Living in Anchorage for a year while I get through grad school? (transplants)

[Waisenkind0211]

Hey everyone, I saw a lot of moving to Alaska threads but some of them were too old and others didn't apply to my situation.

To cut a long story short, I am a computer science grad student at a state university on the East Coast.
I am looking to finish my master's in the next year which will involve putting in at least half a day's worth of studying everyday. I have completed all my lab courses and all my remaining courses can be taken online so I can literally be anywhere in the world.

I have an undergrad degree in business and about 2 years of exp doing admin and other such things.

I want to move to Anchorage while I get through grad school. I am a traveler at heart; I have back packed through Thailand, Egypt, Russia; have an amazing tolerance for the cold (I can walk around comfortably in shorts in 32 degrees) and just love the nature and have a thing for mid-size towns.

I get student aid to pay for rent and food but I try to use as little of it as possible because it comes at 7.2% interest which makes no sense when the inflation rate hasn't gone up over 1.5% in the last decade.

I make friends very easily; I can walk into a bar and walk out in a few hours with half a dozen phone numbers. (At least on the East Coast)

So none of that is a problem. I have never been to Alaska but I have lived in Helsinki for a few months and it has a similar latitude and I never felt depressed due to a lack of sunlight. (I take tons of vit D)

My only question is, if I can't find anything else would it be possible to get 15-30 hours of work at a local bar or restaurant at minimum wage or whatever spring of this year through the summer of 2016?

Basically, a part-time job that I can do everyday even in the winter so I can make some money and also basically, get to leave the house everyday and also just be around other humans.

I looked up CL for food/bev/hosp work and there seemed to be a few people hiring. I just don't know what the economy is like in Anchorage and if there are 50 applications for every opening.

How soon can I expect to find a job like that? I was also not sure about the reputation of continental transplants in Alaska and if locals don't mind hiring someone who just moved there.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[lv2hoop]

Here's my take. With the strong economy in Alaska as of late, the service industry jobs struggle to retain quality workers. If you have your act together up here, there are jobs to be had quite easily. It's like most places, you just have to tie into a network and then things can fall into place.

The other factor that makes a person immensely more employable is what I call "feet on the ground in Anchorage". In other words, we deal with a lot of emails and phone calls from candidates who are still in the Lower 48 and everything is taken with a grain of salt. But once you are in Alaska, hiring becomes more immediate and people generally will take your application much more seriously.

We tend to get inundated with applicants who are planning or thinking of making the move to Alaska and want a job sight unseen. I think most hiring managers keep these applicants at an arms length unless they have a very specific skill that they're looking for. My two cents......good luck!

[Chilkoot]

Originally Posted by lv2hoop

Here's my take. With the strong economy in Alaska as of late, the service industry jobs struggle to retain quality workers. If you have your act together up here, there are jobs to be had quite easily. It's like most places, you just have to tie into a network and then things can fall into place.

I guess this would be a counterpoint...

This article indicates we entered a recession a year ago which may continue for years.

http://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-conte...-Recession.pdf

To quote a very small part of it... "...unless oil prices rebound 4,000 more Alaska jobs will disappear by September, and a total of 20,000 or more will be lost by September 2016."

[AlexeilinkanIT]

Dear Frnds alaska is very beautiful city and this city have natural environment.

[Waisenkind0211]

Thanks for all your responses.

I also read that the military is pulling out 2,600 personnel in the next few months and that retailers were really worried because that's a 30% troop reduction and troop spending accounts for a large chunk of their revenue.

How bad is this going to be? I'd really appreciate if anyone in retail has any information on this.

Thank you

[Chilkoot]

Seasonally you probably wouldn't have much of a problem getting a retail job, particularly as it applies to tourism. Depending on your worth to the retailer you may be able to stay on through the winter. Being able to work weekends and nights helps.

There are many retailers that struggle for seasonal employees and there are several large late winter/early spring job fairs as well as individual employer recruitment sessions in the spring where they all start their summer hiring at about the same time. Same thing in November for the holiday season. January to the start of the tourism season in the spring can be a problem.

Not all are listed here but many are. This changes several times per month.
Job Fairs, Recruitments, and Workshops

[lv2hoop]

Actually the military downsize might help with your job search and with a housing search if you're in the market. We just rented a townhouse in Anchorage for our college aged son, and the realtor said that the military cutbacks are really opening up the housing market in town. Just a silver lining in light of the recent economic bad news.

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by Waisenkind0211

My only question is, if I can't find anything else would it be possible to get 15-30 hours of work at a local bar or restaurant at minimum wage or whatever spring of this year through the summer of 2016?

Basically, a part-time job that I can do everyday even in the winter so I can make some money and also basically, get to leave the house everyday and also just be around other humans.

I looked up CL for food/bev/hosp work and there seemed to be a few people hiring. I just don't know what the economy is like in Anchorage and if there are 50 applications for every opening.

How soon can I expect to find a job like that? I was also not sure about the reputation of continental transplants in Alaska and if locals don't mind hiring someone who just moved there.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Have you looked here? Alaska Jobs | CoolWorks.com
It's mostly seasonal jobs and we are well past the half way point of the summer visitor's season. But keep on eye on it for next year. It's updated regularly.