Moving to Grand Junction, employment question (Denver: condo, townhouse, job market)

[bmcass]

As the title says, I'm planning to move to Grand Junction, probably in the spring or early summer, and am interested in employment opportunities. I've begun researching companies and jobs in the area, but I'm concerned about securing employment while still living out of state. Ideally, I'd like to have a job lined up prior to my move, however, I'm wondering if I'll inevitably have to move first before finding a job. For anyone that has experience with this, I'd love to hear your input. What challenges were you able to successfully address finding a job, especially coming from out of state? How were you able to make successful contact with potential employers? Did you have any luck applying online?

A little background information: I'm 38 years old, single, and hold a B.S. in Sociology, and an M.B.A., with a concentration in marketing. My work experience has been in retail, mostly in management, but I'm very open minded to entering a new industry and position completely different from what I know. I'd also like to buy a condo or townhouse in Grand Junction, and would need a well-paying enough job that'll enable me to do so. I've been to Colorado several times, including Grand Junction. I was also considering the Front Range, but like the different pace of life, lower cost of living and affordability, high desert topography, proximity to national parks and monuments, and quaint, intimate feel of Grand Junction, especially relative to the major metropolis of Denver and the entire Front Range area.

To conclude, here are my questions:

• For anyone that has experience obtaining employment in Colorado (particularly prior to moving there from out of state), how were you able to successfully establish contact with employers (assuming you had no professional contacts in the area)? Did you have any luck applying online?

• For Grand Junction especially, is it a more feasible/realistic strategy to move there first and get a lower paying job to get my foot in the door and obtain entry into the local job market?

• Are there many opportunities for someone with my background and education that doesn't have experience in some of the key industries there (i.e. healthcare, natural resource extraction, I.T., aerospace, agriculture)?

[COcheesehead]

I moved to Colorado without a job and I know many with a similar story. If you have some cash to hold you over, it’s far easier as an employer to hire someone standing in front of you than over the phone or during a limited visit.
As far as jobs, GJ is right in the middle of their biggest economic expansion in a long time. Read recent articles in the Grand Junction Sentinal online and you’ll get a sense of what is going on there. If you can’t find a job now, you never will.
I would pay particularly close attention to the companies moving into town. They probably need people the most. Follow Grand Junction Economic Development on Facebook and Twitter. They post on new happenings.

[bmcass]

I moved to Colorado without a job and I know many with a similar story. If you have some cash to hold you over, it’s far easier as an employer to hire someone standing in front of you than over the phone or during a limited visit.
As far as jobs, GJ is right in the middle of their biggest economic expansion in a long time. Read recent articles in the Grand Junction Sentinal online and you’ll get a sense of what is going on there. If you can’t find a job now, you never will.
I would pay particularly close attention to the companies moving into town. They probably need people the most. Follow Grand Junction Economic Development on Facebook and Twitter. They post on new happenings.

Thanks for your reply, COcheesehead. I appreciate that you've taken the time to respond to all my inquiries since I've joined this forum.

I have perused the Grand Junction Economic Development website with the hopes of finding and maybe cultivating potential job contacts. I'm going to have to network first, as applying online has never gotten me very far when seeking employment opportunities. But networking from another state may prove to be especially challenging, particularly for someone that isn't necessarily inclined to network professionally.

[COcheesehead]

Are you using any job boards? I put openings for my company on LinkedIn and get all kinds of response.

[bmcass]

Originally Posted by COcheesehead

Are you using any job boards? I put openings for my company on LinkedIn and get all kinds of response.

No, haven't really been active on job boards, and certainly not on LinkedIn, although I do have an unmaintained profile there. I've looked on craigslist before, and have started researching local companies in Grand Junction based on information from gjep.org From personal experience, it seems applying online is often a waste of time, especially if you're applying from out of state, which is why I'm trying a different strategy of networking and making contacts first.

[COcheesehead]

I would encourage you to use LinkedIn. I am in the process of hiring someone from out of state that applied for the position online. It’s the way people gets jobs today.