suzanne7575

HI

I am a nurse and currently starting out on the process of moving over to the states along with my husband and my 2 kids, who are 5 and 3. As I am nurse it will be me who will be getting the job to start with, but my husband intends to work also and will start looking for work before we go but i do realise it might not be possible until we get there. At the moment he is a regional business development manager for PCWorld, so he would be looking for something in that area. In his work he has a lot of dealings with senoir executives of a lot of the international software,business leasing and networking industries so he might be able to get something with them. I'm hoping he will be able to bring in a decent salary (hoping being the operative word). I am not under any illusion, I am not going over there with this huge dream of living in south fork with 10 servants, I know it is going to be tough, and we probably aren't going to be any better off intially than we are here, but it is something i have always wanted to do since being in my teens, we have no ties here in the UK, no debt, and I already live a long way from family and friends so i am used to that aspect of it. I (well we) are just at the stage where we know if we don't do this now we never will and i don't want to get to my 40's and say I didn't try.

So my question is where would be a good state to move to given our circumstances? We will rent for the first 2 years so as to build up our credit history, increase our savings, and so that we also have a chance to fid out where we really want to go. It is also likely that my first job will be a contract of 2 years because of the GC sponsorship and until i have finished that I don't want to buy anywhere in case it is not where we want to stay. I have done a lot of research and my ideal location would be New Jersey for it's climate, location to major cities for my husband to get work, good schooling and the kind of lifestyle we would like, but looking at the cost of living there I'm not so sure it is a good idea. My other options are Florida (which we love and visit regularly), Arizona and Texas but not sure the opportnities for my husband will be there, and there is still a lot of talk of high living costs etc. especially with regards to Florida.

Anybody else got any ideas?

Many thanks

gardnma

If you are not aware of what RN's make in the US, allthough it depends on which state, I can tell you you will pull anywhere from $25 to $30/hr, also depending on experience, shift differential, union/non, etc etc..........perhaps more as if you have a specialty, as it will drive up your rate.
You can get health insurance as an RN by working less than 40/week, which is unusual as compared to other lines of work in the US.
I am also sending a PM to you.

Good luck.

Celsius

Does your husband have a Bachelors degree? If not, this is likely to hinder him getting a managerial type position at first.

Ray

And of course the supply of visas for nurses had dried up at this time ....

suzanne7575

Yes he has a BSc (hons)

suzanne7575

I am aware of retrogression and i know it will be some years before we get there, but i may aswell start

penguinsix

PCWorld has several similar companies in the US, such as Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA to name a few major players. There are also some more advanced stores like Frys and Microcenter.

You might want to research those companies and see where their management is located, and see if there are positions available at the corporate HQ (probably the best way to advance). As for a more regional based position, you can probably have your pick of the different states as those big stores are pretty much all over the country.

To be honest, you can pick pretty much anywhere, as nurses and regional retail staff are needed pretty much across the country. NJ might be a bit expensive (though there are cheap parts). Florida a bit hot, as is Texas. Both are quite large (meaning a regional sales manager might have a great deal of travel).

By the way, is their a nursing 'specialty' you are trained for? Hospital, elderly, etc? You migth want to look at the payscales for your speciality as you might make more working with the elderly in a place like Florida (where there are many) than you will make working at a hospital in NJ (or something like that).

One other thing is your long term plans for America. Is this it? Will you be here for ever? Are you looking to move around once you get here, in a few years, etc. The reason I ask is that you might want to consider buying a property in an 'up and coming' area so you make a bit of a profit on your home, rather than buying in a more depressed area where the population is declining as you can get 'stuck' in that area and unable to move to another (for financial reasons). Of course, if you want to just retire here, you can get a very nice house in a small to midsized Midwestern town for not a great deal of money and start 'living the American dream' (as they say :-)

Good luck.

robskatie

This may help, good luck
http://www.city-data.com/

suzanne7575

Hot weather is not a problem, in fact other than the far northern freezing cold states I am pretty much open to anything. The notheastern, mid atlantic climate seems ideal but as you say NJ may be a bit expensive and i would rather live somewhere else more affordable than be in a poor area with bad schooling just for the sake of being in NJ.

As for our long term plans, staying there is the main plan but until we get there we cannot say for certain. I would love to see all of America, there are so many parts I would like to see but i think moving around is pretty much out of the question as a regular thing due to having children, it wouldn't be fair to them to keep uprooting them, however if after my first contract is up we may well try somewhere else and i guess if my husband works for a nationwide company then the option to move over to NJ might be there eventually. As you say we might be better off buying a home in an up and coming area than trying to buy into an already established market such as NJ's seems to be.

I will research the companies you mentioned, and also my husband has a lot of contacts inthe computing world who he is going to speak to

Thanks for your help

suzanne7575

Thanks, I have spent quite a lot of time reading that webpage and it can be quite distubing how disgruntled most of the residents of every state are , not many have anything good to say about anywhere, I guess they feel the same about their country as we do about the UK

blaze

Hi and Welcome!

I can't help you on the nursing side of things but as far as states go, it really depends on what type of lifestyle you're looking for. The east coast tends to be a lot more fast paced (so New Jersey would fit into that category! ) whereas Arizona or that area is a lot more laid back.
Just a tip though. Don't mention wanting to move to Florida on these boards, there are a few that will think less of you because of it! Good luck!

jumping doris

I live in PA (Pittsburgh to be precise).
We get 4 seasons and it's snowing at the moment. Hot summers.
Property is, I think, quite cheap although there are very expensive parts.
I am told that Pittsburgh is a big medical city, it has a grade 1 trauma unit....whatever that is.It still suffers from it's old reputation as a coal and steel city but that is all gone now and the city is reinventing itself.
I live in a township south of the city which has fantastic schools and is a really nice place to bring up a family.
I prefer England but I like it here.

gardnma

If you head up into New England, there are a lot of small towns which deny the "NorthEast is a rat race" myth. Some lovely sleepy towns in Vermont, NY, Mass.......

You will never be a millionaire in one of those - but they are pretty.

IF YOU CAN STAND THE WINTERS..........

blaze

Who said the Northeast is a rat race?

gardnma

Allways heard it on the West Coast, was pleasantly surprised when we got there to find it wasn't all concreted over.......