I may have asked before, but I'm going to ask again....

Since my divorce is about finalized and I'll know longer be tied to living in OK, I'm starting to look at opportunities out of the state. Main reason there isn't a lot of Technical Writing jobs in Tulsa.

Of the few places that I would consider moving, the recruiters I've spoken with have said Denver overwhelmingly has more opportunities than the few other cities I'm considering. So I figure at 33 if I'm really trying to advance my career, I should go where the most jobs are.

Learn me about Denver, I know we have Keith over on the other side of the state, do we have any other GRM'ers who can give me the scoop on what it's like to actually live there?

I'm going to try to come up for a long weekend in the August/September area.

I have a buddy who just moved there from Michigan, he couldn't be happier. I'll try to get him to weigh in.

^Excellent! Part of me is attracted to Denver because of all the great outdoorsy stuff to do, that I've never really done.

If Denver doesn't work out, try Michigan. TONS of tech writing positions for me. I've written for Chrysler, Ford, and Nissan. Currently for a Teir 1 supplier. All were good jobs with good bennies and pay. And there's lots of outdoorsy stuff here to.

My company in midwest ohio was looking for one of those a little while ago. Ill see if its still available. And if you like flat, brother, we got flat.

My company recently opened a new branch in Denver. Guys that transferred there are very happy. Shipping manager is here today, can't wait to get back. These are Florida guys, have not had much snow yet, though..

Denver is crazy with the amount of people, but its suburbs are nice. I came through Golden on my way out to AZ and liked that area. I liked Fort Collins better. Boulder was a bit too much. All of them are pretty high density, high traffic areas.

I wouldn't want to live far from work, but largely that will be a common theme no matter where I lived. It just so happens that Flagstaff is only 9 miles from one side to the other, so I can live "out of town" and it still only takes me 10 minutes to drive to the other side of town.

Hadn't thought about Michigan, that's interesting. I know the stories about Detroit, but it's my understanding a lot of "hipsters" (I'm not quite a hipster) are starting to reclaim some of the rougher areas of town.

Ohio? No thanks.

cwh, good to know!

PHeller, that's the only thing that worries me, it's a REAL metro area unlike where I'm at now with only about 1 million people.

z31maniac wrote: Since my divorce is about finalized and I'll know longer be tied to living in OK, I'm starting to look at opportunities out of the state. Main reason there isn't a lot of Technical Writing jobs in Tulsa. Of the few places that I would consider moving, the recruiters I've spoken with have said Denver overwhelmingly has more opportunities than the few other cities I'm considering. So I figure at 33 if I'm really trying to advance my career, I should go where the most jobs are. Learn me about Denver, I know we have Keith over on the other side of the state, do we have any other GRM'ers who can give me the scoop on what it's like to actually live there? I'm going to try to come up for a long weekend in the August/September area.

Sorry, nothing to contribute to the move except to say that Colorado is a cool state with not enough O2 content and a lot of steep climbing.

But I would like to take a moment to derail the thread and ask for a bit of inside scoop on what the technical writing gig is like? My background is English Major with an Electrical Engineering degree who has done project management for start-ups for the last 30 years.

In the next few years I want to transition to a job that will allow me to back off the gas pedal a bit and maybe even let me run south for the winters. Technical writing sounds like it might be an option. Or not?

I don't have anything useful either but it feels to me like technical writing is one of those gigs that could be done from anywhere with a laptop and modem.

(Maybe I've watched too many episodes of House Hunters International)

^Depending on the company definitely, but most of my experience is in the manufacturing industry, so it's helpful to be to walk down and take the product apart. Or watch it being built, take pictures, etc.

If I can transition into more software/web stuff, definitely could find a work from home job.

NOHOME wrote:

z31maniac wrote: Since my divorce is about finalized and I'll know longer be tied to living in OK, I'm starting to look at opportunities out of the state. Main reason there isn't a lot of Technical Writing jobs in Tulsa. Of the few places that I would consider moving, the recruiters I've spoken with have said Denver overwhelmingly has more opportunities than the few other cities I'm considering. So I figure at 33 if I'm really trying to advance my career, I should go where the most jobs are. Learn me about Denver, I know we have Keith over on the other side of the state, do we have any other GRM'ers who can give me the scoop on what it's like to actually live there? I'm going to try to come up for a long weekend in the August/September area.

Sorry, nothing to contribute to the move except to say that Colorado is a cool state with not enough O2 content and a lot of steep climbing. But I would like to take a moment to derail the thread and ask for a bit of inside scoop on what the technical writing gig is like? My background is English Major with an Electrical Engineering degree who has done project management for start-ups for the last 30 years. In the next few years I want to transition to a job that will allow me to back off the gas pedal a bit and maybe even let me run south for the winters. Technical writing sounds like it might be an option. Or not?

You'd probably end up "over-qualified" for a lot of stuff, even my salary after doing it ~8 years puts me out of contention for a lot openings.

But with the English degree and EE, I can definitely see you nailing tons of Defense work which is typically high paying contract positions.

Easiest way to think of it is a recipe. Making cookies using a cookbook is a close facsimile to Tech Writing.

I've heard you can get weed out there, so there's that.

z31maniac wrote: ^Depending on the company definitely, but most of my experience is in the manufacturing industry, so it's helpful to be to walk down and take the product apart. Or watch it being built, take pictures, etc. If I can transition into more software/web stuff, definitely could find a work from home job.

NOHOME wrote:

z31maniac wrote: Since my divorce is about finalized and I'll know longer be tied to living in OK, I'm starting to look at opportunities out of the state. Main reason there isn't a lot of Technical Writing jobs in Tulsa. Of the few places that I would consider moving, the recruiters I've spoken with have said Denver overwhelmingly has more opportunities than the few other cities I'm considering. So I figure at 33 if I'm really trying to advance my career, I should go where the most jobs are. Learn me about Denver, I know we have Keith over on the other side of the state, do we have any other GRM'ers who can give me the scoop on what it's like to actually live there? I'm going to try to come up for a long weekend in the August/September area.

Sorry, nothing to contribute to the move except to say that Colorado is a cool state with not enough O2 content and a lot of steep climbing. But I would like to take a moment to derail the thread and ask for a bit of inside scoop on what the technical writing gig is like? My background is English Major with an Electrical Engineering degree who has done project management for start-ups for the last 30 years. In the next few years I want to transition to a job that will allow me to back off the gas pedal a bit and maybe even let me run south for the winters. Technical writing sounds like it might be an option. Or not?

You'd probably end up "over-qualified" for a lot of stuff, even my salary after doing it ~8 years puts me out of contention for a lot openings. But with the English degree and EE, I can definitely see you nailing tons of Defense work which is typically high paying contract positions. Easiest way to think of it is a recipe. Making cookies using a cookbook is a close facsimile to Tech Writing.

Thanks for the insight. I do enough manual, grant and assembly writing in my current job to know that a formula is the answer: either mine or the clients.

Don't need high pay at this point in life, just enough to buy beer and car parts.

Fallback is to do metal-shaping and shell restorations for the car crowd. That is something that I can shut down for the cold season and resume in the spring.

"The Weed Thing" is why we opened up out there. Colorado and Washington have very rigid rules requiring good camera systems. We are making bank on the drug industry!

I've done tech writing only in the auto field. It's not as easy to do remotely as you'd think. You need to be able to get hands-on time with the cars, or be there when a tech is. Meeting with engineers is critical, and they often can get you in touch with the suppliers that make a part or system. Again, hands-on time is a big deal.
It's a cool gig, and that can lead to other things like training development or curriculum development.
Tech writing is one of those things where a degree isn't as 'important' as many other jobs. Experience is a big deal since you are taking technical info and either breaking it down to easily digestible chunks of info, or organizing, combining, changing it into an order or process that makes sense. You can't teach most of that in a school.
As far as moving to Detroit. Save yourself the heartache and break-ins. Move to one of the suburbs, that's where the work is anyway. Living in 'the D' will cost you more in taxes, but will allow you to not be bothered by useful city services and police protection.
Because the big 2.5 are spread around the metro Detroit area, and they all have suppliers feeding them, the jobs are spread over a HUGE geographic area. Lots of choices for places to live/work.