Just the Facts....CNN Money's latest report (Orlando: fit in, job market)

[pianogal]

CNN Money has rated Orlando as #1 in a list of the nation's hottest job markets.

This is not a copy of the report, but a few of the facts named therein:

Examples of the hottest jobs are: Senior mechanical engineer ($80,400), physician's assistant ($76,000), IT project manager ($75,200), construction project manager ($71,200), electrical engineer ($64,900)

Orlando's diversification into high tech fields, medical research etc. will help it crank out 72,600 jobs over the next two years.

Although the region's backbone will still be tourism. Orlando will post higher growth in professional-services jobs than any other city on the list. The high-wage, white-collar category is projected to balloon by about 15 percent.

[Dalt10]

You'll get alot of negative responses to this one. I believe it though. The higher paying jobs are here.

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

My company gives us a $3,000 referral to bring people in! These are white-collar professional positions. Not every job is service related in this town.

Many people here say they just can't get hired even though they have all the qualifications. Getting hired is a lot more than having perfect qualifications. It's about personality and how you fit into the organization. I find the hiring process much more difficult than the old days. They don't ask you about your experience as much as they try to psycho-analyze you. It's called a behavioral type of interview. In today's market you have got to be prepared for this grueling type of process. Learn about all the hiring techniques that go on nowadays, you can find a lot of resources on Monster.com under "Career Advice."

I know there are higher paying positions if you have degrees here in Orlando. You can't rely on just career builder and monster either, do some research on companies here in Orlando and then go to their specific websites to scope out their jobs. Finding a job and going through the process is just as much work as a full-time job. Not much falls in your lap unless you have some deep connections.

[backtofla]

good to hear for folks living here looking for work. i also heard on the news tonight that orlando is expected to double in size in the next 10 yrs. it seems like competition will be very stiff if this is the case. we'll see...

[Magnulus]

I think alot of these predictions could be off, because they are dependent on things staying the same as they have ever been. After all it is possible that hurricaines will be an obstacle to growth.

I think the area needs to focus on smart growth. The area has enough population, they need to work on attracting the right kinds of people to round it out. Florida's natural environment is already strained by having so many resource-greedy people living in a state that has a delicate environment.