IT positions in Maui and moving there (how much, tech jobs) - Hawaii (HI) - City-Data Forum

dreamingoutloud · 11-23-2010, 11:04 AM

Hey,

I know there's probably been a lot of posts about the typical - "hey we loved Maui and we want to move there". So I probably come off as just another crazy dillusional main-lander, but my wife and I have visited the area and we are looking for a calm, community-oriented place to settle down and raise children. We feel it would be best to raise them in an area like this where there is a greater sense of community and less materialism than the community we are in now. Is this truly the case or is this just an outsider's perception?

I have a Bachelor's in Information Technology and have been working for a Healthcare IT company for 3 years and have 5 years total in the industry. I keep reading that there's a growing Tech industry in Maui, but when I look I am having a hard time finding tech positions. Does anyone know what kinds of companies are there?

Anyways, any advice or information you could provide would be very helpful. We are going back for another week in May to see how we still like it. Hopefully we'll be your neighbor someday!

PacificFlights · 11-23-2010, 11:26 AM

You have to read between the line when hearing about this or that industry being a big deal on Hawaii. If there are 10 jobs from bus boy to Doctor advertised each week, people will say there is average jobs. If a small company opens on an island and advertise for 6 people to do IT work, suddedenly that island is a hot bed for IT. You may not see another IT job for a year, but the label will spread throughout the internet and within a year hundreds will be flying in expecting to see IT recruiters at the airport grabbing people with offers as they come through the gate.

hawaii doensnt have many IT jobs that are not based on local needs. Local needs for IT has always been a bit behind the mainland (other life priority) but as they move forward, the need exist. How much of a need depends on what is needed at any time. What is needed may be more specific to a specific need at a specific moment. Like if a Doctor is hired immedietely but only because they are a specific specialist with specific skills available right at the time the job was needed. if they missed that job, they may be waiting months for another to open up.

You need to look over the job posting for some time to get a sense of what is needed and where.

hotzcatz · 11-23-2010, 11:32 AM

Can you bring any tech jobs over from the mainland that you can do online? A lot of the tech folks seem to be doing that when they move here. At least the ones in our neighborhood do. They are in to some sort of mainframe stuff that they do late at night. So far, most of the neighborhood isn't quite sure what they are doing. They stay up late and sleep in and never seem to "go to work" and there have been all sorts of rumors floating around. I did like the one about lottery winners or winning at Vegas - the rumors weren't sure which but when I just up and asked the new neighbors what they did they said they were mainframe computer programmers who worked online. I suspect, for most of my neighborhood, winning at Vegas was a much more understandable occupation.

dreamingoutloud · 11-23-2010, 11:41 AM

There is a possibility of doing my work remotely (we have 1 remote employee on the team out of 12 team members). However, my current position (and most future positions at my company) involves travelling about 50 - 75% all across the US and Canada. So I was hoping to phase that out as well so we could have a stable family life. Still, if my employer will allow it, keeping my current job and working remotely may work out until I could find better.

Currently my job roles involve travelling to hospitals and installing servers, desktop computers, and pharmacy automation products that are used to either keep medications controlled or make sure they are accurately dispensed (reduce medical errors). It's a lot of travel and a lot of time commitment, so I definitely wouldn't be hanging around all day until I got something else.

mdand3boys · 11-23-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PacificFlights

You have to read between the line when hearing about this or that industry being a big deal on Hawaii. If there are 10 jobs from bus boy to Doctor advertised each week, people will say there is average jobs. If a small company opens on an island and advertise for 6 people to do IT work, suddedenly that island is a hot bed for IT. You may not see another IT job for a year, but the label will spread throughout the internet and within a year hundreds will be flying in expecting to see IT recruiters at the airport grabbing people with offers as they come through the gate.

hawaii doensnt have many IT jobs that are not based on local needs. Local needs for IT has always been a bit behind the mainland (other life priority) but as they move forward, the need exist. How much of a need depends on what is needed at any time. What is needed may be more specific to a specific need at a specific moment. Like if a Doctor is hired immedietely but only because they are a specific specialist with specific skills available right at the time the job was needed. if they missed that job, they may be waiting months for another to open up.

You need to look over the job posting for some time to get a sense of what is needed and where.

Very true.
IT jobs in Hawaii also pay less than comparable mainland jobs - 20% or more less. Something to consider along with the cost of living.

kaleyho · 11-23-2010, 08:00 PM

Hi
Where are you based? May be we can trade job. I want to move to the mainland and I have a great job here in Maui that pays around 90K. Job is SA.

Lisa From Maui · 11-23-2010, 10:02 PM

My advice... before you move here, spend hours and hours reading this forum. Lots of different topics. Go back 6-12 months.

winkosmosis · 11-30-2010, 05:02 PM

There's a company called Ardent that is opening up IT jobs on Maui, and they're eventually going to relocate their whole business here. They do a lot of federal government contract work.

Careers – Ardent Management Consulting

Dthraco · 11-30-2010, 05:17 PM

Check out this Hawaiian Based IT community too: TechHui - Hawaii's Science, Technology and New Media Community Good info there.

I'm an IT guy as well and moving in April...would love to live on Maui, but it is simliar to where I live now. Few IT jobs. That translates to lower pay and worry of finding another job if the one you are in goes away. Oahu seems to have more opportunities, bigger population, etc.