Hunting

[Catherine J Thompson]

Where are all the jobs?!

[Thomas J. Johnson]

Oh, darn, I thought this thread was really about hunting… I’m excited because I just tracked down my hunter safety card, from a class I took when I was 11 but now I need to get my FOID card from Illinois in order to get a hunting license. I think I might just have to move to another state that isn’t interested in trampling my 2nd amendment rights while exposing it’s law abiding citizens to increased home break-ins and putting more stolen fire arms in the hands of the bad guys…

Oh yeah… this was about jobs… I’m not sure. I commute an hour and 45 minutes into the city for my job at a nursery, that I’m grateful to have. I’m making about a third of what I made in an office, no benefits, part-time and 3.5hrs of commuting on public transportation everyday. The up side: I’m losing winter fat, getting stronger and have a nice tan on my face (it’s not short sleeve season yet), the people I work with don’t make me feel like they are out to throw me under the bus, I’m reading a lot during my commute and I’m polishing up my local plant knowledge after being in SoCal for 3 years.

I’ve seen a few jobs posted in other areas… Denver, San Fran and the East coast but it would be difficult to pack up and move across country after my last experience chasing a dream job… not to mention I’m broke (did I mention that I work at a nursery part-time?) and don’t have the money to move and get an apartment… I’m not going to bankrupt myself again for a job that lasts 4 months. Lesson learned.

Are you trying to stay in the Chicagoland area?

[mauiBob]

It’s always been my belief that if you’re willing to move and change locations…you can get employment. Compared to same time a year ago, the ASLA job listing now has a “ton” of open positions. I’ve always used it to gauge how well the mainland is doing construction wise. And forget China, India is the next frontier. Watch out for the explosion of design services from India in the next 10 years. I have insider knowledge on that one. Anyway, Good luck out there!

 

 

 

[mauiBob]

…I thought it was about hunting for hot chicks! We’re both wrong!

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

Washington, DC

 

[Catherine J Thompson]

No specifically trying to stay in Chicago…I honestly feel like this place has sucked the life out of me!  I’d be willing to move and learn new things, no problem.

[Catherine J Thompson]

Really? DC huh?

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

The only major city with real estate value going up…. barely.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/2011/03/29/20110329biz-home-price-index0329.html

 

Is there a ton of LA jobs there? I doubt it, but growth in LA jobs tends to generally follow rising/falling real eastate values.  

[Heather Smith]

I think you could make more money having your own landscaping business! Seriously! We live in a very small area and we do have competitors. We made more money last year then we would have working at a firm. In a recession. Perhaps you can use your connections at the nursery to capture a few small design/build projects. Your overhead is very low…you have the skills, you also have people you can ask questions of here and at the nursery. We are still learning how to run a business…but even with all our silly mistakes, including charging too little…we are still doing better then if we were waiting for a real job. Just yesterday we looked at each other(my dh is a landscape architect…I don’t have my license yet) and were like…f-it…lets call ourselves whatever we have to and make some mad cash. haha. Within landscape architecture I think there is a tendency to avoid calling ourselves landscapers or being associated with this…guess what? We can design amazing places AND build them…the money is in the build at this point and there is no reason why down the road we can’t go for larger and larger projects. 🙂

We are looking into building for commercial projects, doing maintenance(Yes! we will mow your lawn!) and possibly getting into snow removal.

I have been looking at this website: http://www.landscapemanagementnetwork.com/

They have a lot of great information about landscape contracting.

[Jason T. Radice]

Not a great deal of open jobs here in DC! Lately, most of the openings seem to be in CA. But no matter where you look, there just aren’t jobs. And in areas like DC with a HUGE concetration of both LAs and firms, competition is fierce.

[David J. Chirico]

Hampton Roads area, Virginia has not been doing too bad.  The cities are still spending a lot of money building new schools which keeps the architects and civil engineers working, which in turn puts us on their teams for planning.

 

We all received raises this year for the firs time in about 3 years.  I’m certainly not going to complain about that!

[Lorna Allen]

Areas with permanent government installments (i.e. military bases/DC) have/were hit less than areas without during this recession. I know from personal experience that work continued to trickle and has even now begun to pick up more (mainly in the residential market). I would suggest looking to firms in these types areas that have stood the test of time (15, 20, 25 years established).

[Kari Biddix]

Hey there!  I’m in the process of job hunting right now as well.  It’s very stressful.  I’m in northern California and the outlook is bad here at the moment.  I work for a parks and rec and the whole planning department is getting laid off!  That’s right!  Parks and rec…..almost unheard of!  Anyway, I’m able to relocate and I’ve just been looking at the ASLA website job postings and indeed.com.  Good luck with your search.  I completely understand what you’re going through right now!

[Catherine J Thompson]

Wow! A lot more responses than I expected! Thanks! I’m not looking to go on my own, for a few reasons…one I don’t have the capital for the ‘build’ portion, and people around here are stingy about paying for designs, also I don’t want to get pinned down in this location. If I started a business here, I’m here for life, at this moment that is not appealing to me at all…
Thanks for all the info folks! Keep it coming!

[mark foster]

Don’t forget Craigslist. 

You may also look into Design Build–not starting, but working for one.  I suggest trying to find one with an LA owner, or LA head of the design dept.

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