The real scoop on Greenville
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12/29/2006
I've lived here for 7 years (in SC for 10 years). If you are any kind of engineer, have a strong background in manufacturing, or are in the health care field, or if you have attended Clemson University (the only university that anyone here has ever heard of...lol) then this is the city for you. If you have a business background, it might be better to look elsewhere. My husband and I received MBA's in 2001, and we've found that they're not worth the paper that they're written on.
Also: I will receive hate mail for this, I'm sure, but I'm going to say it anyway, because it's the God's honest truth: I came down here from New York City in 1999 because I WANTED to move here. Moreover, I have always had a very "when in Rome" attitude about any place where I've lived (e.g., Washington, DC; Monterey, CA; Lyons and Nice, France). However, I have definitely encountered some anti-Yankee sentiment here. It's not pervasive, but it DOES exist, so be aware. Southern culture is very, very subtle, so you will not find anyone being overtly "ugly" or posting signs that say "Go Home Yankee" or "Yankees not hired here," but I had two recruiters (one from SC, one from MN) tell me in 2005 that the fact that I was from NYC was one of the reasons why I had been unemployed for 13 months. The lady from MN told me that she had had clients flat out say to her (not so subtlely): "Do not send me any 'Yankee' candidates." Sadly enough, old grudges die hard, and I've learned from observing my husband's family that this bitterness is passed on from generation to generation. No, we should never forget a very ugly part of our past, but the irony of the discrimination towards ME is that my ancestors were frolicking around in Germany's Black Forest while the "War of Northern Aggression (as the Civil War is referred to here) was being fought. Hearing it from the recruiter was like a kick in the stomach, and for a while it made me very bitter. I had suspected it for a while, I thought that I was just being paranoid. Note: you will NOT see this kind of discrimination at the big companies like GE, BMW, Fluor, Michelin, etc. -- case in point: I've been hired by three of them.
Speaking of Fluor: FANTASTIC company to work for, can't say enough good things about them AND their Fluor-owned employment agency, TRS Staffing.
Finally, if you do decide to move here, you MUST network. Believe me when I say that it took me many years and a lot of heartache before I figured out that Greenville is mu
Sharon | Taylors, SC