Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Montana > Missoula
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-12-2010, 08:22 PM
 
Location: Lacey, WA
291 posts, read 1,061,553 times
Reputation: 112

Advertisements

Hello! I'm looking for some advice on which career path I should chose while living in MT.

My husband and I will be moving to MT in a couple of years. He will be attending college at UofM, probably for biology. My husband is from MT (Libby) and keeps going on about how much he misses home. We are in Savannah, GA right now because he is in the army. I'm from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and just came to GA a year and a half ago. I'm really looking forward to leaving this place (I really dislike it).

I'm looking for some advice as to what sort of career I should focus on. I'm 28 with a business management associate's degree but it never really got me anywhere. I want to go back to college in something that I can take with me to MT. What is the biggest work sector in MT? I'm really open to anything.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-13-2010, 08:53 AM
 
Location: In The Outland
6,023 posts, read 14,059,923 times
Reputation: 3535
You have an opportunity that many don't ever get. You can decide what you like to do then do it for a living anywhere you like be it in Libby or anywhere else. If you were single and arriving with five kids and zero skills you would have a very rough time of it.
Keep in mind that many move here and have to settle for some really low paying lousy job and work their way into a better situation. Some get stuck here with no way to go back home. (those types don't do well anywhere)
You will be fine and Libby is a good place with nice folks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 01:19 PM
 
Location: Lacey, WA
291 posts, read 1,061,553 times
Reputation: 112
Would this article be accurate?
Top 10 Hot Jobs in Missoula, Montana
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 03:52 PM
 
Location: State of General Disarray
836 posts, read 1,492,256 times
Reputation: 1383
Hi Melissa,

Missoula, or any town in Montana, is going to be much smaller than Savannah and much, MUCH smaller than Ottawa, so the job market in general is going to be narrower than you're used to. A degree won't necessarily get you an advantage here because there simply are not that many "good" jobs to be found.

I would say (I'm guessing here) the two biggest industries in MT are tourism and agriculture, with healthcare not far behind. Missoula itself is primarily (and increasingly) a service economy with jobs in hotels, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, casinos (), social services, customer service, and healthcare.

Oh, and about that link: Unfortunately, I think that article was not only overly optimistic, but also written by someone who has never visited Missoula.

Missoula's great, don't get me wrong; there are a lot of things to like about being here, but the job market isn't one of them.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 04:46 PM
 
Location: Lacey, WA
291 posts, read 1,061,553 times
Reputation: 112
Ok, so should we move to another state for schooling and living and forget about Montana? Montana is my husband's home.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 05:37 PM
 
Location: NW Montana
65 posts, read 206,087 times
Reputation: 22
No.

If he is going to school than UofM is a good school. And check out the ads in The Missoulian (local paper in Missoula) - I think you will find the better paying jobs are in the healthcare field. I think both St. Pat's Hospital and Community Hospital are both ranked in the "best" hospital catagory in the state. They serve most of western Montana. And you can always take your healthcare training (whatever it is) to any community.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 05:54 PM
 
Location: State of General Disarray
836 posts, read 1,492,256 times
Reputation: 1383
Well, I wouldn't make a decision based solely on stuff I read on the Internet, that's for sure. Have you visited, or will you be able to, before you move? Come out, look around, get a feel for things. What you ultimately do is up to you and your husband. It's beautiful here, and as rickers said, you're fortunate to have the option to decide where you're going to live. Even if you end up coming here for school it will be a new experience, and afterwards you can always go elsewhere.

Here is some further information on the job market and projected job growth in Montana:

http://www.ourfactsyourfuture.org/ad..._Proj_2016.pdf

And this will give you an idea of what's currently available in Missoula:

Missoula Job Service Home Page

FWIW, If my BF and I had read all this negative stuff before we moved a few years ago, we still would have come.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 06:01 PM
 
Location: Lacey, WA
291 posts, read 1,061,553 times
Reputation: 112
Thanks for the info. I'm definitely taking what I read online with a grain of salt. I really just want to know if I should focus on something specific in school for living in MT. The more I think of it though, I think I'm going to get my RN and I guess that is useful everywhere!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 07:59 PM
 
Location: NW Montana
6,259 posts, read 14,670,675 times
Reputation: 3460
Seems to me that Accounting and Insurance are steady employers and you could use your degree.
Good luck and keep posting.
Don't consider nursing unless you have spent some time as an aid. A good cheap way to see if it is for you!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2010, 08:01 PM
 
Location: Lacey, WA
291 posts, read 1,061,553 times
Reputation: 112
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mt-7 View Post
Seems to me that Accounting and Insurance are steady employers and you could use your degree.
Good luck and keep posting.
Don't consider nursing unless you have spent some time as an aid. A good cheap way to see if it is for you!
There are two courses I can take here in Savannah I was considering. PCT and LPN. The only thing is that the LPN is 24 months and we will be leaving June 2012, so there's not enough time for that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Montana > Missoula
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:39 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top