HAVE YOU EVER BEEN MELLOW? CORY MYERS IS, EVEN THOUGH HIS TECH JOB DRIED UP IN JANUARY.(Business)

Byline: Janet Forgrieve News Staff Writer

Cory Myers exudes mellow.

Until January, the Boulder resident was director of Web development for RxMarketplace.com, a Louisville-based B2B online pharmacy that laid off all but two of its 33 workers in January.

At a pink-slip party in late February, Myers chatted calmly, appearing comfortable in the role of job seeker.

``If I get worried, it's fleeting,'' he said, sipping a free Guinness. ``I know something will work out. There are a lot of tech jobs in this area, it's just the matter of finding the right one. I'm enjoying myself right now, because when the money runs out, that's when I'll really worry.''

More than a month later, Myers has sent out 60 resumes, gone to 10 or 12 job interviews and come in second for one position.

But as of last week, he was still looking - and still sounding calm about it.

``I'm still getting people finding my resume on Monster.com, I'm still meeting people in Boulder who are giving me some decent leads,'' he says. ``It's good to be involved in tech, because a lot of my friends are, too.''

Lately, he has been spending about 20 hours a week actively hunting, and another 20 or so starting a consulting business with two friends. The partners have already signed two clients.

``I'm doing it initially to keep an option open, but I do hope, over the course of time, it will be a full-time position,'' he said. ``We're positioning ourselves for the future.''

Meanwhile, the hunt continues, much of it using the medium Myers has specialized in throughout his career. He has been contacted about eight times by companies that saw his resume on the Internet, and all but three of his interviews came from online classifieds or job sites. At 36, he's a lot pickier about the types of positions he'll seek than he was in his 20s. That's where the job search Web sites come in handy.

``By having the targeted search criteria, it saves time,'' he said. ``There are a lot of jobs I probably would have applied for in the earlier years of my career that I won't now.''

Before moving to Boulder almost two years ago, Myers spent more than six years as a director of electronic publishing at a company in Chicago. He has checked out a couple job leads back in the Windy City but has decided he likes the Boulder lifestyle too much to go back.

He said financially he's still OK, thanks, in part, to a large income-tax refund. Myers has done some belt-tightening, and said he's been finding some creative ways to entertain himself.

``I was given a gift of membership at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art,'' he said. ``Now's the time to be going. And, when the weather gets better, there'll be a lot more bike riding involved.''

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Photo

Cory Myers makes contacts at a pink-slip party at Brooklyn's in the Pepsi Center. ``If I get worried, it's fleeting,'' he says. ``I know something will work out. There are a lot of tech jobs in this area, it's just the matter of finding the right one.'' At 36, Myers says he's choosier than he was in his 20s about the positions he will accept. By Steven G. Smith / News Staff Photographer.