Moving from CA to Olympia (Seattle, Lacey: headhunter, job market, movie theater)

[rheadabovewater]

Am a native of CA and have lived here all my life, but in my 50's have decided that I need to get outta Dodge and go to southern WA, to join the rest of my family.

Am planning on finding a place to live in or around Olympia (I LOVE downtown); family lives in Elma, can drive to see them. Am an executive assistant and earn approx $70K in CA which I know I won't get (even close) in the Olympia area.

Question: anyone know of a good clerical recruiter/headhunter in the Olympia area?

Also realize in these scary times it's pretty dumb to relocate without a job waiting, but that may end up happening. Have enough $ to live on for about 4 or 5 months before I get really freaked - anyone know if I may have a hard time getting a job there? Have a professional appearance, great personality, excellent resume and work history, never had a hard time getting a job in the past - just want to make enough to live on, the big bucks aren't as important to me now.

Any info is greatly appreciated in advance. =)

[fairweathergolfer]

Hi rheadabovewater! How exciting to be making a move to Olympia or Oly as I called it when I attended college there. Sorry I can not help you regarding recruiter/headhunter tips. No major corporations jump out at me when I am thinking Olympia, but the state Capital does (maybe even The Evergreen State College). These will probably be great places for you to look as well as the recruiters.

I think a good stable job with the state would be fun though especially if you live nearby (then you could walk to work). The lake is just below there (a few blocks) and you can go for walks before, during or after work. I used to live blocks from the Capitol and really enjoyed running the lake in the A.M. There was a really great restaurant down on the pier that had killer raspberry chocolate pie (dense, rich and to die for) and there used to be a good movie theater and a few good coffee shops downtown.

A job at the Capital may overtime bring some excitement that may eventually fizzle as the newness wears off. There may be new technology companies out in the Lacey area, but I would not know as I left right before the big technology boom. Good Luck to you and may you enjoy your move to Olympia. Hopefully others will post more soon.

[rheadabovewater]

Thank you so much fairweather!! I seem to be having a hard time finding employment info re Olympia. I check the Capitol web site every day to see if there are any new openings for which I'd be qualified - I also think it would be great to get my foot in the door - good benefits, etc.

I talked to a headhunter in Seattle yesterday (Seattle is booming, job-wise) and she said that job prospects in the Oly area are not very good for an exec asst. She also said she'd heard that you pretty much have to know someone to get into a government job - not good news, but maybe she was saying that to influence me? Crossing my fingers...

I thought about it overnight and decided that if I'm making this big move to be near family in Elma, I shouldn't live so far away from them that I can't see them during the week.....and Seattle is quite far. So I should try to focus on Olympia and the surrounding areas as much as possible.

I figure this is either the dumbest or smartest thing I've ever done in my life!!

Thanks again (and if anyone else has info on this, would greatly appreciate it) - R.

[DBM]

rheadabovewater--

There is probably *some* truth to the headhunter's comments, but I'd take them with a healthy dash of salt, for a number of reasons. First, she's a private sector headhunter and she probably isn't all that plugged into the public hiring process. Second, she's from Seattle and probably only has a nodding familiarity with the Olympia job market -- Seattle's market is bigger and "hotter", but that's a gross generalization and really doesn't tell you much about the Olympia market -- unemployment is low in Olympia, too, so there must be jobs there. Third, and you kind of hinted at this, she may be trying to recruit you for herself.

You mentioned the "Capitol" website -- are you checking access.wa.gov? It's the overall state website, and you can navigate around to check out various employment opportunities at different state agencies. By the way, knowing someone helps, but it is not a must for getting a state job -- that was an overstatement by the headhunter. Another website I would suggest is mrsc.org -- ("Municipal Research & Services Council") it's the umbrella organization for towns & counties. Go to the index and find "jobnet" and you can search for more government jobs. I assume you're looking at the Olympian newspaper want ads online. By the way, you mentioned your general job category (clerical, executive assistant) -- is your experience in a particular subject area (law, medicine, gov't?).

Finally, I would agree that if your goal is to spend time with family in Elma, you should focus on the Olympia area. With traffic, Elma is 2 hours away from Seattle during the week (1 1/2 on weekends). That's too far for routine visits. I worked and lived in Seattle with family in Olympia, and I only got down for the occasional weekend and for holidays. If that's enough for you, fine, but if you're looking for more contact, you will need to be closer.

Good luck!

[rheadabovewater]

That is EXTREMELY helpful DBM, thank you so much!! I think I am already viewing one of the sites you mentioned, but I will check out the others - thanks again!!

[Ultrarunner]

Olympia High School was named to the top five percent of public high schools in the country, according to a ranking published by Newsweek magazine and the Washington Post.