Can't find a job (Fargo, Bismarck: apartment, lease, daycares)

[ColoradoGirl1]

Hi everyone!

I am a recent college grad from Colorado. My husband and I decided leave Boulder and come up to Fargo because this is where most of my extended family reside and we kept hearing from them how good the job market is despite the recession.

Well, we arrived in late June without jobs (I didn't have a 'real' job in CO as I was a student, my husband left his job in Denver with a small business that wasn't doing so well when we decided to move) and stayed with family. We now have an apt in Fargo and my hubby has a job with a bank but I have had no luck! I must have applied for 40 jobs.

I feel like I'm over qualified for everything I'm applying for. I should mention that we don't want to 'settle' here--we just wanted to move near our family and work for awhile in a cheaper place and save up some money.

Needless to say our plan has not worked out so well. Although I didn't have a proper job in Colorado I was bringing in some money as a part time nanny. My husband took a pay cut at his job here from what he made in Denver...the jobs just don't seem to pay as well. Our apt is alot cheaper but cable, internet, and bills in general seem to be more expensive. Plus, the quality of life doesn't seem any better...I miss the amenities we had in Boulder, the variety, the outdoor opportunities and the culture and recreation in general.

I'm just feeling rather down about the whole thing and wonder if we should have just stayed in Boulder. I don't see why jobs are so low paying here and there doesn't seem to be much demand for people with degrees, unless they are in accounting or agriculture. I can't find work in my field (politics) needless to say but also haven't found anything....I've been applying for call centers and clerical and daycares and retail and pretty much anything.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm wondering if we should just go back CO or move to MN or what....though we did just sign a 6 month lease.

Thanks

[Minneapolis Guy]

Originally Posted by ColoradoGirl1

Hi everyone!

I am a recent college grad from Colorado. My husband and I decided leave Boulder and come up to Fargo because this is where most of my extended family reside and we kept hearing from them how good the job market is despite the recession.

Well, we arrived in late June without jobs (I didn't have a 'real' job in CO as I was a student, my husband left his job in Denver with a small business that wasn't doing so well when we decided to move) and stayed with family. We now have an apt in Fargo and my hubby has a job with a bank but I have had no luck! I must have applied for 40 jobs.

I feel like I'm over qualified for everything I'm applying for. I should mention that we don't want to 'settle' here--we just wanted to move near our family and work for awhile in a cheaper place and save up some money.

Needless to say our plan has not worked out so well. Although I didn't have a proper job in Colorado I was bringing in some money as a part time nanny. My husband took a pay cut at his job here from what he made in Denver...the jobs just don't seem to pay as well. Our apt is alot cheaper but cable, internet, and bills in general seem to be more expensive. Plus, the quality of life doesn't seem any better...I miss the amenities we had in Boulder, the variety, the outdoor opportunities and the culture and recreation in general.

I'm just feeling rather down about the whole thing and wonder if we should have just stayed in Boulder. I don't see why jobs are so low paying here and there doesn't seem to be much demand for people with degrees, unless they are in accounting or agriculture. I can't find work in my field (politics) needless to say but also haven't found anything....I've been applying for call centers and clerical and daycares and retail and pretty much anything.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm wondering if we should just go back CO or move to MN or what....though we did just sign a 6 month lease.

Thanks

Its getting bad in MN but there are SOME jobs out there. You could have had your pick of jobs just last summer in Minneapolis, things have changed drastically since then. I'm a cpa and I cant find a job in Bismarck, about to completely forget about it and maybe pursue it 5-10 years from now. Have to put down some roots somewhere, everything seems to be on hold while we are trying to make this move.

[ElkHunter]

I feel so bad for young folks starting out. There are jobs. But it may not be in your field. I can't tell you the number of jobs I've taken and had no clue what I was doing. But a week into that job, I had it by the tail. Keep looking. It's there.

EH

[Maude Kipz]

*sigh* welcome to fargo. EH is right. There are jobs. But other than accounting and agriculture, its mainly manual labor (welding, construction, roofing) or medical (upper medical. like doctor or nurse). I've had a "pet" (extra roomie from out of state that'd be homeless if it wasn't for my couch) that has lived here for 7 months and finally landed a job that is at least 30 hours a week and pays more than minimum wage. He's a prepcook and delighted to have any job.

My advise is kinda lousy but is this: apply EVERYWHERE. he got his job because they just lost a person the day before and hadn't put out the ad for it yet. By hiring him right away, it saved them the cost of searching. And since you're kinda new to the whole ND job market thing, you need to call every place you apply to a few days after you turn in your app. If they say they haven't looked, wait 3-4 more days and call again. Eagerness to work seems to help in the job search more than anything. A lot of places here won't even interview you unless you call them.

I'm not going to lie. Being from out-of-town hurts in the job hunt. My roomie was told by the Olive Garden that "he moved to town just recently and they think he's just looking for ANY job." And temp services are a joke and told him that they wanted him to have at least 6 months of employment in the area before they'd help. Getting your foot in the door here is hard. Once you get a job and stick at it for at least 6 months, things get a lot easier though. And I don't know what all a politics degree entails, but have you called to see if the Dem and Repub offices in the area (whichever is your cup of tea) are hiring? Also, of the telephone places, strategic fundraising's main program is calling people to donate money to the republican party. If you fancy yourself a republican, you could have a chance of rubbing elbows when sponsor-walkthroughs happen. if you haven't applied there, they even have a website to apply through Welcome to Strategic Fundraising!

[acfreema]

strategic is a grand place to work, if you are willing to spend many hours on the telephone (if you've already applied to call centers, i assume you are). i spent a short time there, the pay can be excellent. the people who work there are pretty nice, there isn't high pressure to perform, but it's competitive.

if you were willing to work as a nanny, continue that "willing to work anywhere" attitude and start applying at restaurants and retail. just about any restaurant will hire you, regardless of the degree (which is the detractor for some jobs, you ARE over-qualified.

by the way, did you just graduate from cu boulder? i was at the political science graduation, there were some neat speakers. did you have any debates with tony owens? he was an undergrad there until this last spring, and he is a superb young man, you'd certainly remember him

[Cain]

outside of the job situation, you don't sound happy living here. Maybe you should consider a move back. Having a good job here and not being happy other than that really won't do you any good.

[whoopsie goldburg]

don't move to MN/minneapolis, you are much better off in fargo, job-wise.

[Fischer_girl]

I don't think you should move back. Give it a chance. The reason that pay is so much less there..is because standard of living is far lower than you had in CO. My husband and I are a young couple who just moved out of Fargo to Santa Fe NM. When I found out that minimum wage here was $10 I almost fell over! But... I figured out why when I ended up paying over $300 more / month for an apartment I hate.
You might not find a job in your field right away. But, if that is the case, make sure you keep your foot in the door by volunteering or doing what you need to to stay in the "politics" scene. Also, there are many many retailers that are going to start hiring holiday help as we get closer to that time. Keeo your eyes out. Have you tried the US Bank Call Center? Because Fargo is such a high student hub, the turn over rate there is sky high. They are ALWAYS hiring. There is also a Bank of the West Call Center that is always hiring..and I THINK..don't quote me..but pretty sure they pay more there. And they also offer a shift dif if you work later in the evening.
Again, I know its not your scene, but the hotels are always hiring desk help as well. I think once you get something..anything..and start brining in a little money you'll feel better. Feel free to ask me for more feedback..Ive certainly been there. Give it time..and in the mean time.. go shopping at Gordmans, have a Caribou mango iced tea, and lunch at taco johns. We miss those places so bad!

[Prophet815]

hahahaha We're always hiring at walmart, they're even opening up a new one so there will be a ton of jobs (I wasn't laughing at you, I was laughing at my recommendation)

Anyway, if you don't mind the telemarketing thing and you don't want to sell your soul to the republican devil, I would recommend ic system. The pay is fairly good and they'll almost hire you on the spot (i.e. when you fill out an application they immediatly set you up with an interview). Technically, what you're doing is bill collecting for verizon, so it's easier on your conscience than ripping people off. And, you just apply online http://www.icsystem.com/

But if you desperatly need money you can always do Labor Ready downtown. The work can be bad but honestly sometimes it can be pretty easy (so long as you don't mind rubbing elbows with hobos). The pay is somewhere between mininum wage and $9/hr, but if you have a car you're almost guranteed a job.

Also, you can go to the Job Service ND. If you have experiance and a degree and want a real job, that'd prolly be the place to start. http://www.jobsnd.com/

[Fischer_girl]

Wow. Funny we should be talking about this... I woke up this morning and on the front page of the Santa Fe, NM paper was "Path to work leads to North Dakota". No joke. It was a huge, front page article about people who pull up roots where they live in other states and head to ND for work. The woman in the article moved from Ohio to Bismarck to work at a cereal call center. *laughs* I never knew there was a call center in Bismarck where people call in to complain about their cereal!
Anyway. I had another idea this morning. In Fargo there is always Pracs. I did the "patch studies" allll the time and it makes pretty good money. Just got to www.pracs.com and click view open studies on the top right. Of course it is something people can be opinionated about.. but in the long run you're helping in science, and making some relatively good cash..and I never had any problems. Also on that sight is an "employment" link and there are TONS of jobs open there. They pay good and are pretty flexable. Best of luck.