bay area...not much out there, but I think most people live in the east bay and commute there.

Also don't forget to check out major universities, although the state institutions aren't exactly flush with cash right now...

Moses · 11-21-2003, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jpachard
Moses, What lab is in Livermoore? I have been working in Biotech for the last 5 years so labs don't scare me too much :-)..

JA

Livermore is home to the Lawrence Nuclear Lab where they do lot of high-tech research. (bombs!.....shhhh.)

Icemaster · Icemaster's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by widebody911
Isn't coming to California to look for tech work like moving to Arizona looking for water?

I posted a job recently on Monster for a systems engineer position in Sacramento.

528 resumes in 4 days, only about 100 of those were the "throw-aways" - i.e. the ones who apply to everything.

The vast majority were all local - within 75 miles.

Sonic dB · Sonic dB's Garage

Quote:

We have friends in Santa Monica so we would prefer to be <2hrs from there.

...OK, so you will have to be somewhere closer than Redondo Beach... Culver City perhaps?

jpachard · 11-22-2003, 12:58 PM

Thanks again for the support!

David, I will send you a resume once I have finished updating it, thank you for helping out!

Cheers, James