Is it feasible for me to move to DC?

[ScottyB]

I am fed up with my current situation and need a change badly. I have an opportunity to get a Master's next year that will put me into a much higher income bracket than I can currently achieve.

I need about a $12 per hour job @ 40 per week to break even if I live frugally. I would like to make about $16 per hour to be comfortable.

I have two B.A. degrees and I will have 9 graduate credits with a 3.5 - 4.0 GPA in the next couple weeks. I don't have much work experience, except for 2 years of substitute teaching.

I would need to snag up a job in a couple days if I went out. I think I could do a couple lower end jobs @ 50 to 60 hours a week for a month or so until I find something decent.

Ideally, I would work a full-time position somewhere, and then do and internship at nights or maybe on Saturdays.

I don't know the job market out there very well, so I don't know if I will be able to find anything in a couple days. I was out this summer though, and I would like to live in the Bethesda / Rockville area or in the Falls Church area.


So, is it feasible for me to move to DC and get a job under these conditions?

 

[MrChad]

What industry?

 

[sonambulo]

In DC? 12 an hour? Man you would be fucking dying. You won't even be able to afford Ramen. If you're going to try it then line up a job before you go.

 

[ScottyB]

Originally posted by: MrChad
What industry?

Any for now. I have an English degree and a Telecommunications degree (which was focused on video production). I also have published two fiction stories. I would prefer to work in video production of some sort--and I would be trying to get an internship in this area.

 

[ScottyB]

Originally posted by: sonambulo
In DC? 12 an hour? Man you would be fucking dying. You won't even be able to afford Ramen. If you're going to try it then line up a job before you go.

The problem is that I will be locked into another semester of school if I don't get something before the beginning of January. And I can't even get a $10 / hour job here in Michigan. I just can't pay my bills here if I don't have other loans coming in. I am sick of using loans to pay other loans. I want to get things paid off and be debt free and have a job that I like to do.

 

[shortylickens]

I hate to rain on your parade because I too have been unsure about the value of a job in a particular region.

But in DC even 16 bucks an hour is NOT good money. For that kind of money you would have to live way out in the sticks. Take a long-ass train ride into the city, then a Metro ride to work.

Thats what my mom does. She's a paralegal in DC and cant afford to live anywhere near there. She lives in Manassas and has a long commute every day. First the train, then the Metro.

 

[sonambulo]

I know it sucks dude but it is just one more semester. My advice? Get your ass on craigslist and careerbuilder and start sending out resumes like crazy to places in DC. If they e-mail you back, explain your situation and hopefully you can get an interview by phone. Otherwise you're going to end up working in a supermarket or a restaurant for less than 10 an hour.

 

[sgrinavi]

I lived in the DC area for the better part of my life. Your skill set would be in demand and you have a couple of options.

1. There are several large firms that are already out in the more reasonably priced areas of Northern Virgina. My old company, M.C. Dean, is a great example and might even hire you as they are constanlty looking for help. Once there you can rent a room until you figure it out.

2. Downtown DC has some terrific areas. From my experience most of the work there is government, service or somehow related to the huge tourism industry. Education is fairly big there too. Again, lots of rooms to rent in some very nice neighborhoods.

 

[Vette73]

You do better to live in North VA. Don't want to go past Springfield as that is the fartest the Metro goes. I live in Springfield and take the Metro to DC every work day.

Best bet call some temp agencies and see what they have right now. You should be able to pull $12+ a hour off I would think. Then get a cheap room from craigslist.

 

[dabuddha]

wtf would you want to move to this shithole?

 

[OCGuy]

The high school kids working at In-n-out (burger chain) make $10.50 an hour here in CA. Any standard warehouse no-english-needed job brings in $12-$14. Is it really that bad in Michigan?

 

[Abel007]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
The high school kids working at In-n-out (burger chain) make $10.50 an hour here in CA. Any standard warehouse no-english-needed job brings in $12-$14. Is it really that bad in Michigan?

Has nothing to do with good or bad. Has everything to do with cost of living. In some locations a $12/hr job is good and you can get by on it. In areas like DC $12/hr might as well be considered minimum wage.

 

[invidia]

Any reason why you want to move to DC?

$12 an hour puts you up at middle class in South Florida.

 

[ScottyB]

Originally posted by: invidia
Any reason why you want to move to DC?

$12 an hour puts you up at middle class in South Florida.

I deferred enrollment there for graduate studies. The degree I would get would allow me to make ~$25 per hour if I get an internship alongside my studies. Plus, it is what I really want to do with my life. I ended up in my current position for some personal reasons, and I didn't have a job lined up so I started full-time graduate studies in my area.

 

[purbeast0]

for $12/hr, hell $20/hr ... make that $30/hr, you won't be able to live "comfortably" in a decent part of DC.