Advice for single female looking to move to SF

[wasel]

I don't live in the Bay Area but for any move a good rule of thumb is to ask yourself what "better" you are looking for with this move vs your current location, and work from there.

(i.e., if you are hoping to do more outdoor activities or spend more time in nature, that might lead you to a certain area. Or if you are looking for more cultural activities, etc.)

[Lilac881]

@chuck5000 and Jade408: I am a product manager but it's recent (little over a year). Most of my career has been in digital marketing and product marketing. In all the interviews I've had so far, the feedback was that I had a lot of experience but they are looking for someone with deeper product management experience. So I may have better luck looking in Marketing. I work for a very large company.

@Einhoernchen: good point, I just looked on my weather app! I don't think I can see the weather for specific parts of SF.

[Chuck5000]

Originally Posted by jade408

I know of so many mid to senior marketing jobs. OP if you do that there is a lot of opportunity. As well sales experience or account management in large accounts.

I should have included sales and account mgt - those are evergreen, although for smaller startups they are often no longer in the Bay Area due to cost of living. I have a friend whose sales team is entirely in the Southeast. He'd love to hire in SF, but can't afford the base salaries needed. But the abundance of marketing jobs is a trap in itself (the jobs are fungible, you better produce or you will be gone), and the poster does not sound gung-ho about marketing. This could be picked up in an interview.

I think the key for someone like the OP is to stay in the current vertical. Product is actually very, very hard to escape your vertical, even for talented and well-credentialed candidates. The job of PM is so widely defined, unfortunately, and hirers often don't know what they're looking for. Then, everyone complains that it's so hard to find good PMs.

I think marketing is fine for the committed, but it chews up a lot of people who are not prepared for the pressure. The category has really changed a lot in the last few years.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Chuck5000

I should have included sales and account mgt - those are evergreen, although for smaller startups they are often no longer in the Bay Area due to cost of living. I have a friend whose sales team is entirely in the Southeast. He'd love to hire in SF, but can't afford the base salaries needed.

What I am seeing now, mature startups realize the need to sell to Fortune 1000 companies or over $100k deals and they bring in more seasoned sales reps. If you have the experience, they don't care where you are. But when the sales is just following up with inbound leads, they move that sales org to anywhere since there are not many skills required. Those reps are basically order takers. That works for a while then you need the real deal.

But the abundance of marketing jobs is a trap in itself (the jobs are fungible, you better produce or you will be gone), and the poster does not sound gung-ho about marketing. This could be picked up in an interview.

Marketing is tricky - though it sounds like the OP does product marketing. Way less tumultuous than demand generation/digital marketing/marketing programs. It is also possible to transition even verticals in product marketing since so much is cat herding.

I think the key for someone like the OP is to stay in the current vertical. Product is actually very, very hard to escape your vertical, even for talented and well-credentialed candidates. The job of PM is so widely defined, unfortunately, and hirers often don't know what they're looking for. Then, everyone complains that it's so hard to find good PMs.

Oh yes, there is so much variance in a PM role! That one is so much harder....

I think marketing is fine for the committed, but it chews up a lot of people who are not prepared for the pressure. The category has really changed a lot in the last few years.

There are a lot more roles these days, but everywhere also has so much turnover. So many roles everywhere. If you are good!

[MinervaPallasAthena]

You can look into Berkeley. The weather there is better than in SF. You shouldn't have any problems finding a job in your area. Also, if you happen to find a job in the Silicon Valley, you might want to look into places like Santa Clara, San Jose, Mountain View... again depends where you find the job. The weather is warmer there than in SF.
Look on zillow.com for rent prices in the SF Bay Area. That's what I used.

[piperdiva]

Have you considered checking out San Diego? Plenty of tech work here, and loads of different things to do in your spare time. It's also cheaper than SF.

[Lilac881]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I started using zillow to look at rents in SF itself and got very discouraged but then I looked at Oakland and felt like this was more doable. So there's hope! The east bay seems to have better weather as well. I don't know whether I'll end up working in SF or Silicon Valley but if I can't find a job from the east coast, then I might look into some temporary lodging (sublet, etc) so I can still be flexible.

I hadn't thought of San Diego. I hear the weather/beach is really nice and it's more affordable but I don't know how the city center is and what the cultural life is like down there. I would describe myself as a city person who loves nature and I am worried I would miss the city in SD. Thoughts?

[Liz_7]

Originally Posted by Lilac881

I hadn't thought of San Diego. I hear the weather/beach is really nice and it's more affordable but I don't know how the city center is and what the cultural life is like down there. I would describe myself as a city person who loves nature and I am worried I would miss the city in SD. Thoughts?

SD city life doesn't compare to SF city life, so you may be disappointed. The city vibe is really in downtown SD, though some more walkable neighborhoods like North Park and Hillcrest can give you a taste of it. The "tech hub" of SD is Sorrento Valley, about 15 miles north of downtown (which can be a bad commute with traffic).

Average apartment rent in San Diego County is $1700+ for a one-bedroom.

Visit first to see if you could live there...