Twin Cities employment (Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Cloud: 2009, schools, standard of living)

[scolls]

Anybody have suggestions on companies to look into?

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Cailalily1

....
Also, Vonage will let you get a MN number even if you live in another state if using the relatives doesn't work well. We did not opt for this but it might be good if you have any problems with communication.

Good luck!

Great point. I bought one of these magicJack and it's like $50 a year for VOIP service. Free rollover service, vmail, emailed voice mails etc. You can pick any area code you want. It's a fraction of the price of what Vonage charges. I found it to be extremely reliable.

Good luck in your search!

[awsun1980]

scolls,
It is hard here too (thought I'm sure not as bad as Detroit.) I just moved back home here myself 2 months ago & I'm still trying to get a job. If I were you, I'd try saving up money if you can because you never know how long it will take here to get a job or when the economy will get better. You have a bachelor's degree, so it might be easier for you.

I don't know what you do for work, but as far as companies to look into, I would try looking into some of the major ones for starters--such as Target Corporation or General Mills.

I'm not a fan of temp agencies either, I hear ya on that one. I've signed up with 5 of them at least & they haven't found me anything. They also pay very low & they might even just look over the fact that you have a degree, too.

Hope this helps. Good luck to ya

[Duk123]

Forget about Target for right now they just laidoff 600 people and are planning on not filling an additional 400 vacant jobs and these are all office jobs not store.
US Bank, Wells Fargo, and Ameriprise have a huge number of employees in the area. There is a decent amount of ad and marketing companies in the area mostly smaller 50 employees companies or so.
The area also has a large number of insurance companies based here. Thrivent and Travelers are two off the top of my head.
Google: top 100 companies mn
The top link should to a quarterly list put out by the Star Tribune newspaper

[scolls]

Originally Posted by awsun1980

scolls,
It is hard here too (thought I'm sure not as bad as Detroit.) I just moved back home here myself 2 months ago & I'm still trying to get a job. If I were you, I'd try saving up money if you can because you never know how long it will take here to get a job or when the economy will get better. You have a bachelor's degree, so it might be easier for you.

I don't know what you do for work, but as far as companies to look into, I would try looking into some of the major ones for starters--such as Target Corporation or General Mills.

I'm not a fan of temp agencies either, I hear ya on that one. I've signed up with 5 of them at least & they haven't found me anything. They also pay very low & they might even just look over the fact that you have a degree, too.

Hope this helps. Good luck to ya

Detroit is horrible right now. When a low rate auto warranty is looking to add a call center in downtown Detroit, it was first page news. The only temp agency I went to, placed me as a janitor inside a GM factory. The economy is so bad here, I've been underemployed for years and have no relevant work experience. I can't get anything here to match my education level. I'm working a job that only requires high school level education.

[MplsTodd]

Originally Posted by scolls

Anybody have suggestions on companies to look into?

My co-worker's wife works at Capella in downtown Mpls. He told me yesterday that Capella had been expanding recently--so they'd be worth looking into. Online Education Degree Program - Online Degree Programs - Online University Degrees

[meltedsno]

Originally Posted by scolls

Anybody have suggestions on companies to look into?

Post your resume and check out the jobs at Careerbuilder and Monster. It has been very successful for me. It is quite common for companies to do an initial screening by doing phone interviews first. Also, if a company is interested in pursuing you a bit further after the phone interviews, generally, they will pay for your transportation to the interview. I've been flown to various locations throughout the US for interviews finally settling on one right here in Minnesota...

Good Luck...

[cdubs3201]

Originally Posted by scolls

I have a bachelors degree in Business Administration and Marketing. It seems the Twin Cities are a good place for young business grads.

I'd really like to know how you came to this conclusion.

I'm confident that detroit/michigan is a very bad area for jobs for anyone at this point, as I have a lot of friends who are from there. But I would hate for you to be extremely disappointed when you get to the Twin Cities. I'm a young business grad with a degreen in Marketing and MIS and I looked for 9 months and could not find a job. I still talk to many close friends in the Twin Cities and they've had to result to temp jobs or internships just to stay in the business world to keep their experience growing for their resume.

Is this to say that you can't find a business job? No, it's definately possible, however you may want to consider getting a weekend/part-time job as well to make ends meet. Entry level jobs right now aren't paying much, and many of my friends work at Dick's sporting goods or target retail stores on weekends to pay the bills.

Just a heads up. The economy is bad everywhere, not just michigan.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by cdubs3201

I'd really like to know how you came to this conclusion.

I'm confident that detroit/michigan is a very bad area for jobs for anyone at this point, as I have a lot of friends who are from there. But I would hate for you to be extremely disappointed when you get to the Twin Cities. I'm a young business grad with a degreen in Marketing and MIS and I looked for 9 months and could not find a job. I still talk to many close friends in the Twin Cities and they've had to result to temp jobs or internships just to stay in the business world to keep their experience growing for their resume.

Is this to say that you can't find a business job? No, it's definately possible, however you may want to consider getting a weekend/part-time job as well to make ends meet. Entry level jobs right now aren't paying much, and many of my friends work at Dick's sporting goods or target retail stores on weekends to pay the bills.

Just a heads up. The economy is bad everywhere, not just michigan.

I would encourage anybody looking for a job to look 2, 5, and 10 years down the road. By most accounts the Twin Cities has a pretty good outlook. There are other places with good outlook as well.

If the market is tight almost everywhere, which it certianly appears to be, you might as well pick a place where things are likely to improve.

Quiet simply put, you have to be in the right spot at the right time to catch a break in times like these. Michigan is not likely to be the right spot anytime soon.

[scolls]

Originally Posted by cdubs3201

I'd really like to know how you came to this conclusion.

I'm confident that detroit/michigan is a very bad area for jobs for anyone at this point, as I have a lot of friends who are from there. But I would hate for you to be extremely disappointed when you get to the Twin Cities. I'm a young business grad with a degreen in Marketing and MIS and I looked for 9 months and could not find a job. I still talk to many close friends in the Twin Cities and they've had to result to temp jobs or internships just to stay in the business world to keep their experience growing for their resume.

Is this to say that you can't find a business job? No, it's definately possible, however you may want to consider getting a weekend/part-time job as well to make ends meet. Entry level jobs right now aren't paying much, and many of my friends work at Dick's sporting goods or target retail stores on weekends to pay the bills.

Just a heads up. The economy is bad everywhere, not just michigan.

Before the economic collapse, i had read articles in Forbes magazine rating the top cities for young business professionals. The top 10 included Minneapolis-St. Paul at 8th with the likes of New York City, Seattle, San Francisco etc. even ahead of Chicago. No surprise dead last in the country was Detroit. The Twin Cities are a more white collar area. They have probably the best outlook of any Midwest city. I don't want to live outside of the Midwest. I'd rather have a mediocre job and live in the Midwest than have a great job in another area. I have been to the Twin Cities at least 20 times in my lifetime and like the area. When i compare it to Detroit, it's a no brainer it's better suited for business people. I don't think you realize just how bad the economy is in Michigan and Detroit. I can't even get an entry level job just to get experience.