Employers/types of work around Cheyenne (job market, income, living)

[Checkered24]

I have been dreaming of moving to Wyoming, and particularly Cheyenne for some time. I love the area! However, I have hit a bit of a road block in trying to determine what I would be doing there to make a living.

My background is primarily in an office environment, and in particular benefits adjudication. I am not bound by that particular field or career, and in fact am not even really a huge fan of office work.

So what kinds of major employers are there around Cheyenne. I have been keeping an eye on some of the want ads, but they are generally never a really good guage at what might be available anyway. I know there is the air base, but what else?

Any ideas, hints, tips, or tricks anyone would care to offer?

Thank you all very much!

[sunsprit]

The biggest employers in Cheyenne would be city, state and Federal agencies, followed by the railroad (and related employers, such as NorTrak), the AFBase, and then various private businesses.

Outside of the ads in the Cheyenne newspaper, the best source for jobs in the area would be the Wyoming Works website, which lists all of the jobs through the state of Wyoming employment assistance agency. There's lots of jobs there which are not advertised anywhere else; you can register on-line to access the database and the service is free.

There's no real "tricks" that I know of to get jobs in Cheyenne. The biggest factors are to be here, be available to work, and be willing to accept a potentially lower wage scale than you might expect in other job markets. The main reason jobs pay a lower rate here is that there's a substantial local military retiree population that is willing to work for that rate and it depresses the market for skilled people in many trades or professional jobs. I know several retired military ... officers (with handsome retirement benefits/income, like a full Colonel working at a hardware store as counter help) ... to enlisted with IT skills that are willing to work just to keep themselves "busy" in their retirement and income is not a primary concern for them (even though they've just turned 45, they've got it "made").

Good luck on your job search.