zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on May 29, 2017 10:30:35 GMT -5
Is there a reason you don't want to return to your own country after you've passed your exam? You have family you could live with while you interview.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on May 29, 2017 10:33:13 GMT -5
Ava, I also think you should do it. Iff you think the plan is exciting as well as scary. If only scary - then maybe rethink!
Spend a few month planning it all out while continuing to look or work. You said you were ok with taking any kind of job in the meanwhile, so there is that.
But - you do need to have a contingency plan on what you will do if the search takes longer than you'd like.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 29, 2017 11:18:23 GMT -5
Oh, I thought you were done with the exam. No, I have two more to go. One I'll take in July and another one after that.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 29, 2017 11:20:49 GMT -5
Since Florida is a much larger state, I'd expect a significant difference. Looking at Population numbers, the Florida number should be higher actually, around 400 if it was proportional to population. (I found 2010 figures, so things may have changed.) I'm not sure if that 300 helps you given you are worried about commutes and cost of living.
Since you are so unhappy where you are you should continue with your plans but be realistic and decide your fallback plans. Employers usually are looking to hire for positions they have now, not several months in the future. Also, in general July and August are horrible months for interviews as its the biggest time for people to take vacations. I know $1K would be a huge chunk of your money to check things out, but $1K is a smaller loss than $10K. A well-timed vacation in the right spot might give you a real look at the job front in FL which might make you adjust your plans. A vacation in September after kids are back in school would be good timing. Employers might be reluctant to bite until you pass the exam.
I hope it works out for you in the end.
Thank you for your good wishes.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 29, 2017 11:23:27 GMT -5
That's what I am planning to do in three months. But now I am starting to seriously question that decision. For background, I live in CT and I am sitting for the CPA exam in Florida. Since I work full-time and the exam is sucking the life out of me, I haven't been looking at jobs in Florida too much. I've sent my resume here and there to a job opening, but all I get is radio silence. I think it's because of being in CT and applying for entry-level jobs. The companies probably don't want the hassle of dealing with a long-distance candidate looking for a job as a staff accountant. I don't blame them. But what if I pack everything, spend all my money, show up in Florida and I can't find a job? The idea of being unemployed and penniless scares me a lot. What would I do? I would get a retail job but that won't support me. I won't have medical insurance. I keep telling myself it shouldn't be too difficult to find a job with the CPA exam parts passed, but who knows. I've looked at CPA jobs here in CT and everything is located either in Hartford or Stamford. Mostly Hartford. I don't like Hartford at all. The commute from my home would be hell, and I don't want to move to that city. Stamford is a solid 90 minute commute and the cost of living in that area is not something I can afford, even with a raise. Indeed shows 300 jobs for entry-level CPA for Florida and only 74 for CT. When I passed my first CPA part my manager mentioned he could talk to HR about me and see if they could place me in a position to get the necessary experience within the company. He said he couldn't guarantee anything but he could ask. He never mentioned it again and I didn't follow up on that. Now they have an internal auditor position open on the jobs website. It's one pay grade above my position and would mean approximately 12k more a year. Unless one of the managers has a CPA license, that job would not count as experience I need. So I don't know if it's an opportunity or not. My current employer is located in a city near the water with some -not many-affordable little cities within a 30 minute ride which are located near the beach. New Haven has good public transportation, the beach, parks, good restaurants and a reasonably good cultural life due to Yale University being there. I would love to live near the beach. The other good thing about my employer is that they really promote and help you build your 401k. They use Fidelity and it's really easy to find out information and talk to them about retirement and investing. They put 7 percent of my salary in my 401k, and they give me 3 percent of my salary as a bonus every March. Since I've been with them, I started saving and investing and it's going great. I never thought I could have as much as I have now. Moving without a job would mean temporarily setting aside all that. The two things I dislike most about CT is the awful winter weather and the perception I have of a small state with not too many good job opportunities. Taxes are high, there's talk of bringing back tolls, and the state seems to be going under. Hartford is facing possible bankruptcy right now. There's not much to do here, it's mostly small towns and I find it very boring. I am so confused that I talked to my doctor about feeling this way. He suggested going to a psychiatric nurse practitioner so I can have someone to talk to about all this. But the two he recommended only have hours M F 9 to 4, when I'm at work. I'm going to keep looking if there is one with a better schedule. Totally unrelated to your question but your comment about taxes made me laugh. Aren't you the one that continually posts how other countries that offer things like free healthcare, free college, etc are much better than the us? How do you think those things are funded??
But no I would not move without a job lined up.
Ok, I'll bite Those things are funded through higher taxes. But CT is not raising its taxes to provide those things.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on May 29, 2017 11:41:25 GMT -5
Totally unrelated to your question but your comment about taxes made me laugh. Aren't you the one that continually posts how other countries that offer things like free healthcare, free college, etc are much better than the us? How do you think those things are funded??
But no I would not move without a job lined up.
Heh, I caught that too. How do you think that someone who is in favor of government funding for x, y, and z should be completely ok with high taxes when x, y, and z are not funded?
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on May 29, 2017 11:42:09 GMT -5
oo - Ava got there first
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 29, 2017 11:48:50 GMT -5
Is there a reason you don't want to return to your own country after you've passed your exam? You have family you could live with while you interview. I would love to live with them while I interview, but they live in South America. Way way down south. It would be even worse than being in CT for interviewing purposes.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on May 29, 2017 11:50:32 GMT -5
Is there a reason you don't want to return to your own country after you've passed your exam? You have family you could live with while you interview. I would love to live with them while I interview, but they live in South America. Way way down south. It would be even worse than being in CT for interviewing purposes. Why? I'm sure there's companies as well as accounting firms.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 29, 2017 11:52:16 GMT -5
Ava, I also think you should do it. Iff you think the plan is exciting as well as scary. If only scary - then maybe rethink! Spend a few month planning it all out while continuing to look or work. You said you were ok with taking any kind of job in the meanwhile, so there is that. But - you do need to have a contingency plan on what you will do if the search takes longer than you'd like. It's both exciting and scary. And I'm ok with taking any job temporarily. Say, 6 months or something like that. What is plain scary is the health coverage aspect of it. If the ACA is still in place, I could buy a catastrophic plan, but who knows what will happen with healthcare. As for contingency plan, I guess my employer will hire me back if I can't make in Florida. They are a large employer with around 6K employees and they have openings in their website. I could get something to tide me over.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 29, 2017 11:53:21 GMT -5
How do you think that someone who is in favor of government funding for x, y, and z should be completely ok with high taxes when x, y, and z are not funded? I guess we were typing at the same time.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 29, 2017 11:55:32 GMT -5
I would love to live with them while I interview, but they live in South America. Way way down south. It would be even worse than being in CT for interviewing purposes. Why? I'm sure there's companies as well as accounting firms. My U.S. degree is not valid there. A CPA designation means squat to them. They use International Accounting
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on May 29, 2017 11:57:32 GMT -5
You can't learn international accounting? You're smart enough to be a CPA. That's not a simple thing
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Jaguar
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Post by Jaguar on May 29, 2017 12:02:06 GMT -5
Your to do list :
1 - Study
2 - Take Care of Your Health
3 - Save Money
4 - Work
Worry about your move to Florida & getting a new job down there after you completed these 4 things. Good Luck & << BIG HUGS >>
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on May 29, 2017 12:10:16 GMT -5
good point jaguar,
Ava - are you talking after you finish all the testing? That gives plenty of time to save and job search.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2017 12:14:24 GMT -5
Ava, is it possible you're selling yourself short in thinking only of entry-level jobs? I know you didn't just get out of college last week- you've got years of solid work experience behind you even if you do need the 2 years of work supervised by a CPA after you finish the exams. Maybe you should be looking for jobs which could use your experience- more money, and more likelihood of them being willing to pay you to come in for the interview.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on May 29, 2017 12:20:34 GMT -5
You can't learn international accounting? You're smart enough to be a CPA. That's not a simple thing Last I heard, the CPA exam covers both GAAP and IFRS, which is the international accounting standards.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 29, 2017 12:21:38 GMT -5
Ava, I also think you should do it. Iff you think the plan is exciting as well as scary. If only scary - then maybe rethink! Spend a few month planning it all out while continuing to look or work. You said you were ok with taking any kind of job in the meanwhile, so there is that. But - you do need to have a contingency plan on what you will do if the search takes longer than you'd like. It's both exciting and scary. And I'm ok with taking any job temporarily. Say, 6 months or something like that. What is plain scary is the health coverage aspect of it. If the ACA is still in place, I could buy a catastrophic plan, but who knows what will happen with healthcare. As for contingency plan, I guess my employer will hire me back if I can't make in Florida. They are a large employer with around 6K employees and they have openings in their website. I could get something to tide me over. If you have an option for healthcare, take the one with the most flexibility. For instance, at my last job I had options of an HMO with minimal copays. It was cheaper than the PPO option I had where I had a deductible, coinsurance and a lot more OOP. I chose the PPO option, because it was with a national company. Because I did this, it allowed me to have surgery in WA when my policy was in KY. It did not cover my doctors (I had to pay more expensive OON charges), but my hospitalization was covered, and those were the biggest bills. IME, most hospitals are in network of larger insurance companies. Then you can pick up your COBRA through your current company, where you pay the entire premium.
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justme
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Post by justme on May 29, 2017 12:30:31 GMT -5
Based on your replies, it doesn't sound like you're going to be able to get a job lined up before you move because the in person interviews would be key. (Does your university help at all with job hunting?) Unless you know the jobs you're looking for are plentiful where you're moving - I'd save up a lot more money personally but I'm a bit risk adverse and pessimistic.
As someone said, 300 in Florida is nothing when key West to Jacksonville is like a 10 hour drive. Hell, South Miami to north Miami is often more than an hour drive. I'm in another Florida city and it can be an hour to get from one said to another in rush hour. I really hope your complaint about a commute has more to do with the snow, because unless you don't plan to rent a place until you find your job a 30 minute commute seems to be about average or even on the low side in Florida's big cities.
Also, I'd make sure I have my drop dead plan b in place. It sounds like you don't have the work experience part for the cpa. So if you haven't found one by time enough to get the required experience before you lose the exams you've passed you need to know when you need to move back or whatever for that.
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justme
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Post by justme on May 29, 2017 12:36:59 GMT -5
Ava, is it possible you're selling yourself short in thinking only of entry-level jobs? I know you didn't just get out of college last week- you've got years of solid work experience behind you even if you do need the 2 years of work supervised by a CPA after you finish the exams. Maybe you should be looking for jobs which could use your experience- more money, and more likelihood of them being willing to pay you to come in for the interview. It depends what she's been doing. I'm assuming it's not accounting because she said her current work doesn't count for her experience. Most places aren't going to look at someone with no accounting experience in accounting for higher accounting positions. If her background is in financial analysis and has seen p&l and balance sheets she might have a shot at it, but if she was doing that I would think she'd have cpa around to sign off on her experience for her cpa.
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gooddecisions
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Post by gooddecisions on May 29, 2017 12:46:50 GMT -5
What will your moving expenses be? Do you have to sell a home? Can you skip a big move and liquidate anything you can't pack in a car?
Then you could rent a furnished room in someone's house looking for a roommate to keep your expenses down until you know what your full time employment situation would be. You won't have to pay as much for utilities or require a big deposit. If that's not an option, it may still be cheaper to liquidate everything and buy what you need second hand once you've moved. Whatever you do, don't spend down your savings moving.
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justme
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Post by justme on May 29, 2017 12:49:14 GMT -5
Probably a good idea. Paying movers from Florida to Maryland for a one bedroom would have been $6k.
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jelloshots4all
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Post by jelloshots4all on May 29, 2017 14:05:43 GMT -5
Ava- you need to take your career seriously. I'm a CPA and moved half way across the country for a location I wanted. Granted I had a job with one of the "Big 6" firms, but stop making excuses. I took a semester off for an internship with this firm, but I also sat for all 4 parts of the CPA exam in Chicago before I graduated from college. Where there is a will, there is a way. Don't make excuses, just take a leap! Best thing I ever did!
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on May 29, 2017 14:25:54 GMT -5
Another idea that I haven't seen mentioned here is that there are account temp agencies who can plce you in tat type of job in most major cities. So if you get to FL you could always register with a couple of those agencies and they could place you in an accounting type job while you look for permanant employment. Very often they have temp to perm positions available so that if you start as a temp and the employer likes your work they'll keep you on as a permanent employee.
Robert Half, Accountemps, Aerotek and Adecco jump out at me and I believe they and others are nationwide with offices in most major cities.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
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ZaireinHD
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Post by ZaireinHD on May 29, 2017 16:37:01 GMT -5
Z I'm not sure where you are located, but if you haven't been to south FL, I can see where being bi-lingual is a good thing would be hard to understand. There are some areas, not slum areas, but normal business areas, that there is no one and I do mean no one who speaks/understands English. I also think that Ava has had no offers, because she stated that she only half heartedly put in a couple of applications for her field. So she has not been actively perusing the job market, which is hard to do when you live many states away. Heck, it's hard when you live 100 miles away, at least for me last year. understood I live in NJ I can understand that the lack of job offers could be because Ava has not looked or sent enough resumes out for job offers. but it still appears that she would have to apply for work outside of the finance / accounting field. because office work would stay within the office. unless it's going to be for a job where for example H&R Block will offer services to the public at tax time.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on May 29, 2017 18:08:32 GMT -5
Another idea that I haven't seen mentioned here is that there are account temp agencies who can plce you in tat type of job in most major cities. So if you get to FL you could always register with a couple of those agencies and they could place you in an accounting type job while you look for permanant employment. Very often they have temp to perm positions available so that if you start as a temp and the employer likes your work they'll keep you on as a permanent employee. Robert Half, Accountemps, Aerotek and Adecco jump out at me and I believe they and others are nationwide with offices in most major cities. Good luck with whatever you decide. This. I have worked for a few CPA firms and also been a seasonal tax preparer. At the CPA firms, we got to take the comp time we earned during tax season during the summer. Started back again in September for the extended tax returns. There is always some work, but not as much as during tax season. The temp agencies might work. I don't know if they have health care.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on May 29, 2017 19:18:34 GMT -5
The last I heard, some temp firms offer health insurance for a fee, similar to what an employer offers except the employee pays the full amount. The temp firms I've heard about don't pay any part of the health insurance.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on May 29, 2017 22:45:42 GMT -5
This isn't all that difficult...especially given that SO many first interviews are done via phone these days. It just takes some short term real dedication. You apply to a TON of jobs in Florida within a short time period. You make it clear that you are moving to Florida in a cover letter to alleviate any fears of relocation assistance. You knock out as many phone interviews as you can, which will likely be grouped into a rather short period of time. You either visit or move and do any in-person interviews that came out of the phone interviews.
It costs you nothing to dedicate yourself to applying to those jobs now. You're going to find 1 of 2 things. 1. There are many opportunities and you'll likely have something lined up before you arrive. 2. There are very few opportunities.
Particularly for companies like CPA firms...they're used to hiring folks for some future date. They don't want to hire right now...summer is the slow time. If they value a CPA license they're also used to waiting for someone to pass it (because the job you get fresh from completing the CPA license is not the kind of job folks will be taking who have had it for years).
Take this for what it's worth, but it SOUNDS like you're just kind of screwing around with the job search...and you're looking for permission to make a bad decision (that decision being moving somewhere without a job lined up out of laziness really). You COULD move to Florida without a job...but there's really no earthly reason you need to...not because you shouldn't move to Florida, but because there's no reason you couldn't have a job by the time you do if you just put the work into it. You have the kind of career path that should make getting a job ahead of time no big deal at ALL. It's not like you want to work in a field where seeing you in person and filling an immediate position is critical...you're in a field where this kind of move can still easily turn into a job. Frankly, if you really tried to get a job, and couldn't from CT...you should give serious consideration to what the reason is. It might also point to the fact that getting a job once moved might be a LOT more difficult than you thought.
I'd also mention, you look a lot more attractive as a candidate if you can point out your career path...studying for the CPA, hoping to land a job in Florida where you're planning on moving once completed...vs...an out of work individual who passed the CPA but has no experience. There's a reason they say it's easier to find a job when you have a job.
On the bilingual piece...yes there's value in being bilingual in Florida...there's also a LOT more people who ARE bilingual in Florida working in your same field which means the supply of available folks is high.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on Jun 1, 2017 6:14:01 GMT -5
This isn't all that difficult...especially given that SO many first interviews are done via phone these days. It just takes some short term real dedication. You apply to a TON of jobs in Florida within a short time period. You make it clear that you are moving to Florida in a cover letter to alleviate any fears of relocation assistance. You knock out as many phone interviews as you can, which will likely be grouped into a rather short period of time. You either visit or move and do any in-person interviews that came out of the phone interviews.
It costs you nothing to dedicate yourself to applying to those jobs now. You're going to find 1 of 2 things. 1. There are many opportunities and you'll likely have something lined up before you arrive. 2. There are very few opportunities.
Particularly for companies like CPA firms...they're used to hiring folks for some future date. They don't want to hire right now...summer is the slow time. If they value a CPA license they're also used to waiting for someone to pass it (because the job you get fresh from completing the CPA license is not the kind of job folks will be taking who have had it for years).
Take this for what it's worth, but it SOUNDS like you're just kind of screwing around with the job search...and you're looking for permission to make a bad decision (that decision being moving somewhere without a job lined up out of laziness really). You COULD move to Florida without a job...but there's really no earthly reason you need to...not because you shouldn't move to Florida, but because there's no reason you couldn't have a job by the time you do if you just put the work into it. You have the kind of career path that should make getting a job ahead of time no big deal at ALL. It's not like you want to work in a field where seeing you in person and filling an immediate position is critical...you're in a field where this kind of move can still easily turn into a job. Frankly, if you really tried to get a job, and couldn't from CT...you should give serious consideration to what the reason is. It might also point to the fact that getting a job once moved might be a LOT more difficult than you thought.
I'd also mention, you look a lot more attractive as a candidate if you can point out your career path...studying for the CPA, hoping to land a job in Florida where you're planning on moving once completed...vs...an out of work individual who passed the CPA but has no experience. There's a reason they say it's easier to find a job when you have a job.
On the bilingual piece...yes there's value in being bilingual in Florida...there's also a LOT more people who ARE bilingual in Florida working in your same field which means the supply of available folks is high. Thanks for your response. I agree with many of the points you make. That moving with all parts passed and unemployed makes me look bad in the eyes of potential employers. Absolutely. I refuse to say it makes me looks lazy because I'm working extremely hard right now, and moving to Florida from CT on my own would be a lot of work. But yes, it looks bad. I haven't taking the job search seriously. That is true. I just don't have it in me right now. I exercise, work full-time with a 45-50 minutes commute, keep a home by myself, and study for the CPA. I am mentally and physically exhausted by the end of the week. The CPA exam is taking all my time and energy. We all have different energy levels and right now I don't have any more "fuel" left in me. I've done the look for a job and apply to a ton of places routine in the past. It's very time consuming, and it's draining once you start getting all the reject emails that we all get during a job search. I don't have it in me right now.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on Jun 1, 2017 6:16:33 GMT -5
One question, how are you going to rent or buy a place in Florida without a job? Don't most LL's or loan applications look for current employment? I would rent. I don't know how it works if you don't have a job. I guess you pay a deposit and sign a six months contract. I don't know. I'm sure I won't be the first person who ever moved to Miami without a job lined-up. I would look for a roommate arrangement if it weren't for my cat. She's very stubborn and set in her ways to live with anybody else. And she sheds a lot.
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