Question: Looking for advice about moving down to Birmingham

[WKURainwater]

Hey guys, not sure if this is in the right place, but there is no controversy hopefully. I am a recent MBA graduate that is looking to plant roots down in God's country and I was wondering if anyone could give me guidance. I have looked for jobs, but the information I have found has been lacking at best and I really do not know anyone in the area to help me find anything. So I decided to ask the smartest people I know for advice. Sorry about the rambling, but thank you for any advice you have. God Bless and Roll Tide.:BigA:

 

[SavannahDare]

You'll get more views on the Non-Sports board, so I'm going to move it over there for you. Hold on to your hats and glasses....

 

[WKURainwater]

Thank you. Just wasn't sure which of the two to pick.

 

[DiamondDust]

As bad as it sounds, don't ever move into the city limits of Birmingham. Horrible local government has put that city on the decline for decades. The same goes for most of Jefferson County as a whole.

I'd look in the outlying areas in Shelby county or even Tuscaloosa county. Still, jobs are at a premium right now, especially after the tornado eliminated a whole slew of them.

 

[bamanut_aj]

there's a fella by the name of Larry Langford that you need to make friends with. You'll never be in want if you're one of his boyz.

DD said it well.....B'ham is a mess financially, and the corrupt gov't there is just sad.

 

[Lou_Holtz]

Birmingham is not what it used to be. I would advise moving somewhere else.

 

[WKURainwater]

Looks like I'm about a day late as far as Birmingham is concerned and about 3,000 dollar short as far as Langford is concerned. Thanks for the warnings, any advice as to where to look for jobs? Nashville just isn't hiring, been out a year and can't get close enough to get a sniff of anything.

 

[TiderB]

Birmingham isn't as bad as people on here paint it. Larry Langford would have little if no effect on your day to day life here. And it's Jefferson County that's in the fiscal mess, not the city of Birmingham.

Birmingham is like any other city, it has crime and problems. It also has nice areas attractive to the young and educated. And even if you work in Birmingham, you don't have to live in Birmingham proper to live near the city center. Homewood, Mountain Brook, and Vestavia Hills are all minutes from downtown.

I don't know how healthy the job market here is, but it can't be much worse than other southern cities.

Good luck on your job search.

 

[SavannahDare]

Have you given any thought to looking in parts further south? With an MBA, I'm assuming you could work for just about any industry, is that correct? What about Mobile, Montgomery, Pensacola, Pascagoula, Gulfport/Biloxi? Have you looked in those areas?

What line of work are you hoping to find?

 

[TheAccountant]

Birmingham isn't as bad as people on here paint it. Larry Langford would have little if no effect on your day to day life here. And it's Jefferson County that's in the fiscal mess, not the city of Birmingham.

Birmingham is like any other city, it has crime and problems. It also has nice areas attractive to the young and educated. And even if you work in Birmingham, you don't have to live in Birmingham proper to live near the city center. Homewood, Mountain Brook, and Vestavia Hills are all minutes from downtown.

I don't know how healthy the job market here is, but it can't be much worse than other southern cities.

Good luck on your job search.

Well said. I live downtown and am proud to call Birmingham home. This area is making a resurgence.

 

[lazlohollyfeld]

What are industries are you looking at? Texas has not had the same issues that other states have had, economy wise. There are close to 100 Fortune 1000 companies here, perfect for a newly minted MBA to be swallowed up by.

I am not so sure about San Antonio and Houston, but Dallas and Austin seem to be doing fine. I travel a lot for work and Dallas is one of the few metro areas where you still see a lot of construction cranes.

 

[Crimson Cat]

I'd head to Mobile if we're talking Alabama...of course, I'm partial to the coast and I'm not sure about the job market either but I'd guess its slightly better than Bham. Bhams okay, and I enjoy hanging out there, shopping/eating out, but as cities go and as a place to live/work, its never impressed me very much. I'm headed south pretty soon myself, probably Orange Beach/Perdido area or even further south in to Florida...

 

[rizolltizide]

If I could give just a hint of advice to a recent graduate of WKU, when you go on your job interviews make sure and dress like this:

You're welcome.

 

[TiderB]

Texas definitely has a better economy right now than most states. I think I read recently where DFW was first in job creation over the last year, with Houston behind it in second.

 

[WKURainwater]

Have you given any thought to looking in parts further south? With an MBA, I'm assuming you could work for just about any industry, is that correct? What about Mobile, Montgomery, Pensacola, Pascagoula, Gulfport/Biloxi? Have you looked in those areas?

What line of work are you hoping to find?

I am looking into Business Analysis or Market Research. Recently, however, I have just been trying to get my foot in the door in any capacity.

I am sure Birmingham is a lovely city when I said that I was a day late I had completely forgotten about the effects of the Tornado on Birmingham since all the coverage was left to Tuscaloosa up here in Nashville.

Lazlo- Industries to me aren't as important, I am lacking experience so I am a fairly clean slate. I prefer something that isn't completely unethical or calls for me to club baby seals, outside of that I am open.

Rizoll-I have taken so many pictures with that ugly red blob... my buddy was the mascot for a long time. He tackled me during half-time of a women's basketball game in a game of musical chairs. It was random

Again I apologize for the long post, just wanted to respond to all with out multiple posts.

 

[TiderJack]

The city limits of B'ham are not that great and as said in other posts the local gov't is horrible but if you look at Over the Mountain areas which are suburbs 5-20 miles outside of B'ham city limits there are good employment opportunities. Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Pelham are all good areas and the Highway 280 corridor in North Shelby County is the fastest growing area in Alabama and Shelby County is the wealthiest county in the state. I am a little biased since this is where I live but glad I do.

 

[bamanut_aj]

All jokes about B'ham aside, I have a few friends who live in the area and like it well enough. My sister lives in Chelsea and really enjoys being there.

I did a job at Southern Research, right near 5 Points downtown, and that area has come along pretty well for the most part.

 

[lazlohollyfeld]

I am looking into Business Analysis or Market Research. Recently, however, I have just been trying to get my foot in the door in any capacity.

Lazlo- Industries to me aren't as important, I am lacking experience so I am a fairly clean slate. I prefer something that isn't completely unethical or calls for me to club baby seals, outside of that I am open.

Again I apologize for the long post, just wanted to respond to all with out multiple posts.

Look around the DFW area then. There are 26 Fortune 500's based in this area and there are another 225 companies based here that have at least 1,000 global employees. Step beyond that and you have a large number of divisional HQ's based here. An example would be Fujitsu that has two separate business units based here, Fujitsu Network Communications and Fujitsu Transaction Solutions. Other companies base substantial assets here; Verizon is HQ'ed in NYC but have nearly 11,00 employees here (mainly technical). Cisco is based in Cali but have 1200 employees in Richardson. And so on with a variety of large multinationals.

Then you have companies like TI and TriQuint which are the core of semiconductor fabrication in DFW. They base so much of their operations here that another 70 or so semiconductor related or supplier companies are located here. The same thing happens with American Airlines and Southwest, their presence drives substantial DFW area operations of their vendors and suppliers. And that scenario replicates itself across a variety of other industries.

As a side note, any chance you have 4 years or so in technology related solutions and are willing to move to NYC?

 

[WKURainwater]

Look around the DFW area then. There are 26 Fortune 500's based in this area and there are another 225 companies based here that have at least 1,000 global employees. Step beyond that and you have a large number of divisional HQ's based here. An example would be Fujitsu that has two separate business units based here, Fujitsu Network Communications and Fujitsu Transaction Solutions. Other companies base substantial assets here; Verizon is HQ'ed in NYC but have nearly 11,00 employees here (mainly technical). Cisco is based in Cali but have 1200 employees in Richardson. And so on with a variety of large multinationals.

Then you have companies like TI and TriQuint which are the core of semiconductor fabrication in DFW. They base so much of their operations here that another 70 or so semiconductor related or supplier companies are located here. The same thing happens with American Airlines and Southwest, their presence drives substantial DFW area operations of their vendors and suppliers. And that scenario replicates itself across a variety of other industries.

As a side note, any chance you have 4 years or so in technology related solutions and are willing to move to NYC?

Is Dallas the same way as Nashville in that you have to know someone to get hired? If so I am pretty stuck again. I definitely appreciate the information provided and will be looking into Dallas a lot more, seems pretty solid chances. I do not have the Technology experience you are looking for, I did some IT work for a college department for 3 years, but NYC would be pretty sweet if there was a job there. That is about the only requirement for me, I almost moved to Big Ten country for a position, it hurt.

 

[RedStar]

One thing I'll never understand: Big Cities.

How/Why do people do it?

Most of my best friends have moved off to bigger cities. Houston/Nashville/Atlanta/Birgmingham/Little Rock....

I just don't get it. What's the appeal? Is it really worth the extra hours & stress spent in traffic to be able to eat/shop at a few more places? I have such road rage that I know living in a town that size would literally take years off my life.

The Shoals metro area has around 150,000 people and even that is almost too big for me. Luckily I live on the south side of the river & traffic isn't too bad, although pulling out near the intersection of Cox & Avalon can get a little crazy at times. That 150,000 number is a little misleading too because it's over a fairly wide area.

My house is no more than 5-10 minutes from anywhere I want to be. It's convenient, effecient & cheap. Crime is minimal. Housing costs aren't too high & costs of living is way down compared to larger cities. What's not too love?