Why should economic growth be constrained to a handful of coastal urban centers when NAFTA and other effects of globalization have hit the Midwest and rural areas of the country the most?

Someone can complain about what should happen and stay unemployed or you can deal with the reality that tech jobs are in large urban areas. I’ve never lived on the coast, but I do live in a large metropolitan city.

I can either complain about the direction that front end development is going and Node or I can look at the current technology landscape and where the market is going and learn what’s hot and keep my family fed.

Couldn't this argument be flipped to say that perhaps underemployment is caused by the lack of willingness of employers to go where the employees are? Judging from the increasing housing expenses, employer and industry concentration has serious effects on local inflation, thus seriously driving up the risks associated with migration.

There is an old saying - “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.”

But there is s move toward “rural sourcing” where outsourcing companies would use foreign outsourced labor are now setting up shop in rural areas where they can both pay people less than in the major cities and still get the benefits of being in similar time zones and people can travel more easily to be on site occasionally.

Where? Not being sarcastic or anything... really want to know.

Atlanta. Don’t aimlessly submit to job boards. Go through local recruiters.

How am I supposed to go through local recruiters in Atlanta, or have any idea who they are, when I don't live in Atlanta? Are many of these companies willing to pay for relocation?

Just the ones I have used and found jobs through.

https://www.matrixres.com/

https://prestigestaffing.jobs.net/

https://www.htrjobs.com/

http://www.professional-insight.com/

http://www.hays.com/index.htm

These are all reputable agencies that don’t submit your resume without your permission. They will tell you the salary range up front and once you talk to them, they will tell you the name of the company.

As far as relocation. Probably not, but if you’re a good developer and not finding jobs quickly in your market. You need to relocate anyway.

It’s neved taken me longer than a month to find a job as a developer in over 20 years - always paying more.

I moved from a small town the week after I graduated from college in the mid 90s because I knew there were no jobs there.

The salary survey posted by Matrix jibes with my experience at least for Atlanta.

https://www.matrixres.com/resources/salary-survey/

Yeah I would like to find a good recruiter for my area.

I don’t get why it’s so hard to find good recruiters. I’ve had relationships with reputable recruiters for 20 years.

I think for some of us it is just our only recruiter experience are the folks who talk to you and never call back who work for a specific company, and the folks who want to spam your resume or something. It's hard to know who is who.

When a recruiter reaches out to you on LinkedIn, check to see whether the company they work for is local to the area.

I just picked a random city -Boston - and Google’d “Boston software recruiters”. I found two or three just now.

Even with the job boards, recruiters post jobs thier and instead of sending your resume, talk to them. If you have the skills, and interview well, they will be more than happy to work with you. They get a 20% finders fee from the company you are eventually hired through and it doesn’t affect your salary.

If they won’t give you the information for the hiring company when you ask - don’t deal with them. Also, don’t be shady. Don’t go behind the recruiters back, make sure you aren’t being submitted by more than one company and make sure they always ask before they submit your resume.

The general rule of thumb is not to tell them your current salary. I’ve never gone by that rule. I always tell them the minimum salary I want - and no “target compensation” and bonuses don’t count - and don’t waste my time discussing any company that can’t meet my requirements.

I’ve had them negotiate on my behalf after a company was interested for more than the salary the company offered. The more I make the more they make.