[Xcelerate]

Another HN'er in Knoxville here. I'm a grad student at UT. I really like the Knoxville area (more than Atlanta -- where I was) and am curious about what sort of technical jobs are in the area.

I'd kind of like to stay here and find a good engineering position, but I'm concerned that since the COL is so low (=> low starting salary when I graduate) that it may be better to get a job in a big city first and then move back here later.

[steverb]

On the dev side, there's a crap load of .NET work. I get two or three emails from local recruiters every week.

Unfortunately, half the jobs are at companies you will not want to work at for more than a year (ignore what anyone says about turn over rates, peoples expectations are too low).

My advice for anyone starting out would be to start attending the local user groups (http://www.etnug.org , http://knoxvillesc.org , http://www.agileknoxville.com ) and start working on public stuff that you can point to (put some stuff on git, answer some SO questions).

I have no clue what starting salary around here is currently though, but it should be easy to find out by asking one of the local recruiters. Shoot me an email if you need the names of some of the more trustworthy headhunters in the area.

[crowbar]

I keep meaning to go to some of the local user group meetings. Things keep getting in the way and I keep making excuses. Perhaps I'll do so this this month!

[steverb]

Of the three I would recommend the Software Craftsmanship Group. There's beer, and last year we did a intense scotch tasting.

Plus it's technology agnostic (although samples tend to be in .NET because Knoxville), it focuses less on technologies and more on technique.

[crowbar]

What steverb is pretty accurate here. I myself currently work in a .NET position. Most places around here, particularly healthcare companies, look for people familiar with .NET Framework. If you're doing web development, it's much the same, with a smattering of PHP (I've heard of a couple of Ruby positions available in the area, but there are very few.) It's a good opportunity to have consistent pay while you build an online presence/work on side projects if you're willing to go that route at the very least. Your mileage may vary, though.