moved to the moray area about 9 years ago and found the area quite full of jobs opportunities with the oil industry in aberdeen, the raf and now army camps plus the usual business stuff in the bogger towns, i.e inverness, elgin, aberdeen. Plus even in this what could be described as busy area as compared to the relatively empty highlands area (above inverness over to above skye) their is empty places to loose yourself in and make you feel how the postal services regard any where above perth i.e on the other side of the world. These days jobs are their like anywhere else, but their is more people to fill them - if your an engineer of any sort, communting to aberdeen for a 40,000 plus free lance or regualer job is very likely as thier is a shortage.
House prices are going down but a 3 bedroom detached rented is about 800 a month, average 300 to 400 for flat and their is the cairngorms a stone throw away. As for outdoor schools, well 9 years ago I only knew of woodlore, woodsmoke and the sas things in brecons, now they furnish the west coast of scotland and theirs even one on an island below slioch - their is more then a few, I guess the only problem with a location is the time, cost it would take customers to get to your location - their is no trains above skye on the west coast, east you have the A9 but in the middle their is only a few B roads - if you could do walking type stuff as well as the fire lighting it would open the opportunities as there is literally hundreds of poeple in the hills most weeks, except perhaps winter and more then a few could do with navigation training if you know what I mean!
Any way thats my little beef on the subject - my pay up here has been good, bad and non existant, encountered idiots, nice and those inbetween (more nicer then not) but over all I have never regretted moving here cause if all hell breaks down, the empty wild wilderness is only an hour away.