I've always loved Miami, I've traveled through there for years, visited there umpteen times and for me, I always felt comfortable there. I know the cost of living has gone sky high there but I see the real estate market is now downturning to a buyers/renters market. In my company there are always job openings in Miami that pay decent money, so we aren't really worried about that. Not planning to live right on the beaches anyways in the $$$$$$ area.

My husband has had horrible experiences trying to find a job in Texas. When he was ready, back at the beginning of Feb, we hit the ground running, sending 100's of resumes on Monster, Careerbuilder, Dice, Jobing, etc. He got 2 calls. Started thinking about the temping route. His english isn't good for writing reports, composing letters, etc, so he looked for a hands-on tech job, data entry or customer service type thing in Spanish only. He still doesn't do good with English on the phone, unless the person speaks slowly and clearly.

The temp places weren't good either. One sent him to a pretty decent paying data entry job, only to have sent 25 people for 14 positions, and he was not one of the 14 that got to stay. He never was told what determined who stayed and who didn't but he said it seemed all who didn't get to stay appeared to be more professionally dressed, groomed, and more educated than those who stayed (a girl with grillz on her teeth was one!) Went to some more agencies, and he was given typing tests, etc. Since he doesnt type 60 words a minute or equivalent in KPH, he was told he didn't qualify for most of their positions, He was told this at 4 different agencies. Applied with a well-known celular company for bilingual sales and service, he said the woman who called him about that had such a ghetto southern accent that he could not understand her, and she told him to "call back when you learn english". He was shocked that people are put into hiring positions when they themselves do not speak properly. Went last week to another agency, he took a written typing test, spelling test and did very well, but was told by the hiring person "I can't put you into an office setting because your accent is to heavy and people might not understand you" He said "I can offer you a job at Sara Lee boxing breads for 7.00 an hour". My husband was so offended. It seems like here in Texas (Dallas area) that if a person has a heavy latino accent, it is assumed that they are illegal, uneducated and unemployable other than manual labor or restaurant labor.

This whole ordeal has caused a tremendous strain on our marriage, stress, fighting, etc. He has never worked at manual labor and frankly I would not want him to work in a job that was so far beneath his credentials and qualifications. He wanted to do baggage handling for one of the airlines, because it would be a great new industry to learn, but he couldn't even get hired for that because "You wont pass the FAA background check since you haven't lived here for 5 years". So..after much thought we decide that Miami would be an option. We looked online at jobs, especially in tech and at least half said "MUST BE BILINGUAL" So, last week he posted resumes with a concentration in the south florida area, responded to ads on craigslist and the other job boards and got 6 responses in one week. They may or may not lead to anything but at least they were responses, invitations to call and talk, and one interview. All the people that he spoke with on the phone either ended up speaking to him in Spanish, or if they didn't speak Spanish, they werent bothered by his accent. I applied for 2 jobs there last week, and I have an interview for one of them this coming week. My trip happens to coincide with my husbands interview invitation, so we are going to go and hope for the best, and in the meantime peddle his resume to the tech recruitment and temp agencies there.

It will be strange, I have grown up here and I live within 5 miles of where I grew up, but I think it's time for me to make a sacrifice for the love of my husband and the good of our marriage. I fly free, I would be 2 hours from here where my family is, Panama where his family is and I would NEVER HAVE TO BE COLD AGAIN!!

I can only say: I love Miami too.
Good luck.

LaGreenEyes,

Sometimes, it is all in how you prepare. Maybe his first "job" should be to become proficient and comfortable with English. Once that is done, he can compete for the jobs he is seeking now. If you compete for a job where English is an absoulte requirement, you better be able to speak, understand and be understood. I applaud him for trying so hard!

Hey, I understand his frustration. My wife does not speak English, only Portuguese. And yes, she wants to work too. I explained that English is the only thing that will restrict her growth here and that without full command of English, she will not get the job she wants in the future. Sure, we could use more money each month, but it is not a necessity now. She has to start at the beginning and start with English. Well, she understands my answer, but it was not what she wanted to hear!

Anyway, learning English will be her first "full time job". So that is what she'll be doing the first year here. To be proficient and comfortable with English will make her more positive, open the doors to additional education, which will ensure that she can flourish and grow in her life here in HOUSTON, TEXAS. After all, her success is my success.


Joey & Fernanda

I can totally see where you are coming from, but my husband has been here since Jan of 2006, and started taking some classes in Panama in late 2005, so he does speak English, just with a heavy accent and not 100% correctly all the time, but my friends, family, his friends seem to understand him just fine. He can read it and understand 90% of what he reads, and 90% of what is spoken to him. He fixes computers and debugs, etc for the time being. I see that your wife has just recently come here, so it's a little bit different there. I bet in a year, she'll be doing just fine I know people who have been here for 15 years and have a very heavy accent, and for that, it's all in the opinion of the person who is doing the hiring/recruiting. He wasn't asking for a top job like what he had in Panama, but something that was dignified and appropriate for him.

In Miami, there isn't the stigma of "oh you have an accent so you must be incompetent" attitude. Here in DFW, it seems to be OK to have an Indian or an Asian accent and not be understood, but not a hispanic accent. I only understand 50% of what our programming tech tells me at work when I need his help and he is Asian. It doesn't bother me, either. I listen carefully and ask him to repeat what I didn't get. He doesn't get offended either. It's also much different because he is a man, and even though we are in 2007, he feels that it's his time to contribute, because without additional income, our lives are kind of stagnated at this point. We want kids, but can't do that until he is working, because we need a bigger house, and I can't do that on my income alone. It has been frustrating, but I think we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with this decision we have made.

To be honest, LaGreenEyes, the things that are holding your husband back in Texas will most likely hold him back in Miami too. It sounds as if you are expecting way too much way too soon. I know it's frustrating, but with limited English skills and no clerical skills it sounds as if he would have trouble anywhere.

I would also love to live in Miami but quite frankly the jobs there don't pay as much as here in Denver and the cost of living is outrageous. It is up to par with Dallas though, so you'll be ok.

My husband has no choice, or better yet, I'm not giving him any other choice than to learn English forwards and backwards until he nails it. If it's not like that, he will never move ahead like so many other latinos.

The part I don't understand is where you say or "think" that manual labor is beneath him. That's not right. Any job is better than none and besides, a lot of those jobs pay very well. My brother in-law has been in construction for almost 10 years and he makes between $70k-$75k a year, so it pays well and it's definitely not beneath him. My husband is a Systems engineer in Colombia but here he will end up doing manual labor with my brother in-law until he learns English. Once he does it's up to him to either get an office job or keep on doing construction. As long as we have food on the table, everything's alright with us.

He's not an idiot with no skills. If you would have been a fly on the wall you may feel differently. I dont even type 60 words a minute and I'm on the computer all day. He has clerical skills, he types 40 WPM in English with 100% accuracy, he passed a spelling test, an alphabetical filing test, a math test. His English really isn't THAT limited. He just doesn't understand the "ghetto" accent that many of these "staffing managers" speak with, and he has to ask them to repeat themselves. People who speak correctly, he can understand. He can understand Indian accents, Asian accents, Southern accents. He can run and replace a computer network, install hardware and software, follow instructions written in English, and also spoken instructions he understands. The one good job offer he got was one where they sent too many people for a project and 11 of them got sent home. He was hired by a guy who spoke proper english and understood my husband just fine. The job he was offered the other day because his "accent was too heavy" was a 6.50 an hour job packaging bread. That wouldn't even pay for a car and gas to transport him to and from, not to mention the number one requirement was "NO FELONIES". Since he has put his resume out in Miami, he's had 2 phone interviews for things he's interested in, and has been invited for 2 face to face interviews that he's going on next week. The people he spoke with on the phone spoke to him in Spanish and English, also, to make sure he could do both.

He's learned English pretty well, I think it's the quality of the people that he's been dealing with that's the problem. I have heard people say they are amazed by how well he's done given his short time here. By manual labor I'm meaning the 6.50-7.00 an hour jobs(Number one requirement-NO FELONS) boxing bread, stacking boxes ..that kind of thing. He wanted to work at FEDEX or UPS but couldn't because of the FAA clearance thing. Construction is great, he said if he had the skills or at least the contacts, he definitely would have tried that route also. He looked in to even cook jobs because he loves to cook but anywhere that paid enough for it to be worth it wanted people with experience. So, we made the Miami decision, and so far it looks to be a good one. He's got 2 interviews next week and has had 6 phone calls..and that's just with one week of looking there. I'm looking forward to it, especially the food! My husband LOVES Colombian food, it's very similar to Panamanian, and there are tons of Colombians in Panama, actually my husband's grandfather is Colombian too.

There's a big difference between being realistic about someone's marketable skills and calling them an idiot. Maybe you'll have more luck in Miami, but Texans aren't exactly ignorant when it comes to dealing with people whose first language isn't English. Then again Miami is practically a suburb of Cuba these days. You know what they say about the DFW metro...if you don't have a job, it's because you don't want to work.

40WPM isn't that much BTW...not enough to get a good-paying data entry job. I did data entry one summer at the Comptroller's Office when I was a college student at UT. I clocked over 100WPM at 100%, and that was slow compared to the permanent employees.

I'm not trying to be a ###### or anything, but America isn't Panama. It may take him a while to find something you feel is worthy of him.

The thing is he DOES have plenty of marketable skills, but in your post you said he had no clerical skills, and that's not entirely true. It turns out the typing wasn't one of them, according to "whoever" I guess. DFW has changed a lot in the past few years, believe me. The Texans aren't ignorant, he did get a decent opportunity at a job but had bad luck in that, but many of the particular people he had dealt with were kind of ignorant, like the "what part of Mexico is Panama in?" kind of ignorant. I'm not joking.. It's been such a revolving door of phone calls and follow ups. He was told by one agency they didn't want to put him in a warehouse job if he was just going to quit in 6 months when "something better came along", because by his degree he is in a totally different field of work. Well heck yeah he would DUH!! Who wouldn't, right? Something that is worthy of him is just something that pays a fair (not high) wage, treats you like a human being, and appreciates that you want to work. I don't think that's too much to ask, really. Not many people here are willing to give people a chance based on what they may be capable of instead of assumptions based on one's experience, or lack thereof. I've noticed that the glut of "jobs" here in the DFW area are the revolving door type, you see the same ads for the same jobs week in and week out, makes you wonder is it so horrible that people don't stay? Or is it that there are 100 jobs, 110 applicants but the 100 jobs want the same 25 people? I'm not the first one to notice that, either, or make that analogy. My husband has applied for many of those "jobs" but has never gotten called. Yes, I'm sure everyone in the DFW area would have a job if they all wanted to work in fast food or something. He's not the only one I know that has had trouble getting a decent job around here in the past year or two. But anyways..I don't want to make this on and on about the job horror stories, I think our decision to look elsewhere for now is a good one. I want him to feel good about himself and what he is doing in life. His happiness is my happiness too.

In that case, good luck in Miami.

But you don't need English in Miami - you need to speak Spanish.

You're one of the few looking to move here, most people I know in South Florida are looking to leave.

But, I live here in South Florida and yes the cost of living is border line rediculous. Especially that salaries and wages have not moved inline with the cost of living.

Alot of places here are always looking for bilingual (english/spanish) employees. And in Miami / Hialeah it's the norm to hear mostly spanish spoken.

So if you can put up the the 5-6 months of heat, humidity, hurricanes, crazy drivers (miami just rated #1), high insurance and real estate taxes you are bound to find jobs here and one that you husband can work at.

Because after all that you have the beaches, the night life, and 70 degree days in the middle of January.

That's the one thing that keeps me from moving to Miami, the cost of living vs. salary range. I can get a job here in Denver that pays between $40-$50/hr while in Miami it will only pay about $20. But a nice house here in a nice neighborhood will cost between $200k-$250k whilie in S. Florida it would cost between $400k-$500k. It just doesn't add up, I don't know how those people do it.

Too bad it's so close to my family in Colombia but right now it ain't cuttin' it.

The OP will especially notice the cost of living difference; the DFW metro area is one of the cheapest large metros to live in. Even going from Dallas to Austin you notice a big difference in the cost of living, and Austin's way cheaper than Miami.

I live in the Tampa Bay area (St Pete right now but I REALLY HOPE that we can move to Clearwater in less than a year) and the cost of houses here are ridiculous. I make 27,000 a year which isn't a lot, but decent for where I'm coming from (college dropout at the moment, 20 years old) - and he doesn't make much either, we'd never be able to afford a house here. And if we could, we'd have to compromise in the neighborhood, etc. which I don't think is right. My parents (granted this was about 16 years ago) paid 150,000 for a decent house in a NICE neighborhood - wouldn't be over 250,000 now - right outside of Albany, NY. My husband wants to move to CT - I hate downstate NY, but CT is close enough to NYC to make him not have to feel like he's living in total isolation (grew up in Lima, Peru) and while the cost of living is what some people want to call "high" - I'd move there before I'd move to Miami, any day. (Even after all that, I wouldn't be able to convince my husband to move to Miami, he hates everyone assuming he's Cuban.)

As bad as traffic is in the Tampa Bay area, I can handle it - while I REFUSE to drive in Miami. It took me almost an hour to get in and out of the gas station.

I know..a lot of people thought we were crazy!! We spent 3 days down there last week, I had an interview for a promotion with my company, and my husband had one in person interview and one phone interview. We go back down this week, I have an interview for a different position, and my husband has 2 more interviews with different companies. It's a whirlwind!!! He feels so good about himself and our situation, I haven't seen him like this in a long time, and it feels good I don't care if we have to live in a shoe box at this point there, just seeing his pride and self esteem go through the roof makes it all worthwhile. Actually we will probably rent if we live in Miami. We can afford a rent, and won't have to worry about taxes, only renter's insurance. The rent market is competing for renters there. .We will probably hold on to our house in Texas for a year or two and rent it out, because it's in a high demand up and coming area. Our property values have gone up twice as fast as much of Texas. We could buy our investment/retirement property in Panama earlier than we thought if we follow this plan.

Good luck with the interviews.

Let me know what areas you guys are looking to rent and I can let you know if good, bad, etc.

Many people work in the Miami area and live in Hollywood, Miramar, Pembroke Pines just north of Miami (Miami-Dade County) so give those a look at as well compared to where your jobs maybe

I'm leaving here in Florida for about one year..my husband leaves here since 1975...from my experience I can tell you...THINK IT TWICE...Florida have the worst market place in all the USA...things are so expensive and if you're planning to live next to the beaches and all the staff..you should be saving a lotttt of money for paying US$270 and up for a condo of one tiny bedroom and a 10sq living room..and installing hurracaine shutter (probably us$1200) for hurraicaines....
Whatever is your decision, I can tell you taht maybe it would be better to find a nicest and cheaper place in another cities in Florida .... don't move just because of the nice environment here..or the nice night live and the blue sky beaches....better think about how much money you should be saving since now..as the salaries down here are NOT THE BEST..
Good lucks guys...