What's the Job Market Like in STL? (California, Oregon: estate, health care)

[stlouisan]

Unless you happen to be top of the line, I'd say you're in for a rough haul. Even the accounting industry is pretty bad.

[billiken]

^ I guess it depends what kind of accounting experience one has. For CPAs, things aren't bad at all here. Public accounting firms in the area, and across the country for that matter, are desperate for people. I also get calls + messages on LinkedIn all the time from recruiters looking to fill job openings. It's not like it used to be, but I still feel my options are pretty solid if I wanted to leave my current job.

[zoomzoom3]

What's bad about St. Louis is all the nepotism and cronyism. It's not really what you know, but who you know. I didn't really know anyone down here & landed my job on my own merit, and that's how it should be.

[aragx6]

My accountant friends are doing well, as is everyone I know in the finance, IT or healthcare industries. The teachers are teaching, even the lawyers are a-lawyering (though for less money than I suspect they ever imagined). The only people I know who are struggling in St. Louis are journalism and English grads (one dear friend and MU J-school grad is toiling away in a call center for like $11/hour blech!) and those without degrees -- though even my brother in law is doing well in the HVAC world as is my soon to be best-friend-in-law (is that a thing, lol?) who's a master electrician.

And I'm still, anecdotally, confident that complaints of cronyism are overstated. Several good friends from college settled in St. Louis though they weren't from there originally and seem to be doing quite well.

[goat314]

Originally Posted by zoomzoom3

Horrendous I say.

I spent, or should I say wasted two years in St. Louis looking for a job & coming up empty. I moved here to South Florida and found a good job within three weeks.

My experience was the exact opposite. Couldnt find a job in Tampa, Florida for nothing! Soon as I moved to St. Louis I had numerous opportunities. Neither is Texas though!

[stlcitygirl]

I think its lame when people say you have to know someone. I got my job by applying online, knowing absolutely no one, same with most my friends.

[Zoness]

Cronyism and Nepotism seem to vary by population and city, in my observation. Smaller cities seem like they are generally worse about it, although I wouldn't say that's at all a scientific conclusion. That said, I wonder what the IT market is like there. It is only a few hours away and is way cheaper than Chicago however I'd like to live somewhere urban, cheap and safe and that seems like a combination that just can't happen...in ANY big metro area.

[aragx6]

^Corporate IT -- particularly in the financial and healthcare sectors is pretty good right now.

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by billiken

^ I guess it depends what kind of accounting experience one has. For CPAs, things aren't bad at all here. Public accounting firms in the area, and across the country for that matter, are desperate for people. I also get calls + messages on LinkedIn all the time from recruiters looking to fill job openings. It's not like it used to be, but I still feel my options are pretty solid if I wanted to leave my current job.

I actually am revising my statement. I just got an accounting job in St. Charles finally after numerous interviews, so I'm no longer complaining.

[GraniteStater]

It highly depends on what your specialized skillsets are. I am in the city planning and GIS field so finding a niche in certain metros is more difficult.