Job Seekers – You are looking for a change, a new job, and a new location. You have spent some vacation time in the mountains and have considered relocating to a ski town more than once.
Employers
You are a ski town employer looking for a full-time year round employee. Positions such as a Computer Programmer, Accountant or an Engineer require you to recruit nationally to find the most qualified job candidates for the job.
Interviewing? Before you dig too deep into the details of the actual job, take some time to explore these questions … (job seekers ask yourselves, recruiters ask your job candidates)
* The Outdoor Lifestyle – Do you love the outdoor lifestyle? Does the thought of your natural environment as a main source of activity and entertainment sound dreamy? My first recruiting assignment in Jackson Hole years ago was for an Interior Designer. The employer was frustrated with his recruiting efforts when his new hire left town only two weeks after he started the job. Why did he leave? He said there was nothing to do in Jackson (Who was this strange man?). We then found him a designer from an upstate New York ski town. She moved to Jackson Hole and still lives in Jackson 10 years later. Make sure the majestic mountains, fabulous skiing, biking, hiking, and fishing at your doorstep is something you are looking for in a lifestyle … not in a two week vacation.
* Small Town Life – The traffic, the stress … the suit and the tie. Definite cause (at least for me) for city burnout, but how do you really feel about living in a small town with a population of about 10,000 people where there is not a huge variety of shops, restaurants and nightlife and where just about everyone knows your name?
* Cost of Living – No secret here. It can be expensive to live in a ski town but this does not stop people who are determined to live this lifestyle from finding a way to make it work. Are you aware of the cost of living in the different mountain communities you are considering and will the benefit of small town, mountain living in an outdoor paradise outweigh the possible loss of a larger house/bigger salary in a city or suburb somewhere else?
A large portion of MountainJobs.com visitors are already familiar with mountain life and these questions do not really apply. They are either living in the mountains already or regretted moving away and looking for a way back. For the job seeker newly exploring this lifestyle, the focus here is to pass along helpful information about mountain living and assist in a job/relocation search.
As for the questions … if you are a job seeker who answered them with a definitive yes, best of luck in your search … you are on the right track!