Looking for a job? Raleigh/Cary tops Forbes list of best places

[mnhtnbb]

to work.

http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/544185.html

From time to time, I have seen posts from DU'ers who are out of work, or looking for a place to move where there are better job opportunities.

We've been in Chapel Hill for seven years. After 2004, my HS degree-only son (who we insisted get a job if he wasn't going to college) worked at a local computer store as a bench tech. After a year, the chain of stores experienced a down-turn and my son was laid off in 2005, with no notice, and the layoff had nothing to do with seniority. His other love, besides computers, was cars, so he got a job selling cars. That lasted until the incentives the dealership was offering were eliminated, which dried up the showroom traffic. After two months of unemployment, he got an offer in
Dec 2005 with an international software company headquartered in Cary. He's now a tech support rep, making 91% MORE--yes, you read that correctly--than he was making at the computer store.

I have also posted previously that the demographics of NC are changing. Housing is affordable here. The public schools are excellent (particularly in Chapel Hill, which are routinely ranked as best in state and end up on best in country lists). Durham and Chapel Hill are pockets of progressive/liberals. This 'red' state is turning blue. The State Dem party chair is actively seeking someone to go up against Liddy Dole. A recent poll indicated that Gov. Mike Easley (D) would beat Dole.

So, if you, or friends of yours, are looking for better opportunities, you ought to take a look at NC and come help turn this state BLUE in 2008.

[mnhtnbb]

1. PS--the job that my son got in Cary? He responded to a newspaper ad.

[mnhtnbb]

2. Kickin' for the afternoon crowd.

[Blackhatjack]

3. Raleigh is a great place to live and work .... many assets for a progressive

WE have five(5) universities within the city limits(including North Carolina State University, home of the Wolfpack!). We are located less than 20 minutes from Duke and 45 min from Chapel Hill.

We are home to one of the top research facilities in the country, The Research Triangle Park. Lots of high tech jobs here. NC State has a public/private research campus known as the Centennial Center that has drawn corporate research partnerships, and contracts with the US Govt.

Raleigh is located in the central piedmont section of the state of NC, temperatures are moderate, and you can travel to either the beach or the mountains in just a few hours.

We have low unemployment, and lots of cultural attractions. You can see have a dozen or more Broadway plays a year in a state of the art Performing Arts Complex. We have more than a dozen independent theatres.

Our schools are highly rated, and we recently implemented a program which allows High School students to take accelerated course and graduate with a two year degree from a Community College. Our community college system is spread across the state, and tuition for residents is approx $30/semester hour.

Many people have already discovered Raleigh as evidenced by our growth.

When John Edwards ran for President on the ticket with Kerry, almost no advertising was alloted to NC. There is a lot of support for Edwards here, and IMHO he would definitely carry NC in the next election.

[lectrobyte]

9. It is a good place to live. Not dealing with the growth as well as it could be,

perhaps, but you could do a lot worse.

[The Cleaner]

13. That's a problem in many other cities too, Austin no exception.

The last ten years has brought tremendous growth to Austin, and as a result traffic there is BAD, almost as bad as D.C. but not quite. The reason is because Austin has so many hiils, and the majority of its streets have always been 2-lane country roads. Getting a little better in that regard now though.

Dallas on the other hand is very ahead of the curve. That's one thing good I can say about this place. All the roads are WIDE WIDE WIDE and luxurious, three lanes in each direction. Therefore traffic is usually pretty good, barring the 1-1/2 hour daily rush hour which isn't bad compared to many other cities.

[hashibabba]

4. You can go to this URL and find out how your current city compares

to Chapel Hill (or anywhere else):

http://www.bestplaces.net/city/

[Clark2008]

15. I think I'll stay where I'm at

Knoxville, TN spends $400 a year more per student, has a 20 percent lower cost of living than Raleigh, has a lower unemployment rate and housing is cheaper. The only thing better in Raleigh is that it IS improving in job growth, while Knoxville's is fairly stagnent.

Oh well...

[mnhtnbb]

18. Well, you might catch Edwards fever if you came here...so better stay where you are!

[MountainLaurel]

5. Thanks for this!

Mr. Laurel is currently planning to go to law school in a year or so. Because I have yet to find a full-time job in Maine (after being here 4 months), it's looking less likely that we will stay here, and UNC is high on our list of potential law schools. This will be useful information as we move forward.

:hi:

[The Cleaner]

8. Hi Mountain,

My sister went to Duke Law School. Beautiful school, but as you can imagine competitive and pricey. Anyway, what area of law does Mr. Mountain Laurel plan to pursue? I have a long-standing interest and have been tossing the idea of law school around in my head for years. I would probably go into consumer law, maybe environmental law. Of course I am in my mid 30s but hey, life's young, right? :) Never too late I say.

[MountainLaurel]

39. Probably immigration law, or some other public interest work

Duke, as Mr. L understands it, is much more of a corporate school, for folks who want to go to the big firms.

[mnhtnbb]

19. Glad to help!

[Blackhatjack]

36. We have 6 Law Schools in North Carolina ....

You cannot go wrong with any of them.

Duke and UNC and Wake Forest law schools are the most prestigious. However, an added plus is each of these 3 also have medical schools.

Campbell Law School began in the early 1980s and was designed to prepare its graduates for a multitude of disciplines, including lots of opportunities doing trial work. It put together a fantastic staff, and for many years their grads have had the highest bar exam passing percentage.

A new law school opened last year on the campus of Elon University in Burlington, NC. They are taking a more hands-on approach to training and education, and have heard nothing but good things about their approach.

Central University Law School in Durham, is significantly more affordable than the others, and has improved in every area.

Each law school has areas in which it excels. If you want to do international law, Duke would be your likely first choice.

And remember Raleigh is the capitol city of North Carolina, with all the appellate courts and Supreme Court located here. Not to mention all the Governmental agencies, and the Legislature.

HOpe this is helpful.

[MountainLaurel]

40. Thanks!

UNC is just one place we're looking at across the county, mainly because the plethora of colleges and universities in that area would make it much more likely for me to find a job (I'm an academic librarian).

[Blackhatjack]

41. NC State has a library collection that draws company representatives because...

it contains subscriptions and works not available anywhere else in one place.

THere are excellent libraries at UNC and DUKE, that I know of personally. You should contact them directly since they really do not need to advertise openings.

[The Cleaner]

43. Have you checked out UT Austin Law?

Austin may be a good choice - progressive town, scenic, a bit warmer weatherwise, and clearly an academic town.

http://www.utexas.edu/law/

Here in Dallas I believe the only law school is Southern Methodist University. There is a UT Dallas but they don't have a law school. However, the University of North Texas (UNT) is planning to build a new law school in downtown Dallas by 2009. Interestingly enough it's going to be in the old Municipal building where, in the basement, Lee Harvey Oswald was shot (it housed Dallas PD back in the day).

http://untsystem.unt.edu/lawschool/index.htm

[MountainLaurel]

44. Mr. Laurel probably wouldn't do Texas

But thank you for the tip.

[The Cleaner]

46. Well, can't say that I blame him...

:P

Good luck to you guys! :)

[The Cleaner]

42. Thanks! All good info.

n/t

[The Cleaner]

6. God bless America, I LOVE the Raleigh/Durham area.

Beautiful Southern town, a great feel, close to major east coast attractions (D.C. is about 5-1/2-6 hours away, and maybe 3 or 4 hours from the beach). Just beautiful. I did interview there a few years ago but no deal.

It sure beats Texas for landscape and excitement. I'd move there in a heartbeat if I could, I so miss that area :cry:

[Blackhatjack]

38. It is 2 hrs to the beach in Wilmington from Raleigh... n/t

[OnionPatch]

7. Anyone have any job links for that area?

I've often thought that would be a great area to live but I never see any jobs in our field for that area in the national job listings. :shrug:

[lectrobyte]

10. monster.com is the first place I'd check, but these may also be worth a look:

http://www.newsobserver.com/careerbuilder/

http://www.rtp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&filename=job_opportunities.html

Good luck!

[The Cleaner]

12. What is your field?

Raleigh/Durham is well-known for scientific and technical jobs. I know IBM is there, I traveled there often for work. Biotech is hot there too, I think. Back in "the day" when one Bill Clinton was President (God I long for those days again...) and the economy was booming Raleigh/Durham really grew by leaps and bounds with new tech companies sprouting up everywhere.

Cary...Chapel Hill...all really beautiful and serene.

[lectrobyte]

14. The job situation is pretty good. With the universities, the high tech stuff, and

being a state capital, I'd think about any field would be represented here. And the ones I can think of that aren't here, like working in TV/movie production, are in Wilmington.

[OnionPatch]

37. GIS

Both of us, but the hubby uses GIS in the environmental field and wants to keep doing so, so that narrows the job selection a good bit.

Thanks everyone for the links.

[mnhtnbb]

16. This is a fairly good link. My son searched for jobs using this--

and the one that he landed in Cary through a newspaper ad was also listed here at the same time.

http://www.jobsearch.com/NorthCarolina.htm

[mnhtnbb]

17. Craigslist is also very popular in theTriangle area. See link.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/

[Ignacio Upton]

11. I wouldn't mind moving down there

You have temperate weather (colder than Florida, and light years better than the Northeast) and you have Raleigh and Chapel Hill.

Also...why isn't Easley interested in running against Dole? He would cream her!

[mnhtnbb]

20. I haven't heard an explanation from Easley--maybe he doesn't want to commute to DC

[Perky]

21. I spent a week in Raleigh one day.

:)

[mnhtnbb]

22. LOL. I agree it's not New York. But it's only an hour flight to LaGuardia.

AND--you can afford to live here.

The daughter of a long-time friend of mine, who graduated from NYU last June, is working in NY making $25K. She can't make ends meet. My son, with a HS diploma, is working in Cary making high $30's and has $10k in the bank.

He lives in a 2 BR apartment and has a 5 minute walk to work.

I haven't heard him itching to move elsewhere. He loves this job and seems to find things to do on the weekend, including breaking a small bone in his hand playing basketball with coworkers last weekend! His health insurance covers
his Dr. visits ($30 copay).

[WinkyDink]

23. I live in Pa. I've been to Raleigh thrice, and pretty much like it (Whole Foods!), but live there?

Not this Yankee! :)

[mnhtnbb]

24. To each his own. My brother lives in Berwyn and every time I visit

I'm so happy to come home to Chapel Hill! After living in L.A. for almost 25 years, I've had enough of jammed freeways and malls!

[WinkyDink]

26. I'm not too far north of Berwyn, in the Lehigh Valley. I like the proximity to both

Philly and NYC.

But as for driving~~~it's not like Raleigh has no highways!

[mnhtnbb]

30. Wow. I'll have to get a tour of the Lehigh Valley next time I'm visiting.

[xchrom]

25. i may very well be moving to durham in about a year.

the bay area has just become too expensive -- and i can trade my house here -- for something there -- and put some money away.

[mnhtnbb]

31. Uh, you'll put a LOT away if you've had your house for any length of time.

[xchrom]

34. 20+ years.

[mnhtnbb]

32. Chapel Hill is also known as the Berkeley of the South.

[xchrom]

35. berkeley is heaven on earth --

i'll take a jr version of that.

[treestar]

27. Chapel Hill rules!

I went to college there. :bounce:

[mnhtnbb]

29. Gonna be watching the game tonight?

[Seen the light]

28. This whole part of North Carolina is perfect

I'm going to college here now and I would love to actually move here and live in this area once I graduate.

[left of center]

33. don't forget Pittsboro and Chatham County!

Wife and I moved to Chapel Hill in 99, then moved to Pittsboro 2 years ago. The whole Triangle is great, but the western half (Durham, Durham County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County, and eastern Chatham County) is the seat of progressive culture and politics!

Yes, there is a good deal of work in the Triangle area too.

[leftofthedial]

45. good music scene?