Submitted by TheMeta40k t3_yw5bfl in newhampshire
I hate this state. I really want to move but I'm struggling to find employment in NH because I currently live in south mass and can't commute. Do you think it would be better for me to keep trying in stages, such as moving to northern mass first, or to just keep my head up and look at leaving Massachusetts as my light at the end of the tunnel.
I work in IT as a help desk tech.
Apply to places like BAE in Nashua.
Don't just 'move north.' Make the break.
If it were me, I would not want to have to move twice and don’t see a benefit in moving to Northern MA if that’s not where you want to be.
In the bigger towns/cities, housing availability will probably be more of a constraint than employment. In more rural areas the opposite may be true. You need to narrow down where in NH you want to be and then see what housing and job availability looks like.
I was going to ask the same. It's good to know what's attractive enough for people to make the move.
Slightly more affordable housing, mountains, fishing, better gun laws, not being near Pawtucket. I live very close to Pawtucket. I cannot overstate how much you do not want to live near Pawtucket. I don't have great access to fun outdoors stuff.
I want a different life than here. I am not super compatible with my surroundings. Ideally I would one day like a little house with some of my own land.
I really love mountains and lakes and I really want to get away from the sirens.
I grew up in SE MA and then lived in Boston for years before moving to central NH. I was lucky because I work remote so I got a place in NH first and then slowly moved here. It was the best thing I ever did. As a native of MA it was always annoying but you don’t realize just how awful it is until you leave. It’s not really the people but the state and town governments are just horrible, regardless of whether you lean left or right. It has nothing to do with politics really. The state is just mean and always warning you about something and presenting the penalty when you’d never do it anyway. There are definitely great people there, like anywhere, and beautiful towns, etc but I never knew you don’t have to just accept and live with all that misery until I moved out. I think if anyone is remotely unhappy with MA they shouldn’t hesitate to move, whether to NH or really anywhere else where you feel you’d be happier.
"I work in IT as a help desk tech."
Any chance you can work online? I thought there were, like, a zillion online jobs for techies. If you can, your dream of renting and eventually buying near the lakes and mountains you desire would be much easier and more affordable.
Good luck, OP.
I thought there were a zillion jobs for us techies too. I don't know why I'm struggling. Starting to take it personally, lol.
I have never been happier moving out of MA for the same reasons as you. I will also add the "we know what is best for you" attitude that has become unbearable. I got so sick of the over building to the point that life and living there had become a burden.
After a while being away, I too noticed myself detoxifying from the constant din of telling people how to live, the gov picking my pocket, everything we are programmed to do and say.
I will never live in MA again
From your other posts, I'm assuming you live in the Attleboro area.
I personally would not do this in stages within MA. I would find a job in southern NH, and suck up the long commute until you find a place in NH to rent. The below mention of BAE was a great one. There are other large companies in southern NH that will also provide good benefit packages.
It is "easy" to rent a place from a distance, so grab one quickly and use that as a staging point to find either a house or another apartment. I rented the house I'm sitting in sight unseen from 1700 miles away.
In the meantime, you can start preparing for your move now by getting rid of unused stuff.
Good luck.
Second the idea of applying somewhere like BAE or another company in Manchester or Nashua. Then living in one of the surrounding towns - Amherst, Hollis, Merrimack, etc. or further north if you end up working in Manchester. Land will be a bit cheaper and easier to get more of. The mountains are close. Nature is easy to access from Nashua and Manchester.
If you can land a remote gig send it north of you want peace and quiet and cheap property. Tradeoff(?) is that there's not a ton of people or things to do.
The market is mostly hurting for senior IT staff, cyber security pros and developers.
Help-desk is a tough one to break out of. It's the cashier of the IT world. Nobody appreciates you and if there's a better job that you're qualified for at your company they'll just hire externally because you're perceived as replaceable by the people in charge.
I've done help desk and got out. I know the drill.
Apply for a remote position in Boston or mass and live in nh
I sent you a dm!
No state income tax
I agree with both of you. Never been happier!!
I actually tried to help improve Massachusetts through local government volunteering and involvement but those corrupt fuckers fuckers have agendas. I finally realized it was a lost cause. Not to mention all of the robots who just go along with everything. The over building is a disgrace. Charlie Baker ruined Massachusetts!
Get a NH/603 cell phone number. List that on the resume. Remove address. It should not matter.. but it does.. I'd also say consider a job change. Fidelity in Merrimack would probably hire you and train you. Technical background and ability to talk to people on phone will align well with their needs.
Robert Half has a ton of remote work. I have been able to get some temp positions while living in southern NH and having limited hour availability to commute outside of the home.
In the same boat
Baker and city mayors who have no ability to see beyond the money.
Don’t take it personally if you’re having a hard time landing a position, the market’s worse than we're lead to believe. A lot of blue chip companies are either in the process of thinning out their workforce or have plans to do so in the coming months.
As far as moving to NH, it’s a great idea, but will take a lot of work. Not sure what your family situation is like, but would definitely help if you had friends or family here already to help with the transition. Sacrifices will definitely have to be made, but will be worth it (think coming out on the other end in Shawshank). But, if you’re going to do it, you should just do it. Look for any and all employment opportunities available. Find a smaller place or share a place with roommates etc. Good luck and wish you the best!
15+ yrs exp in IT & I can't even get a interview for lower level IT.
Even if I could they probably wouldn't match what a making doing union blue collar work. Maybe some day, I'm still hopeful.
No way.
I have an Indeed jobs for IT in Southern NH along Route 3 and there are two help-desk jobs from last night on it. There's one data job (requires SQL) on it. There are lots of IT jobs but they require specific experience and expertise and the demand is really lower than the number of jobs indicate. Jobs generally prefer a college degree and, in a downturn, "prefer" turns into required.
I think that it's difficult to look for jobs with a remote address and phone because employers know how difficult it is to move here.
I would guess that things are easier for work in MA but I don't know for sure. I'm contemplating a move to MA from NH as that would open up Boston but I'm in an oddball housing situation.
It would also help if you already knew someone on the inside that would give you a recommendation.
I left NH 30 years ago due to lack of jobs with decent pay. My brother, still in NH feels stuck at a job he absolutely hates because there is nothing else with comparable pay. If pay is a big concern for you, stay in MA. Even with the taxes here, chances are you'll be better off financially. That said, the suggestion to try to get into Fidelity in Merrimack might be worth a shot. Great pay, great benefits, great bonuses. Only thing is, there is ALWAYS the threat of layoffs there. They know that you know that someone in India can do your job for much less and that can be stressful. The mantra really was, "Do more with less" when I left Fidelity in Boston. Once you hit the 10 year mark, it seems they do everything they can to make you leave, including moving your office to a different state. But it was hard to leave because... bonuses. You can build up your 401k very easily.
Keep in mind property taxes in NH are sky high compared to MA. People in NH say we live in Taxachusetts, but really I think my family in NH pay just as much property tax and meals taxes as I pay in property/income/sales taxes. It's bad up there and they get no services for their money.
As someone who works in tech and lives in New Hampshire, I can tell you that it's not worth it to work in tech and live in New Hampshire. My reasoning is because there aren't a lot of roles out there, and a lot of people want to do it. This being said, it's an employer's market up here so the salaries are low. If you choose to go this route I would suggest looking into Fidelity and BAE Systems—two of the larger companies that can justify having full time helpdesk roles. Other options might include hospitals (DH & Concord), and schools are always understaffed, although you'd only be making around $40k.
I work for a fortune 100 company as a hybrid role out of Massachusetts. I'm not help desk, and I'm in a principal-level position, so I think I'm awarded a little more flexibility than a lot of people would be given when it comes to working from home and thus avoiding the Massachusetts income tax. This being said, all studies I've seen on this show that you'll get further ahead by living in a HCoL or VHCoL area and making their respective salaries rather than living and getting a wage in a lower cost of living. So don't think they're going to get ahead unless you're in a fortune position of being able to work from home.
Good luck.
Thanks for your input. Honestly, I am not really worried about maxing out my salary. I just want a change from Massachusetts. My adult life here has been a very long and difficult struggle. I have different priorities now. I just like NH better, it's not really about income tax.
I like your mountains better, lake access, fireworks access, lower population, people are slightly better drivers and some other things as well. I could make more money somewhere else but I wouldn't want to live there. I have spent time in NYC and LA and I am just not that sort of person. Takes all sorts to keep the world turning and I just can't handle city life.
I grew up in the Bay Area CA and then moved to northern mass and then southern NH and I can absolutely relate to your love of the state. The winters are tough but worth it. I think with every season change I feel refreshed and full of life. It took me a long time to adjust to the culture as I was used to a lot of diversity and I would say the only downfall of the area is the racism and homophobia. Other than that I love living here and have a hard time with the idea of ever leaving. As far as work goes I have no idea about the job availability in tech. I work in a trade and am in high demand. Might be worth it to spend a couples years in trade school as those are some of our highest paying jobs.
Have you considered perhaps aiming higher?
Logic might tell you that if you aren’t getting interviews you’re not qualified, but you might just be over qualified. Try to structure your resume highlighting your accomplishments and use a lot of numbers—business people love numbers.
For 15 years experience at a new role I would suggest looking for $120k with a $10k signing bonus in this market. If you can get a spot in a good company where you can learn cool things I would take less but plan on bailing in a couple of years for a 20% raise somewhere else.
This really depends on where you live and what you spend. All things considered, you’re better off financially in MA than in NH when you consider the cost of living and incomes. To really get ahead you work in MA but live in NH. This is where things like gentrification come into play, but with how red the state-level politicians are, they don’t really worry about things like that.
You might check out Apple At Home Advisor roles. They're fully remote and have good benefits. Salary isn't amazing, but with lower cost of living and depending on what you're making now, it might be fine for you
> As someone who works in tech and lives in New Hampshire, I can tell you that it's not worth it to work in tech and live in New Hampshire.
Do you not work from home? I'm fully remote and live in a remote rural property in New Hampshire and it's incredible.
Maybe look at Liberty Mutual. They have large offices in Dover and Portsmouth.
I know this is 7 days old, but don’t move here.
Good luck affording to live in Hollis.
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I can tell you haven't put much thought into how a civil war would even pan out now days
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How are your guns going to do versus drone strikes and bombs from aircraft? Just wondering.
Again, I can tell you haven't put much thought into how a civil war would even pan out now days
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Nah you would like me.
Your problem isn't Massachusetts (other than maybe the gun stuff), it's living in a shitty part of Mass. I've lived in central MA and it doesn't feel all that fundamentally different in NH after being here a few years. Almost all of the benefit of lower income taxes have been erased by ridiculous property taxes. If you are going to have kids, you'll still have worse schools unless you live in towns with truly insane property tax on top of extremely high priced real estate. Any place within striking distance to Boston will be as expensive, if not more, than similar commutes within MA. The job market doesn't even come close to comparing.
The trick is to actively seek out a role that has growth possibilities that are fully remote, assuming you can't find something fully remote that is available now. If you get your foot in the door in a place in Boston, or Newton, or Framingham, or the 10 other places within MA that all have viable tech sectors, then you can parlay that into a fully remote position and go wherever you want and not pay state income tax; you get the benefit of the MA job market with the eventual other benefits of NH down the road.
I guess you have no choice but to follow the jobs at this point if you can't find something in NH.
If you live in NH but your company is located in MA, you WILL be taxed by MA.
Found this out the hard way!
My mother's family is from NH so I moved there 10 years ago from Everett. I was spooked when a neighbor was murdered with a screw driver. NH is pretty nice people leave you alone. The country is very quiet. You have to watch out for property taxes especially in small towns they can go up drastically when they run out of money. It has been great being back in NH. Got to 2 wood stoves blaring and trying not to use too much power or heating fuel.
Can confirm, live in NH, work in MA. I pay income tax to Taxachusetts, and they tax me more than they did when I was in MA.
OP, I have friends at Fidelity in Merrimack and they’re still hiring quite a bit in “core tech” and then some IT support and systems analyst roles.
Not sure if you’ve applied but might be worth a go
Just to guess -- keeping NH red/ purple
It's only that way because of the poverty. Nobody chooses to poor trash. But poor trash people choose to be proud of it. So definitely don't point out how shit NH is.
Eat a bowl of dicks
Try working remote, I work for a company on the west coast. Get that west coast money and chill in the most beautiful parts of NH.
Where can one find a bowl of dicks?
Likely in Massachusetts. They're always sucking them down there.
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That assumes that you work in Mass.
I live in NH, my company is located in MA and I work from home. I do not pay MA taxes.
If your business is located physically in MA but you work remote, you will be required to pay MA tax. The states are suing each other over exactly this. https://www.wmur.com/article/supreme-court-rejects-new-hampshire-massachusetts-incme-tax-dispute/36865454
You're incorrect. That was a 1 time Covid related thing and is now over.
Mind linking source? Moved last year. I see they are suing but don’t see the outcome. Regardless, it’s good if that’s not the case anymore
I understand not taking my word, but I will leave the work up to you to confirm it. You will find that I'm correct.
5nd t1_iwhlnp0 wrote
Can I ask, what makes NH attractive to you?