Software Engineer, Colorado a good place or unrealistic? (Denver, Colorado Springs: relocation, travel)

[jstad]

This is my first post on this forum, even though I have been reading it for quite some time. I am graduating from the University of Iowa in the spring and am hoping to head out to the Denver/Boulder area. I am originally from Chicago and am used to the big city lifestyle however I crave to have the try the outdoor lifestyle that the Mountains offer. I have had a job offer in Chicago for ~$62K but I am debating turning that down in hopes of following my pipe dream of snowboarding on the weekends, fishing, camping, hiking, etc.

So my questions are

1.) How good is the job market for Software Engineers in the Denver, Boulder, and Mountain Towns (I doubt that it is very good in the mountains, if there is anything)?

2.) What should I expect to make out there? Will it come close to what my current job offer is?

3.) What areas could I afford to live in and still have money to do the snowboarding, hiking, camping, cycling stuff? My goal is to live near CU campus as my girlfriend still has 2 years left to finish college, is this realistic?

4.) Is it realistic to think that I can go snowboarding a couple times a month? or am I better off taking 2 trips out of my chicago job for a few days?

5.) I am hoping to have a live in a place with a decent commute to Denver for night life and sporting events (close proximity to night entertainment)

6.) How is the music scene in Denver/Boulder? In chicago it is always nice to go to a local bar for some live music or get tickets to a small show. Also is there any plays or theatre's in the area besides @ CU?

I am asking all these questions to figure out if Denver is a good fit for me or if I am better suited elsewhere. My goal is to live somewhere with mountains nearby or surrounding so I can do things like snowboarding and fishing. If you don't think Denver is the place for me, where do you recommend? I am going to be the first to move out West (outside of AZ) and I am unfamiliar with other "mountain areas".

ANY help is appreciated.

[jazzlover]

I can only tell you what I know based on the experience of a friend of mine who is a software engineer in Fort Collins. He has family ties to Fort Collins and does not want to leave. Because of downsizings, mergers, acquisitions, etc., he is now working for the fourth company there in 5 years. He now has to travel, much of that out-of-country until recently, for as much as 4-6 weeks at a time, on a regular basis. That has not been easy on his family. I wouldn't say that it is impossible to get a job in the region in your field (good people who actually want to work are hard to find anyplace), but there are a lot of high-tech people like my friend who don't want to leave Colorado, have good qualifications, and have been displaced by the turmoil in the high-tech industry. So the job market can be pretty competitive. I used to work in a related field where we contracted with software and computer firms and had some computer people on staff. 2 or 3 years ago, you couldn't find people to hire in those fields. The last few months I was working where I was, those kind of people were knocking on our door wondering if we were going to have any openings.

I will let others comment on Boulder in depth. I have done work there and it is not a place I would choose to live. There is a fairly good music scene in Denver. It's jazz scene, in particular (notice my "handle"), is one of the best between Chicago and the West Coast--I don't really like Denver, but its live jazz scene is one of its redeeming qualities.

[NatureCoastFL]

As a fellow software engineer, I need to ask what is your specialty? Do you even have one yet? What languages do you prefer? In my searching the denver area, I have found more internet type jobs (ASP, PHP, MYSQL, JAVA etc..) in the metro denver area, where the more traditional software engineering jobs are in colorado springs using C++, C, ADA. You really have two distinct areas, with the Raytheons, Lockheed martins and defense contractors in Colorado Springs, while Denver has the high tech internet companies, and fortune 500 companies.

The best bet is to start at dice.com and monster.com and setup some job search agents to email you daily job listing and see what you like and were it is offered.

I do not yet live in the denver area, but am hoping to one day soon thats why I am researching the jobs.

Good luck to you, and post back your results....

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by jstad

4.) Is it realistic to think that I can go snowboarding a couple times a month? or am I better off taking 2 trips out of my chicago job for a few days?

If you want to, yes, you can. When we lived in Denver, I skied weekends mostly, and hit a high of 53 days one season. And I had buddies who skied even more.

While the drive can be bad, you have to (a) time the traffic, (b) carpool as often as possible, and (c) know the back-roads. If you can do these three, the drive up and down won't be as much of a drag as many people make it out to be.

[BigCheeze]

What NatureCoastFL says. You're skills will make a difference.

Also, as an InfoSec guy I would highly recommend to ALL developers to go check out the SANS GSSP certification. As of yet I have been right in guiding my carer to stay gainfully employed and I have a feeling that those holding a Security Certification in application development will be the most in demand, and the most paid.

[tfox]

We've discussed the job market on several recent threads. I think the consensus is that there is a fairly good rate of hiring right now, but that salaries in Denver and Boulder aren't as high as they are in some places. We also discussed that since so many qualified people relocate to Denver on their own dime with no job in hand (because they want to live here); companies can be stingy about paying relocation, or even bothering to look at candidates with out of state addresses. This can be a source of frustration if you live out of state.

Boulder and Denver are basically one single employment market and both cities have their share of opportunities. As jazzlover mentioned, Fort Collins and basically all other employment markets in the state have far fewer jobs and competition tends to be higher.

As for snowboarding, you can go as often as you care to -- your commute to the closer ski areas will be 1-2 hours without traffic, depending on where you live in the Metro Area and which ski area you're going to. Weekend traffic to the resorts can be anywhere from a mild annoyance to serious frustration. During ski season, I've found that some employers in Metro Denverare amenable to allowing employees to work Saturdays in exchange for a weekday -- weekday skiing is so much more relaxing -- little traffic, no lift lines.

[jstad]

Originally Posted by NatureCoastFL

As a fellow software engineer, I need to ask what is your specialty? Do you even have one yet? What languages do you prefer? In my searching the denver area, I have found more internet type jobs (ASP, PHP, MYSQL, JAVA etc..) in the metro denver area, where the more traditional software engineering jobs are in colorado springs using C++, C, ADA. You really have two distinct areas, with the Raytheons, Lockheed martins and defense contractors in Colorado Springs, while Denver has the high tech internet companies, and fortune 500 companies.

The best bet is to start at dice.com and monster.com and setup some job search agents to email you daily job listing and see what you like and were it is offered.

I do not yet live in the denver area, but am hoping to one day soon thats why I am researching the jobs.

Good luck to you, and post back your results....

I am well rounded enough that I can do programming any almost any area. The only thing I always try to avoid is being more of a "web designer" / "web master". Outside of that, as long as it is something innovative and uses creativity. That is very important to the type of job I am looking for.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by jstad

This is my first post on this forum, even though I have been reading it for quite some time. I am graduating from the University of Iowa in the spring and am hoping to head out to the Denver/Boulder area. I am originally from Chicago and am used to the big city lifestyle however I crave to have the try the outdoor lifestyle that the Mountains offer. I have had a job offer in Chicago for ~$62K but I am debating turning that down in hopes of following my pipe dream of snowboarding on the weekends, fishing, camping, hiking, etc.

So my questions are

1.) How good is the job market for Software Engineers in the Denver, Boulder, and Mountain Towns (I doubt that it is very good in the mountains, if there is anything)?

This has been answered already; I'll defer to the experts. Whenever I say it's not great in the mtns, someone disagrees with me, so try the mtns if you want. I would certainly say it's not as large a market as Denver/Boulder or even FT. Collins.

2.) What should I expect to make out there? Will it come close to what my current job offer is?

My DH has worked in telecom and other "high-tech" stuff here for 30+ years. Right now he does some hiring, says the general starting salary for the field is ~ $50K. There is a wide variation.

3.) What areas could I afford to live in and still have money to do the snowboarding, hiking, camping, cycling stuff? My goal is to live near CU campus as my girlfriend still has 2 years left to finish college, is this realistic?

You could live in Boulder. I doubt you would want to live in most of the apt complexes where the undergrads live. It doesn't take too long to get around Boulder; it's not that big.

4.) Is it realistic to think that I can go snowboarding a couple times a month? or am I better off taking 2 trips out of my chicago job for a few days?

I would say, yes, but. But you might want to do other things. You mentioned music, theater and sporting events.

5.) I am hoping to have a live in a place with a decent commute to Denver for night life and sporting events (close proximity to night entertainment)

Could be done.

6.) How is the music scene in Denver/Boulder? In chicago it is always nice to go to a local bar for some live music or get tickets to a small show. Also is there any plays or theatre's in the area besides @ CU?

I don't know the music scene well, as I am beyond that. However, I think it is decent. There is plenty of theater. There is the Denver Center for the Performing Arts which has top-notch shows; the Arvada Center which also has high quality performances; many smaller and community theaters.

I am asking all these questions to figure out if Denver is a good fit for me or if I am better suited elsewhere. My goal is to live somewhere with mountains nearby or surrounding so I can do things like snowboarding and fishing. If you don't think Denver is the place for me, where do you recommend? I am going to be the first to move out West (outside of AZ) and I am unfamiliar with other "mountain areas".

ANY help is appreciated.

Hope this helps.

[bashep]

I think it is great that you are comfortable with most languages, however what language do you have experience in? That is the key... If you don't have experience in a certain language you are limiting your opportunitites. My husband would hire a person that is experienced in a certain language over one that is ok/average in all of them. I encourage you to find the few languages you want to master and master them. That looks best on the resume'. It is so hard to say too much, because it is not like we have your resume here in front of us.

I definitely would agree that you just need to go to monster or dice and start applying. Even if you have to go to Chicago now, because that is a job and you need one... You can ALWAYS move out here if something becomes available. It sounds like you are young and can just move where ever you want, so enjoy that freedom and follow your dreams!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by jstad

1.) How good is the job market for Software Engineers in the Denver, Boulder, and Mountain Towns (I doubt that it is very good in the mountains, if there is anything)?

I didn't scan every word of the previous posts but the Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs areas are big on defense jobs so I'm pretty sure you'd have no problems getting a job which requires a clearance. A clearance is a very good thing to have....your job is unlikely to be sent overseas.