Life after college
 

Well I'm about to enter the real world and I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do with my life. I have a degree in accounting, and it is my dream to move to and live in the Caribbean. Does anyone know if this is feasible? Does anyone have any experience in moving to the caribbean? Or even just experience of moving somewhere exotic after college? I figure I should do it now while I don't have any other obligations tying me down (i.e. wife/kids). Thoughts? Thanks.

Where in the Caribbean? There are a few dozen countries that could qualify....

Keep in mind that resort areas pay you in sunshine. And everywhere I've been in the Carribean, anybody with any money has to hire private police to protect them.

Otherwise, have fun. I would think it would be a good place for an accountant since there are many millionaires there and "offshore accounts".

After college, with degree in hand....the entire World is your oyster, so why just think of the Carribean? Why not larger cities or places that have more diversity with more companies that might be able to hire a person such as yourself? Hawaii comes to mind, if you're wanting the beach theme and a good job. San Diego and Miami, too. IIRC all the islands I've visited cater mainly to tourist trade related jobs.

Not trying to sent negatives to you - just "playing" caring friend.

One of my friends who did go to the US V. Islands to live at age 32, ended up buying and running a bar. He made enough to live comfortably, but was always there on the job, to watch his staff etc. He said it's tough because in the Islands you either arrive wealthy from the start, or have to start at the bottom and be a waiter or life guard or hotel worker. He had a degree in business.

As someone who is from a tropical nation that has it's share of beaches and international tourism, keep in mind that being a tourist in a place like that is completely different than being a resident of a place like that.

HAHAHAHA! Yeah, you NEVAR move from an industrialized country to a third world dude. Did you not watch the "King of Scotland"?

Hey, let's be a bit more optimistic, eh?

I think that sounds awesome. and i'd be tthat money is not the main motivator for the move. if you're willing to take a job that you may not make much money at for a few years, soak up the sunshine and the rum and enjoy the fuck out of life for awhile. if money is your motivator, like it is mine, then it may not be the best choice. it all comes down to what you value. on various touristy trips i've ran into people doing exactly what you want to do, and loving it. but most of them were either working in touristy shops, service industry positions or, like the above-mentioned, running a beach bar or something similar.

Right now, it isn't, though hopefully that will improve in the coming months.

Unless you have a job lined up before graduation/have done a lot of internships in your field, good luck. Don't expect someone to hand you a job on a silver platter when you graduate; that isn't how it works, and right now, a college degree is NOT an automatic ticket to a job. A friend who is studying to be an accountant is making sure that this does not happen to her by 1) pursuing lots of internships, and 2) networking her ass off. I suggest you do the same, if you haven't already.

Just me mindful of how your choices can effect you. I have a friend who worked her ASS off for her bachelors, and she took a year off after finishing school to work in a coffeeshop. Her reasoning was she wanted a year just to enjoy people and relax a little, then she'd jump back into the field her degree is in.

Fast forward 8 years later. She had no luck getting a job in her field as the perception was either that she didn't care enough to get a job when she could have, or that her skills must have not been hireable and that was why she was working in the coffeeshop.

Get in with a huge multinational corporation with either offices or contracts in the Caribbean.

Start your career off with a big corporation, and then decide later whether you want to go with a small company, start your own, or freelance when you have tons of experience (and contacts).

If you were a graphic artist you could live an work from anywhere assuming you had an established client list.

My advice - get a job in a company, save your money and vacation in the Caribbean. If after a few trips to different countries you just have to live there, make the change.

I took a job in another country once thinking I was the luckiest person in the world, thinking I had found my destiny.

After 3 weeks I wanted to leave. Took 2 years to get out.

Are you thinking of opening your own accounting office? That would probably work anywhere... They probably need CPA's in the carribean too. Might be hard attracting clients initially but once you got it off the ground you'd be golden

Not every third world country is like 1970's Uganda.

life after college is great!! i love it but there's so much pressure and responsibility.

As a college student myself, I was disappointed to learn that there is, in fact, no life after college... only tedium and regret and binge drinking and gently becoming fat.

You don't even have to move to the Caribbean for it.

I have friends who have taken their business degree (accouting, finance, what have you) and gone to Bermuda to work for a large bank. I know it's not the Caribbean, but it is smack dab in the middle of the Gulf Stream.

So you get the 'tropical' lifestyle, as well as multinational experience. Some of my friends are still there, 20 years later.

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It's relatively easy for Canadians to work there, I'm sure it the same for United Statians as well.

If I was your parent and I paid for your college education, only to watch you squander it in Appletons on a beach for 5 years - I would slap you silly.

If you have student loans and waste 5 years on a beach making $13K/year - your debt will slap you silly.

If you paid for your own college and are debt free, have a great time.

/buzzkill

As an accountant, let me suggest that you first and foremost get a professional designation... in the US you want to be a CA or CPA. Hook up with a big accounting firm and enroll in the program to get your designation. The unemployment rate for accounting professionals (those with the designation) is very low.

THEN, take a look around. An accreditation gives you tremendous mobility and leverage. A friend of mine left his job as manager of a financial services franchise and joined a law firm in the the Caymans as an accountant. He is making killer money there, and loves the island life. He has no plans to ever return to the Land of Snow & Ice that he grew up in.