Boise Job Market dead? (cheap house, construction, college)

[micrguy]

When I moved here I met with a corporate head hunter based in Boise and this is what he told me about the job market. If you are looking for any type of professional white collar job that pays anywhere in the vicinity of $50,000 the majority of those jobs are never advertised. Of those jobs, this head hunter said about 60% of these positions do not exist and are only created when the right person comes along. My employer was not looking to hire anyone, but when they saw my resume they created a position for me. My background is in professional sales and it took me only 3 weeks to find a job.

Boise is big on networking and who you know. So if you want to find a job you need to tell everyone you meet that you are looking for a job. The person I told that I needed a job passed my resume along to some of his suppliers who then contacted me. Don't go looking for job postings on the internet or in the paper because they are not there, if a job is listed in the paper it's because it is a crappy job that nobody wants. You have to create your own job if you move to Boise.

[CrownVic95]

Well, Torrie, this is the comment that I felt was inappropriate and put me on the defensive – "Nothing good comes easy and the great jobs aren't going to be handed to you". I don’t think anyone asked for anything to be handed to them – I know I certainly didn’t. That was as though someone had said that Boise owes them a living.

I appreciate your trying to help, though.

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by micrguy

When I moved here I met with a corporate head hunter based in Boise and this is what he told me about the job market. If you are looking for any type of professional white collar job that pays anywhere in the vicinity of $50,000 the majority of those jobs are never advertised. Of those jobs, this head hunter said about 60% of these positions do not exist and are only created when the right person comes along. My employer was not looking to hire anyone, but when they saw my resume they created a position for me. My background is in professional sales and it took me only 3 weeks to find a job.

Boise is big on networking and who you know. So if you want to find a job you need to tell everyone you meet that you are looking for a job. The person I told that I needed a job passed my resume along to some of his suppliers who then contacted me. Don't go looking for job postings on the internet or in the paper because they are not there, if a job is listed in the paper it's because it is a crappy job that nobody wants. You have to create your own job if you move to Boise.

Thank you for that info.

Unfortunately, though, it just confirms my doubts about my chances there because A) The only people I knew in Boise were Albertson’s people and they have left town and B) I’m a numbers guy – not a sales guy like you – and my zeal for "networking" is limited. It’s just not my thing because I frankly don’t enjoy it. I guess I should add an asterisk to that comment, however. I have lived in this Bay Area for the last 17 years and I enjoy it less here than in the Midwest and East where I lived years ago. The general quality (or lack thereof) of the people here is, frankly, the main reason I want to move.

I can certainly see, BTW, that the Boise job postings on the Internet are crappy jobs that nobody else wants. That’s what prompted my original comment.

Are you with Micron or is your handle just coincidence?

[Torrie]

Originally Posted by CrownVic95

Well, Torrie, this is the comment that I felt was inappropriate and put me on the defensive – "Nothing good comes easy and the great jobs aren't going to be handed to you". I don’t think anyone asked for anything to be handed to them – I know I certainly didn’t. That was as though someone had said that Boise owes them a living.

I appreciate your trying to help, though.

Hey CrownVic I can understand why you felt that. I probably could have used a better choice of words so sorry to offend- not my intention. The message that I was trying to get across is that Boise is not like other places where you go and open the paper and find a ton of white collar positions. We just don't have that kind of population here to support that, so those jobs get snatched up quickly, usually by word of mouth. I just don't want people to give up because the don't "see anything". The jobs are out there and my hope was to give you and others an inside as to how to find them. I'm just trying to get people away from the expectation that they will open the paper and find the jobs, it' just a different kind of market here.

Don't give up, maybe someone on this forum might have a connection for you in the line of work you do?

[micrguy]

Originally Posted by CrownVic95

Are you with Micron or is your handle just coincidence?

No, my background is in selling financial and security documents(checks and bank forms) that are printed with MICR ink, hence the nickname.

Good luck on a job search, Boise in many ways is still a small town and it's not what you know but who you know that gets you in the door. You may want to call a head hunter to see what they can find for you.

[AlleyTD]

I wanted to chime in because my husband did find his white collar job via the internet. We checked the state, city and county job postings daily and applied for many openings. The job he actually got he applied for a year ago (and didn't get it) ... after his resume was rejected ... he wrote a nice note to the employer. When another opportunity arose and he applied the employer remembered the note. I know they tell you that in career counseling and it seems lame, but it really works.
The employer even mentioned the old note during in the interview.

One thing we noticed was that Phone interviews did NOT go well at all. When this job came up, we knew we had to fly him up to interview ... yes, it's tough to spend the money on airfare for a job you MIGHT get. We, however, are 100% convinced that if he didn't fly up and interview in person, he would have never gotten the job. He flew up for two other jobs and third time was the charm. It's a close knit office and community and face time is very important. All I can say is if you can find a way to swing it, interview in person whenever possible ... it will GREATLY increase your chances.

[CrownVic95]

No problem, Torrie – thanks for trying to help.

Torrie and micrguy, in that Boise is a different sort of job hunting challenge, if I were to come visit for 3 or 4 days, what would your advice be on how to spend it? Like I said, I don’t know anyone up there now. Is there a particular headhunter you would recommend? I have worked in the past with several temp agencies here like Accountemps. My accounting experience is at the senior accounting clerk level, but I’d like to find an opportunity where I could move into a Financial Analyst position in the near future. I have done a lot of different things in the past, but am most at home sitting in front of a computer working with software and numbers.

Being a numbers guy, I’m also a pretty fair Greyhound racing handicapper. One of the stops I would make in Boise is Les Bois Park, where there is Greyhound simulcasting. I haven’t had a chance to play the Greyhounds since I left Kansas City in 1990.

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by AlleyTD

I wanted to chime in because my husband did find his white collar job via the internet. We checked the state, city and county job postings daily and applied for many openings. The job he actually got he applied for a year ago (and didn't get it) ... after his resume was rejected ... he wrote a nice note to the employer. When another opportunity arose and he applied the employer remembered the note. I know they tell you that in career counseling and it seems lame, but it really works.
The employer even mentioned the old note during in the interview.

One thing we noticed was that Phone interviews did NOT go well at all. When this job came up, we knew we had to fly him up to interview ... yes, it's tough to spend the money on airfare for a job you MIGHT get. We, however, are 100% convinced that if he didn't fly up and interview in person, he would have never gotten the job. He flew up for two other jobs and third time was the charm. It's a close knit office and community and face time is very important. All I can say is if you can find a way to swing it, interview in person whenever possible ... it will GREATLY increase your chances.

So I take it you are there now? Where did you move from and what do you think so far?

[AlleyTD]

Yes, we're here now.
So far, so good. We are very happy with the move.
We came from AZ.

[micrguy]

CrownVic95 - have you thought about telecommuting? I have met a couple of guys that appear to do something similar to what you are looking for and they live in Boise and do some occasional travel to visit the companies that they work for. So you could get a job that does not care where you live and then move to Boise.