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My husband and I are looking to relocate from CA and I have a couple of questions:
1. It looks like from previous threads that I will have a hard time finding a job in the education field. I have been teaching in So Cal for 9 years and I have two Master's in education related fields. So I've kind of given up on the idea of teaching in Boise. My question is how difficult would it be for me to branch out into another type of field like car insurance sales or real estate in the Boise area?
2. My husband has a B.A. in engineering with an emphasis in manufacturing. He has over 7 years of experience as a Q.A. manager. From what I can see the jobs exist in the area from companies like Adecco, Plexus, Volt and others but I am worried about job stability. I know the economy is improving but does anyone know if the engineering industry is suffering in the Boise area? Are employers quickly hiring and firing? Also I have not been able to find much info. about wages in the industry. It appears employers are not willing to divulge this information online. Does anyone know the average salary of someone in the engineering industry in Boise?
Have you searched the local school district websites for jobs? New jobs do come up each year so it's not like there's zero hope. Each local district has a website--do check there for jobs. Boise, Meridian, Kuna would make the most sense.
Insurance and real estate are both fields that if you want to dive in, you can, but it will take a lot of work and at least a year to get established. Some of the best real estate agents come from a teaching background. It's rewarding job if the field appeals to you. It can be lucrative, but it takes a lot of really, really hard work if you want to be a good agent who gives value to your clients and develops a solid referral base for the long-term. Feel free to pm me I'm happy to have coffee with anyone considering real estate as a career and talk through all of the options.
As for engineering, everything I hear is very positive. It's not exactly the sort of field where there is a lot of quick hiring and firing, is it? I think engineering is one of the best fields to be in job-wise in our valley. Even when Micron had major rounds of layoffs a few years ago, the engineers I knew quickly found employment. Now, of course there are lots of types of engineering and many people I know are in computer software/development sorts of jobs. Maybe someone on the forum can speak specifically to manufacturing.
I did speak to the college of engineering at Boise State about four years ago when the real estate market was down (job hazard, by the way) and I was considering going back to school and engineering was an option. At that time, the engineering school at Boise State could not produce graduates fast enough to meet demand in the area. Job-wise, it seems there are quite a few opportunities.
Just anecdotal, but I know three semi-recent BSU engineering grads (within the last 4 years) who haven't been able to find engineering jobs here. At this point I don't know if they gave up or what, because they were good students, but just throwing it out there...
Do you think the reason they had trouble finding jobs maybe the lack of experience? I know that even in CA, most of the engineering jobs require at least 2 years of experience if you are looking for a decent paying job. Additionally, my husband has experience in other areas such as a diesel mechanic for Mercedes, he can do wood working, he can fabricate metals etc... He really has this amazing engineering brain that allows him to see things that most of us don't. He's always in our garage working on something making pool cues, gun parts, parts to fix cars, that kind of stuff.
If we ever make it out to Boise, I will take you up on your offer! Right now we are considering buying a home before the prices and interest rates go up and renting it out until we decide to move out there. We figure that we can put enough down on house in Boise that we could get the payment plus taxes around $600-700 and rent it out for around $900. Our goal is not to try and make a profit but just get the mortgage and taxes covered till we are ready to move. We plan to keep our home in So Cal and rent it out just in case our move does not work out. We have two young boys both under 4, so I would like to make a move out there in the next couple of years before they really get comfortable at our neighborhood elementary school. Which is another reason we want to leave. Class sizes are 33+ in Kindergarten and go up to 35 in 1st-5th!
Why are you giving up on jobs in education? We are moving to Boise and my husband is a math teacher-we have been told by locals that there are always jobs for good teachers, though I know there were big layoffs in the Nampa school district.
I am not necessarily giving up, it is just that I have a social science credential. Social Science teachers are a dime a dozen. I am a good teacher. I've taught for over 9 years, I have a Master's in Education with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction and a Master's in Educational Counseling. I've taught advanced placement classes as well. I know that its really hard for teachers right now. I am just considering other options. Your husband is a math teacher and I am sure he will find a job easy. It is much more difficult to find math teachers than history teachers. Given my experience and credentials, I may be more attractive applicant than most teachers. However, due to my extensive education I will also be expensive to employ.
My hope is that we will be able to put a substantial down payment on a home so that the mortgage and taxes will affordable on one income with my husband working full time in the engineering industry while I sub for awhile or find something in the mean time.
2. My husband has a B.A. in engineering with an emphasis in manufacturing. He has over 7 years of experience as a Q.A. manager. From what I can see the jobs exist in the area from companies like Adecco, Plexus, Volt and others but I am worried about job stability. I know the economy is improving but does anyone know if the engineering industry is suffering in the Boise area? Are employers quickly hiring and firing? Also I have not been able to find much info. about wages in the industry. It appears employers are not willing to divulge this information online. Does anyone know the average salary of someone in the engineering industry in Boise?
I can speak a little to the manufacturing side. First, Adecco and Volt are agencies, not actually employers. For example you may use or hire with Acecco to get a position at Plexus an electronics manufacturer. Again, with the Micron downsize and loss of Zilog and others, much of the electronics manufacturing is gone. Though there are many small manufacturers all over the valley. Micron pays well, but the other smaller manufacturers tend to be at a lower rate as that's what the region accepts/allows. Additionally, Micron just layed off again, I recently met several former employees. The ones who were engineers were expecting to have to leave the area to find comparable work and wage. The jobs I'm aware of through Adecco and Volt may not offer a wage a family can live on. Also I know of highly educated, experienced mechanical engineer who has been looking since January. There is a fair amount of food processing/manufacturing, but they tend to rely heavily on prior experience in the food industry. Not intending to be doom and gloom. There are bright spots and it seems to be improving. This is just our experience as of late. Good Luck and keep us posted.
Amb4814, we haven't lived in Boise since 1996, so I really have no idea about Boise's schools. But, as with our local schools here in Ohio, the problem is that most districts are looking for "young & cheap". Which is truly a shame because districts miss out on a lot of good talent. Best of luck!
The "engineering" shortage in Boise seems to mostly be in the software area. A good software developer should be able to find something pretty quick.
Electrical/mechanical engineering jobs are pretty limited, especially of the manufacturing side. As zoso said, the area used to have a lot of manufacturing operations 15 years ago but they have mostly dried up. Plexus in Nampa is the biggest dedicated electronics manufacturer I am aware of. HP still does a little bit and there are a number of smaller outfits that have small design/manufacturing capabilities. Even our local Fortune 500 company (Micron) no longer manufactures much in the area.
Pay can vary quite a bit. There are lots of places here that seem underfunded and want to pay peanuts. But I would say an experienced engineer can expect something in the $75k-100k range. Maybe a little more at a big company. Good benefit packages can be hard to find, but that's probably true anywhere now.
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