Employment out West

[gabenzeke]

My wife is an attorney considering starting her own firm. The plan originally was to stay here in Iowa, but tonight she mentioned she's open to heading west. In the past, I've searched for jobs sort of daydreaming, but nothing really jumped out at me. I'm a risk consultant for a large financial institution and was wondering if anyone has any leads on that type of work in the west? Personally, I prefer Colorado, but I think my wife would kind of like Washington. Frankly, if I could get a good enough salary, I could probably convince her to go to another state. Thoughts???

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[gabenzeke]

Should have mentioned I've got a five year old boy that loves hockey and an infant daughter. So family amenities nearby are a must, otherwise I'd say screw it and head for alaska!

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[ramont]

Yup, Colorado, Washington state, or Oregon would be your best choices.

 

[Yellowknife]

Should have mentioned I've got a five year old boy that loves hockey and an infant daughter. So family amenities nearby are a must, otherwise I'd say screw it and head for alaska!

Hey now.... I can testify that it's possible to raise kids in Alaska! What the heck even is a "family amenity"? My kids have been on several day hikes this week, so in my book access to an easy local trail system would qualify, but opinions may differ?

For what it's worth this state is darn serious about hockey....

Just kidding (mostly), but honestly, Iowa to Alaska is probably more culture shock than I would recommend for most. Good luck.

 

[HookUp]

Make a list of priorities and go there. I live in Washington for a reason great salmon and walleye close to western states for hunting.
I couldn't do the weather of many mountain states.

 

[Poser]

If you’re a consultant, sounds like you could potentially work from anywhere. There is actually a call center office in Durango for what is now the world’s largest credit card processor. The company is called World Pay, formerly called Vantiv and before that, when it was a local start up, it was called Mercury. It almost certainly possesses all of the unattractive qualities of working for a bland, multinational corporation, but the office is really nice with a nice gym, they cater lunch on fridays (they have to do something to keep you from blowing your brains out...), dress is uber casual (it is Durango afterall) and the better jobs come with 4 weeks of PTO. It is unusual for there to be that type of office in a town this small and remote, but it was a startup that got bought out 2x over and appears to be here permanently given that they have a nice, new building.

 

[gabenzeke]

I know it's not unreasonable to raise kids there, I guess the culture shock seems like an issue to me. Not sure my wife could do without malls and the cost of living there seems insane. But, I've done all of a couple hours of research. It's the first time my wife has brought up the potential and I'm basically packed and ready to go! Lol. Just gotta make sure it's the right move. Family is number one.

Hey now.... I can testify that it's possible to raise kids in Alaska! What the heck even is a "family amenity"? My kids have been on several day hikes this week, so in my book access to an easy local trail system would qualify, but opinions may differ?

For what it's worth this state is darn serious about hockey....

Just kidding (mostly), but honestly, Iowa to Alaska is probably more culture shock than I would recommend for most. Good luck.

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[gabenzeke]

Interesting, I've elk hunted out of durango the last two years. Not a bad place. May look into this.

If you’re a consultant, sounds like you could potentially work from anywhere. There is actually a call center office in Durango for what is now the world’s largest credit card processor. The company is called World Pay, formerly called Vantiv and before that, when it was a local start up, it was called Mercury. It almost certainly possesses all of the unattractive qualities of working for a bland, multinational corporation, but the office is really nice with a nice gym, they cater lunch on fridays (they have to do something to keep you from blowing your brains out...), dress is uber casual (it is Durango afterall) and the better jobs come with 4 weeks of PTO. It is unusual for there to be that type of office in a town this small and remote, but it was a startup that got bought out 2x over and appears to be here permanently given that they have a nice, new building.

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[full choke]

Yup, Colorado, Washington state, or Oregon would be your best choices.

Washington is overcrowded. Period. It sucks.

I hear Missoula is nice?

 

[gabenzeke]

Washington is overcrowded. Period. It sucks.

I hear Missoula is nice?

Montana would be my top choice, but I'm having a hard time finding employers out there that would be in the ball park salary-wise based on my experience. Totally open to it if someone knows of something though. Keep the suggestions coming. Totally want to take advantage of the opportunity to move west while the wife is open to it. Not sure if she hit her head or what, but you gotta strike while the iron is hot.

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[HookUp]

Washington is overcrowded. Period. It sucks.

I hear Missoula is nice?

If an area is under populated usually a good reason not to live there. I could live in Idaho, if it had real fishing.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Cost of living is going to dictate salaries for certain fields. Pick a place. If this is ever going to happen you need to mesh to the place that best suits all your families needs. Not trying to get that place to bend to your wishes. It doesn't work that way

 

[cnelk]

Colorado currently has an unemployment rate of less than 3%.
If you want to work, there's lots of it.
Good pay if you can pass a drug test

^^^^ Thats an issue when 'happy hay' is legal for personal use but still illegal for most employers

 

[Poser]

Colorado currently has an unemployment rate of less than 3%.
If you want to work, there's lots of it.
Good pay if you can pass a drug test

^^^^ Thats an issue when 'happy hay' is legal for personal use but still illegal for most employers

I’d say good pay is available on the Front Range, but finding a full time, meaningful job that even pays $15 an hour with benefits on the Western Slope is hard to come by if not seemingly impossible.

 

[neverquit]

I hear Idaho is nice

 

[Hoh Down]

I live in WA. I love a lot of what this state has and i think no other state is as beautiful as it is here, but I absolutely hate the politics and WDWF has royally screwed the pooch on hunting and fishing. Lot's of high paying wages in King County. Median house prices are way up.. think $700-800K to get started. Did I mention taxes?

My family is currently looking to move to the Midwest, but finding jobs that pay what we make here is not realistic, and I'm not sure we are willing to leave the water and scenery behind just yet.

 

[dotman]

Cost of living is going to dictate salaries for certain fields. Pick a place. If this is ever going to happen you need to mesh to the place that best suits all your families needs. Not trying to get that place to bend to your wishes. It doesn't work that way

Unless your from CA, then you force it to change to your way .

 

[charliebravo77]

Not to hijack your thread, but I'm pretty much in the same boat. I've been actively looking for jobs out west but finding something that either doesn't require current residency (I'm looking at you, state of CO) or wouldn't be a significant pay cut even after cost of living changes from Chicago has been difficult. I'm in corporate investigations (due diligence, background investigations, internal investigations, etc.) and unfortunately there don't seem to be a ton of open positions for those jobs that aren't NYC/LA/CHI/SFO/DC.

 

[MacAttack]

Not to hijack your thread, but I'm pretty much in the same boat. I've been actively looking for jobs out west but finding something that either doesn't require current residency (I'm looking at you, state of CO) or wouldn't be a significant pay cut even after cost of living changes from Chicago has been difficult. I'm in corporate investigations (due diligence, background investigations, internal investigations, etc.) and unfortunately there don't seem to be a ton of open positions for those jobs that aren't NYC/LA/CHI/SFO/DC.

Shoot me a PM...there is something similar at my work in WA.

 

[gabenzeke]

I guess I'll just keep digging. I didn't mean I needed the exact same salary, would just like to maintain a similar standard of living. Here in Iowa, banking, insurance, and investment firms are all over the place. But it seems like careers in those industries in much of the West are tough to come by unless I'm either living right in a large city or close enough to commute.

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