Wanting to move to CO from VA (Denver, Colorado Springs: apartment, to rent)

[Taylor07]

Hi everyone,
I could sure use some advice about the possibility of moving to Colorado from Virginia. I've never lived in Colorado but have visited briefly, and now want to move there for the outdoors, people, and lifestyle. I am single, 49 years old, and my concern is moving without having a job lined up.

I've tried to find jobs through Monster.com, but it seems employers want you to be in CO before being able to interview. Its scary to move without a job and only 2 to 3 months of financial cushion. I'd be happy to rent an apartment. My work has been in corporate (telecom/tech industry in VA) as a technical and business writer and trainer.

Anyone have any suggestions on moving without a job lined up and also where to live around Denver in the suburbs if I don't have a job location yet?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Taylor07

Hi everyone,
I could sure use some advice about the possibility of moving to Colorado from Virginia. I've never lived in Colorado but have visited briefly, and now want to move there for the outdoors, people, and lifestyle. I am single, 49 years old, and my concern is moving without having a job lined up.

I've tried to find jobs through Monster.com, but it seems employers want you to be in CO before being able to interview. Its scary to move without a job and only 2 to 3 months of financial cushion. I'd be happy to rent an apartment. My work has been in corporate (telecom/tech industry in VA) as a technical and business writer and trainer.

Anyone have any suggestions on moving without a job lined up and also where to live around Denver in the suburbs if I don't have a job location yet?

This was addressed on the Colorado Springs forum. Check a post from Mike from Back East. He had an idea. I forgot how it worked.

[Tom Emmerling]

You might want to try to line up a job just to get you by when you get out here. Like at Home Depot. I am sure they have a way that you could interview at a local Home Depot and get hired on out here. Or even Wal Mart, Target, King Soopers, etc. At least you would have something until you could get a job in your line of work. Also look in Colorado papers like the Denver Post, Fort Collins Coloradoan, Loveland Reporter Herald etc. Good Luck

[OutOfSoCal]

If you have 3 months worth of saving I say just GO FOR IT. You only live once and there is no reward without risk. Take a chance whats the worse thing that could happen? you have to do a semi crappy job for a bit, thats not too bad it buids character.

[tfox]

The job market in the tech industry is quite good now, unemployment is very low, and we have loads of telecomm companies in Denver. I'm sure you know that Denver and Boulder have 90% of the tech jobs in Colorado. If you can get a job easily in VA, I doubt you'll have much of a problem in Denver/Boulder. If you're more specialized in a certain niche, that might be harder.

Unfortunately, my experience is generally that companies here are not used to paying relocation expenses and strongly prefer someone local. I think it's because there's no shortage of younger people who self-move. For that reason, your resume is likely to be ignored completely if you're out of driving distance of Colorado.

If you're serious about coming here, my advice is to set a date of your move into the future, and start sending out your resume stating your move date is xx/xx/2007, and you can start xx/xx/2007. I think you're far more likely to get attention that way. Some also suggest putting a local address on your resume as well, though DON'T be deceptive about it. Simply state that your address WILL BE such-and-such on xx/xx/2007. Hopefully, you can get a few in-person interviews lined up for when you come and in that way minimize the time you'd be out of work.

[Katarina Witt]

You could also try a headhunter who would help you deal with the out of state issue.

[OBATAIYE]

im also moving from VA to CO

[CosmicWizard]

My wife and I made a VA ( Virginia Beach ) to CO ( Grand Junction ) move 3 years ago, though we didin't know that we'd end up in CO when we left. We had no job offers when we hit the road. We put everything in storage, loaded up the cars and drove cross country to AZ. We spent time scouting out places in AZ, NM, and CO. When a job offer did come thru in Grand Junction-CO, it had a strong impact on our decision to choose Grand Junction as our new home. Nothing like having a source of income to calm the mind. Just to be clear, there were many other things we liked about Grand Junction in addition to having a job offer. A job offer alone would not have been enough keep us here. IMO, unless a person is financially pressed, there's gotta be more than the job aspect for choosing a place to live.