Another thread about relocating (Portland, Hope: 2015, insurance, hotels)

[Ridgewalker1]

Hi all,

After a few years living across the pond in Sweden, my girlfriend and I are considering moving to Portland in the somewhat near future. I'm originally from New Jersey but don't want to move back to the NYC area. Both of us are outdoorsy people who love the sea, the woods and the mountains, but also appreciate the conveniences of a city. Portland seems perfect in these regards. Finding work is of course another story.

I work as a software developer and my girlfriend works in PR/marketing. What is the job market like in these fields? It looks like jobs within software development do exist but how strong is Portland's IT industry exactly?

We'll be taking a road trip up to Portland next fall to scope things out. Any must-see places?

No need to gripe about Maine's high taxes, cold winters and high energy costs! Sweden beats Maine in all of these regards!

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Ridgewalker1

... Both of us are outdoorsy people who love the sea, the woods and the mountains

Maine can be a Mecca for outdoors people.

... I work as a software developer and my girlfriend works in PR/marketing. What is the job market like in these fields? It looks like jobs within software development do exist but how strong is Portland's IT industry exactly?

Maine's economy is depressed. There is little IT in Maine.

Find a job before to migrate here.

... No need to gripe about Maine's high taxes, cold winters and high energy costs! Sweden beats Maine in all of these regards!

Many of the places where I have lived [previous to migrating to Maine] had higher taxes and higher COLs than Maine sees.

Welcome to the forum.

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by Ridgewalker1

Hi all,

After a few years living across the pond in Sweden, my girlfriend and I are considering moving to Portland in the somewhat near future. I'm originally from New Jersey but don't want to move back to the NYC area. Both of us are outdoorsy people who love the sea, the woods and the mountains, but also appreciate the conveniences of a city. Portland seems perfect in these regards. Finding work is of course another story.

I work as a software developer and my girlfriend works in PR/marketing. What is the job market like in these fields? It looks like jobs within software development do exist but how strong is Portland's IT industry exactly?

We'll be taking a road trip up to Portland next fall to scope things out. Any must-see places?

No need to gripe about Maine's high taxes, cold winters and high energy costs! Sweden beats Maine in all of these regards!

Quote from Amanda Rector, Maine state economist in the January 12th issue of MaineBiz:

"Maine will see private-sector employment growth in 2015 on the order of 6,000 – 7,000 jobs. Since we don't have the energy production that has been driving growth in places like North Dakota and Texas, most of our employment growth will come from service sector jobs — professional and business services and education and health care."

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by Submariner

There is little IT in Maine.

Source? I'm working with a buyer who works remotely (in Portland) for BuzzFeed in IT. There are jobs to be had, but like anywhere else it will take some digging and good qualifications to secure a good position.

[atrixwolfe]

As you said, you noticed there were it jobs in portland. You are right there are. Portlands It job market is strong and one on the best employment sectors in maine next to healthcare & insurance and both those have IT.

Just how strong is subjective. I'd say its pretty strong and there are companies looking and needing developers. Or so I hear at my "Agile Maine" users group, as I'm an it professional and yes we have companies practicing agile here. Is it like NYC or NJ or Boston...well no. The pay isn't as good either. But i'm going with an answer of relitively strong and if your like me and WANT to live here, then your willing to live with less competition and high rate of pay.

as for Pr & Marketing. There are positions in these areas in Portland not Alot, but there are businesses, hotels, restaurants, tourism who have a need. There are also companies who hire this area...even it companies....she should be able to find something...just not as easy as IT.

Best of luck and enjoy your visit.

[Submariner]

Hard to find good statistics on this, according to US Department of Commerce, nationwide there are 41,789 IT firms.

Maine has 37 of them. 37 out of 41,789 is around 1 / 1,129

Industry Profiles by State | MBDA Web Portal

Idaho is nearly twice what Maine has. ND has fewer though.

[atrixwolfe]

That's good submariner only The most misleading thing about that statistic is lots of non it companies have big it departments who employ programmers. Example idexx is not an it company but a huge IT employer in maine. Same with Unum, ts bank and ll bean. Then there is kepware, cash star and Tyler technologies who employs a good number of programmers and that would count as IT.
The Idaho statistic is weird as we have customers there and they said the only two companies to work for is the now bankrupt cold water creek and lite house salad dressing. But I guess that's just perception. Amazing how many it companies are out there.

[Ridgewalker1]

Originally Posted by atrixwolfe

That's good submariner only The most misleading thing about that statistic is lots of non it companies have big it departments who employ programmers. Example idexx is not an it company but a huge IT employer in maine. Same with Unum, ts bank and ll bean. Then there is kepware, cash star and Tyler technologies who employs a good number of programmers and that would count as IT.
The Idaho statistic is weird as we have customers there and they said the only two companies to work for is the now bankrupt cold water creek and lite house salad dressing. But I guess that's just perception. Amazing how many it companies are out there.

Well that's reassuring. Do a lot of companies hire consultants or do they employ developers directly? The city in which I currently live is comparable to Portland in size and yet the IT industry is a hotspot in Northern Sweden. Both government agencies and corporations here hire small armies of consultants.

[atrixwolfe]

ridgewalker,

Well its not a hotspot, but it one of the more healthy industries in the area. Yes some of the bigger companies, LL Bean, WEX , TD Bank and Idexx do tend to lean towards contractors. If your willing to be a contractor you'll have even a better chance applying from away. Let me know if this is something your interested in I'll send you a few names.

[zoe456]

Ridgewalker,

Please don't let some previous comments deter you from looking for IT positions in the Portland area. I can say from personal experience (20+ years in this area) that there are many opportunities and they aren't all associated with organizations that can be classified as strictly "IT Firms". In fact, I'm working for one previously mentioned in this thread. I was a private consultant beforehand, and the opportunity came to me from my LinkedIn profile. I'll emphasize again - these opportunities do exist, and often remain open for many months.

I've been recently involved in the interviewing and hiring process. Sometimes, we have to cast our net outside of Maine due to a shortage of talent in the area.

Factoring what I've said above - you'll need to have specialized and distinct skills that companies are looking to fill. For example: experience with Agile software development methodologies, SQL Server and Oracle database and service (REST/SOAP) stack, MVC software design patterns, HTML5/CSS3, responsive design techniques, Java, many JavaScript frameworks (AngularJS, node.js, etc), PHP, Apache, Nginx...if you're in IT, you get the idea. Most importantly: you should be able to quickly understand business processes and workflows, and have an aptitude with integrating with other platforms (telephony, CRM, etc). Also - if you have any code to promote, or if you're a contributor on a project, get it up on GitHub and if you don't already have a LinkedIn profile - get one, and reference your GitHub account.

Hope this helps! Please don't hesitate to PM me with any additional questions!