When I was looking to move out here about 8 years ago, I would get contacted by companies that were interested until they found out that I did not live in Denver yet.  This was the case even if I told them that i had friends to stay with and could be there next week.  I ended up biting the bullet and moving out here without a job, and luckily got a pretty good one in my first week. 

If I were to do it again I would find a way to have a local Denver address, get a Denver phone number and make the companies think you are already here.  Make sure that you have a place to stay on short term (friend or whatever) if you do get a job.  When they contact you, if you have to disclose that you are not in Denver at the moment, say that you are visiting family and will be returning to Denver soon. 

I did much of this with one potential employeer and it worked well (but they hired the internal canditate!).  I came out for an interview thinking I would be staying with friends for 3 days and ended up being here for 3 weeks and 4 interviews with the one company.  So you have to be flexible and willing to make the trips out here.

For some reason, many companies do not like out of town candidates even if you say that you are not expecting relocation $.

Good luck,

Azrael wrote:

Here's a job that was advertised through my company just this weekend.  I'm not sure if it is more or less than you are looking for.  I'll keep an eye on this market for you.  Other than that, I guess you should try the big sites like Monster or CareerBuilder and see what comes up.  Or if you know the companies that are out herre, maybe try there websites and see if anything is listed.



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Thanks, Azrael. I have profiles on both Monster and Careerbuilder; while there are engineering jobs, they are primarily in different concentrations than I studied. I'll keep plugging away.

Btw, what is your opinion of the Art Institute of Colorado? I've considered taking some classes there (toward a degree, not just for fun), but am a bit torn- I get the feeling it isn't particularly renowned in the design community (industrial, product, furniture, that kind of thing).

Azrael wrote:

I think over all, it's geared more towards the business side of things rather than the design.  And I think it's overpriced.

But, my friends seemed to like the industrial design program.  I think it's really a matter of how much effort you are willing to put into it dictates how much you will get out of it, but I guess thats true anywhere.

Hmmm. Are any of your friends employed in the design field? If you don't mind, I'd love to chat with them regarding their experiences in school and outside.

If I go back to school fulltime, I'm considering both College for Creative Studies in Detroit and Art Institute, but don't know if it is stupid to even compare the two- I kind of feel like I'm comparing a good school like Stanford (that would be CCS) to the University of Phoenix (Art Institute, in this instance). CCS is even more expensive, but it does offer opportunities such as international exchanges that Art Institute doesn't. But... it's Denver AND cheaper....