I have made plans to move to North Hollywood in mid-January. I am moving with a band and pursuing a music career (how cliché!). We actually have stumbled into some deecent connections, and that’s why we’re moving; we’re taking advantage of what may very well be the opportunity of a lifetime.
But, I definitely plan on having a dayjob! Right now I reside in Omaha, Nebraska. So while the move is exciting, it is also somewhat nerve-racking.
And here’s the part that will be the hardest . . . finding a job!! Right now I am a mortgage analyst at a mortgage banking firm; I have a Finance degree, 2 years of experience in the field, and an impressive resume (scholastic honors, etc.) I plan on starting my job search at the beginning of December. I plan on searching the internet high and low for a decent job so that I can hopefully line something up before I leave.
The scary part is moving without a job lined up, which will probably be the case. I’m trying to save as much money as possible to help me survive until I get one.
How long do you think it will take? I think the LONGEST I could survive without one would be 6-8 weeks. I plan on doing the most aggressive job hunt I’m capable of. However, I’m somewhat intimidated by California’s economy right now.
How many of you have found jobs in LA recently? In what field, and how long did it take you?
I could also use any advice that you think may be useful for a guy in my position.
Noth Hollywood is one of the more reasonable neighborhoods. Rents can be very reasonable for LA. I would suggest that you not try to rent a place until you get here. There are parts of NH I would suggest that you stay out of. In parts of NH there is some heavy gang activity. Also NH can be a little noisy as the jets landing at Burbank airport fly IFR (I follow Roads) right down Sherman Way to get to the airport. The good news is if you have to fly somehwere the airport is nearby.
The Metro red line (subway) runs to Noth Hollywood, on it you can get to Universal City, and Mid Wilshire (where a lot of banks are located), and on to downtown. So you may be able to get out of using a car for a commute. This is a good thing.
You will still need wheels to get to your gigs, so there is no free lunch. Your car will have to pass smog. I’m not sure on the current state of what hoops have to jumped through to register an out of state car, but it is a good guess that the smog test will be tougher here than where you are from.
This is all I can think of right now. If you have any particular questions about the neighborhood, I only live about 5 miles form NH, drop me an e-mail, and I will try to answer any questions you have.
rhinostylee, did you have a thread a while back that talked about doing this? This sounds oddly familiar, so I hope so, and now you’re actually DOING it. [sub]if not, I’m going insane[/sub]
No advice, since I haven’t worked in LA since 1995, but I just wanted to wish you luck - I think it’s cool that you’re following your dream.
Whoops, after I posted I noticed how I picked the wrong forum . . . thanks for moving it for me.
Yes- my original plan was to move to Oceanside. Those plans weren’t as financially scary as the new ones since I was going to move into a friend’s mother’s house, who would not charge us rent until we were on our feet. I posted another “help” thread back then, and found it so helpful that I thought I’d post another more specific to my new plans. The move is getting pretty close!
The Oceanside plan fell through since my friend’s mom works in San Diego and does not want to commute, and therefore is selling her house. So if we wanted to move in with her, we’d be gong to San Diego, and would not get free rent after all. And we figured, why move all the way across the country and still be three hours away form where we need to be? Plus, we’ve got a friend in the biz in North Hollywood, who is showing us the ropes and producing our next album. So it’s financially a little less stable of a move; the stakes are much higher, but the payoff is higher as well.
Part of me thinks that this isn’t going to be as scary and difficult as I make it out to be; I’m from the midwest, which is very conservative, so nobody hear thinks that people can actually do what I am going to attempt to do. On the other hand, I can only imagine how profusely I’ll be sweating as my savings balance rapidly declines . . .
Thanks again for the advice and encouragement . . .it helps more than you can know!!
I think you might want to re-think the living with your friend’s mom thing. Sure, the commute will be a big pain (2 hours when the traffic is light–which is not all of the time) but you get free rent. I think that unless you can line up a job before you move out, maybe you’d better play it a little “safer” and stick with San Diego and just commute.
I went to school in downtown LA and knew some students who drove almost every day after work up from SD to go to night class. I even knew a lady who flew down from San Franciso each Saturday to take a class. (That was a little more unusual, though! ;)) So commuting from SD can be done, and in your case, I think it might be worth considering.
Don’t depend on anybody but yourself. I moved out here to lala about 7 months ago. Things happen slowly, and it’s easy to become distracted when no tangible results materialize - just keep plugging away. Remember that it could take ten years to become an overnight success.