It’s your first interview for a financial position at a company based in a ski town. You confidently state to your potential employer that you managed a multi-million dollar fund. Don’t be offended when he says, “yeah, great, so have you looked into the housing market here, do you have a 4 wheel drive, does your significant other like the snow?”
Your excellent background is important, but it is not the lack of quality talent in search of paradise that challenges most mountain employers. It is the frustration experienced when, for example, a top hotel manager transfers from a South Carolina resort only to announce six months later that his wife hates the winters, and can’t (won’t) handle the snow, or when the sharp, outdoorsy architect from the city after the 4th interview and job offer proclaims, “Sorry, I am not going to take this job; Why are the real estate prices in this town so high?” Then there is that story of the guy that took the interior design job in Jackson Hole only to leave the area two weeks later explaining to his new boss that there was absolutely nothing to do in this town! This actually happens more than you can imagine and inevitably, through time, employers become a little gun shy.
What may help you to better prepare for your mountain job interviews? Maybe it just calls for a slight shift in perspective; always keeping in mind that in moving to a ski town, you are choosing a lifestyle, unique and wonderful, but most likely quite different from what you are used to. Weigh the benefits and costs, research your markets, make sure you and your family are on the same page and if all’s a go, well then, start shopping around for that 4 wheel drive …