GIS jobs in Raleigh? (Morrisville: environment, relocating, health)

[bdeco]

I am considering relocating my family from Northern VA (DC Suburbs) to the Raleigh area due to the high cost of living up here. I was wondering if anyone knows about the job market for GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Professionals in the RDU area and who the leading GIS employers are. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated!

[Francois]

I have some GIS background, and I did look for some jobs in that area, and I don't think there are a whole lot, other than the usual county/city planning type offices (which usually hire everyone as a temp for a year or so before making them perm). There was one company in Morrisville with which I interviewed, but they require EVERYONE to start on 2nd shift to "prove themselves" before they can "move up" to 1st shift. The State Center for Health Statistics (Raleigh) has a GIS unit, but it is very small.

Frankly, I was disappointed in what I found here (I'm native to the area, but was hoping to change careers into GIS). This was about 7 years ago, so it may have gotten better, but I don't usually see much.

[bdeco]

Thanks for the response. Seven years is actually a long time in terms of the GIS industry, which has seen tremendous growth in that timespan. Most work in the field, at least from my experience, is with Federal Government contract or state/city governments. I was hoping to locate some compaines with offices in Raleigh that have Fedral contracts to do GIS. Obviously, coming from the DC area, I expect there not to be nearly as many jobs in the field, but I was hoping to find enough for there to be some sense of security (ie. one company loses a contract I could catch on with another). Unfortunately, I don't see that.

[HeatherD]

Hi,

We are also thinking of relocating from Florida to NC and was wondering about the GIS job market. Did you find out anything about the job situation?

Good luck,

Heather

[RaleighRob]

Due to the rapid growth in the Triangle, we have tons of Environmental and Engineering Consulting firms...I'd imagine many of them would find GIS skills useful.
Many state government agencies many also have positions from time-to-time that could use that skill such as the Dept. of Transportation or Dept. of Environment.