IT jobs at ski resorts?

EMT760

I'm thinking of relocating from Southern California to a mountain/ ski town. I've already been to the " silicon slopes" Salt Lake City area. Is there any other places with affordable housing and decent pay? I was looking at Colorado. I think with Colorado you have to drive much further vs SLC.

shochan

I checked in 2014 in SLO - Cali...and there were plentiful MSPs in that town...but I couldn't justify the pay as it would be going ALL to rent...Also, in 2015 in Breckenridge, Vail, Glenwood Springs but all that was there were local small IT shops...You could search for IT jobs those cities - you might run across something.

EMT760

That's exactly why I'm trying to get out. The general rule of thumb is 30% of your income towards housing. Here it's like 50%+. I'd like to own a home. Not live in a apartment forever.

EANx

Many ski slopes are owned by a conglomerate. Take a look at Powdr Corp, Intrawest, Peak Resorts, Aspen Skiing Co and Vail Resorts. That also means you're more likely to find the IT jobs where those companies are headquartered.

LordQarlyn

Haven't seen any myself but I did stumble on a bunch of IT jobs on the mega cruise ships.

backtracker

The cost of living is high in CO, it didn't use to be- especially if you mean actually living in a ski town? forget it. Denver prices have skyrocketed in the past 5 years alone. All the resorts are owned by huge multinational conglomerates, as mentioned, with little if any on site IT presence or infrastructure. They don't have a huge IT need anyhow, POS systems are about it. The lifts themselves all run on completely proprietary and dedicated gear. Not to burst your bubble- but coming from a former 18 year CO resident and avid skier.

MalwareMike

I live in Denver and I see some resort tech jobs pop up on Indeed/Linkedin every once in a while. But to be fair, I don't look for them, so there could be a good amount of them, I don't really know. Some mountain areas don't allow you to rent apartments until you prove you've been working there for 3 months or so, to make sure people who actually work in the town have decently price places to live. If you get the chance to move up to a mountain town, I would be very curious to see how you like it after a year or two.

EMT760

I guess you're right. Living in a isolated Ski Resort might get old after awhile. I've been to Mammoth loved it, also thought about Tahoe. Seems like the only benefit of working at a resort is you get to ride for free on the runs. Ski resort towns are usually high rent LOW pay places.

Which brings me to my next question. What are the booming areas? My background is work at a school district and now a corporate environment. I'm sorta a jack of all trades guy. Mostly desktop support and some light server experience, active directory, backups, print servers and maintaining them.

LordQarlyn

Well, I would look to focus on an area of IT you are passionate about, while still keeping up in the other areas. These days there isn't the same demand for generalists as there are for those who are really good at a particular thing. Be it development, system admin/engineering, network admin/engineering, cloud, security, find out which one for you makes you excited and start honing your talents there. And start reworking your CV to reflect that.

Of course try not to let your other skills rust, no telling when you need to fall back on them, generalists may not be as much in demand but there are a few places that want them, and keeping your other IT skills sharp provides you with more options. Just don't try to be all things to all people.

shochan

LordQarlyn wrote: »

Well, I would look to focus on an area of IT you are passionate about, while still keeping up in the other areas. These days there isn't the same demand for generalists as there are for those who are really good at a particular thing. Be it development, system admin/engineering, network admin/engineering, cloud, security, find out which one for you makes you excited and start honing your talents there. And start reworking your CV to reflect that.

Of course try not to let your other skills rust, no telling when you need to fall back on them, generalists may not be as much in demand but there are a few places that want them, and keeping your other IT skills sharp provides you with more options. Just don't try to be all things to all people.

I find it hilarious though when job prerequisites list anything & everything they want for a position, and they strive to fill it with someone with ALL those skills...when in reality you can't always get what you want. I am sure there are ppl with "jack of all IT trades" but I feel they make a lot of ppl intimidated to apply for the position.

TechGromit

EMT760 wrote: »

I'm thinking of relocating from Southern California to a mountain/ ski town.

So what’s the plan there? You want to be able to go skiing on your off days? Area’s where economy is seasonal make for lousy job opportunities. As for working at the corporate offices, they probably are no where near the ski resorts, they will be in areas where real estate is cheaper, less likely to be impacted by weather, like snow.

EMT760

TechGromit wrote: »

So what’s the plan there? You want to be able to go skiing on your off days? Area’s where economy is seasonal make for lousy job opportunities. As for working at the corporate offices, they probably are no where near the ski resorts, they will be in areas where real estate is cheaper, less likely to be impacted by weather, like snow.

Basically I need a " fresh start" somewhere. I've been at my current job for 4 months. Part of me thinks I should stay and gain more experience, but a recent separation from my ex fiance has prompted me to look at other places. Also, I'd like to eventually get out of Socal and find a place where I can actually afford a house. Not be a renter forever.

Yeah you can make money in Socal, but homes cost like 500-800k.

cyberguypr

This sounds awfully specific. If that rocks your boat, that’s fine but all I can see is a microscopic pool of potential employers.

EANx

Four months? How long was your last position for? And the one before that?