Little Rock - plenty of jobs? (Conway, Benton: income, hospitals, diverse)

[pammy]

Hello. My husband and I are seriously considering moving from the Boston area to the Little Rock area. I was hoping some of you could help us out with some questions we have.

1. How is the employment in LR/NLR? My husband is a computer systems manager - responsible for everything to do with the company's software and hardware. He's the "solution man" and keeps it all running. Are there lots of computer jobs there? What's the best way to find them - headhunters, web sites, newspaper? He's interested in small and medium sized companies.

My background is bookkeeping and administrative. It looks like lots of prospects for me?

2. Anybody have any info on Mayflower? We like the look and feel of this town (at least online) and it seems commutable to LR.

This is a great forum and I thank all responders in advance!

[strumpeace]

I have a friend who lives in Mayflower and is a volunteer firefighter there. He likes living there but gets frustrated by having to drive to Conway for most everything he needs.

[North Pulaski Player]

Little Rock Metro has the second (2nd) most diverse economy in America, with only Chicago having a more diverse economy, so I doubt that your husband will have a problem getting a job in the field that he want to be in. As mentioned aboved, the only problem I see is the fact that although Mayflower is a nice little community, there isn't really anything there and you would have to drive either to west Little Rock or Conway for your basic needs. I do not know how important that is to you guys, but that is something that you may want to consider. If you guys are going to be working in the city of Little Rock, but want to live in a rural setting, I would recommend parts of extreme west Little Rock, Maumelle, Saline County (Benton/Bryant), or Cabot. I personally would not be able to handle the nasty commute between Conway and LR without having fits, but you also may want to look into that.

[paramour]

I would highly recommend your husband contact headhunters, post his resume on job sites online (e.g., monster.com) well in advance of moving here. My husband's in the same area. He had no occupational worries as he kept his job for many, many years until his company decided to downsize. He ended up doing weekly & monthly contract work for about a year before he finally started commuting to Tennessee (mostly Nashville, sometimes Memphis) for contracts. He did this for 2-3 years before he was able to locate a permanent position that he settled for in the LR area. Yes, you can technically find jobs here but they tend not to pay so well.

Alltel & Acxiom are likely to come up in your husband's search. Be careful if he decides to go that route. They tend to conduct massive lay-offs every few years. Other than that, some of the departments work their employees to death and often don't get compensated for it. There are certain areas within these companies that aren't so bad but they seem to be rare as people hold onto them.

G'luck~

[Sam I Am]

Originally Posted by pammy

My background is bookkeeping and administrative. It looks like lots of prospects for me?

Pammy, I can think of a couple of positions I know of off the top of my head with smaller companies in Little Rock - under 40 employees - that might work for the bookkeeping end of things. Much will depend on your income and what you anticipate - but I think it may be easier for you than your husband. As everywhere, Little Rock metro is glutted with computer people. He might try Kimberly-Clark in Conway or one of the hospitals in the greater LR/NLR area - the Ward bus company is in Conway, too, along with about a thousand other businesses I can't think of. Conway is growing so fast, (pop. 53,00+ in yesterday's paper) but the medical community is really exploding. If you are leaning toward living in the Mayflower area it would be a much easier commute than coming into Little Rock - you'd be going the opposite direction of the traffic for the most part. As far as living, if you like a little rural, you might look at Greenbrier...a very nice, very small town outside of Conway. The Maumelle area might be interesting to you as well, although it is neighborhoods. The traffic, while extremely annoying for those brought up in these parts, may be a snap compared to what you are used to....although there is absolutely no public transportation at all. Stephens Investments is in Little Rock - he might look at the law firms, too. Alltel is in the middle of being bought out and I suspect a lot of people will fall if that goes through (there's a lawsuit or complaint pending) - last in, first out....Acxiom isn't considered the gentlest employer of all time and certainly doesn't fall under the "small business" category.

Are there any kids to consider as far as education?

[pammy]

Many thanks to Sam I Am and paramour for the info on LR jobs. You have both clarified the issue for us. I appreciate your replies.
Pammy