Question about IT jobs in USA.

[Red19]

I have a question regarding finding a job in the U.S,

I am Canadian and I currently live in Canada (Ontario to be exact), I work as a developer and I get over 40k salary plus benefits, I also have about 3 years experience and a 3 year College Advanced Diploma from a community college.

The thing is my girlfriend of 5 years is American and we are working on settling down by the end of this year when she graduates from university, my only problem is she told me that if we decide to live there I would have a hard time finding a job in IT because of my educational background, according to her unless you have a B.S chances are I will never see a 40k salary there, while here in Canada I started with 40k on my first job which I did not have a hard time finding at all, but she insists that over there people who have a community college background don't even get looked at what so ever, so now I'm left with 3 options, either move down there and try to do university, stay up here and make her struggle in finding a job in her field, or go down there and take a chances with whatever I have.

I guess my main question is can anyone shed some light on the educational and experience needs there? Perhaps some advice from folks that are already working in the industry.

Thank you.

[WingedPanther]

It depends on several things:
1) how much experience do you have and what kind?
2) where are you going to live? 40k in Silicon valley is poverty, 40k in nowhere Kansas is wealth
3) do you have any special/unusual skills that can complement your programming skills?

I make over 40k with a Master's in math and only a couple CS courses. Good money in my area, but not enough to make me "rich".

[Xav]

I, on the other hand, am a millionaire... from washing my dad's car.

The value of money changes depending on where you live. Over here in the UK, which is arguably the most expensive place in the world, it costs you SO MUCH for everything. However, in Tunisia I managed to buy a working musical instrument for a 16th of a penny, which is 0.12146875 U.S. dollars.

[Jordan]

Winged is right. It depends on where you live. In the small town I live in you can get an IT job with a 2 year degree but there are few jobs open. I actually got hired before I completed my degree. I make over 50k but my same job in larger cities runs around 80 to 100k.

You and her may also want to think about when you are going to have a baby, if you are at all. If you two plan on having children soon then she wouldn't be working for a while anyway.

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[WingedPanther]

I would use a Cost of Living Calculator (google it) to help you perform your search.

[Red19]

Well to be a little specific we are planning to live in Chicago, I have done some job search over there but most jobs require a B.S Degree, I'm also aware that it depends on the area you live in, but coming in from Canada I just need to understand the different system I guess and see how I fare with my chances.

Thanks for the replies guys

[DevilsCharm]

I don't think Chicago is that expensive a city to live in.

[Xav]

Everything in America is half the price of that over here in the UK. I should buy in America, sell in Britain.

[Sionofdarkness]

I think with the currency conversions, products come out to about the same.

[Xav]

Actually, that isn't true. Everything in America is roughly half the price of things over here in the UK. But then again, if you convert an average guy's income, we get double the money for jobs anyway, so it sort of equals out again.

The best thing to do is to work in the UK, and buy in America.