Could it be....we might actually be able to relocate to Denver?? (Aurora: lease, house)

[azcater]

Well, we just got bad news... husband is being laid off effective 8/1. So, we've decided that now is as good a time as any to try and make the move. The job market here in Phx really bites, he's been looking for the last year anyway.. But, we'll make the best of a bad situation. I have family in Denver so we have a place to stay when we get there, but I am overwhelmed and excited with everything that has to get done in order for us to get up and leave Phoenix.

So, any and all advice for a family of 3 (we have a 3yr old little boy) would be greatly appreciated. We have come to visit a few times and we've settled on the following areas to find a house (we're hoping to do a lease option): Centennial, Englewood, Aurora (certain parts), Highlands Ranch, Littleton, maybe Parker.. Hubbie is targeting DTC as a place to find work since he works in IT.

I can't believe we may have actually found a way out of the scorching summers here!

[Bradburn1]

My husband is in IT also and depending you your hubby's area of expertise, the job market here is actually not too bad. I would suggest however, that you wait to lease anything until your husband lands another job since not all IT jobs are down south, since you said you could stay with family.

There are three major IT job concentration areas in/around Denver--the Denver Tech Center (DTC) which is close to the areas you are looking, downtown Denver, and Interlocken (business park in Broomfield)/Louisville/Boulder. The southern residential areas would work for the first two, but would be a long commute if his job ended up being up north. My husband was recently looking for an IT job and every interview he had was in Boulder.

I moved from Phoenix to Colorado, believe me you will LOVE the summers here--the kids can actually play outside!

Good luck!

[MichiganMovesSouth]

Originally Posted by Bradburn1

My husband is in IT also and depending you your hubby's area of expertise, the job market here is actually not too bad. I would suggest however, that you wait to lease anything until your husband lands another job since not all IT jobs are down south, since you said you could stay with family.

There are three major IT job concentration areas in/around Denver--the Denver Tech Center (DTC) which is close to the areas you are looking, downtown Denver, and Interlocken (business park in Broomfield)/Louisville/Boulder. The southern residential areas would work for the first two, but would be a long commute if his job ended up being up north. My husband was recently looking for an IT job and every interview he had was in Boulder.

I moved from Phoenix to Colorado, believe me you will LOVE the summers here--the kids can actually play outside!

Good luck!

When you say "depending on what area of expertise" what area would you suggest is in demand? Sorry to jump in here. My husband was laid off from an IT job in March and has yet to find a new job in MI. He worked as a network administrator. He is currently working on getting his CISCO certification in hopes that will help him get a job.

We live in MI now and actually bought our first house back in November b/c he was promoted at work! As you may know MI is NOT doing well at all. We are trying our best to find work here so we don't have to sell our house but we have talked lately about taking the plunge and looking elsewhere as so many of us Michiganders have had to do. I have a great job here but I work at home part time and would hopefully be able to keep my job if we moved and work at home full time.

Anyway, again, sorry to jump on the OP's question but I guess I am curious as to IT jobs in and around Denver as well since we are begining to consider moving there an option. Ignore my screen name - over a year ago I thought we might move south but after visiting twice we've decided that we don't like it as much as we thought we would!

Thanks for any info on IT jobs!!

[Katiana]

I know a number of IT professionals here who are now laid off. One has been out of work for a year now, another, my backyard neighbor, is coming on close to a year. He (neighbor) was laid off from Sun in one of their big RIFs. That said, there are a few people getting hired. If you have to job hunt, it may make sense to relocate.

I agree with Bradburn that you should rent until the job situation is worked out. In addition to the three job centers she mentioned, there is also the city of Boulder itself. Plus, there are quite a few IT jobs in Jefferson County, and actually spread all over the metro. (My DH is in IT/telecom, too. Lots of people are here.) It is quite a distance from Highlands Ranch/Parker to Boulder! You would not want to commit to driving that every day for forever.

[azcater]

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully he'll be able to find a job fairly quickly (I can hope right!) because we can't stay with family more than a month or so.... But I was doing some research this morning and did realize that DTC isn't the only area that has a high concentration of tech jobs. So, that's good information to keep in mind. We're open to anywhere near the Denver metro area as long as it's safe and has great schools!

[Katiana]

Do not worry too much about the schools. Regardless of what you read on greatschools and other sites, most of the schools districts in the metro area are well regarded and produce graduates who go to good colleges, which is, in any event, a long time from now for you.

[Bradburn1]

There is some demand even in this economy for .net developers, my husband is still getting calls and emails for jobs for those although he started a new job in April. Some also for Java but not as much and especially with the Oracle/Sun merger. I'm expecting a flood of Java people on the local job market within the next 6 or so months, so if you're Java and want a job in the Denver area, it might be a good idea to look now.

I agree with Katiana about the schools, there are good public schools everywhere in Denver, even if you live in the city neighborhoods. I would check the schools in the area you are interested in to see if they fit your needs but otherwise wouldn't worry too much about that.

My husband was looking for a job a few months ago and it took him a little over a month to find a new position, but I also do know other IT people who are having a harder time.

[Mike from back east]

Azcater, consensus of job seekers on this board is that you probably won't get interviews unless you show a local address and phone number on your resume. Some recommend getting a Vonage phone number with local area code (303 or 720) so that your calls look local. Since you have family here, you can use their address and phone number. All is fair in love and war -- and economic survival.

[ucbedge]

Is this really true? I havent heard of this before - I thought resumes were "scanned" for certain keywords and such, not addresses. If so, is there a way around the "address" rule somehow?

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Azcater, consensus of job seekers on this board is that you probably won't get interviews unless you show a local address and phone number on your resume. Some recommend getting a Vonage phone number with local area code (303 or 720) so that your calls look local. Since you have family here, you can use their address and phone number. All is fair in love and war -- and economic survival.

[MichiganMovesSouth]

Originally Posted by ucbedge

Is this really true? I havent heard of this before - I thought resumes were "scanned" for certain keywords and such, not addresses. If so, is there a way around the "address" rule somehow?

I agree that I'm not sure this is true. My husband said that most jobs he has applied to have asked him to fill out an application. On the application it asks for you home address and then asks you to check a box that all information you have provided is true and that false info is fraudulent etc, etc.

I just don't agree with lying to get a job - so then what happens, you go for an interview and the hiring manager says "I noticed your address on your resume - I live 3 doors down from you!" Or, "Did you have trouble finding us with all the detours and road work out there by you..." I mean, what happens when it comes out that you actually flew in from out of state that morning, that can't be good!