ND Job Market (and other North Dakota questions) (Fargo, Bismarck: home, school)

[kazoopilot]

Just curious, how is the job market in North Dakota? I'm from Michigan, which has the worst job market in the country, so anywhere is an improvent, but if I have to leave Michigan I would want to go somewhere where I can find a job.

I'm graduating from college in April and I would LOVE to stay in Michigan, but if I can't find a job I may have to look elsewhere. ND is high on my short list of Upper Midwest states I'd be intersted in. I would love to live in a small town (the smaller, the better) and so I'm not interested in Fargo or Bismarck. However, I'm willing to live about 30-50 miles or so away from those cities and commute in for work. Any ideas?

Also, please DO NOT tell me to look at states like Texas, North Carolina, or Florida. I know they have jobs there, but I would HATE to live in any iof those areas.

[roundball]

Look at the towns between Fargo and Grand Forks.

[Roloff1976]

Not sure what type of job you are looking for, but if you are interested in the Energy industry, North Dakota is in dire need of workers in the Williston, Watford, Dickinson, Stanley-New Town areas. Oil filed services companies are opening up monthly in Williston, and if you check with Job Service North Dakota (state job service site) you can search for ANY jobs open in the towns around ND. Oil jobs do not require much experience, but you will need to pass a drug test. There are also numerous trucking jobs open, welding, and many of the oil companies are even needing computer tech people to install software and maintain applications on rig sites and service trucks. Housing is the only downfall at the moment, but still worth checking out ANY community in ND, especially western ND. You coming from Michigan, you probably love the outdoors...fishing and hunting are past times up here. Good Luck.

[Roloff1976]

http://www.rockinthebakken.com/ Untitled Document Williston Herald - Online Edition Williston, North Dakota

[Old Surrender]

There's a lot of small towns around Fargo that want residents, like Hawley, Minn., and Wahpeton. I think you're a little crazy for wanting to commute that far daily in winter, but NoDak will be a lot easier to drive than Michigan ... no lake effect snow.

Look here: www.hawleywould.com

[DaninEGF]

Yes there are jobs out there available....many fields still have too many jobs and few applicants. The main source for job info is job service of North Dakota.

Job Service North Dakota

Now...the main question is what type of field job-wise are you looking for. Some speciality fields may have not have many opportunities in the state just because of the lack of large cities.

I would caution too about the length of commute. There are those who live in Grand Forks and work in Fargo...and there are more that live in between in the towns of Mayville and Hillsboro who work in both cities...but in the winter they know there is a possibility of getting stuck at work and/or home.

Dan

[kazoopilot]

Sorry for not stating this at first, but I'm majoring in aviation, and so I'd like to find a job in that field. I'm also really adamant about NOT living in Grand Forks, Bismarck, or Fargo. I HATE big cities, I hate the traffic, the congestion, the pollution, the "closed in" feeling. The commute won't bother me. I have a 4-wheel drive, and I'm from Michigan, so I'm not afraid of a little snow. The town I live in gets 70" of snow every year, mostly from lake effect.

I would prefer to stay on the east side of the state, to be closer to Michigan. I looked up Mayville last night, seems like a cool town. I'm a fan of the whole "college town" atmosphere. Hillsboro seems nice, too. Is anyone here from Traill county?

[roundball]

Aviation, as in flying airplanes? If that's the case, good luck. UND in Grand Forks has a school of aviation. So I would think the job market is pretty saturated. Everyone I know that graduated left ND to find work. The ones that are still in GF either do flight training for UND, I don't think they would ever hire you over one of their grads, or don't use their degree.

[Roloff1976]

Don't many pilots live in one place and travel all over the world to work? I know there are some pilots that fly for major airlines that actually live in ND, but fly to Mpls. and do their thing, and then fly back again. Same for stewardesses. Is it possible that you could be a pilot, but keep your home based out of Michigan? Just a thougth.

[ebitdadada]

Originally Posted by kazoopilot

I'm also really adamant about NOT living in Grand Forks, Bismarck, or Fargo. I HATE big cities?

Just want to make sure you understand that GF, Bis, & Fargo arn't really that big. Fargo is twice as big as Bis & GF and Fargo's whole metro area has less than 200,000 people. Rush hour in Bismarck consists of a 2 minute backup at a trafic light & there's pretty much no polution. So, not sure what you consider a big city but, coming from Michigan, even the "big cities" in ND might look like small towns.

Maybe you could fly a crop duster? While aviation in general is down, agriculture is booming right now.