Architecture Life

2 Responses on How’s the architecture job market for a recent college graduate in El Paso?

• 
  By chuck at September 3rd, 2008

  Warning: This answer is really really long. But it’s entertaining and informative. Take frequent breaks.

  Lately I was looking for a job in El Paso. I have 3 degrees, military experience, and about 10 years of work experience in my field. The job market here royally sux, and I’m about to bail on this city for good. I am delighted for the opportunity to give you a detailed and opinionated account of what I’ve found during the year I’ve been here. Some of this you will find potentially offensive. Too bad. You will see from my other answers that I’m a bright person and a deep thinker, not shallow and rude. I am not the rude one here; El Paso is and El Pasoans are. The short version is that EP is a racist dirt hole that is circling the drain in many, many ways. Live and work here at your peril.

  First I will give you practical advice, then I will launch into my screed, then return to some more constructive items. If you have family here, and they can put you up, you can come here and live cheaply, and get some random job, until you find the right job. That’s not so bad. If your family won’t put you up, it’s going to be a lot harder, because the entire job market, from top to bottom, is largely closed off to outsiders, especially if you don’t look like you are from Aztlan, or have a name ending in -ez. Be very careful.

  You have family here but haven’t lived here? That’s odd. If you are Latino/a, you will have a much easier time of things. If you are white, or even look white, you will be treated with considerable open hostility. People will butt in front of you in lines. They will ram your cart at the shopping center if they think you’re in their way. They will not return your greetings at the bank. Your orders at BK and Taco Cabana will inexplicably take 15 minutes when there are no other customers. They will take one look at your gavacho last name on your resume and toss it in the garbage can. They will tell you you aren’t qualified even though it is idiot-obvious that you are. When you ask them to explain, they will glare at you and cross their arms. This ain’t America, dude.

  I have lived in Europe and all over the U.S., and I have never seen such open race-based hostility as here. I have a Cuban friend who lives here, a guera, and she gets treated the same way. When she opens her mouth to speak fluent Spanish, they stare at her like a deer in the headlights, but they still don’t give her any respect. It isn’t about being merely Latino/a, it’s about being a certain species of Latino/a.

  I am registered with. This website is the main portal for the Texas Workforce Commission. I recommend that you register with TWC ASAP, since you can do it all online, and gov’t employment is about 60% of the economy here, and you can find all the state jobs there. (The rest of the economy is heavy industry and manufacturing–think maquiladoras). Most of the major employers are schools, universities, the Army (Ft. Bliss), and local and state gov’t. I found the people at the local workforce centers, affiliated with workintexas.com, to be kind and very helpful, but they weren’t able to find me a job.

  I applied for a jillion jobs here, went to job fairs, etc., and never got an interview–okay, I got one. Too many times for comfort, I was told my application was “lost” or that it was never received. For some local, state-gov’t jobs, I could track the progress of my app online. Many times my application was rejected less than 24 hours after submission. These were for jobs that I was pre-screened for through TWC. The TWC prescreens applicants to make sure they’re qualified for the jobs to which they’re applying. I also have veteran’s preference. None of this helped.

  After awhile, I started demanding explanations why my applications were being “lost” and for all the other lame excuses I was hearing. One agency said my application was “deficient,” but wouldn’t say why. Another agency interviewed me, then said I was a FINALIST for the job, and I never heard from them again. When I called them 3 weeks later to ask what the status was, the HR person said that they said I was a finalist “in error.” WTF is the only way you can respond to this weirdness.

  (Just so you know, I have a squeaky-clean background–no dings, no history of drug abuse or arrests or crazy. That’s not a factor.)

  So I went to TWC for a conference 2 wks ago, and they agreed that I was a highly qualified candidate, and legitimately prescreened for these jobs I applied for, and that I deserved explanations. They came up with one, and I came up with the other. They are aware that cronyism and nepotism are big problems in hiring and contracts here. Like I said earlier, the systems here are informal, and it’s all about who you know, not what you know. You might be 200% more qualified than anybody else, but if you aren’t somebody’s tio or prima or at least an amigo, you won’t get the time of day from the locals.

  The cronyism and nepotism come up in the news frequently, because the federal and state gov’ts get upset that their money is being squandered on unqualified people and projects. It’s not just a matter of cultural difference;, such shenanigans have real (and negative) effects on the economy and the overall functioning of the city.

  I have a headhunter here. He’s angry because, as he said, when people hear my name, they ask immediately, “Does he know Spanish?” I know some Spanish, but I’m not fluent. For the jobs I’m applying to, it’s not relevant. “Knowing Spanish” is a surrogate for “being Mexican.” I will say if you’re fluent in Spanish, it’ll be easier for you. If you can, legally change your name to something Mexican-y. It’ll help.

  To repeat: A big reason why racism, nepotism and cronyism are so bad for a society is because when all your jobs are being filled by unqualified relatives and your municipal coffers are being pilfered for quinceneras, the whole system is nothing but suck and fail. And you will find that that suck in abundance in EP. EP is a filthy, filthy city, with weird, meandering, unlit streets with no traffic lights, only stop signs and nobody paying attention to whose turn it is. The water tastes horrible. There is no storm drainage so if we get a half-inch of rain, everything floods.

  The literacy and overall competency rate here is the lowest I’ve ever seen outside a sheltered workshop. I have to tell people what basic signs say, because they can’t read. Services are often done poorly, and ripoffs of all kinds are too frequent for comfort. The rare traffic light falls down because the installers forgot to put the nuts on the bolts (true). I can’t get people to copy my name correctly, even though it only has 4 letters in it, even if I spell it repeatedly in English and Spanish. A waiter delivers your food to another table. They eat it and determine it’s not theirs, and so your waiter takes it from them and gives it to you, covering up the eaten portion with his hand. When you complain because you saw him, he plays dumb. I talk to the GM and he confides in me that the EP workforce is impossible, and he is requesting a transfer out of town.

  The streets are the dirtiest I’ve ever seen anywhere in my life. They are strewn with illegally dumped trash and a staggering number of broken beer and liquor bottles. Since 85% of the city is Latino, I feel confident in asserting that for some reason, Mexicans like tossing their empty beer bottles out of their cars to smash on the curbs. There is no street sweeping. There are strong winds about 6 months out of the year, so the trash just eddies into piles against buildings and fences. The city is full of ugly, empty and sometimes boarded and graffiti-ed up strip malls. There are very few plants or trees to break up the monotony of asphalt and box retailers. It’s way worse than Phoenix, if you’ve ever been there.

  The libraries are a cruel joke, with no worthwhile books on any academic subject; many of the good books are stolen. The shelves still have books on “typewriting” and shorthand, but you can’t find a book on program evaluation, business math, or sociology. Few public spaces have Wi-Fi.

  Let’s talk about the military. Since about 1 in 9 people in this town work for the military, they are a big deal here. They tend to be white-er than the local cohort, and there is less of the Aztlanismo there, since the military does pay attention to qualifications more than skin color. But it’s the military, and although I’m not against working for them, it’s not for everybody. But they pay well and you can be around slim people all day, instead of typical corn-syrup fed Americans.

  And if you are white, the locals will assume you are in the military. And if you work for Ft Bliss, you can say so, and they’ll kiss your butt just a little bit, because they think you have money. Now this is sorta funny–here in EP, people in the military are considered to “have money.” In much of the remaining U.S., people in the military are considered to be rednecks with short hair who eat at Golden Corral and aren’t usually loved for their bankroll. But as you can see, EP is different!

• 
  By C R at September 3rd, 2008

  Part 2:

  A lot of locals aren’t into caring much for their property, compared to other cities across the U.S. And they are bigtime into home-based businesses. Therefore you will see lots of weird things, like weed and trash-strewn properties all over town. Since people live 12 to a house, parking can be a problem, even in residential neighborhoods. My neighbor across the street usually has between 4 and 7 cars parked in front of his house at any one time. The people on my left have 3 or 4. I think I’m the only house on the block with only 1 or 2 cars parked at a time.

  About the home based businesses. The guys 3 doors down have a sort of auto repair, and there are about 8 junked cars and an RV parked on their lawn and on the street. This is a middle-class neighborhood with fences and backyard pools. There are zoning laws, but they aren’t enforced. A half-block away, somebody has started a used-car lot–the cars have “Se vende” and a Mexico phone number painted in white shoe polish on the windows. My neighbors do woodworking as a side-business, so I have to listen to saws and hammering a lot.

  Shopping is weird here. Why? Because right across the border, there are 1.3 million or so Mexicans who have no access to Wal-Mart, low prices or decent selections of consumer goods. So they come here. Shopping is a stressful nightmare nearly any time of the day or week. Stores are jam-packed with families walking 5 abreast, completely oblivious to the fact they are blocking everybody else. They don’t care. I can’t buy ice cream at the grocery store because the checkout lines are so long that it would melt before it got paid for and taken home.

  The other annoying thing is that all this cross-border consumer demand means that stores actually have a smaller variety of goods for sale. They can stock fewer items and still make lots of money, since there are 750,000 (in EP) + 1.3 million people buying them. All this demand means that stores don’t give a crap about stocking shelves, having prices on the shelves, cleanliness, or a minimal level of service. The local WMs are always full of broken shopping carts blocking the entrance.

  All this, and prices are higher than in other cities. EP has higher than average grocery and apparel prices. Why? Because there is huge demand for everything. On the other hand, the cost of living here will be cheaper overall than in WDC.

  The housing stock is mostly older and poorly maintained, over 30 years old, and of a distinctly Mexican style with bars on the windows and high stone fences. Housing is mostly affordable, but probably not as cheap as it should be, considering the low wages and lack of amenities in the typical house/apartment. For instance, although temps are above 100 for much of the summer, most homes don’t have a/c–they have swamp coolers. They work, but not as well as a/c. Many homes don’t have dishwashers or clothes washers or carpeting (tile floors). Insulation is nonexistent. I was amazed to find a friend who bought a new house with a garage, and the garages didn’t have automatic door openers. There have been many scandals about fly-by-night homebuilders building mega-crappy homes and disappearing. Most houses here aren’t what most of us would consider attractive. They are often weird agglomerations of Mexican and other gringo influences. How about a Cape Cod Casita? Mexicans LOVE Nantucket Red, as long as it’s on YOUR ENTIRE HOUSE.

  As an interesting aside, the EP housing authority brags about the fact that its housing stock is of better overall quality than that of the city as a whole. Another shocking factoid is that 10% of EP’s population lives in gov’t housing. So if you’re poor, you will have a better house than somebody who has a mortage.

  If you must rent an apartment, I’ve found that parking is nightmarish at many complexes, because people are living 5 to a unit. Apts don’t bother with bars on the windows like the homes have here; they’d rather just pay to have the glass man come out once a month and replace all the smashed windows. What am I talking about? Although EP has less violent crime than many U.S. cities its size, it has much more property crime (theft, burglary, vandalism) than most U.S. cities. Renter’s insurance is a necessity here.

  EP also has the craziest drivers you will ever see in this country. And because Mexicans don’t care alot about other people and appearances, they think nothing of repeatedly smashing things into your car. My car has more scratches and dings on it this past year in EP than it got in the 3 years previous.

  EP isn’t so violent, but there’s violence aplenty right across the border in Ciudad Juarez. There is so much drug and human trafficking that Army and local police personnel are no longer permitted to travel there. It is generally not recommended for anybody to travel there without good reason. In January, the police chief of Chihuahua state was seriously injured in an attempted organized-crime assassination; he was brought to a hospital in EP since there’s no good medical care in Juaritos. Well, since he was being hunted like an animal by thugs, the local hospital had to lock down, remove visitors and set up an armed perimeter around the (large, public) hospital. For a few days it was like we were sponsoring a military-junta exchange program. You never hear about this stuff much in the news, because I think it is deliberately suppressed by the local and regional media, as it would otherwise create more anti-Mexican sentiment in the U.S. than already exists.

  Hmmm… What else should I tell you? That the Mexican food in EP is the worst I’ve ever had? It’s bland, watery, boring, unseasoned. They think cumin is a big, big deal here. You can find good Mexican food if you look, but I can find good Mexican food more easily in Kansas City than here. Local restaurant reviewers grumble about how any truly good restaurants go out of business here within months of opening. I howled last month when an elderly lady at church, a lifelong EP resident, told me she couldn’t believe all the wonderful Mexican food she ate during a recent visit to San Diego. Something to keep in mind.

  Oh yeah–El Paso is severely geographically isolated. It’s on the side of a mountain valley (without trees or vegetation since it’s in the desert) 4000 feet up. It’s 220 miles to ABQ, 550 miles to San Antonio, and about 300 miles to Tucson or 400 to Phoenix or over 600 to Dallas. Those are the nearest cities. ABQ is the nearest city of consequence, but it’s a bit too much like EP to feel like you’re really getting away. EP has almost 800,000 people, but you wouldn’t know it from being here. We don’t even have a Chipotle restaurant.

  Oh, oh! And when the wind blows right, you can smell the smoke and other pollution blowing in from Juaritos. In the winter the odors are really interesting, because they burn tires and industrial scrap to stay warm. Good times!

  Now that I’ve thoroughly annoyed you, I recommend you check out, which has some good listings for everything, job-wise. It’s sorta a meta-job search site. I looked and didn’t find many entry-level architorture positions. Here’s where else you can look:

  Ysleta Independent School District; El Paso School District, El Paso Community College; University of Texas at El Paso; Ft. Bliss; The City of El Paso; El Paso County; El Paso Times newspaper; state jobs here ; AND, the places I mentioned above.

  In EP, I think you will make a wage a bit lower, but on a cost-of-living basis, similar to what you’re making now. TX has no income taxes either. EP tends to pay decent professional wages; on the other hand, service jobs pay poorly because EP has a very large unskilled (and illegal) workforce.

  I hope this helps you. I enjoyed venting. And if I can convince even one person to stay away, I have done a good deed. My roommate is putting in for a transfer, and I’m leaving as soon as it’s reasonable.