Please help me narrow down my search..set on moving to CO.

[TrailRider86]

I know employment is hard to find out there as it is very competitive here as well. I am fortunate to have a decent job that is giving me great experience and enough pay to save for my move. The reason I want to narrow down my search is that although I've seen jobs in say Greenley, I'm pretty sure I would not like it there. Currently I'm focusing on the greater Denver metro area but the neighborhoods and districts within that huge area is what I'm looking for guidance on. I'm also looking at Boulder. I've also been giving SLC Utah some consideration although I'm not mormon.

[Sonic_Spork]

The hard part about finding work is that many employers won't take your application seriously until you've got a local address and phone number.

I got lucky with my job hunting, but I had the benefit of being the supplemental income to my husband's military pay. I knew before I left my old state what company I wanted to work for, because I searched for my field specifically and found only one organization that was trying to do it. I pestered their HR, and still didn't get hired until I'd been here 4 months. One more month out of work and I was going to hit the temp agencies. But I'm glad it worked out, because they are paying me 12K more than my previous employer.

My story is the exception, to be sure...but it helps to have a great resume and do your research. Find a few companies you could happily work for, then lurk their websites and scope out their job listings. I never had much luck at all with job search sites like Monster, Craigslist, etc. Too much junk job clutter to dig through to find anything good. You're better off checking out companies starting at Google. It's also impressive if you can show up to an interview already knowing things about the company and having a few intelligent questions to ask.

So with that in mind, I'd say do your research, save up enough money to get by for at least 2-3 months without work, move to where your best job prospects are, and then bug the bajeezus out of them until they HIRE YOU. Everything else will fall into place, in time.

Good luck!

[davidv]

Regarding your education:

As a California resident, you are eligible for the Western Undergraduate Exchange program. This program will allow you to pay a tuition rate that is higher than in-state Colorado tuition, but lower than out of state tuition (typically 150% of in-state tuition).

The following Colorado universities will accept WUE transfers:
Colorado Mesa University (Grand Junction)
CSU-Pueblo
Metropolitan State University (Denver)
University of Northern Colorado (Greeley)
University of Colorado-Denver
University of Colorado-Colorado Springs

[TrailRider86]

I think the smartest option right now is to at least start my online bachelor's program at CS East Bay. Then if I can find a job towards graduation, that would work out much better. Hopefully the economy picks up a little more by then as well. I'm just trying to get the hell out of this state but I need to do it the right way.

I'll be visiting for New Year's most likely, so which neighborhoods (and what cities) should I absolutely check out considering my 'requirements'? Anybody from the Bay Area here that can chime in as to a good area I can assimilate into?