"real job" in tahoe?

**DirkaDirkaJack** · 01-31-2008, 01:49 PM

ok, here is the deal. my "better half" is dead set on moving to the tahoe area this spring for a year or two. i would be happy with any old joe job but there lies the problem.....

i have a monthly student loan payment that is basically as much as rent, so minimum wage is not going to fly. however i do have a BS in industrial tech/engineering. now, i am not necessarily looking for a job in that field, but i would like to find something that would get me into the $15/hr and up pile to pay my bills.

mostly looking at the truckee, or incline area, basically want to avoid the pit of south lake, but i will take what i can get. working at a resort would be cool, but i highly doubt i could make much cash my first year in.

any ideas from the college educated ski bums out there? thanks.

**AdironRider** · 01-31-2008, 02:23 PM

I just graduated last spring and moved out to Jackson, which is probably one of the top 3 most expensive ski towns out there. I scored a full time gig, 5 nights a week, as a busser at a fine dining restaurant. Im averaging just under 20 an hour tipped out. Covers my 700 owed in rent/ utils, plus the other 500 in student loans every month, with enough extra cash to have fun as well. Fine dining gigs are the way to go if youve got the chops. Attention to detail is key. Benefits include better hours (Im done by 11 every night), good tip outs (average 2 person guest tab at my restaurant averages over 300 bones, the big parties can get redonkulous). I work for the mtn as well so I scored a free pass and early gondi privs. I get health insurance as well when I stay for the summer. Plus, if youve got any sense of work ethic youll be bumped up to server within a seasons time (I already get to cover shifts), which will more than double your salary. Only downside is the 2 month offseason shutdown between winter and summer seasons, but Im pretty sure I can claim unemployment and work landscaping under the table during that period for around 15 an hour. Sure I could make way more working 9-5 back east, but then life would just suck.

Yeah I know its not Tahoe per say, but these types of jobs exist in every resort area.

**El Chupacabra** · 01-31-2008, 02:24 PM

Reno. The biggest little city.

**DirkaDirkaJack** · 01-31-2008, 02:33 PM

yeah, i forgot to mention Reno. i am sure i could find something in reno and there is tons of stuff in Sacramento as well, but we decided if we are have to be at either of those places, we might as well stay in the Seattle area.

**DirkaDirkaJack** · 01-31-2008, 02:35 PM

thanks for the beta AdironRider, i have a friend who works at Riva in SLT, i should ask her how much the bussers make.

**AdironRider** · 01-31-2008, 02:53 PM

No problem man. It helped that I had serving experience previously, as these gigs are pretty sought after in ski towns; however, the right attitude and good work ethic speak volumes. Get your foot in the door as a busser, and work up from there.

**sierraskier** · 01-31-2008, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by DirkaDirkaJack

yeah, i forgot to mention Reno. i am sure i could find something in reno and there is tons of stuff in Sacramento as well, but we decided if we are have to be at either of those places, we might as well stay in the Seattle area.

welcome to the club. if you don't mind working the standard mountain town/service industry gigs then that mentality is OK, but like you said that doesn't usually cut it. there are a lot of people who make it work, but very few who do it and work & live only in Tahoe. if you want a "real job" I suggest you expand your boundaries to include Reno. it's 30-40 min away from Truckee and Incline. Sac is a different story - not do-able in my opinion. Truckee definitely has more going on than Tahoe/Incline job-wise...there is stuff out there but it's hard to find and you need to be creative and a little flexible.

EDIT: I mean working in Reno, not necessarily living there. personally I feel the same way - if I was going to live there I would probably just move back to the bay and make more $$ and come up on weekends. but I don't want to live in the bay.... if you can find something with a flexible schedule like a sales gig or an employer like onehotchili who is cool you can live in truckee/tahoe and work in Reno. you just need to prioritize the following: living in Tahoe, working in Tahoe, making good $$

**DBdude** · 01-31-2008, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by DirkaDirkaJack

yeah, i forgot to mention Reno. i am sure i could find something in reno and there is tons of stuff in Sacramento as well, but we decided if we are have to be at either of those places, we might as well stay in the Seattle area.

skiing isn't good enough in seattle?

**tahoe2stroker** · 01-31-2008, 03:24 PM

Im in Tahoe and I am doing the "real job" thing,mon-fri 8-5pm shit. I would never wish this upon anyone. Being in an office on a powder day, like yesterday, makes we wanna pull my hair out. If I could find a night job that would pay my bills and leave me with some money to play with, I would do it in a heartbeat.

**avacadotoast** · 01-31-2008, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by DirkaDirkaJack

yeah, i forgot to mention Reno. i am sure i could find something in reno and there is tons of stuff in Sacramento as well, but we decided if we are have to be at either of those places, we might as well stay in the Seattle area.

Live in Galena, then you're in the mountains. Nice place to be, 15-20 from Rose and some nice easy access BC, really nice mountain biking, nice weather (a bit windy though), 15 min from downtown & JOBS. Not much for rentals though except maybe in the condo complex at the base of the Mt Rose Hwy.

or just see if you can find yourself a good job in Truckee or Incline and go from there.

**Dhelihiker** · 01-31-2008, 04:21 PM

Tahoe is tough, I also would like to move there full time but the job market is spooky. Truckee is your best bet in Tahoe. Most profesional types work in SF pull down the coin and spend the weekends in Tahoe. Youll make 3x the money in the Bay Area

**MashedPotatoes** · 01-31-2008, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by tahoe2stroker

Im in Tahoe and I am doing the "real job" thing,mon-fri 8-5pm shit. I would never wish this upon anyone. Being in an office on a powder day, like yesterday, makes we wanna pull my hair out. If I could find a night job that would pay my bills and leave me with some money to play with, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I've lost some hair this week. But, OTOH..

- The stock market is shit
- The housing market is shit
- Interest bearing investments are shit

My steady paycheck and company health plan are one of the best things going for me. At least I can buy gas and full-price lift tickets..

**DirkaDirkaJack** · 01-31-2008, 05:00 PM

thanks for all the great beta mags, keep it coming.

the thing is, i dont have any experience in the service industry. i have only had engineering related jobs. i am trying to approach it from this angle: pay me more because i have a degree. does that work for people? with that said i would be happy do do almost anything at all.

again, i am not worried about making a good living, i just have this gnarly student loan bill that can't be covered by much less than $15/hr.

interesting to hear there are jobs in truckee, i thought south lake would be about the only spot to get hired.

**DirkaDirkaJack** · 01-31-2008, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by DBdude

skiing isn't good enough in seattle?

well thats were all the shenanigans starts. if i was single, i would stay in Seattle, pay loans, save up, then go be a tahoe bum. the GF is dead set on tahoe right away though (her parents payed for her degree). we have some friends in south lake and i think she really wants to move down there before they burn out and move out.

**tahoe2stroker** · 01-31-2008, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by MashedPotatoes

I've lost some hair this week. But, OTOH..

- The stock market is shit
- The housing market is shit
- Interest bearing investments are shit

My steady paycheck and company health plan are one of the best things going for me. At least I can buy gas and full-price lift tickets..

I hear ya, thats a good point that I overlook too easily.

**huck4bucks** · 01-31-2008, 05:07 PM

I was in a similar boat a few years back. Do your homework and setup interviews before you step foot in town. Hit the ground running so there's no downtime. You can find good career jobs in Truckee and Incline. My wife and I are both late-twenties 8-5ers, but make enough to pay off student loans and own a couple homes in Incline. You CAN do it. $15/hr+ is not a problem if you actually try. That being said, I know bartenders/servers that make just as much, if not more than I do and ski all morning.

Reno is not a bad option. Sacramento is out of the question. There are a couple engineering companies in Tahoe City and Truckee.

An airline called Allegiant flies between Reno and B-Ham if you need to come down here for interviews. Flights start at like $39 one-way.

**DirkaDirkaJack** · 01-31-2008, 05:09 PM

Onehotchili--i will definitely hit you up man, thanks for the offer.

i should also mention that i am not necessarily looking for a schedule that maximizes on-hill time. am am just looking for something

does anyone know of specific websites, businesses or placement agencies to talk too? places like jobsintahoe.com seem like mostly "less than professional" stuff.

**huck4bucks** · 01-31-2008, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by DirkaDirkaJack

i am trying to approach it from this angle: pay me more because i have a degree. does that work for people? with that said i would be happy do do almost anything at all.

HA. Yeah, buddy. Get in line. Percentage-wise, Lake Tahoe almost has more 4-year degrees than San Francisco. Your piece of paper doesn't mean anything around here.

Another note, if your girl wants to move to Tahoe to kick it with her friends in S. Lake, that's no small task. In the winter, the road to S. Lake closes frequently, and being that gas is $.30-40 more expensive around the lake, cruising to S. Lake to have beers is quite an endeavor. I've been here for 4 years and I can count the number of times I've driven to S. Lake on two hands. It's only 35 minutes, but it seems like 3 hours.

Good luck and gimme a shout when you get to town.

**irul&ublo** · 01-31-2008, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by onehotchili

hmmm... i wonder if you work for an old company that i used to work for?!?

in any case, as some maggots are aware of.... i have a Reno-based startup company that will hopefully be hiring soon. we are going thru some growing pains and adjustments, but in the next couple of months we should be thru some of those. if you ever reconsider Reno as an option for work, let me know and drop me a PM in a couple months. while i don't have any kind of formal policy in place just yet, i will definitely try and make things as "powder friendly" for employees as possible when i do start hiring.

Chili...I think its time for you and your startup to have some very expensive legal consulting done. Please give me a call, but first send the check.

**El Chupacabra** · 01-31-2008, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by Corky

Live in Galena, then you're in the mountains. Nice place to be, 15-20 from Rose and some nice easy access BC, really nice mountain biking, nice weather (a bit windy though), 15 min from downtown & JOBS. Not much for rentals though except maybe in the condo complex at the base of the Mt Rose Hwy.

I hear the neighbors in Galena are all creepy and weird and stuff...

**MTT** · 01-31-2008, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by DirkaDirkaJack

ok, here is the deal. my "better half" is dead set on moving to the tahoe area this spring for a year or two. i would be happy with any old joe job but there lies the problem.....

i have a monthly student loan payment that is basically as much as rent, so minimum wage is not going to fly. however i do have a BS in industrial tech/engineering. now, i am not necessarily looking for a job in that field, but i would like to find something that would get me into the $15/hr and up pile to pay my bills.

mostly looking at the truckee, or incline area, basically want to avoid the pit of south lake, but i will take what i can get. working at a resort would be cool, but i highly doubt i could make much cash my first year in.

any ideas from the college educated ski bums out there? thanks.

You have a degree industrial tech/engineering!

Ski areas?
Casino's? They have these BIG Bilding with lots of mechanical STUFF!
Also these are lots of Engineering jobs in Reno Carson City Gardner Ville.

Many people commute each day.

Anyway don't start thinking about menial jobs, The Tahoe area has use for people with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. You will find the work, it just may not pay as much in the beginning.

Put your resume up on Dice and Monster. Narrow your job search to That area and see what happens.

You may also want to apply with Sierra Pasific, Charter, At&t
County Govenment. Anyway there are allot of ways to go.
You might find a great job and become very successful in the Tahoe Basin.

You will absolutely find work where your Degree got you in the door.

**Deutschmark** · 02-01-2008, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by MTT

You may also want to apply with Sierra Pasific, Charter, At&t
County Govenment. Anyway there are allot of ways to go.

Don't forget the other local gov't and agencies (utility districts, cities, etc). If you can spin your experience/education towards infrastructure design (pipes, pumps, CADD, etc) you will probably have some good luck.

**DirkaDirkaJack** · 02-01-2008, 01:01 PM

Huck4Bucks--good to know, i dont want to look like an idiot for thinking i am special with just another four year degree.

i have my shit up on monster and ironically, i have gotten several offers in the Seattle area. i have it set up to search the tahoe area and all i get are hits in Sac and a few in Reno.

yeah i have thought about doing something more on the civil engineering side, but have zero experience in that field. i guess there is never a better time to start though.

so far it sounds like my options are: try to get a job somewhat related to my field (the jury says it might be pretty likely). otherwise try to get a job in the service industry or similar, and good paying jobs aren't quite as rare as i thought.

my biggest problem now is finding places. it looks like i will be applying to places that aren't advertising so it will be a challenge to find them since i am not in the area and haven't spent much time there. dont mean to sounds so helpless (i have always gotten jobs where i already lived before), but does anyone have any advice for that kind of thing?

**Arty50** · 02-01-2008, 01:01 PM

I just moved to Reno from SLT. It's nice because in my profession I'm making as much as I would in the Bay Area, but the living expenses are noticably lower.

That said, Reno /= Tahoe. It's a completely different world.

Other than that, huck4bucks hit it right on the head. There is no shortage of people who would love to have a professional job in Tahoe, and the employers know it. The casinos are the worst of the bunch. It's absolutely asinine what I was getting paid there. I was making 50-60% of what I would have made in the Bay or LA, while the purchase price of a home in the Basin is on par with both of those cities. The one exception is rent. Rent actually isn't too bad up there. But for what you get paid, it's not so great either.

Now there are exceptions to this rule, but not too many.

Oh and the drive from north to south sucks. If you're there to hang with people in SLT, live in SLT. Sure some of the neighborhoods suck, but a lot are really nice too.

**soulman978** · 02-01-2008, 02:46 PM

my advice would be to look for a job in your field first and if that fails, try to work at a casino. you could get a job in their engineering dept, maintaining the infrastructure, or if you wanted to try something out of engineering try being a slot tech or a dealer. both of those positions will make more than $15/hr.