ok, a little background info and some explanation first. I’m a recent college graduate with a bachelor’s in Writing and Communication. I live in Pittsburgh now and am not finding any opportunity in the job market. One of my best friends lives in Vegas and has invited me to come out, rent free of charge (to start). I’m seriously considering it. I have nothing holding me back, and I think it would be fun to live in a new area for a change.
Ok, my interests and job fields I would pursue include writing, law, MMA, teaching, cooking, bartending. I’m open to other professions as well.
My train of thought now is just that there seems to be so much opportunity in a place like Vegas. Plus, if I could succeed in this fast paced life-style then surely I could find work when and if I come back home.
But in reality, never been to Vegas and I don’t really know what it’s like. So, anyone fill me in here. It would be very appreciated.
I have lived here for over 10 years and have a little website (see below) mainly just for tourists coming to visit, but might give you some info regarding coming here for the first time.
I love living here…but I like the heat, I like the 24 hour aspect of the city and I really like sunny days pretty much year round.
That said, unemployment is high here - casino jobs are scarce and you would be competing against people who have years of experience working in casinos - and most casinos want people who have experience working in other casinos.
Still, if you have the opportunity to come here with “free” rent for a period of time and check it out, you could probably find some kind of work and see how things work out for you.
And as you mention, you could give it a shot and if it doesn’t work out - go back home! I have traveled around the world and worked in many large cities (as you can see from my locations) and found that if you have enough money to stick around a city for about 1-2 months without having to panic about finding work, you have a better chance of making it there. It takes time to network, find which parts of town you want to work in and which parts of town you want to avoid, etc.
Just be a bit prepared that you might not find a job right off the bat…but who knows; maybe your friend has some contacts here that might help.
That said, I say go for it…sounds like you have a great opportunity to give it a go.
It is quite difficult to find work here at the moment. There have been pretty substantial layoffs from most (all?) major casinos in the city. You might be able to get a job tending bar somewhere other than a casino, but I can’t say for sure. Teaching is probably out of the question, considering the school district is very slow to hire new teachers even in good economic times, and at the moment the district can not balance its budget without all sorts of major cuts, including cuts to salary and hiring. There are always legal jobs available here, though, especially if you’ve got experience working with the government. Right now the courts are hiring people with a legal background to fill various positions.
What does MMA mean? I only know the acronym as “mixed martial arts”.
Finally, be sure your buddy is someone you can stand to live with for awhile, and who can stand YOU to live with them, because if you want to make it here, it might take awhile. It’s very hard to find a city harder hit by the recent recession, and almost impossible to find a place where the housing market has crashed harder. That means if you have some cash, or if you find a decent job in the next year or so, you might be able to get a fantastic house for a whole lot less than your neighbors had to pay.
Mosier, by legal jobs, I mean like a Paralegal or Legal Assistant. Is this what you mean, also? Also, by MMA, I meant mixed martial arts. I think I could cover it pretty well as a sports journalist/blogger or something.
Where do you guys think the most opportunity for an inexperienced young guy with a degree in the city of Vegas lies?
Well, we invented MMA, so there’s probably more opportunity for working in the sport here, but I have no actual knowledge about it.
I know a person trying to find work as a paralegal, and she says it’s not any more or less difficult here than anywhere else. Most legal profession opportunities here will be working for the courts, though.
Vegas is different from other places in that so much of the entertainment industry doesn’t even require a high school education, let alone a degree. Even when the economy was great, jobs here were for poker dealers and housekeepers and line cooks and bellmen and so on. There are some exceptions; all of the casinos employ engineers for example (who make excellent starting wages. The ones working at the casino I’m at make 60k to start), and a business degree is pretty useful here, but liberal arts degrees are not in great demand at all. It’s possible you could find work for one of the many local entertainment magazines, but I think almost all of them have a very small staff of very close people not making very much money at all, so I don’t know if any of them are going to be hiring writers.
I teach at a college and there is a woman who does nothing but make phone calls to try to find work for recent graduates. She says the best thing new grads can do is start taking free-lance assignments and try to get your foot in the door. She said lots of companies are not hiring full time right now, but are more than happy to parcel out work as needed.
Still, she is able to place about 60% of the graduates in jobs, but says it just takes a lot of phone calls and interviews, etc. Jobs are out there, but you have to be persistent.
Regarding legal work - when I first moved here, I temped through a legal temp agency “Exclusively Legal” and they were able to keep me busy. You might want to contact them, go in and take their tests and get on their list.
Great suggestion Sigmagirl! I had totally forgotten about that site! Thanks!
It is an excellent site and gives you all kinds of info (such as don’t dawdle getting a Nevada Driver’s License - they frown on that here) and other FAQ’s that you need to know. Very good place to start!
I’ve known some people who went there to work for Bally slot machines. They really felt like they were in the middle of nowhere. Gambling is for saps and the old and lonely and desperate, not the young people you see in the ads.
I also knew a teacher who was born there and knew nothing else and said it was better than Iowa or Kansas. Not high praise.
Well I’m basically under the assumption that people who move to Vegas don’t plan on living there their whole lives. At least thats how I would go about it. This is part of the reason I see opportunity because of a high-turnover from people leaving. Please, let me know if I’m wrong here. Where I’m from, people who live and work here stay here.
For example, I have this idea of starting somewhere as a line cook. Eventually moving to management, and then when I plan on coming home I’ll find a job anywhere. Not only will I have experience, but I was successful in the high-paced lifestyle of Las Vegas.
As mentioned, I teach and of my students, about one in ten hates Las Vegas and mentions it in their speeches. (I have them give an introductory speech on what they like or dislike about living here.) About half of that 1/10th who hate it here were born here and just want to get out and see the world.
I moved here for lots of reasons and have never regretted doing so. Still, with the rotten economy, some of the luster has gone off the city - but I would imagine the same can be said about any major metropolitan area in the US.
Again - each to their own, but baring some disaster or windfall job opportunity elsewhere that paid a bundle, I am quite happy living here.