Looking for Work? Move to North Dakota
Article About North Dakota Jobs Sparks New Interest in North Dakota's Workforce
The article, found by clicking this link, tells the story of Janet Morgan, who, as a last-ditch effort to find work, traveled from her home in Ohio and moved to Glenfield, North Dakota, a town of 134 complete strangers to Morgan. She bought a run-down motor home for $7,000 (the down payment was $100), and Morgan has a job at a call center.
North Dakota Jobs - The Statistics
According to Sarah Johnson, North Dakota's talent recruiter who was interviewed by the Washington Post, "The state's economy grew by 7.3 percent in 2008. It ranks second to last in housing foreclosures and third to last in average credit card debt. Mining, construction and agriculture all recently surged by at least 10 percent. The government just passed $400 million in tax cuts."
Also according to Johnson, there are 9,000 job openings in North Dakota right now.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Dakota's unemployment rate in June 2009 was 4.6 percent, the lowest in the nation. Neighboring states Montana, Minnesota and South Dakota have unemployment rates of 6.4 percent, 8.4 percent, and 4.9 percent respectively. The highest unemployment rate is in Michigan, with 15.2 percent (seasonally adjusted).
Find North Dakota Jobs
Where can people who are out of work find these 9,000 job openings in North Dakota? Job Service North Dakota at www.jobsnd.com is the first place to look. When I moved back to North Dakota in 2000 from Nevada, Job Service was my first resource for finding a job.
Another option is NorthDakotaJobs.com. I spoke with Garrett Zimmer, Industry Manager, from their corporate office, and he reported there were "a couple dozen to a couple hundred" job openings currently on their website for North Dakota. NorthDakotaJobs.com is part of the LocalCareers.com network, which hosts a site for every state.
Perhaps the best feature of NorthDakotaJobs.com is the "panic button". Is your boss near? Click on the panic button and up pops an article about more effective time management.
"Discover the Spirit!" of North Dakota
North Dakota not only has jobs in agriculture, mining, oil, and construction. North Dakota offers some unique job opportunities. With Verety LLC, you can work from home in North Dakota, taking fast food orders from a drive-through window for a restaurant in California.
North Dakota employers offer some unique benefits for their employees as well. Farmers who also have regular 9-5 jobs are often given a leave of absence during harvest season. My job at the newspaper is very flexible with my schedule as my son has special needs and I have to be gone from the office for medical appointments out of state.
North Dakota employers are also understanding when employees need time off for school events, community committee meetings, and other situations. When there's a fire, volunteer fire fighters are released from their job obligations to put out the fire. When there are medical emergencies, volunteer EMTs can leave work.
Be forewarned though. Working in North Dakota can spoil you.
Sources:
"In North Dakota, the road to economic recovery," WashingtonPost.com
"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", United States Department of Labor
"Job Service North Dakota," Job Service
"North Dakota Jobs," NorthDakotaJobs.com
"Verety LLC: Real time, real people, real results," Verety LLC
Published by Heather K. Adams
Heather K. Adams is an award-winning journalist with the North Dakota Newspaper Association. While she can write on many topics, she specializes in personalized national and state news reports, music, and pa... View profile
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11 Comments
Post a CommentNorth Dakota added 30,000 jobs in one industry alone! The shale oil business and associated infrastructure builders are creating a boom. You can bet that it's easy to take the North Dakota weather when you have a job!
P.S. Forgot to mention that I'm in Fargo :)
I have to laugh at all the comments about the weather, especially after reading this article during the first heavy snowfall of the season. It's not fun, but it isn't always like this! lol
I have lived in Minnesota all my life. The weather can't be any worse than here.
I really think I'd like to live in Glenfield. I am newly divorced and am lookinf for a new place to settle down in. I live in the Twin Cities now. I grew up in a small town in Minnesota and and would like to move to a small town again. Plus ther state is beautiful and peacefull.
Yeah - if you can stand the weather, you're in for some beautiful country.
Great article, Heather. I couldn't handle the winter weather up there, but I have no doubt that the people are super-friendly. I'm glad to hear about all the jobs in North Dakota. :)
I hope more people do this kind of thing we always think that leaving where we are is not possible but if you want to work and live then sometimes it is best to move and start over in our lives we moved 5 times to start over each time.
As a new Grand Forks resident, I couldn't agree more, though it will be chilly in a few months. Nice article.
Great topic and title Heather.
Great article! I hope Janet Morgan's run-down motor home can withstand those ferocious North Dakota winters. NorthDakotaJob.com's "panic button" is a very clever idea, by the way.