Boise and the surrounding area is a wonderful place to work and play. While Southwestern Idaho offers an abundance of outdoor activities, both winter and summer, it also presents a wide variety of employment and career opportunities ideal for software developers.

Idaho high tech industries are enjoying unprecedented growth and are actively searching for the best and the brightest to join their ranks. Some of the “coolest gigs” in town are ISEA member companies.

Cauldron Development LLC, a software engineering consultancy, services clients including Ugobe, Hewlett Packard, Notre Dame, and Stanford on projects ranging from embedded software for robotic life forms to protein folding simulations aimed at finding cures for cancer .

Clearwater Analytics is a rapidly growing, SaaS (Software as a Service) provider of daily, web-based, integrated accounting, compliance, performance and risk reporting solutions for investors and investment managers.  The company, with offices in Boise, Idaho and New York, New York, currently reports on over $250 billion in investment assets for over 300 corporations including many Fortune 500 companies.  Clients include Cisco Systems, Intuit, eBay, Electronic Arts, NVIDIA, and a number of major banks and investment managers. 

ClickBank is one of the largest Internet retailers on the web and closes a sale somewhere on the planet every three seconds. Its patented tracking systems have made them a leader in the business of affiliate marketing, which remains the most efficient and cost effective method of advertising on the web.

CradlePoint engineers and manufactures docking cradles, cellular routers, and software platforms that facilitate secure mobile computing in the Web 2.0 world.  From docking cradles for use with handheld terminals to sophisticated mobile enterprise routers, the company leverages telephony, Ethernet, and mobile broadband to make Internet access portable, simple, and robust.

CRI Advantage, with over 100 professional IT consultants places software engineers in positions with leading business and government clients in Idaho. 

Healthwise is a not for profit that competes for technology workers by appealing to the candidates desire to contribute to a mission centric organization.

Keynetics Inc is the premier inventor and developer of highly reliable and elegantly simple Internet businesses. Its internally funded research and development activities are implemented by a creative and talented team of technologists and business people. Their team has achieved a remarkable track record of creating and operating new and profitable businesses with proprietary homegrown technologies at their core.

Kount Inc offers the next-generation fraud control web service designed specifically to identify suspect transactions on the Internet. It is a hosted application, which means there is no software to install. Kount merchants receive real-time risk assessments, plus Kount's exclusive Dynamic Scoring. The Dynamic Scoring tool monitors each transaction for changes in risk at any time, whether before or after fulfillment.

MarkMonitor protects brands on the Internet of more than half of the companies listed on the Fortune 100 by crawling and storing terabytes of Internet data for the world's top companies.  MarkMonitor provides data feeds to Microsoft to assist in protecting users from identity theft by blocking access to bad web sites within Internet Explorer and has the largest historical domain name ownership database in the world.

These are only some of the examples of career opportunities offered in the Boise area. The technical industry as a whole has a lot to offer in Southwestern Idaho. According to the Idaho Department of Commerce, Idaho is home to over 800 software companies with nearly 400 software companies in the Boise metropolitan area. Software companies make up one-fifth of the Idaho technology sector with the software industry being the fastest growing technology sector in Idaho.

If you are or plan to be degreed in Computer Science or a related field, the future is bright where ever you plan to live and especially in Idaho. According to Brad Wiskirchen, CEO of Keynetics Inc in Boise, “A Computer Science degree allows you to work in almost any organization”. The AEA Trade Association states that software employment in the U.S. is projected to grow by 44% over the next seven years, and a Money Magazine survey of 26,000 workers said that Software Developers had the most satisfying jobs.

One hundred percent of Boise State University (BSU) Computer Science graduates received job offers upon graduation, according to Amit Jain, Associate Professor Department of Computer Science at BSU. Jain also states that, “the average starting salaries for BSU’s Computer Science graduates in 2006 were among the highest of all undergraduate majors”. A Forbes report states that the Boise metropolitan area has the 2nd highest per capita number of engineers and IT professionals in the U.S., second only to the Silicon Valley.

Employment and career opportunities for software developers in the Boise, Idaho area is only part of the story. Living and playing here is the rest of the package. If you are considering moving to Boise or the surrounding area, you are sure to find what you are looking for as far as lifestyle amenities, activities, and enjoyment for individuals, couples, and families.

Boise is in the heart of Idaho's Treasure Valley, which “spans the Snake River plain from Mountain Home, Idaho, in the east to Ontario, Oregon at the west”, according to BoiseRelo.com. The terrain surrounding Boise is highly varied and within just a few minutes drive, you can find high deserts, mountains, forests, lush farmland, and river valleys. Surrounded by small farming and ranching communities, Boise, the Capital city of Idaho, is at the heart of the Treasure Valley and offers small-town charm with big city opportunities.

According to the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, " Downtown Boise is the dynamic, prosperous and vibrant urban center of the Treasure Valley. It serves as the government, business, cultural, and entertainment center for southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon. In total 44,000 people currently work in the downtown corridor. Downtown is home to the Idaho State Capitol, the Ada County Courthouse complex, and Boise City Hall".

The center of Boise offers outstanding business and retail services, restaurants, theaters, art galleries and much more, surrounded by historic buildings and maintaining a small city atmosphere. Both Opera and Symphony are within just a few minutes walk, as are Boise State University, Ballet Idaho, and various musical and comedy venues. Exciting sporting activities are also available including pulse-pounding ice hockey and college football.

From May through September, events such as the Alive after Five concert series, Jazz on the Grove, and First Thursday offer entertainment and allow you to enjoy relaxing downtown strolls, music, and fine food. From April to October, you can enjoy the Capital City Farmer's Market and sample locally grown fruits, vegetables, and fresh-cut flowers.

City living is only part of the fun. As you might imagine, Idaho offers magnificent winter and summer sports opportunities for everyone.

“Winter is Hot”, according to visitidaho.org. Idaho offers some of the driest powder found anywhere in the Western United States. Whether your preference is downhill or back country skiing, world-famous resorts such as Sun Valley, Brundage, and Tamarack are within a few hours drive of downtown Boise. The Bogus Basin ski resort is only 16 miles away, so you have no excuse not to enjoy after work and weekend skiing and snowboarding adventures. If snowmobiling is more your sport, Idaho has miles of groomed snowmobile trails just waiting for you. Take advantage of some of the most spectacular winter scenery available, from snow covered valleys to frozen lakes. It's all within easy reach.

If summer is your season, you'll find plenty to do in and around Boise. The Boise River runs through downtown, flanked on either side by a rustic, scenic greenbelt. Take a relaxing “float” down the river or jog or bike along the greenbelt. Whitewater rafting and kayaking is within an hour's drive of Boise, and spectacular foothills mountain biking and hiking trails are just minutes away. Camping opportunities are also within easy access, regardless of whether you enjoy traveling by camper and RV, or backpacking into remote wilderness. Boat and water ski at any number of reservoirs and lakes within just a few hours of Boise. Whatever your outdoor pleasure, you'll find it in Idaho.

A tremendous variety of other entertainment venues are available year round. In December, attend the Boise Christmas Tree Lighting at the Boise Centre on the Grove. The Boise Soul Food Extravaganza offers a shared, enlightening African-American cultural experience. The Caldwell Night Rodeo lets your enjoy an event where "the Cowboys are the Stars", and the Gene Harris Jazz Festival is an annual, spring entertainment favorite in Boise. The Idaho Steelheads offers you the opportunity to watch Idaho's number one hockey team "heat up the ice".  These events are only a sample of what Boise has to offer in entertainment excitement and enjoyment.