Considering relocating to Austin/San Antonio, TX - looking for info
Dave
I am a senior systems analyst (8 years of experience on zSeries (mainframe)
and iSeries (as/400)) in Iowa. Although I like my job, I am beginning to
tire of the winters, etc. I have been impressed with the Austin/San
Marcos/San Antonio area and would like to hear some opinions on the area and
the companies located there, as well as general relocation/job hunting
advice (I started as an intern with this company and am still here).
What shops in the area are using a mainframe (prefer MVS/zOS) or iSeries?
Which have a good reputation? Which don't? Searching on the internet will
tell me what companies are currently posting openings, but not all of the
possibilities.
Where are the better schools/areas to live? Again, internet searches really
aren't providing me with much information.
What experiences have people had with technical recruiters (head hunters)?
Which firms in the area have good reputations?
What style/format of resume seems to be most effective (I am looking for a
permanent position, not contract)? Does posting your resume to sites like
monster or justcoboljobs really do any good? Any tips?
Where can I find the equivalent(s) for my job title? It seems like every
company seems to have their own set of titles and I am having some
difficulty translating them.
Well, I think that I have taken enough of everyone's time :-)
I appreciate your time and any feedback/ideas/thoughts/opinions/etc. that
you may wish to share with me.
You may contact me by email at (remove the hyphens and the words between):
Jonathan Ball
I'd suggest contacting a reputable recruiting firm for
the first part of your inquiry, and if you get as far
as entertaining a job offer, then contact an Austin or
San Antonio area real estate agent to answer the second
part.
HeyBub
> Hi all,
>
> I am a senior systems analyst (8 years of experience on zSeries
> (mainframe) and iSeries (as/400)) in Iowa. Although I like my job, I
> am beginning to tire of the winters, etc. I have been impressed with
> the Austin/San Marcos/San Antonio area and would like to hear some
> opinions on the area and the companies located there, as well as
> general relocation/job hunting advice (I started as an intern with
> this company and am still here).
Austin is the armpit of Texas (think Ronnie Earle). The San Antonio/San
Marcos area is not a bad place to live.
There are far more computers in either Dallas (insurance, banking) or
Houston (oil, space, medicine) than Austin or San Antonio.
Chuck Stevens
"HeyBub" <heybub...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:11lshc6...@news.supernews.com...
> Austin is the armpit of Texas (think Ronnie Earle).
Austin's infrastructure hasn't kept up with the population (it has about
quadrupled in size over the same period that San Antonio has about doubled).
Austin is the home of the University of Texas at Austin, with near 40,000
students, and at least in part because of that influence it has a thriving
artistic and academic community.
Downtown has a very trendy focus, and a recurring T-shirt-and-bumper-sticker
theme over the past few years is "Keep Austin Weird".
Yeah, Austin has a lot of politicians who do a whole lot of political
posturing, but that shouldn't be a huge surprise given that Austin is the
capital of one of the more populous states in the country.
Kinda depends on what you're into, and what you're willing to laugh at.
>The San Antonio/San Marcos area is not a bad place to live.
I can't at all disagree, but the problem is, I wouldn't characterize this as
one area. While San Marcos is arguably within commuting distance of (at
least South) Austin, it's a medium-sized Texas *town*. My sister retired
to Wimberley, and San Marcos is big enough to fulfill *most* of her shopping
needs, but she and her husband still need to make the occasional trip to
Austin or even San Antonio for special purchases. I wouldn't want to
commute up and down I-35 from San Antonio to San Marcos every day.
I spent eight years ('46 - '54) in Boerne, 30 miles or so northwest of San
Antonio, moved a bit closer to San Antonio to a settlement some four miles
from Helotes, lived in Austin for four years, and then moved back to San
Antonio where I remained for the next fifteen. Boerne is I think *now* at
the outer fringes of what's considered a workable commute from San Antonio.
Unfortunately, my information isn't all that current on neighborhoods and
school districts because I moved away in '84, but when I was there, among
the public school districts, Alamo Heights ISD and Northeast ISD had the
best reputations. There are lots of good private schools in San Antonio,
too (many parochial, not that many secular). Can't speak to Austin, or for
that matter San Marcos, and as most of my sister's circle of friends is also
retired, I don't think she has much current information on the school
systems of either city (or their environs, for that matter).
> There are far more computers in either Dallas (insurance, banking) or
> Houston (oil, space, medicine) than Austin or San Antonio.
True, largely because the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas are triple
or more the population of that of either Austin or San Antonio. And the
climate in both cities is quite a bit worse than that of either Austin or
San Antonio. Dallas is more extreme -- hotter in summer, colder in winter.
I've been told that diplomatic corps personnel receive the same "hazardous
duty" pay for living in Houston because of the climate that they do for
living in Calcutta because the climate's the same; having spent two
Septembers there without air conditioning I do not doubt that for a minute.
Houston's also peculiar in that its city charter seems to eschew the concept
of zoning.
San Antonio's economy also suffered from the closure of Kelly Air Force Base
in '93; the construction of a new Toyota truck plant on the south side may
boost the economy some.
Austin's gone after a lot of high-tech industry over the last few decades
that might increase the percentage of computer-related jobs in the overall
employment market.
-Chuck Stevens
Madcap
I'm in pretty much the same boat. I live in Illinois right now and am
trying to make my way down to Houston. Job postings for iSeries Admins
are scarce. I've applied for the few that look promising but never get
a response. In my case I think I may be falling for bogus ads by
recruiters looking to build up their resume databases.
You didn't mention what industry experience you have. Travel/tourism
experience may help in San Antonio. With all the air force bases I
would have to guess that security clearance would help too. Kelly AFB
may have closed but there's still Lackland, Randolph, and Fort Sam
Houston (Army base). Do you speak any Spanish?
I spent my teenage years in Schertz, on the north side of SA. It has
grown a lot in the past decade and has more or less swallowed up the
small towns all the way to New Braunfels. The high school for this
area was Samuel Clemens (go Buffs!). I agree with Chuck's advice on
Alamo Heights. Judson and Churchill were also popular districts at the
time (mid to late 80's).
In San Marcos you'll find Southwest Texas State University, or
Southwaste as we used to call it due to their reputation for throwing
parties. A few years ago, maybe 5, San Marcos was considered a high
growth area for residential real estate. Just south of there and north
of New Braunfels is Canyon Lake. This is the heart of the Texas "hill
country". It might be called "mountainous" compared to the rest of the
state. I lived there before moving to Schertz and would love to move
back but I doubt you'll find a single mainframe or iSeries within 60
miles.
Personally I'm giving up on the job sites with the exception of those
tied to the newspaper. Somebody else suggested I visit the Texas
Workforce Commission (www.twc.state.tx.us) but I haven't as of yet.
Just email me if I can offer an opinion on anything specific in the
area. I visit this newsgroup regularly but if anyone has any advice
for Dave that would pertain to my situation, such as a reputable
recruiter or consulting firm, please include me on the email.
I also lived in Dallas for a few years. No complaints but the city
didn't excite me either. I will email you with the names of a few
iSeries shops in a little while.
Good luck, Dave.
-Kerry
keryATkeryslaughterDOTcom (add another 'r' to both kery's)
P.S. I can relate to your question about job titles. I find it
interesting that so many career advice articles suggest giving yourself
a more appropriate job title than the one chosen by your company. I've
never done this but it sure would make sense. How many iSeries admins
actually spend 8 hours a day "administering" their systems? Afterall,
it's not Windows!
Chuck Stevens
"Madcap" <mad...@jerryslab.com> wrote in message
news:1130274426.8...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Judson and Churchill were also popular districts at the
> time (mid to late 80's).
Judson was still definitely rural when I lived there. Churchill is part of
the North East Independent School District, as were MacArthur and Lee, all
highly regarded at the time; they've since been joined by Roosevelt, Reagan
and Madison campuses.
> In San Marcos you'll find Southwest Texas State University, or
> Southwaste as we used to call it due to their reputation for throwing
> parties. A few years ago, maybe 5, San Marcos was considered a high
> growth area for residential real estate. Just south of there and north
> of New Braunfels is Canyon Lake. This is the heart of the Texas "hill
> country".
Well, I'd argue for places like Wimberley, the Devil's Backbone, Boerne,
Kerrville, Comfort and Leakey as more representative of the Hill Country.
The Highland Lakes were a relatively recent addition, and the filling of
Canyon Lake took out one of the prettier caverns near Boerne!
> It might be called "mountainous" compared to the rest of the
> state.
If you've ever been to the Catskills, the Hill Country looks a bit like
that, though the hills aren't quite so high.
> I lived there before moving to Schertz and would love to move
> back ...
Well, hey, I'm just a few years from retirement. My roots run deep in the
Hill Country limestone. Were it not for my wife's dislike of the summers
there I'd seriously consider someplace along the Toutant-Beauregard Road
that runs from Leon Springs to Boerne as a retirement home!
> I also lived in Dallas for a few years. No complaints but the city
> didn't excite me either.
I didn't care much for Dallas-ites' attitude toward San Antonio. Fort Worth
is rather more civilized, I think, despite its kicker image. It's my
understanding that the best art museums in Dallas are actually in Fort
Worth, as are the most energetic historic-preservation organizations.
-Chuck Stevens
Colin Campbell
>"HeyBub" <heybub...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:11lshc6...@news.supernews.com...
>
>
>
>>Austin is the armpit of Texas (think Ronnie Earle).
>>
>>
>
>Austin's infrastructure hasn't kept up with the population (it has about
>quadrupled in size over the same period that San Antonio has about doubled).
>
>Austin is the home of the University of Texas at Austin, with near 40,000
>students, and at least in part because of that influence it has a thriving
>artistic and academic community.
>
>
>
The enrollment statistics for 2005 say that the student population is
50,000. When I was a student there, in 1963 - 1966, enrollment was
nearly 40,000. It tended to grow about 1,000 per year. I'm not sure
how large it got, but there has been some retrenchment.
Austin then had about 200,000 population, and UT (it wasn't necessary to
qualify with "at Austin"; in fact, we just called it modestly, "The
University") was just the largest of multiple college and university
campuses in town, such as Concordia, Southwestern, St. Edwards, and
more. I believe the total student population was probably about 50,000,
so students swelled the population by about 25%. I'm sure that student
/ college influence was greater then than it is today.
docd...@panix.com
Madcap <mad...@jerryslab.com> wrote:
[snip]
>I've applied for the few that look promising but never get
>a response. In my case I think I may be falling for bogus ads by
>recruiters looking to build up their resume databases.
Hmmmmmm... I'm shocked, shocked to find out that some people may be
trolling for resumes or running blind ads to determine rates. Do you
think it could be useful or helpful to advise folks that such recruiting
tactics might be... naaahhhhhhh, who would imagine that?
DD
Michael Mattias
>>In my case I think I may be falling for bogus ads by
>> recruiters looking to build up their resume databases
> trolling for resumes or running blind ads to determine rates. Do you
> think it could be useful or helpful to advise folks that such recruiting
> tactics might be... naaahhhhhhh,
Naahhh, WHAT?
Public Newsgroup. Free Country. You Pays Your Money, You Takes Your Chances.
All That Jazz.
MCM
docd...@panix.com
Michael Mattias <michael...@gte.net> wrote:
><docd...@panix.com> wrote in message news:djnhkd$cqd$1...@reader2.panix.com...
> >>In my case I think I may be falling for bogus ads by
> >> recruiters looking to build up their resume databases
>> Hmmmmmm... I'm shocked, shocked to find out that some people may be
>> trolling for resumes or running blind ads to determine rates. Do you
>> think it could be useful or helpful to advise folks that such recruiting
>> tactics might be... naaahhhhhhh,
>
>Naahhh, WHAT?
From the original posting:
--begin quoted text:
naaahhhhhhh, who would imagine that?
--end quoted text
There are answers that might be gained, Mr Mattias, by the avoiding of
midsentence interruptions.
>
>Public Newsgroup. Free Country. You Pays Your Money, You Takes Your Chances.
>All That Jazz.
Leaving aside the 'free country' part as it might or might not refer to an
internationally-accessible forum... you're welcome to post that when
someone questions my response to headhunters, as well.
DD
HeyBub
> "HeyBub" <heybub...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:11lshc6...@news.supernews.com...
>
>> Austin is the armpit of Texas (think Ronnie Earle).
>
> Austin's infrastructure hasn't kept up with the population (it has
> about quadrupled in size over the same period that San Antonio has
> about doubled).
>
> Austin is the home of the University of Texas at Austin, with near
> 40,000 students, and at least in part because of that influence it
> has a thriving artistic and academic community.
Agreed. Of course I view "triving artistic and academic community" in the
same vein as I view "thriving rat population" or "thriving termite colony."
>
> Downtown has a very trendy focus, and a recurring
> T-shirt-and-bumper-sticker theme over the past few years is "Keep
> Austin Weird".
"South Austin: We're All Here Because We're Not All There!"
>> There are far more computers in either Dallas (insurance, banking) or
>> Houston (oil, space, medicine) than Austin or San Antonio.
>
> True, largely because the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas are
> triple or more the population of that of either Austin or San
> Antonio. And the climate in both cities is quite a bit worse than
> that of either Austin or San Antonio. Dallas is more extreme --
> hotter in summer, colder in winter. I've been told that diplomatic
> corps personnel receive the same "hazardous duty" pay for living in
> Houston because of the climate that they do for living in Calcutta
> because the climate's the same; having spent two Septembers there
> without air conditioning I do not doubt that for a minute.
We, in Houston, did not build the first air-conditioned, domed stadium for
drill or to be ostentatious !
>
> Houston's also peculiar in that its city charter seems to eschew the
> concept of zoning.
Right. There is no zoning in Houston. Studies show the exact same land-use
patterns as zoned cities (except for the odd bodega - "Stop-And-Rob"
convenience store - in the middle of a residential neighborhood) but
without the attendant corruption.
> Austin's gone after a lot of high-tech industry over the last few
> decades that might increase the percentage of computer-related jobs
> in the overall employment market.
Yes. For example, Austin is Dell's headquarters. Still, there's something
seriously wrong with sharing the city streets with roller-bladers (we jail
them in Houston), designated "chill-out" paths in the city parks, and
pedestrian traffic signals that read "Mosey / Nod."
Steve Landess
I'm an iSeries consultant working in Austin right now. My company moved me
from the Dallas area to Austin in 1993. However, this is possibly the last
iSeries consulting gig I'll ever have in Austin...if I want to stay with
this platform, most likely I would up back in Dallas within the next couple
of years, since most of the AS/400 shops here have converted to another
platform now.
My client just finished converting the iSeries JDE system that I'm working
on to Oracle 11i, and they're keeping me around for the time being to help
support another iSeries system that is located in the UK until it is
converted to Oracle (and I'm now learning Oracle, so maybe I can make the
transition, unlike many of my out-of-work friends that used to work on the
AS/400 - iSeries!).
There are still a few AS/400 & iSeries systems and IBM mainframes around
Austin...
The city of Austin has mainframes, but is currently implementing most new
apps on P5's running Unix or Linux.
The State of Texas still has lots of mainframes - you could possibly find
work there.
IBM has a large facility in Austin, but it's mostly for P5/AIX - Linux
systems development.
Texas Mutual Insurance Company is a large iSeries shop in downtown Austin.
However, if you're looking specifically for an iSeries job, I'd suggest the
Dallas or San Antonio areas. There are probably more AS/400 - iSeries
systems in the Dallas "Metroplex" than any other metropolitan area in the
country, and San Antonio will definitely have more iSeries opportunities
more than Austin.
I'd aim more generically for a job as a business analyst or project leader
if you're contemplating searching for work in Austin, but DON'T call
yourself a "Systems Analyst" on your resume - it sounds too old-fashioned.
As for HeyBub's comments about Austin:
Sure, Austin is weird, but I like it that way.
Driving in traffic here sucks, but traffic sucks everywhere.
BUT:
Dallas is full of uptight corporate a$$holes (I know first-hand, since I
worked there for 20 years), and Houston has 90% humidity, is full of crazy
drivers, and has the "Beer Can House" (See
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/TXHOUbeer.html - Chuck was right
about the zoning).
And HeyBub:
We know how to enjoy life down here in "Weird" Austin.
You obviously don't appreciate GREAT music (and lots of it, including South
by Southwest in March, Austin City Limits during the year, and the Austin
City Limits music festival each fall), GREAT barbecue, GREAT Mexican food,
and great opportunities for recreation of all types - golf, bicycling,
hiking, camping, fishing, water skiing, wind surfing, and scuba diving to
name a few.
I live 5 minutes from Lake Austin, and from April to December I usually go
to the lake at least once or more a week after work to ride my Sky Ski
(www.skyski.com) and Rush hydrofoil ski (
http://www.neilprydemaui.com/itemDetails.php?id=51 ).
In Dallas, San Antonio, or Houston, you probably couldn't even make it to
the lake before dark unless you take off at noon...
Best Regards and good luck,
Steve Landess
Austin, Texas
(512) 423-0935
"Dave" <dbuck...@hickorytechnospam.net> wrote in message
news:Ef2dnbLjqNG...@bright.net...
Steve Landess
And HeyBub:
kbark...@yahoo.com
work, not a lot of iSeries in Iowa. Love living in Iowa but if the
place I work at now closes there are not many options.
Dave
<kbark...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1130419368.2...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>I work on the iSeries and am just curious where in Iowa you currently
> work, not a lot of iSeries in Iowa. Love living in Iowa but if the
> place I work at now closes there are not many options.
>
I'm in Des Moines. The place I work has both mainframe and iseries, and is
moving more toward the iseries (primarily due to cost).