There I was, a recent college grad with a stack full of resumes, a head full of confidence, and an eagerness to tackle the world. I was certain I could find my dream job within a week of being handed my degree. I would just apply for jobs that I wanted and any company that turned me down was losing out on a great employee. Pretty simple, right?
This was the mindset I had upon graduating college, boy was I wrong. The struggle is real in the small mountain town job market. It’s competitive, demanding, and for every job posting there are thousands of applicants. Not only is it tough as a professional finding a career, it’s also very strenuous for mountain town businesses to find a good match to fill their needs.
I recently had a chance to sit down with Aryn Schlichting of Mountain Careers and learn more about how professionals looking for a career can find success in our mountain community. “Mountain towns are no longer seasonal, they have year round economies that can sustain normal business operations” states Aryn. “These days people can work from anywhere, so why not choose a mountain town where you can have an amazing lifestyle and career” adds Aryn. In today’s article we’ll go through some tactics that career seeking professionals can use to find their dream job. Also, how employers can get linked up with qualified applicants and find professionals to fill their needs by using Mountain Careers.
Mountain Careers is a professional online network for job seekers and employers to meet. The benefit of using a networking site like Mountain Careers rather than national job boards is that they are reaching candidates that are specifically looking for the mountain lifestyle. “Finding one place to share all of the opportunities helps prove that mountain towns are no longer just for ski bums” states Aryn.
Aryn created Mountain Careers upon realizing after 12 years of living in the mountain community she did not know about all the companies looking for professional candidates. She thought “If I don’t know about them, then how would someone new to the area know about them?” She went to her entrepreneur networking group and started working with a team to put up a simple web page to see if there was any interest in the community. After quickly collecting 100 email signups, the rest is history. One year later Mountain Careers has posted over 350 jobs and has over 3,000 subscribers, plus a growing list of success stories from people who landed great jobs.
Here are some ways to get started finding your dream job with the help of Mountain Careers:
- Sign up for and read the email newsletter that is posted every Monday and see if there are any good opportunities for you. Simply click the “Get Started” button on the Mountain Careers homepage.
- Showing up to a networking event or a speaker will really start to open up your mind and opportunities. Commit to going to one event a month and introducing yourself to one person at each event.
- Start to tell people what you are looking to do. People will be happy to help you make connections and find your dream job.
Here are some ways that employers can find their next all-star employee:
- We all know housing is becoming very difficult. Employers can offset this with offering compensation that competes with the front range or offer a more flexible schedule to ensure people can really take full advantage of the place we live.
- Post salary ranges (See Blog Post).
- Write a job description that shows a little about your company culture. This is the best way to attract the right candidates. Make sure you’re not making your requirement too specific, remember people are pretty smart and can learn quickly.
- Give an opportunity to have applicants try out a community before committing to a year-round position.
Mountain careers posts year-round careers from anything from Hospitality, Medical, Marketing, Government, Non-profits, and Tech for large to small businesses. They plan on adding a page of seasonal opportunities which require a high level of skill for candidates who have consistent winter and summer employment and can make a year-round career. An example would be a ski patroller who is a wildland firefighter in the summer. Mountain Careers aims to be the “Go-To” site for connecting and growing professional opportunities in all ski towns.
As an applicant or employer you can find more information about Mountain Careers by signing up at mountaincareers.com, follow Mountain Careers on Instagram and Facebook for daily updates. Businesses can set up an account for only $79/month and begin to reach their network of professionals reaching over 4,000 subscribers.
Thank for reading and good luck.
DZM