Going to visit San Diego for vacation, looking for someone to talk with

masdrobeda

Hello,

I am going to San Diego, CA on February 7th to 14th. San Diego is really the place I want to relocate and I was wondering if anybody that works in the IT there has an hour or two to meet me and talk about the IT market there, specially in the Networking field. We can have lunch or dinner somewhere or something like it. I am currently a Network Analyst working at south of Boston.

I am also considering LA and surroundings.

Any help would be much appreciated

Thank you

snunez889

I live on the north end of San Diego county and find the IT market weird here. I see a lot of jobs out here require security clearance. You will might have a better chance shooting for an msp. Salary doesn't appear to reflex the cost of living. I have had better luck with jobs in Orange County or inland empire.

This is just might be me. Will probably vary by experience and how marketable you are.

masdrobeda

I am kind of new in the field, only 3 years combining Desktop support and Network. Unfortunately I am not an US Citizen yet so I cannot hold security clearance positions for the next 1 1/2 years.

Thanks for your input. I am actually also considering the Orange County

shochan

You might check in SLO (San Luis Obispo), about an hour north of Santa Barbara, lots of tech businesses there, sys admins/network engineer jobs...I was hired back in 2014, but couldn't find a decent place to live without it being SO ridiculous expensive.

masdrobeda

I keep hearing that anything in CA cost of living is crazy expensive. But I dont see any difference in Boston area. I work about an hour drive from Boston. If I work there I can make about 50% more and pay 50% more rent for a smaller place. Rents in Boston area and suburbs can be very expensive like 2K and up for an ok studio.

shochan wrote: »

You might check in SLO (San Luis Obispo), about an hour north of Santa Barbara, lots of tech businesses there, sys admins/network engineer jobs...I was hired back in 2014, but couldn't find a decent place to live without it being SO ridiculous expensive.

catscaps

I am in San Diego and there seems to be tons of IT jobs. Sure there is a military presence, hence lots of government contractors requiring Secret clearance, but there are other jobs as well. Look on Indeed.com for San Diego and you will get an idea. There is a large biotech community and even Google is opening an office here, so there will be a need for companies that support all this tech.
I'm fairly new to Desktop support so I probably wouldn't be much help for you. you can also look at meetup.com, as I know there are local tech meetup groups in San Diego, maybe that would be of assistance.

Iristheangel

I can tell you Los Angeles has a ton of jobs and pretty high paying. Some of my friends live in the Inland Empire and commute which makes it affordable to own a house. When I was single, I was living in 1 bedroom apartments from Anaheim to Pasadena which ranged from $900-$1100/month. 2 bedroom in Pasadena cost me about $1425 a year and a half ago. Now I'm in a ~2000 sq foot, 4 bedroom, 3 bath place for about $2600. My pay has gone up proportional with my cost of living so it's been fine for me but given that you're just starting out, you might want to look at cheaper places to live. I would recommend checking out Arcadia, Monrovia, Anaheim, Fountain Valley, Oceanside, etc. You might be stuck will a little longer of a commute but you could always leave before rush hour and use the extra time to study. I did that and it's partly how I got my CCNP R&S done. Try to have a plan on how to advance your career and your next steps planned out so you're not always stuck in that situation. For example, if you have to commute longer or take a more entry level job, try to make a goal of what educational goals you'll achieve in that first year so you can find your way to the next step in your career.

shortiebs

Im in San Diego. I moved her a year ago from Houston. Im still entry level and wanted to move into security but most jobs i applied for needed a clearance. Lots of contract jobs. low pay versus cost of living. i currently work as a network specialist. my previous experience was in help desk