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Q: So fidelfs, could you maybe tell us about your experience with the move? Why the move? Did you have a job waiting for you or did you have to wait till you moved there? How has it been so far?
Sorry, It took me some time to respond.
Why the move? I am an IT consultant worked for a big corporation "Oracle" and I was laid off this year. I am used to travel but the economy it makes almost impossible to have a contract that pays expenses and the rates have being down due to the economy. I tried to get a local position in Houston, but in IT there is a phenomenon that there is nepotism and favoritism for Indians. I am not trying to start a war, here it is just my impression. I have over 25 years of experience in IT and when I get interview by Indians, I already know the result, if it is an American I have a chance to get the job.
Houston the IT jobs are lead by Indians so i couldn't get a chance to have a local position.
So, I decided to get a position and move to the city even having my family stay back in Houston.
I got the interview in Denver, not the best rate, but I got the job. (By the way, I had the interview with two Americans).
I was almost forced to move to Denver, but that was that I wanted to do for so long so it has worked very well.
Yes, I did have a job before I moved. I think there is a catch 22 in any position specially in Denver (What is first the chicken or the egg?).
It is better to move when you have the job, but in Denver they try to hire locals, so if you don't have a Denver address is almost impossible to get it.
I being trying to get a job since 99 and it took me 10 years, so that it is proof about the catch 22.
How has been so far? I love Denver, it is a vibrant city, People are really friendly more than in Houston. In houston everybody thinks is New York, they don't have time to be friendly anymore. Here you can start a conversation with anybody without not knowing that person.
It's 4am in the morning and I can't sleep due to the excitement of the home buying process. I am finally able to follow up on this thread.
It was as if everyone was against this move; moving from the strong economy of Texas to the competitive or maybe stuggling economy of Denver without a job lined up. However, I was very passionate about my reasons for the move.
During the final week of grad school (back in Texas) I began sending out my resume and applying to jobs. I used a friend's Colorado address to seem local. A staffing agent called immediately and asked if I could come in that day to meet with him... But I was in Texas! So I told him I could come in later that week for an interview. Bought a plane ticket and managed to organized another interview with a second recruiter.
Upon meeting them, I came clean and told them I was still living in Texas, but had one more week of school and could be in CO as quickly as needed. I think they appreciated this.
On Decemeber 31 just before meeting up with my friends in downtown Houston for a New Years Eve celebration, the 2nd recruiter called me to offer me a temp position in the Denver Tech Center. I took it. I had one night to celebrate, one day to pack, and two days to drive 900 miles to Denver. I was Denver bound.
I've been living in my sister's best friend's cold, dark, noisy, and unfinished basement. It stunk, but it was motivation to find a full time position. Having that temp position was great, as I could get paid and search for a full time job without the stress.
I am finally going to cut to the chase. I landed a full time job with one of the big accounting firms. Infact, I was offered another position too, but it wasn't for me. As of the first of the month (in 3 days) I will be doing work I never thought I would have the opportunity to do. The job is perfect for me, a dream job. As I mentioned earlier, I am looking to buy a house.
I beat the odds. Might be luck, might be determination, or could be both. It's a success story either way.
And Denver is a quarter the size of Houston, keep that in mind.
You're way off on your numbers. According to Wikipedia (who gets info from the Census) the Greater Houston area is 5.7 million and metro Denver is 2.8 million. So the Denver metro area is about half of Houston.
Perhaps our situation can give you hope. Two years ago, my husband retired from the Air Force and we were living in Tampa, FL. When he came home and announced he was officially "sick of it" and would be retiring in May, we went into full-fledged find-a-job mode. We found a great website for his job experience and desired job market and started the application process. Everything was on the computer and each application was about 15 pages long. It took nearly 2 months before we even got a "bite." But once the floodgates opened, we had 4 phone calls and 4 interviews lined up in Austin, Houston, Denver and Portland. He conducted 2 interviews over the phone and had to fly out (at our own expense) to the other 2. He ended up being offered all 4 jobs! We chose Denver for a few reasons and moved to the city without having stepped foot in the city before.
The big question I want to ask you is why you want to move to Denver? Denver on paper is different than Denver in reality. That's not to bash it as I think it's a great city and can compare it with a lot of other places I've lived, but I hear time and again from people who come to visit, "Oh, I didn't realize that Denver wasn't in the mountains."
When my husband was in the military, we moved around a lot. I met tons of people who were so unhappy because they had to move to a new city but I realized quickly that every city is what you make of it. You CAN find people that share things in common with you no matter where you live and what makes a city a great place to live for one family will make it hell on earth for another.
You will be exchanging Houston's humidity for Denver's dryness. And it IS dry here. Altitude headaches, being shocked when you turn on the lights, nosebleeds, never-ending lotion application, etc. You will be exchanging the massive size of Houston for the smallness of Denver. For some, Denver is large and I suppose it is on paper. But we do a lot of stuff "small town" here and for someone who is used to the advantages of living in a massive city like Houston, you will either have to downshift or be forever annoyed at having to buy beer and wine at a mom & pop liquor store instead of Albertsons or yelling at the hundreds of people who think driving 60 in a 55 mph means you can drive in the left lane. While Denver has a decent downtown and some tall buildings, it is not even a fraction of the massive downtown that Houston has.
That being said, I think Denver is great. You will experience all 4 seasons here, we have a much lower crime rate and better schools and people do like to be outside. I haven't found people any more standoffish than any other place except the South. I think Houston is about as "southern" as Tampa, but there is a general friendliness towards strangers that does not happen here. That doesn't mean you won't know your neighbors or that people will mow you over with their car before stopping to help, but you aren't going to get a lot of "Hi"s from strangers or see a lot of people drinking beer on lawn chairs in their driveways while chatting up the neighbors. You WILL see people enjoying their parks and bike trails. You WILL see lots of kids playing outside if you live in suburbia.
Before you move, though, you need to come visit during a few different times of the year. It's one thing to love Denver when the air is crisp and clear, the sun is shining in February and there's snow on the mountains. It's another to come when the "brown cloud" is covering any view of the mountains and you forgot to make a reservation for your favorite campground in the Rockies and find out that there's a waiting list (and you're #150 on it!).
It's 4am in the morning and I can't sleep due to the excitement of the home buying process. I am finally able to follow up on this thread.
It was as if everyone was against this move; moving from the strong economy of Texas to the competitive or maybe stuggling economy of Denver without a job lined up. However, I was very passionate about my reasons for the move.
During the final week of grad school (back in Texas) I began sending out my resume and applying to jobs. I used a friend's Colorado address to seem local. A staffing agent called immediately and asked if I could come in that day to meet with him... But I was in Texas! So I told him I could come in later that week for an interview. Bought a plane ticket and managed to organized another interview with a second recruiter.
Upon meeting them, I came clean and told them I was still living in Texas, but had one more week of school and could be in CO as quickly as needed. I think they appreciated this.
On Decemeber 31 just before meeting up with my friends in downtown Houston for a New Years Eve celebration, the 2nd recruiter called me to offer me a temp position in the Denver Tech Center. I took it. I had one night to celebrate, one day to pack, and two days to drive 900 miles to Denver. I was Denver bound.
I've been living in my sister's best friend's cold, dark, noisy, and unfinished basement. It stunk, but it was motivation to find a full time position. Having that temp position was great, as I could get paid and search for a full time job without the stress.
I am finally going to cut to the chase. I landed a full time job with one of the big accounting firms. Infact, I was offered another position too, but it wasn't for me. As of the first of the month (in 3 days) I will be doing work I never thought I would have the opportunity to do. The job is perfect for me, a dream job. As I mentioned earlier, I am looking to buy a house.
I beat the odds. Might be luck, might be determination, or could be both. It's a success story either way.
This is one of those stories!
I posted the thread above before seeing your new post. Good for you, glad your situation was successful and best of luck on your new life in Denver.
- I beat the odds. Might be luck, might be determination, or could be both. It's a success story either way.
Congrats! I don't think luck had anything to do with it. You're passionate, you know what you want, and you did everything in your power to make it happen. Those are the people that are successful. And, I guarantee thaty you'll love Denver, because it sounds like you know how to make the best of every situation. Going into something with a good attitude makes a 100% difference.
It's 4am in the morning and I can't sleep due to the excitement of the home buying process. I am finally able to follow up on this thread.
It was as if everyone was against this move; moving from the strong economy of Texas to the competitive or maybe stuggling economy of Denver without a job lined up. However, I was very passionate about my reasons for the move.
During the final week of grad school (back in Texas) I began sending out my resume and applying to jobs. I used a friend's Colorado address to seem local. A staffing agent called immediately and asked if I could come in that day to meet with him... But I was in Texas! So I told him I could come in later that week for an interview. Bought a plane ticket and managed to organized another interview with a second recruiter.
Upon meeting them, I came clean and told them I was still living in Texas, but had one more week of school and could be in CO as quickly as needed. I think they appreciated this.
On Decemeber 31 just before meeting up with my friends in downtown Houston for a New Years Eve celebration, the 2nd recruiter called me to offer me a temp position in the Denver Tech Center. I took it. I had one night to celebrate, one day to pack, and two days to drive 900 miles to Denver. I was Denver bound.
I've been living in my sister's best friend's cold, dark, noisy, and unfinished basement. It stunk, but it was motivation to find a full time position. Having that temp position was great, as I could get paid and search for a full time job without the stress.
I am finally going to cut to the chase. I landed a full time job with one of the big accounting firms. Infact, I was offered another position too, but it wasn't for me. As of the first of the month (in 3 days) I will be doing work I never thought I would have the opportunity to do. The job is perfect for me, a dream job. As I mentioned earlier, I am looking to buy a house.
I beat the odds. Might be luck, might be determination, or could be both. It's a success story either way.
This is one of those stories!
Congrats!! Best of luck in your future here in the Rocky Mountain West!
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