Jobs in DFW (Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano: insurance, houses, job market)

[mcpugh]

Can someone give me an overall feel for the job market in the Fort Worth area?

My wife is six classes away from her 4-year Accounting degree. I don't have as much to offer; just a AAS degree and a lot of IT/Web Design experience. We have a 10-year-old son.

We want to live in the Fort Worth area, specifically the NW region. However, I wonder if Dallas has more jobs and if a commute from Fort Wort to Dallas is even feasible.

[RockyJoe817]

There are jobs out there, just have to be able find it through networking.


Check the Texas workforce website:
https://wit.twc.state.tx.us/WORKINTE...kiecheckflag=1

Have you tried checking the other employment websites:
1.) careerbuilder.com
2.) dice.com
3.) monster.com
4.) indeed.com

[mcpugh]

Thanks RockyJoe.
CareerBuilder: all the time
Dice: not in a long time
Monster: Not as good as it used to be
Indeed.com: Never heard of.

[mcpugh]

Thanks for telling me about Indeed.com. I was getting very depressed there for awhile until exploring that site.

[a34dadsf]

Also craigslist, check it daily and respond to the ads on the day they are posted.

I wouldn't commute from fort worth to dallas. Too expensive.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by mcpugh

I wonder if Dallas has more jobs and if a commute from Fort Wort to Dallas is even feasible.

Yes, Dallas has more jobs. It's almost twice as large as Fort Worth, and the main industries there are more high-tech than those in Fort Worth. Remember: the unemployment rate here is still 8% and it's higher for those without a college degree. There are still a lot of people here looking for work. The job posting I had up last week (not in your field, but used as a statistic) netted 64 applicants for one job.

No, a commute from Fort Worth (especially NW part) to Dallas is not feasible. You will spend over an hour each way in the car, and the gas/tolls will be very expensive. If you work in Dallas, you need to live closer to Dallas.

Indeed.com is a consolidator. It's a search engine that mines companies' websites and pulls job postings that match your key words. Yes, it can find good job postings for you, but it will also pull up junk. Career Builder.com is the biggest/best job board. I would recommend starting there first.

[loves2read]

one of the larger CPA firms in the area is in FTW--
Whitley Penn--
good reputation from what I can tell and growing--and they have women principals/partners which is good sign to me that they are equal opportunity employer
we use them for personal/business concerns

hope your wife is starting to use LinkedIn to create professional persona
joins her alumni assoc and uses it to try for local contacts if any
it is never too early to start looking for work

my son works as editor for company designing on-line tutorials for web-based learning--
company in Dallas and he is currently living in Bedford and driving 4 days a week--1 day work at home policy
I would not recommend working in Dallas (he is central Dallas) and living west of Hurst--but there are people who do live in Keller or south FTW and drive into Dallas--
jobs came after houses were bought maybe--for whatever reason people make that commute

right now Airport Frwy/183 from east of Bedford, through Mid-Cities and soon into FTW will have construction
114/121 through Grapevine/Southlake is under construction and will be for next year+
Loop 820 N (through NE Mall area in Hurst, NRHills, Haltom City/Wautauga, Haslet) is going under construction soon
and there are various surface roads also under construction or that will be in next year

the only road/freeway that is NOT under construction right now is the Bush Toll road and Hwy 121 from north of Grapevine Mills Mall into Plano...at least that I am familiar with

so base your move with road construction in mind
Dallas is larger and thus offers more jobs but Tarrant/Denton county is also very viable employment site
depending on your skills/experience/background...

[mcpugh]

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughtful posts. You gave us some things to ponder.

[loves2read]

ps--from what I have seen many of the jobs on Dice.com are contract jobs--some might have long time-line but they often don't have any benefits offered
TX as a state is a lousy place to be w/o medical insurance
our doctors are good but hospital/medical costs are high
the state's contribution to Medicare is one of the lowest and the state insurance pool for uninsurable people is being phased out because of the new federal health law

I would also suggest your check out the workforce commission job site
ANY company who does business with the state has to post their openings there as well as all state agencies

I think you have to register as job seeker to view some jobs' full information listing but it is searchable by area (like DFW metroplex), by career even if it is not the most user friendly job search site

just using ACCOUNTANT as search term and got over 500 hits--unfiltered by experience or location though so most are not going to work
https://wit.twc.state.tx.us/WORKINTE..._SEARCH_BY_OCC

this one says they would consider new grads with 15 hours of accounting
https://wit.twc.state.tx.us/WORKINTE...RESULTS&sort=0