Hey guys! I graduated college in December (I'm 27 and just got my Bachelors) and have spent the better part of my year trying to network and find a entry level corporate job in Portland. However, that went nowhere. The job market in Portland isn't great and whenever a job is available, they pull talent from those who recently got laid off from Nike or Adidas (as those are based there).
So, in turn I've started looking at Denver. I know a lot of people on reddit will say the job market in Denver isn't amazing either, but by comparison to Portland its night and day in terms of what the Job reports show with grown and unemployment for young professionals (that would be me). I also frequently see Denver being a top 10 city destination for young professionals.
Someone had told me that one of the sectors growing in Denver the most right now is the Defense industry
For context, I'm a simple business management major with a minor in marketing. I have around 5 years of experience working in outdoor retail, I live out of state but am planning on re-locating to Denver in a few months... If I can get a job there first. Although my direct background is in outdoor retail, I do know a LOT about the defense industry and have been spending the better part of the last 13 years paying attention to geo-politics and assets used as a personal interest of mine.
So I have two questions:
1.) Would I even qualify for an entry level role in the defense field in Denver, likely some form of Associate or Coordinator level role on the corporate side of the house? Ideally I'd like to start off making around ~60k.
2.) I heard that the defense sector in Colorado is having a hard time finding employees, especially gen Z so as a result hiring is pretty common and high, does that happen to be your experience?
3.) Any other suggestions besides the Defense field for someone with my background? I'd be open to finance, and am trying with outdoor corporate. Granted competition for places like The North Face is insanely high.
Thank you. This job search has been pretty brutal on my mental health, so I'm just eager to get a job and just finally start my career. Happy to answer any questions.