How to Move to St Thomas?HELP!!!

What a cool adventure the 4 of you are about to embark upon. One of the problems is the timing. November is the height of the tourist season yes, but it's also harder to find an apartment. You will have to be on Island before anyone will rent to you and that includes even my wife's relatives who rent apartments on the Northside of the Island. Have any of you been to St. Thomas before? If not, I would suggest that you make a trip to the Island first and see how things are here. I'm sure none of you are planning to make your lives in St. Thomas and mainly looking for an adventure, but living on an Island is an experience unto itself.

I would recommend that each of you have at least $10.000.00-$12,000.00 to make sure you have funds for living until a job comes through as well as funds to make it back home just in case it doesn't. I'm sure others on here will have other splendid ideas for you as well.

mike

You asked - "As 4 younger people, will it be difficult for us to find jobs, and a place close to our jobs?"

Finding a job in STT is not much different than finding a job back on the mainland. The ease or difficulty in finding employment depends on what type of position you are seeking, your qualifications and level of experience in that particular field and how you stack up against others who are applying for the same position(s) at the same time as you. The biggest hurdle you'll face is that unless you have a very specialized skill and experience level that happens to be in high demand most employers will only consider applicants who are already living on island. Finding a job before you actually arrive is extremely difficult. That's one of the reason mtdoramike suggested you bring enough money to support yourself until you find gainful employment.

STT relies heavily on tourism (hotel desk clerks, servers, housekeepers, hospitality workers, restaurant workers, retail store clerks, etc.) so jobs in that sector may be easier to find than traditional white collar positions in other industries. Keep in mind that pay levels on STT (or anywhere in the Caribbean for that matter) are often lower than they are for comparable positions back on the mainland. Living expenses, however, are going to be higher. That's the Catch-22 of Living/Working in the Caribbean.

Now, finding a place to live that's near where you work will, of course, depend on where you end up working and how much of a budget you have for housing. Once you ind a place be prepared to pay out 3 month's rent (1st, last and 1 month security) just to walk in the door.

Good luck, following your dream.

Get all the information you can before you make this decision. Read all the forums here completely for both the pluses and minuses to island life. Get the VI Settlers guide posted for sale on the sister website. It's fantastic for getting background info. They just updated it in January so it's also very current.

I agree with the poster that said to make sure you have $, especially enough to tide you over until you find a job, and always, always, always, have enough money so you can leave if you need to.