Yes Seattle is expensive to live (lived there for several years) but Microsoft does pay VERY well and their benefits package is AWESOME! (My exhubby worked for them for 12 years).
Housing prices are out of control here. BUT, we’ve found the people to be very open, warm, laid back and unpretentious. Our kids mixed in easily and have made many friends. As far as religion goes…it’s pretty “west coast” not a lot of embracing of highly conservative, ritualized or traditional faith practice. However, the Catholics here have a kind of “aliens in a a foreign land” mentality and are quite devoted to their parishes and developing a Catholic community/fellowship with each other.
And you could take the kids on field trips to EWTN
I soooo agree !! Not sure about the job market in your DH’s field… but Alabama is so beautiful and the cost of housing is so cheap !! Alot of house for your $. Plus the people are so very sweet… and this is my favorite part… you can go out into your backyard and pick pecans right off the ground… how cool is that?
We have everything you asked about here except for alot of job opportunities. I am Director of Information Technology at my company, and I can tell you that there are some jobs, but not enough to make a move here at the moment. The Catholic Schools are great here, and you can’t beat the midwest small town values! I would advise your hubby to look into The High School of St Thomas More in Champaign IL as they were looking for an IT person and I couldn’t convince my son to apply because he was afraid they wouldn’t hire him because he went to that school (and needless to say he was a bit rowdy, but he did take care of their network when he went there. They were totally lost when he left the school). Anyway, sorry, that’s the best I can do, and if you do end up out this way…Look me up!!!
Carol Marie, CatholicSam and PA…yes, Alabama is beautiful, especially the northern part. EWTN is about 2 hour drive from Huntsville.
Has your husband put his resume on monster.com or careerbuilder.com? Headhunters will probably approach him and if you guys have target areas (such as the midwest) then they can look all over those areas for you. The firm that brought my husband out here does contracts in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois. Maybe Nebraska and Colorado, too, but I can’t remember if that was a different firm. He was a contractor for five months and now the company is buying him as an employee. He got offers all over the country but at the time we were looking specifically for only one area. Also, YOU can contact a headhunter firm and ask for representation. Some of these cost money and some don’t, but my personal opinion is NOT to spend money–that is really a service they’re offering the company who will eventually buy your husband. Some of the firms that request money from the jobhunter can also be a little shady. Also, most firms or corporations will offer a relocation package to assist in moving to your destination. Some will also buy your house and then sell it themselves so as to make moving as easy as possible.