Need job in Franklin County--any leads? (Roanoke, Jefferson: real estate, to rent, house)

[Meg Mercado]

Hi-- I will be moving to Franklin County in about 5 weeks. My husband will be teaching at Ferrum College. We are going to rent a house in Ferrum from a friend, while we continue looking for a house to buy in Franklin county. Here's my question: Does anyone have any tips/leads/networking ideas on getting a professional (esp. teaching) job in Franklin county? Or in Roanoke?

I have a Master of Fine Arts degree in English, and currently teach college English at Texas State University. 9I have also worked as: a grant writer, and a real estate appraiser). So far I have a part-time, adjunct job lined up at Jefferson College in Roanoke, but I need additional income, or, hopefully, a full-time job. I would like to find a job in any of the following areas: teaching English, editing/publishing, writing for a local paper, tutoring, government, public relations/hr. Not sure what else...

I do NOT have a VA teacher's license, but will be testing for one asap. Any job leads or good places to look would be much appreciated!!!

[SmerkyGrl]

Try Craigslist

[Meg Mercado]

Already tred Craigslist; will keep checking--but no real luck yet. Esp. not anything for Franklin county. Anybody have any connections with newspaper editors/managers in Franklin county?

[seanpecor]

Here are some potential area job leads:

Reading Specialist in Roanoke City K-8:

Job Posting Reading Specialist (K-8) (Roanoke City Public Schools) Job Postings

Franklin County speech language pathologist:

Job Posting Speech-Language Pathologist (Franklin County Public Schools) Job Postings

Submit your profile to this "under the radar" Roanoke employment networking tool:

Connect Database

I have friends and know folks who have gotten responses scary fast after submitting their profile to that site. Lots of area employers and recruiting folks check that database regularly.

Probably the best job listings site is:
Find or list jobs for the Roanoke and New River Valley - jobs.roanoke.com - Roanoke.com

There are several local papers and magazines to consider. I know a fellow North Cross school parent who lives on SML and she writes pieces for the Smith Mountain Laker @ SmithmountainLaker.com Magazine - Smith Mountain Lake - Home. A magazine that we subscribe to and enjoy is The Roanoker Magazine. Largest local paper is The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com: News, sports and entertainment stories and information for Roanoke and Southwest Virginia - Roanoke.com but there is also the Franklin News Post - The Franklin News Post - The Franklin News-Post.com (broken link).

Believe it or not there is a web design firm in beautiful (heh) downtown Boones Mill - Site, development, design and hosting - e-commerce, database connectivity, catalogs. You might stop by there and introduce yourself, and inquire about pr/hr type leads. I suspect they have alot of area contacts on account that web consultants collaborate directly with marketing folks in client companies.

Hope this helps!

Sean

[Meg Mercado]

Thanks so much for the info and leads, Sean. I will be looking into those today; I'll certainly post again if anything pans out. Thanks again!

[barefootchick]

Hi, Meg!

I don't have any job leads, but I did want to mention a few things to you about Ferrum College and the area in general.

I attended Ferrum College for four years and graduated from there in May 2007. Ferrum College and the town surrounding it are wonderful places. Yes, it's a laid-back country atmosphere, but you'll get used to that and find that the people are really friendly down there. Rocky Mount is also a great town with little shops and a friendly small library.

Have fun exploring Ferrum, Rocky Mount, and Roanoke. Go slow through Boone's Mill on 220. It's a speed trap. Phoebe Needles is a great summer camp run by wonderful people. Take extreme caution if you take Shooting Creek Road. It's a good way to get to Floyd, but it's also a twisty mountain road.

I hope you find a great job. Good luck!

[seanpecor]

Even though the speed limit in Boones Mill is posted at 45mph, you can safely go 54mph through town - but not a single mph over that. Lynn Frith is Boones Mill's police officer (the dude driving the unmarked 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds Pontiac GTO Police Interceptor) and the town has a guideline that says he must ticket folks going 15mph or over the speed limit (60mph). The diminuitive town council opted to drop the threshold down to 10mph over the limit, and Lynn was very upset about that. He thought it was too stringent. He was so upset about it that days later he pulled over the Mayor's husband and gave him a ticket That part almost kills me! Anyway, after that, there was a big ruckus in the town council resulting in the Mayor and some council members resigning. Lynn remains the sheriff. The guideline is no longer 10mph over. That's the story as I understand it. Anyway, this is my long way of saying you don't have to drive 45mph through Boones Mill on Route 220.

Sean

[Stevedawg]

Yeah look out for the chevy camaro police car. Is that thing still in use?

[seanpecor]

The camaro got traded in for the faster and more stealthy Pontiac GTO. His is black, but here is an orange version:



If you're a car guy you might recognize it as the Holden Commodore from Australia.

Sean

[barefootchick]

Originally Posted by seanpecor

Even though the speed limit in Boones Mill is posted at 45mph, you can safely go 54mph through town - but not a single mph over that. Lynn Frith is Boones Mill's police officer (the dude driving the unmarked 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds Pontiac GTO Police Interceptor) and the town has a guideline that says he must ticket folks going 15mph or over the speed limit (60mph). The diminuitive town council opted to drop the threshold down to 10mph over the limit, and Lynn was very upset about that. He thought it was too stringent. He was so upset about it that days later he pulled over the Mayor's husband and gave him a ticket That part almost kills me! Anyway, after that, there was a big ruckus in the town council resulting in the Mayor and some council members resigning. Lynn remains the sheriff. The guideline is no longer 10mph over. That's the story as I understand it. Anyway, this is my long way of saying you don't have to drive 45mph through Boones Mill on Route 220.

Sean

Ah, I didn't know that! Next time I head down to Ferrum, I'll keep that information in mind.