Boise Business Professional Job Market?? (Pocatello, Hope: sales, real estate, broker)

[jareda80]

Hey, new to the board and looking for some advice. I'm a single 28 year old looking to relocate to Boise. I grew up in Pocatello but currently live in Logan, UT and work for a large aerospace company as a Contracts Manager. I'm looking to relocate to Boise and have been searching the web and all the job search sites but I'm not having much luck finding anything that fits my resume. Is there much of a market for MBA type business professional jobs in the $75K plus range? I'm sure they are not plentiful but there have got to be some I would think. Any recommended place to look or placement agencies or recruiters that specialize in what I'm looking for?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[micrguy]

For jobs that pay over $50,000 it is very competitive in Boise. Boise is full of people that have a lot of experience willing to work for less money so that they can enjoy living in Boise. Last year when I was looking for a sales job one of the people interviewing me left the room, so I got up and quickly glanced at the resumes of the other candidates. I was kind of shocked to find out that I was the least qualified for a mid-level sales job that paid around $55,000 a year. I have over ten years of a really solid background in sales and I was up against guys that had over twenty years of experience and had been VP's of sales or national sales directors at other companies, the kind of jobs that pay $100,000+ a year.

I have been shocked at some of the people that I have met living in Boise. We have a really large talent pool to draw from and these people are willing to make half as much as they could elsewhere in order to live in Boise. Some of the people that I know that are making really good money basically brought there own job to Boise. Boise is a great place to telecommute and our airport makes it easy to get flights out of town. I know a couple of people working for Fortune 500 companies that ten years ago would have had to live in the same city as the headquarters, but with webinars and conference calls they can relocate to Boise. All they have to do is fly to their office once or twice a month.

[Torrie]

Look at the charts on this website; it breaks down the household incomes.

This is for 2007

14.9 % earn $75k-99k
21.3% earn 50k-74k

Notice how the lower household incomes seem to be shrinking from 2000 to 2007 and the larger household incomes have increased. It also shows our median household income to be above the national average.

One more interesting trend to note is the the projection for 2012. It shows a 6.3% increase in the $100,000k-$149,999k household income, the largest increase of all the household incomes. Also notice that the larger incomes increase where the lower incomes show to decrease. Granted this is a projection not a fact, but when you look back at 2000 the trend continues to show an increase making the 2012 projection a strong reality.


http://www.bvep.org/assets/docs/demo...omeprofile.pdf

If you haven't looked all ready, go to the Boise-Metro one stop shop thread at the top of the page in the Boise forum. Click on the first post, scroll down to jobs and click on the last link in the jobs section and you can get an idea of how many jobs are in your field and what the average pay is- maybe you've done this all ready- just want to make sure you're aware it's there.

It will be competitive in your income range, then again, depending on your industry you might have better luck if they can't find qualified people within the area to fill their job openings. This has happened with some of the positions in the Tech Industry.

Networking seems to be key in this market and that's how some of us on the forum have gotten our jobs. It might not be easy, but don't give up as the quality of life that the metro area has to offer will be well worth it.

Hope this helps!

[Torrie]

Check out the income for your age bracket:
It shows for the year 2000 and 2007.

www.bvep.org/assets/docs/agebyincomeprofile.pdf

[jareda80]

Thanks for the input. It looks like there are definately some higher paying jobs in the area, just a matter of finding them. I would like to find something in the $90-$100K range if possible but may have to be willing to accept a lower salary in order to get up there. The hard thing is the higher paying jobs don't really make the job websites like Monster, CareerBuilder, etc. I'd like to find good recruiter in the area. I know alot of other professionals that have used them and found great jobs that weren't advertised to the public.

Torrie, I see you are an agent. I am actually just finishing up my real estate classes and am planning on starting as a part-time agent on the side. With the market being down like it is up there, are agents having a really tough time?

[Torrie]

Yes it has been difficult for both new and seasoned agents. You will have a tough time doing it on a part-time basis and being successful unless you have a large sphere of influence to work from. IMO you really need to be out there full-time in order to understand what's going on in the market and to better serve your clients. I think agents miss a lot of good information and networking possibilities within their agencies and outside their agencies when working part-time. You also might run into people that don't want to work with you because you're part-time. It's not always the case but I've seen it happen.

That being said there are agents that do work on a part-time basis, but usually they have a second income/significant other that can offer financial support. As you will find out if you don't know all ready, it can be very expensive to be an agent. Some brokerage firms don't want part-time agents so be careful who you talk to when deciding where to hang your license. There's another agent on this board AlleyTD that works on a part-time basis, maybe she will see your post and offer some advice.

[Anchorless]

Though the data for 2007 and 2012 are merely forecasts, that is an interesting source - I had been looking for something like that for a while now.

[jareda80]

Thanks Torrie. I understand that working as a part-time agent will have it's challenges. You make some very valid points. But at the same time, I can't justify leaving a well paying salaried job and starting fresh as an new agent in a new city as my only source of income. That is why I'd like to find work up there and start my real estate part-time if I can make it work. My dad is a broker in Pocatello and was thinking of opening an office in Boise with another broker which would help me get started.

[Torrie]

Originally Posted by jareda80

Thanks Torrie. I understand that working as a part-time agent will have it's challenges. You make some very valid points. But at the same time, I can't justify leaving a well paying salaried job and starting fresh as an new agent in a new city as my only source of income. That is why I'd like to find work up there and start my real estate part-time if I can make it work. My dad is a broker in Pocatello and was thinking of opening an office in Boise with another broker which would help me get started.

I hear ya.