Relocating from Kentucky-job opportunities? (Fargo, Bismarck: low income, house, cinema)

[krumlovgirl]

My husband, son, and I are contemplating moving to North Dakota for various reasons. We are not sure about job opportunities, however. Both my husband and I have Mas. His is in history so he could teach at a basic community college level. We both also have strong backgrounds in historical site-work. I have spent the past ten years working for non-profits, doing event planning, case management, and fundraising. (Both for a children’s organization and an historical home.) He has worked for several state parks doing living history and site management. I wouldn’t mind continuing working for a non-profit. I am currently doing social work for one and working with families in crisis. My husband would like to continue working in an historical setting. We were wondering what job opportunities might be out there. We’ve been searching the government website and the North Dakota Job Service site but are there any others? We’re kind of small town people right now (even though we’ve both lived in big cities in the past) and we want somewhere safe, clean, and affordable that would be a good place to raise our son. What is Minot like? (That came up in one of my searches.)

[Old Surrender]

JobsHQ | Your headquarters for hundreds of local jobs - including newspaper listings from four states - MN, ND, SD, WI.

Minot, eh? There's Minot State University, so your hubby could put out feelers to adjunct there.

Only places I'd live would be Fargo and Grand Forks, plenty of cultural, outdoor and nightlife opportunities plus you're two hours from Winnipeg and three from the Twin Cities if you need a big-city fix. Fargo is home to a lot colleges (NDSU, MSUM, Concordia, MSCTC, Rasmussen) so there may be adjuncting opportunities there. Good luck.

[krumlovgirl]

We hadn't looked into Grand Forks yet so we'll try that next. We will definitely look into the universities, too. Thanks!

[Old Surrender]

Grand Forks is home to UND and Northland College, FYI.

[MikeyToo]

If your still interested in the small town atmosphere, you may take a look at North Central North Dakota, where we will be moving to as soon as our house sells here in California.
If you like lakes/trees/fishing/skiing(one of two in ND)/snow mobiling/ and the quiet of the outdoors, you might consider the Bottineau/Dunseith area. Bottineau has a college (Minot Statue University - Bottineau campus) and is close to the Turtle Mountains and popular Lake Metigoshe. Bottineau is about 3000 people and recently opened a Super Walmart so your not too far from civilization....lol Also, nearby is Belcourt which is on the Chippewa Indian reservation that has a junior college and high school and are often looking for teachers in their education system. There pay scales are a little bit higher because of government involvement. The Chippewa are a pretty independent people and strive for good educations. Although I'm not into gambling, they also have a pretty nice Casino, I've been told. Also, if you google International Peace Gardens, you will find a lot of information on
Lake Metigoshe state Park and the beautiful Peace Gardens which stradle the North Dakota/Manitoba border.

Anyway, good luck on your new venture. Hope all goes well with you and your family...

[DaninEGF]

Originally Posted by krumlovgirl

We hadn't looked into Grand Forks yet so we'll try that next. We will definitely look into the universities, too. Thanks!

Where in Kentucky are you from??? I was born and raised in western Kentucky and have lived in the Grand Forks and East Forks area for 10 years. UND in Grand Forks and NDSU in Fargo are the two main universities in the state....Northland College is more of a vo-tech school (but it is expanding into other course offerings) with a campus in East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls MN. I have in-laws in the Minot area so I frequent that area.

I just dont have much info in regards to your husband's line of work and job ideas and how to search them out.... Universities are one place as already been mentioned....and in the western part of the state there are several larger state parks such as the Badlands and closer to Bismarck is the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center.


If you have any questions about Grand Forks living I can answer those and also about Minot...though I do know there are folks are are more familiar with jobs in Minot than I am. I am least familiar with Bismarck but that is the state capitol. Fargo I go too a lot...it has most everything.

Dan

[krumlovgirl]

Hi! Thanks for all the replies...I am from Lexington. My husband is actually from England and we've been living back in the state for two years now after stints in Wales and Bosnia. I am definitely going to check out the universities for both of us (if we find some that don't want PhDs and only MAs I could teach as well) as well as the parks that were mentioned. We're okay with small towns. In Wales we lived in a town that had two supermarkets, six pubs, and eleven shops. I used to joke that to get there you had to take a train for five hours, a bus for three hours, a pack mule for an hour, and walk the rest of the three miles. As long as we're within a few hours driving of some shops and fairly close to a cinema we're pretty happy. My only other requirement is to be near some good eating. Mind you, by that I don't mean chains. Mom and pop places are more my style. I'm just not that great of a cook and we enjoy letting someone else take over every once in a awhile. I am interested in some of the Indian reservations, however, when it comes to employment. I've been working with families of low income in the social service field and I do like that field. My uncle ran away from home at age 13 and lived on a reservation (can't remember which one) in North Dakota for most of his life. He was kind of our family outlaw. He lived the last few years of his life on a reservation in Wyoming and when he died last September they actually buried him there because he had been incorporated into the tribe. That is neither here nor there, just sharing. :-) My ancestry all hails from the British Isles so I don't personally have any ties to the Native Americans, but I did get a degree in Anthropology and am interested.

[DaninEGF]

thanks for sharing....very interesting life....

UND offers a master of social work degree that is what my wife has...

Dan

[3-Oaks]

Valley City also has a college and it's only a 45 min-1 hour drive east to Fargo if you need some of the 'big town' stores. There's also a K-Mart, Wallyworld, and JC Penney in Jamestown, 1/2 hour to the west.

I have several friends who are quite involved in the state & local historical groups & their comments all were that you/your hubby would be best off staying with teaching....pretty much all historical work is on a volunteer basis. I can give you her email address if you want more info on the historical societies.....just email me.

There're probably lots of non-profit groups who'd love volunteer help no matter where you move to. Check with the Chamber of Commerce wherever you end up. A paying job with a NP would be a lot harder to find.

[Roloff1976]

I would also check out Bismarck. The terrain is beautiful...rolling hills, Missouri river, parks galore. Good shopping, lots of resturaunts...Bismarck State college and University of Mary are the 2 local colleges. Bismarck is more of a family town vs. party town like Fargo or Grand Forks (because of the large state colleges in those cities). Bismarck is a new city, lots of growth, small metro area of 105,000 people during the last 2000 census, but has grown a lot since. Check it out also...you might be surprised.