It's always wise, we've found, to have a day job. And in Las Vegas, you could be in luck: A recent survey conducted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and local research firm MRC Group has found that "... finding qualified workers is No. 1 on the list of obstacles businesses will face in the next one to two years, with 32% of survey respondents reporting that hiring will be their highest hurdle."
In other words, there aren't enough bodies to fill all the available positions in the Las Vegas job market these days. The survey found that the worker shortage is especially acute in construction, financial services, and communications; indeed, fully 100% of businesses surveyed in these three sectors indicated that they couldn't fill all their positions with qualified workers. Health care is also a problem employment area, as are emergency services and casino management.
In addition, upper-level positions (those that require extensive higher education) are hard to fill, due to the fact that high-school graduates can make enough money in the service economy that they don't need advanced degrees. In fact, some skilled tradesmen make more money -- a lot more money -- than people with college degrees. Even some less-skilled workers make more.
Not only that, but wages across the board for the professions -- doctor, lawyer, architect, accountant, etc. -- are lower in southern Nevada than, for example, southern California. So professionals who choose job location based on salary are often scooped up by the booming economies in Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.
Obviously, in Las Vegas, competition for skilled construction trades workers is also intense. The big resorts are gobbling up almost the entire workforce. MGM Mirage's Project CityCenter will employ 7,000 construction workers at its peak of construction activity. Add in Echelon Place and all the other large casino, condo, and retail construction projects and if you have those skills, you can practically write your own ticket.
As far as hotel-casino jobs are concerned, there are plenty of them, but it's not quite as simple as showing up and taking your pick. Thousands of people continue to pour into Las Vegas looking for work every month, so here it's an employers market, especially for the jobs that require the least amount of experience. Also, the cost of living in Las Vegas has been rising steadily over the past several years, especially for housing; many unskilled or semi-skilled workers have a rough time making the transition of relocating to Las Vegas and finding work that pays the bills.
For those kinds of jobs, you should look off-Strip at small locals establishments. The huge megaresorts get their workforce from places like that -- after the potential employees have been living and working in the area for some time. Another idea is to work for a smaller casino owned by a big company. Apply for work in Primm for MGM Mirage. Apply at the Wild Wild West or Wildfire to work for Station Casinos.
Experience in the business is less important than a good work history. Bring as many letters of recommendation from previous employers with you to Las Vegas as you can. You'll be trained easily enough to do whatever job in the casino you're hired for, but there's no training for attitude, reliability, creativity, initiative, flexibility, personality, and other qualities that make a good employee.
Dress well for your interviews; according to human-resources advice, you can never be over-dressed for a job interview. Also, be prepared to take a drug test wherever you apply.
If you want to be a dealer, you have to go to dealer schools and start out in the small break-in joints.
If you're going for a tip position -- valet, bus person, wait person, bartender, bellman, etc. -- get in line. Break-in food-service employees, for example, start out in banquets (part-time), on slow shifts, and at the bottom of seniority lists; the people at the top of those lists tend to hang onto the good tip positions as long as they can. Prepare to work more than one job if you're on a tip quest.
"Juice" (knowing someone in a position of authority somewhere) is always good to have. Look hard for someone who knows someone. An introduction from someone who can vouch for you, especially if you're new in town, is one of the most valuable assets you can accrue.
Look in the Help Wanted ads in the classified sections of the daily and weekly newspapers. Definitely look online; Google "Las Vegas jobs" and thousands of sites pop up. You can also just show up at the human-resource departments at the casinos and try your luck.
The bottom line in breaking into the Las Vegas job scene is, unless you have special skills and can pick and choose among employers, to take the job that's offered to you. That gets your foot in the door locally. Once you're hired, you've got many more options than when you're unemployed. You can transfer into a better job. You can be promoted into a higher-paying position. You can keep looking and use your current employer as a reference.
And here are a couple of general tips. You must have a local address and phone number. Countless job seekers submit applications to Las Vegas casino companies from around the country and the world and it's our understanding that these apps are routinely tossed into the circular file. Las Vegas human-resources departments are looking for already-established Las Vegas residents to staff their casinos; there are too many uncertainties in hiring people who have yet to make the actual move to southern Nevada.
If you don't live here yet, you can circumvent the requirement by setting up a local mail drop and voicemail number. There are various ways to do this, but make sure that the forwarding service to your home address and phone number is fast and reliable. You'll have to play a tricky game if you start sending in resumes, then get positive responses and interview appointments. But if you don't live in Las Vegas when you apply for jobs here, that's the only way to do it.
