Musing on a job prospect

[herveus]

A friend mentioned that I should look at the company her husband works for. I spoke with a recruiter who asked me how I felt about Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I didn't say "hell no!". My wife has not said "hell no!".

Who do I know in or around there? What would recommend the locale to me?

Comments

[zephyrofgod.livejournal.com]

Einarr doesn't live too terribly far from Cedar Rapids. You'd be close to Northshield but still in Calontir. I have heard both good and bad about it. It is Iowa, though.

[herveus.livejournal.com]

Can you be more specific about the good and bad?

[zephyrofgod.livejournal.com]

Good: the people are awesome, at least, I think so. The shire of Deodar has a lot of neat people that really make the SCA fun.

Bad: finding a job, if you didn't have one previously, once settled there, can be difficult. It is a small town in that aspect. Of course, this information is coming to me from a friend who did not have a degree completed, either. It may be easier to find a job for those with more experience.

[herveus.livejournal.com]

If we move there, it will be because I have a job in hand. A potential position is what is motivating this query. I want to exercise some due diligence before I actively pursue the job.

[zephyrofgod.livejournal.com]

Understandable. From what I can tell, though, it is a good community, both in and out of the SCA.

[alphaggek.livejournal.com]

Atlanta's IT market seems to be thriving. We've hired 3 new PHP devs in as many weeks. I'm not sure what the market is for your speciality, but I can put you in touch with the recruiter that placed me here.

As far as the SCA goes, the bad is it's really weird from an Eastern/Atlantian perspective. On the good side, there are a lot of good people in the Metro Atlanta area, including the new B&B, and we'd get another non-native Peer in to help change things :)

[herveus.livejournal.com]

My wife likes a real winter and does not see Atlanta as reliably providing same. I see Atlanta as a tough sell.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Housing prices will be a LOT cheaper. The locals will talk about the bad traffic, and you will say “Traffic, what traffic?” It will snow in the winter. It will be hot in the summer. It might be muggy. Summer will be shorter than here though. If you depend on places like Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and Ikea, you are out of luck. However, you will probably find farmer’s markets and maybe local businesses to meet those needs.

I like reading the city data forums for getting a feel for a place: http://www.city-data.com/forum/iowa/ Remember, a lot of people like to bitch, so take some of it with a grain of salt. But it is helpful.

BTW – I did pass your resume to the higher-ups, and as far as I know, you’re still in the running for something, but they don’t have an opening right now. Don’t make plans based on it, but I wanted to let you know what’s up.

What else do you want to know? My in-laws live a couple of hours from there, in Wisconsin. I’d move there, given the opportunity.

[herveus.livejournal.com]

The first thing my wife did was a quick look at how much house you could get for under 100K. If we can get a reasonable price for our house here, we'd be in a position to consider cash offers for a house with no debt on our back. Financially, it could work very well.

Muggy in the summer? I have no idea what that is like! :)

I have cousins in Minneapolis-St. Paul and a daughter in Fargo. Pennsic would be somewhat farther away...

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Also use http://www.zillow.com to check out property taxes on stuff out there.

I've been eyeing up certain areas of the country that seem both affordable and livable. The lure of no mortgage is strong!

[cormac.livejournal.com]

Ah, but Great Western War would be closer! Come west, dear teacher...

[liadan-m.livejournal.com]

you know Thomas Mailer of By My Hand. ;) He lives and works there. Do you need contact info?

The area is good, the sca group could really use more laurels, and we'd enjoy having you in-Kingdom.

[zephyrofgod.livejournal.com]

Yeah, what Sis said. :P

[pedropadrao.livejournal.com]

Having gone to Iowa a couple of times for events & other things, I can't say that I've ever noticed anything bad about the state.

[luscious-purple.livejournal.com]

You'd certainly get a lot more chances to see potential POTUS candidates in the flesh....

[vesilehti.livejournal.com]

Is that near River City? Because I hear there is Trouble in River City.