Moving to VI...need advice!

Well, the apartments are very hard to find in St. John. There is one guy that handles long term rentals and he usually has a very long waiting list. The point to be driven home here is that you need to take a fact finding trip, to scout out your place and or job. The apartments go in minutes after someone moves out. No landlord is going to answer, as they have no need! You may have to stay in St. Thomas and commute at first.
Just an unfortunate reality of wanting to live in ST. John!
Ronnie

St. Thomas will be much easier to find an apartment - there are many availabilties - when your friend is on islands they should pick up an Island Trader and Daily News and look through the ads (the Islands Trader is basically all ads for apartments, used car....) and then call landlords and visit properties - its best to visit the apartments rather then doing things over the phone without seeing the place or just from photos - if you cant make a fact finding or scouting trip like Ronnie suggested then you should stay in a guest house for the first week or so and look around at places. You can request a news paper be mailed to you - if you do want to start calling landlords from home -however they are all basically going to tell you 'why dont you come and see the place' which is not feasiable for you right now.

I am surprised that you say there is not any information about moving here! Here are some points that have been made on this board and others:
1. You really need to come for a look to see if you really want to live here. You can do some preliminary background work at this time-where are the grocery stores, banks, shopping centers, etc. How much does housing, food, gas, entertainment cost? What kinds of jobs are available and would I be able to get one? And most important is this really the life for me?
2. You may or may not be able to secure a place and job before you move. If not (and there is a greater chance you will NOT), come down and stay in a guest house. Bring enough $ (or open an account on your look-see visit) to keep yourself going for 3-6 months. Once you are a resident, it will be easy to apply for jobs, find them by word-of-mouth (most opportunities are this way), look at apartments, etc.
3. Do not burn your bridges behind you, but commit yourself to a certain period of time- 6 months, 2 years, etc. There will be little annoyances as things do not run like they do in the US, and it is good to make yourself face these. (Oh, I have heard of people who moved on a Friday and left on a Monday, but they DIDN'T do their homework!)
4. People are probably not going to consider you for "serious" jobs if you are only here for 6 mo- you will get stuff like worst shift in a restaurant, third mate gofer on a day boat, etc. Why would they train someone who has in mind leaving soon? If you extend, and you have done a good job, you may find yourself with a nice promotion. GOOD workers are always welcome.
5. If you are looking for a "serious" job, i.e one that makes use of the college degree for which you have worked so hard, on your visit go personally to all the places you can find in the phone book that seem to be related to your area. Ask everyone you meet for names and phone numbers of possible employers. Call and e-mail them. You will probably end up with something. Again, once you are here for awhile, opportunities will pop up.
6. Do not expect to find a job or apartment on the Internet- believe me, you WILL want to take a look! (It is not uncommon to find a "2 bdrm- 2 bath, great view, parking", blah, blah that has no fridge, or no stove! Or even no running water!) And the employer will want to see you and your commitment to live here. You might not believe this but there are lots of people who say they want to move here; only a small minority do. Employers will NOT offer you something (except in a few cases!) unless you are already here.
7. What kind of jobs *could* you get ahead of time? You could get something with one of the major hotels (Marriott, Wyndham, Westin) and transfer, federal jobs (post office, justice, customs, FBI, etc), education-teachers and librarians, health care- nurses, ancillary services...
8. There is not a shortcut, unless you have a relative 😉

I wish you the best of luck! Do let us hear back from you about your decision and your progress! Candace

Candice,
My husband has been offered a job on St. Thomas, If it were just him & I, he would take it in a flash but we have a 14 yr old daughter. Can you tell me what the schools are like and if St. Thomas is a good place to raise children. Thanks

Kids that grow up here seem to enjoy it! It is a very outdoorsy place- sailing, swimming, surfing,etc. There are excellent private schools-Antilles and All Saints are the first to come to mind. The schools and classes are small so there is lots of personalized attention. There are other folks on this board who grew up here and will, I hope, weigh in!

Check out http://www.antilles.k12.vi.us/ for more info on Antilles.