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Escape from California?

Posted by Cliff on from the defecting-from-the-west-coast dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "Is there any escape from California? I'm a very experienced software engineer (7+ years) with a MSEE and lots of great work experience. Even in this market, jobs in CA are easy to grab if I want them. Trouble is, I don't want to live here anymore. Six figures in Northern CA gets mostly pissed away on a mortgage for a house that isn't worth half that anywhere else, and I'm pretty much just waiting for the earthquake to hit and wipe it out. I'd love to move to the midwest, but decent software jobs seem to not exist. I'm more than willing to take a huge paycut to get a job there, but where to even start looking?"

5 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. No! by wdr1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Software engineering involving multiple people is the kind of thing that requires teamwork and good communication. Have all the documentation you want, even use a development process like XP, but you're sure to find there is still a tremendous benifit in having the team work in close proximity.

    I suppose it's just the way the world works, but it's hard to get the match the random hallway converstations. They often result in avoiding massive problems or substantial enhancements. It's also very benificial for your engineers to be able to stroll over and ask another developer a quick question (ideally with a whiteboard in near proximity).

    My two cents.

    -Bill

    --
    SlashSig Karma: Excellent (mostly affected by moderatio
    1. Re:No! by toast0 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I think that would actually be a large hidden benefit of telecomuting with software engineering.

      Since you can't glean info from the coworkers in the hall, you'll probably get it from them in writing, and if its in writing, it can be in the documentation, and if you put it in the documentation, then everybody knows.

      --
      Need a Catering Connection
  2. Read this... by burnsy · · Score: 5, Informative
    According to this study, Movin' Out: Domestic Migration to and from California in the 1990s, California has had a net outflow every year in the 1990s.

    The top states for Californians to move to were:

    Washington - 534,000
    Texas - 523,000
    Arizona - 449,000
    Oregon - 374,000
    Neveda - 320,000

  3. Portland to Idaho by Will_Malverson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Until the beginning of this year, I was working for a large corporation near Portland, Oregon. When they started downsizing, they offered me a generous severance package to leave. I took it and moved to Boise, Idaho, where I'm originally from.

    I used the package to buy a house, and started living off of my savings while looking for a job. It took me about three months to find one. I've moved from being a software engineer at $62k per year to being a hardware tester at $15 per hour. But I absolutely don't regret it. I'm very happy here and don't miss Portland at all.

    Though my pay has dropped from >5k / month to 2.5k / month, my actual take-home has only dropped to about 60% of what it was because I'm in a lower tax bracket. Further, my mortgage is now $500 / month less than it was, from $1110 to $609.

    Start looking in all of the places you'd like to move to. If you've never been there, take some time off and go there, or talk to someone who has. There are relatively few jobs away from the coast, but they are out here. Check the local newspapers, and see what you can find. Find out who the big employers are in the towns you're interested in, and start trying to contact people within them.

    Finally, if you're unhappy, move. You only live once.

    1. Re:Portland to Idaho by Naikrovek · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Finally, if you're unhappy, move. You only live once.

      Oh, dude I so agree with that statement. I grew up in Illinois, did short work stints in San Antonio, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. Then I moved again to Anchorage, Alaska, then Kansas City, then back to Anchorage, then small towns in Missouri, and now I'm in Sydney, Australia.

      Man, life is far too short to just dream of other places, you have to take the initiative and go there.

      I'm also trying to get a job in the US, but when I've had my fill of that place, I'm going to Scotland. That's highest right now on my places-i -want-to-go list, and there is no way in hell I'm not going.

      My advice is to move where you want to be, then find a job there. Or, find a job where you want to move, then move there. But don't find a job you like then move to wherever it is, you'll never like where you go because you were made to go there.

      Do what you love, live where you want, do what you like, and the money will come to you, that's my experience, anyway.

      -Naikrovek