STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

kenzie · Chanel

Tips on a cross-country move

Elle · Hermes

Are you going to drive a truck and tow your car? Or are you going to send your stuff in a moving van and meet it there?

Honestly, if you're comfortable with driving a big truck (which probably would't be that terribly big since it's just you and from your situation I'm assuming you don't have an extraordinarily large amount of furniture) I would take the DIY route. It will likely be waaaay less expensive, and you won't have to wait days or weeks for your things to arrive. Just hire movers to move you in when you get to LA.

I'm sure the LA STers will be an invaluable resource when it comes to finding a place to live too! You can't beat having someone who already lives in the city when it comes to choosing an area, or even apartment complex to live in!

Any specific things you're worried about regarding the move?

Tara · Dooney & Bourke

I moved from Boston to LA - can't get more cross country than that. Here are some tips for you:

- Don't try to save money by using a cheap moving company - pay the extra bucks and hire someone who is reliable (I had a moving company horror story)

- When looking for apartments in LA - be prepared to write a check for first, last, security THAT day - trust me, you cann't "come back and look at it tomorrow", it will be gone

- Try to stay with friends until you can find a job and then decide where to live.....you definitely would not want to sign a year long lease in Los Feliz and end up getting your dream job in Santa Monica. That would be the worst commute ever.

- Oh, and IMO verizon is the best cell phone carrier for service in LA.

That is all I can think of.....

kenzie · Chanel

Thanks, ladies. I'll be moving from the Philly area, btw.

LMonet, I have a ton of stuff! I would need at least a 15 foot truck and I'm not comfortable driving a van, let alone a big truck! I'm going to try to pair down before I move, but at the least, I would need 10 foot truck. I would like to do the road trip thing (I know someone who moved out to LA that did that, moving van and all). I think it took a week and a half, maybe only a week. I'm not sure. I guess I would need a road trip buddy.

My biggest worry is finding a job since we all know what a struggle I've had. I just don't trust moving somewhere jobless and hoping that I find something. I have bad luck with getting jobs, so I don't think that it would even be possible for me to find something if I moved there without a job.

What about employment agencies out there? Does anyone know of any good ones?

How much $$ do you think it would take for a move like this? I need to start saving.

Elle · Hermes

NylaBelle wrote:

How much $$ do you think it would take for a move like this? I need to start saving.

Unfortunately, a loooooooooot! We used U-Haul - for a 17-foot truck and a car trailor to move from Spokane, WA to Denver, CO it cost us $1,900 including gas and movers to unload. A moving company quoted us $1,700 just to move our stuff (which doesn't include any other expenses like hotels or gas along the way since we would have had to drive our car) - and they couldn't tell us when it would arrive at our new place until 24 hrs before the drop off. They could have had it up to 6 weeks! Many of them also have fees if they have to carry your stuff more than X-feet between apt and truck, etc. Maybe Pods would work for you?

kenzie · Chanel

LMonet wrote:

NylaBelle wrote: How much $$ do you think it would take for a move like this? I need to start saving. Unfortunately, a loooooooooot! We used U-Haul - for a 17-foot truck and a car trailor to move from Spokane, WA to Denver, CO it cost us $1,900 including gas and movers to unload. A moving company quoted us $1,700 just to move our stuff (which doesn't include any other expenses like hotels or gas along the way since we would have had to drive our car) - and they couldn't tell us when it would arrive at our new place until 24 hrs before the drop off. They could have had it up to 6 weeks! Many of them also have fees if they have to carry your stuff more than X-feet between apt and truck, etc. Maybe Pods would work for you?

Yeah, I was thinking that it was going to cost about $3000 (eek!!). Maybe I'll ook into Pods. Anyone have experience with that?

NCshopper · Hermes

When my husband moved from San Diego to NC he got rid of a LOT of his stuff--all major furniture (it was nasty bachelor pad furniture anyway) and packed his stuff up in boxes and shipped them to me. He then packed everything else he wanted into his car (a teeny Toyota Echo) and spent 4 days driving across the country without cruise control. It was long and boring and a WHOLE lot of driving, but it can be done quickly if you need to.

On the other hand, depending on your time constraints and $$$, you may want to spend a week or week and half driving out with a good girl friend. It would be much safer to drive with someone than going solo and you'd have a lot more fun (you could stop in Vegas on the way! )

I think what some of the girls said in a previous post was good advice re: using someone's local address while you're still in PA. Unfortunately, I just don't think you'd get very far if you have a PA address. I know it's expensive, but you really might want to consider spending a few days out there this winter or spring just trying to get the feel for which part of the city you'd want to live in and work in.

A few other ideas you may want to consider: 1) You may want to contact the California Chamber of Commerce, the LA Chamber, and smaller chambers around the area just to see what companies are out there. 2) Try and get a hold of an LA area trade Journal. In a trade journal, you'll get the best business info around to figure out what companies will be starting up there, who's hiring, and who's laying people off.

I'd use the time between now and this spring to start saving money and to really start thinking about exactly what you want to do. Make lists of what you could see yourself doing, what personality traits and skills you have that would work well for what you want to do, etc etc. Become an expert in who you are and what you want so you'll be able to translate that well during an interview.

Sorry this got kind of long...I've done a lot of moving and a TON of job searching within the past two years. HTH!

kenzie · Chanel

*my responses are in bold.

NCshopper wrote:

When my husband moved from San Diego to NC he got rid of a LOT of his stuff--all major furniture (it was nasty bachelor pad furniture anyway) and packed his stuff up in boxes and shipped them to me. He then packed everything else he wanted into his car (a teeny Toyota Echo) and spent 4 days driving across the country without cruise control. It was long and boring and a WHOLE lot of driving, but it can be done quickly if you need to.

Yeah, I don't even really have a lot of furniture. It's my boxes of books, cd's and my mini-boutique that take up all the space. I wonder if it would be cheaper to ship some of that crap. I'll have to see.

On the other hand, depending on your time constraints and $$$, you may want to spend a week or week and half driving out with a good girl friend. It would be much safer to drive with someone than going solo and you'd have a lot more fun (you could stop in Vegas on the way! )

I would love to do this. This would be the ideal scenario.

I think what some of the girls said in a previous post was good advice re: using someone's local address while you're still in PA. Unfortunately, I just don't think you'd get very far if you have a PA address. I know it's expensive, but you really might want to consider spending a few days out there this winter or spring just trying to get the feel for which part of the city you'd want to live in and work in.

I've been out there before and I am almost positive that I would want to live in Santa Monica. So, I would probably want to work close to there in one of the surrounding areas or in Santa Monica itself. I do want to go out there sometime this winter anyway and do some more exploring.

A few other ideas you may want to consider: 1) You may want to contact the California Chamber of Commerce, the LA Chamber, and smaller chambers around the area just to see what companies are out there. 2) Try and get a hold of an LA area trade Journal. In a trade journal, you'll get the best business info around to figure out what companies will be starting up there, who's hiring, and who's laying people off.

Good idea. Thanks for the tip.

I'd use the time between now and this spring to start saving money and to really start thinking about exactly what you want to do. Make lists of what you could see yourself doing, what personality traits and skills you have that would work well for what you want to do, etc etc. Become an expert in who you are and what you want so you'll be able to translate that well during an interview. Sorry this got kind of long...I've done a lot of moving and a TON of job searching within the past two years. HTH!

I know what skills and personality traits I have as far as a careers. I've read countless books, taken countless tests and it all comes up the same every time. I've even tried to answer with slightly different answers to get something else to come up and it never does! I'm a creative soul while leadership skills who will not be happy until I'm in a creative job (literally, this is almost a direct quote from one quiz I took). There are a ton more jobs in LA that interest me and are more suited to my skills and personality than there are here. There is next to nothing here for me.

Thanks for all of your thoughts. It was very helpful!!

crystal · Kate Spade

i've never moved across country, so i can't contribute there, but as far as finding a job, i think LA craigslist is pretty good. also careerbuilder.com, and monster. i don't know if these are all totally obvious, but just thought i'd throw it out there.

also, if you come visit in winter let me know. i'd love to show you around & i live in santa monica so i can give you a good sense of what it is like. i must warn you though that santa monica is one of the most expensive places to live in LA. i lucked out by getting a rent controlled apartment, but they are very rare. i would keep my eye on craigslist for apartments too (and even check the rooms/shared section) because they seem pretty good.

good luck & don't forget to let me know what i can do to help!

p.s. what exactly would you like to do jobwise? i am not creative in the slightest so i have no clue what a creative person is best suited for, but if you give me an idea i might be able to do some networking for you.

kenzie · Chanel

crystal wrote:

i've never moved across country, so i can't contribute there, but as far as finding a job, i think LA craigslist is pretty good. also careerbuilder.com, and monster. i don't know if these are all totally obvious, but just thought i'd throw it out there. also, if you come visit in winter let me know. i'd love to show you around & i live in santa monica so i can give you a good sense of what it is like. i must warn you though that santa monica is one of the most expensive places to live in LA. i lucked out by getting a rent controlled apartment, but they are very rare. i would keep my eye on craigslist for apartments too (and even check the rooms/shared section) because they seem pretty good. good luck & don't forget to let me know what i can do to help! p.s. what exactly would you like to do jobwise? i am not creative in the slightest so i have no clue what a creative person is best suited for, but if you give me an idea i might be able to do some networking for you.

Ugh! I know! Of course, that's the place that I would like the best, right? The most expensive one. It figures. I probably won't be too picky when I first move there b/c I just want to be in LA. I can always sublet or something while I look for a permanent place.

Anyway, I'm going to PM you.

Tara · Dooney & Bourke

NylaBelle wrote:

The most expensive one. It figures. I probably won't be too picky when I first move there b/c I just want to be in LA. I can always sublet or something while I look for a permanent place.

Nyla - I live in Venice Beach, which is the next town south of Santa Monica. The rent in Venice tends to be less than SM (well, at least it was while I was looking). And we are rent controlled as well - this is very important. My b/f and I have been at our apt since 2001 and I know that the apartment next to us (same exact layout) rents for over $400 more than ours a month!!!!!!!

As for employment agencies and what not.....I must warn you that many struggling actors like to temp in between acting jobs. So, it may be a little difficult for you to use these companies. Before I had a job, I used a staffing company that actually pays for ppl to sit in audiences during TV show filmings (I only did this ~3 times). It paid ok....but if you were there over like 4 hours, you automatically got overtime - which was great! And the shows were in the evening, so you had all day free to interview and such.

I had one more thought! When I moved to LA, I contacted my university's alumni relations and asked for alumni that lived in the LA area. I actually got lots of job leads this way. Alumni are very eager to help! My b/f did this as well (he is in a creative field) and he has made many connections through alumni. Plus, they usually offered to take you to lunch....so at least you would get a free meal

-- Edited by Tara at 20:01, 2005-09-13

-- Edited by Tara at 20:08, 2005-09-13