Offshoreonly.com - Carrollton TX

Bouyhunter -

I've lived in the D/FW area most of my life. We moved to San Antonio three years ago and miss Dallas. I lived in Plano mostly. When I moved to Plano in '88 there were farms and fields all over. Now, you can drive North from Dallas through Carrollton or Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, etc. etc. and never know you've left Dallas. It's all grown together.

My opinions on the area for what it's worth: I miss Dallas a lot and so does my wife. We both love it but it does take some getting used to. Carrollton is just north of Dallas and you won't know if you're in Dallas or Carrollton except for the name on the police cars and the street signs. Carrollton is Dallas for all practical purposes. So is Richardson, Plano, etc. etc, etc. It's all part of one big city these days. It's all the the "Metroplex". So, don't limit yourself to living in Carrollton. Traffic is a total b*tch anywhere in Dallas these days. I lived in Plano and worked in Dallas just South or LBJ (635) and it took me an average of 45 minutes to travel 12 miles every morning.

Lake Lewisville is 5 minutes from Carrollton (if you're going 90mph, live in North Carrollton and there is no traffic.) On a Friday afternoon you can count on at least 30 minutes to get to Lake Lewisville from South Carrollton. But, South Carrollton is typically not as nice as North Carrollton anyway. Lake Lewsville is also known as "Lake Dallas" or "Lake Death". Small and crazy. More accidents and deaths there than on any other lake in the area. There is a party cove on Lake Lewisville that gets as crazy as anything you'll find. It's like a little version of the LOTO party cove. Lots of drunken nakedness. It's been a few years since I've been and I heard that the local authorities were cracking down on the party cove. Unless you're young and single you're better off traveling the hour or so it takes to get to Lake Texoma. Texoma is nice with islands and sandy beaches. Texoma is the biggest and the nicest boating lake you'll find around the area. Lake Tawakoni's level rises and falls dramatically, Ray Hubbard is full of stumps (plan on buing at least one new prop a season). The other close lakes are small. The other good boating option is Possum Kingdom (about 2 hours away) or Lake Travis (where I boat) at about 4 hours away in Austin, TX. Eufaula is huge and not very populated and is about 5 hours away in Eastern Oklahoma. Grand Lake O' the Cherokees is in the NE corner of Oklahoma. It's kind of like a small LOTO. It's nice but about a 6 hour drive. Of course there is Lake of the Ozarks (LOTO) but it's even further than Grand.

I like Dallas a lot. If you're a sports fan then you'll love it. Dallas' main attractions are sports or shopping and that kind of thing since there are not any natural attractions such as lakes, mountains, etc. There is a lot of money in Dallas. But, it is probably the most snobby, pretentious place in Texas. Dallas has a completely different feel from Austin, Houston, San Antonio or anywhere else in Texas. I would consider Texas to be a very, very friendly place - except for Dallas (and to a lesser degree Houston). Dallas feels like any other big city in America. People often come to Dallas expecting to see cowboy hats, horses and everyone greeting them with "howdy". Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you work with busiensses there are a lot of opportunities in Dallas. There are 136,000 businesses in Dallas county employing 5 or more people each. In San Antonio (which is actually a larger city by population) there are less than half as many businesses at 51,000. There are a lot of large company headquaters in Dallas (Frito Lay, EDS, Dr. Pepper, Southwest Airlines, JC Penny, etc. etc.) and there are tons more with branch offices in the area and lots of small businesses. The cost of living in Dallas is comparable to other cities in Texas and can vary greatly depending on where in the metroplex you live. Carrollton is a bit less expensive than a lot of Dallas. Dallas is typically less expensive than Austin and Houston but more than San Antonio. Also, there are no state income taxes in Texas. A nice little extra. If you haven't been there before I'd go to the area and see if you like it.

As for your resume and cover letter - get some help. You can go to Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com or a number of other sites and get some sample cover letters and resumes. I have thousands of them. I interview and hire sales people for a living. So, I see tons of resumes. All the cover letter does is get them to look at the resume. It is simply an introducion to the resume. It should be short and sweet. Also true with the resume. The resume and cover letter should be no more than one page each. The resume should have include an objective statement, education and experience. You can simply state that references are available upon request and bring the references with you under seperate cover to the interview. Be sure to call your references to let them know that you are using them as a reference. (Or ask them if you can). Someone will spend approximately 20 seconds reviewing your cover letter and less than a minute reviewing your resume. All they do is get you the interview. The interview is what gets you the job. Keep in mind that ther ewill be approximately 200 applicants for every available job. So, the cover letter and resume need to be accurate (no spelling errors, etc.) correct and to the point. Try to get a written job description to what you are applying for. Then taylor the resume to use some of the same wording and language you find in the job descritpion. You don't want to lie. But, if you're creative you can often take your own experience and word it so that it fits within the given job description. When you do go for the interview there are some things that go without saying like dress for success, don't pick your nose, etc. But, something that people forget that should be obvious is to do a lot of research on the company that you're interviewing with. Have some prepared questions about the company and the position. Research their stock (if public) and know when the company was founded, by who, etc. Review the company's mission statement. You can call the employer's office prior to the interview and ask their assistant about the interview and find out things like what type of personality does the person who is interviewing me have? (Expressive, Driver, Analytical or Amiable). Ask about dress code, etc. Basic knowledge can get you a long way in an interview. Be prepared to answere some basic questions that you will get asked. "What are your top three strengths?" A much harder one that is often asked is "name your top three weaknesses?" "Why do you want to make a change?" and "Tell me about your experience." There are questions that the interviewer would like to ask but will get themselves in a tickelish situation legally if they do. Most people give answer these questions without askint them. Instead an interviewer will ask: "Tell me about yourself" It is amazing what people will tell you. My favorite question to ask (if I know someone is married) is "How would your spouse describe you?" That really gets them thinking.

In short - taylor the resume to the job. Do your homework and be prepared. Then the biggest thing of all is attitude. Be positive, outgoing and proactive. Make them want you on to be their team and they probably will.

Best of luck to you,

Brent