Hey, I'm graduated in this economy too. They can suck it up and deal like the rest of us.

 

LOL.

True.

I would just take the opportunity to learn as much as I could, make sure I was uber competitive compared to the rest of my graduating class.

 

Boo fucking hoo.

 

Are you an alumni mentor at montclair?

 

No, I only did my liberal arts courses there. I may teach there though.

Only NJ college I have guest lectured/mentored at was Keane.

 

What else is new? The only thing I could get since last May is a temp position at a nonprofit, which is over. On to bigger better things right? Right....

 

I think the number of jobs here in DC has actually increased during this economic downturn.

 

O rly? Discuss?

 

DC is one of those few places that seems to do pretty well no matter what. My father-in-law is in the high end custom woodworking field around DC, business is still booming for him...although he has pretty low overhead, he does all the design, and fabrication himself.

 

Yeah, there's just so many people around here that are coming and going all the time (transplants, as we indigineous peoples call them), and people generally don't come here to work $25k jobs, they are making good money. That that sort of business will always do well, and the craigslist for furniture is the best on the 'net.

 

Well, it's just something I heard. It's because of the government. Bad economy doesn't tend make the government shrink.

 

Interesting. Good to know. Is the cost of living still insane in D.C. or have rents/housing prices moderated?

 

What I am finding is an increase in contract and hourly jobs.

Plently of companies have laid of much of their design staff. But guess what, shit still needs to get done. So often these companies hire people hourly.

My own company laid off half of the graphics department. But when the shit hit the fan, literally two weeks after we let this one girl go, they had to get her back in here hourly for MORE money than she had been making on salary. It was funny.

But overall, even the big well to-do companies who bragged about their growth 6 months ago are now waving a flag that says "hiring freeze".

I am happy to have my job at this point. I have my gripes and had a deadline from a few months ago that I would quit or get myself fired if I didn't line up something better...but in this economy I have a steady paycheck, so I manned up and just shut up about it.

 

DC's expensive, but not San Fran/NYC expensive. My friends are looking at 1-2 bedroom apartments in NW, NE and around L/M Street, seems like $1200-1400/mo will get you a pretty nice place.

 

That has come down somewhat from 2006. Interesting.

 

The cost of living will be steadily growing in DC for quite a while, barring any instances of crack epidemics or Marion Barry. The city is just getting bigger and more built up every day, as the poor people get pushed out into the sprawl.

 

True, but some of the condo/co-ops I looked at back in the spring/summer of 2006 that were ABSOLUTELY going to sell out by the end of that year still have units for sale with "$75K off!!!!" Or, at least, that's what the e-mails tell me....

And, really Jack, I don't think ANYONE can count out Marion Barry until he's underground. Maybe not even then....

 

Yeah, it varies A LOT. It pays to know the neighborhoods pretty well.

 

Sigh, memories....I sooooo wanted D.C. to get a "state" quarter with the image of Barry in the hotel room and "bitch set me up" on it.

I did a bunch of apartment hunting in and around D.C. in the summer of 2006 and it was tough to touch a two bedroom, near a Metro with parking for about $1,600 a month otherwise I would have moved off of my fine street in SW and to a de-luxe apartment in the sky-i-i.

In a weird way, I kinda miss that town. In a real weird way.

 

Sigh, memories....I sooooo wanted D.C. to get a "state" quarter with the image of Barry in the hotel room and "bitch set me up" on it.

I did a bunch of apartment hunting in and around D.C. in the summer of 2006 and it was tough to touch a two bedroom, near a Metro with parking for about $1,600 a month otherwise I would have moved off of my fine street in SW and to a de-luxe apartment in the sky-i-i.

In a weird way, I kinda miss that town. In a real weird way.

The only way you can get a good deal in a good neighborhood is if it's not near the metro. We pay $2k for a 3 bedroom very nice house with 2 floors, nice appliances, 3 rooms downstairs and a nice kitchen, off street parking, etc., 2 blocks from Rock Creek Park with tennis courts/fields, and no where near the metro rail. If I need to take the metro, I just drive across the park, drop my car on Ordway street by the cleveland park metro (it's registered in zone 3, so I can park there all day), takes about 15 minutes to get from my door to the train. You gotta be sneaky like that.

 

I met Danny Devito a few years ago at one of these Art Center Senior Show's. OMG-

 

Step away from the bong.

 

Did you kick him in the shin?

 

Already had one kid (graduated in May 08) get a pink slip in Richmond, firm slashed the payroll 50%, last in first out. The middle kid (Soph in College)has worked holidays at CVS, and they are bearly hiring this year. Fortunately the manager was happy with his work and he may get some hours over the Christmas break, but he wasn't able to find a summer job.

The signs are that DC is headed for a slowdown, the telcom and retail business is slow. Many lookers at the malls, few buyers. The upside is that the Walmart and Target parking lots are slammed.

The Government business is wait and see, we are seeing a slowdown because customers don't know their real budget and with the change in Cabinet heads, expect many programs to slow their buying habits because of extra reviews. I've also heard that IT contractors to Prime contractors getting 10% decreases in contract renewals.

Going to be an interesting 09