From locally owned and family-operated businesses, to socially responsible employers, southern Vermont’s small but outstanding employers are looking for talent! See below for a job listing from the team at The Richards Group, shown here accepting yet another Vermont Best Places to Work award (Governor Phil Scott far right).
Sure I can find a job in Vermont, but can I find a good Job?
When we talk to people considering a move to a rural area, one of the first things they ask about is careers in Vermont–what’s the job market like? It’s a fair question. If you look at a map, employment can seem pretty thin on the ground. Brattleboro is one of the biggest towns around, and it weighs in at just over 11,000 people. Bellows Falls to the north is half as large. But the first thing we explain to people is that southern Vermont’s economy is bigger than you think, if you understand where people live and work. In fact, our economic region which we think of as what’s truly commutable has more people than the Burlington region.
We like to think of it as a “distributed multistate economy”. Which is a fancy way of saying it’s really spread out! It’s super common for people to live in Brattleboro but commute to a job in Keene, New Hampshire. Their partner may drive south to Greenfield or Springfield, Massachusetts, grocery shop in Keene regularly. Folks in Bennington or Manchester take their kids to soccer in Massachusetts and see a doctor in New York. Look at the parking lot of any major employer or restaurant and you’ll see license plates from 3-4 states.
Another important thing to understand is that commuting here is easy; less traffic and great views. Sure, if you are driving into the sun at exactly 5 pm or stuck behind a logging truck on a state road, it gets slow. But it’s hard to arrive home stressed when your ride home was ten minutes longer because of tractor traffic, or worse, fall foliage leaf peepers! You’ll know you’ve become a Vermonter when that’s your commute complaint. (If you think we’re exaggerating, check out this rush hour video from the author’s commute between Greenfield and Brattleboro).
Careers in Vermont: April Spotlight
This week in southeastern Vermont we’re helping some phenomenal employers promote great opportunities. With a fairly diverse economy, but an aging workforce, the opportunities are varied and changing all the time.
- Benefits Administrator for Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Join a phenomenal team at a true community hospital. Learn more about healthcare careers in southern Vermont. There is an astounding range of opportunity at every level, in a wide range of facilities and practices.
- Administrative Assistant at Omega. Omega is part of the region’s specialty optical manufacturing sector. Learn more about manufacturing careers in southern Vermont.
- Student Engagement Coordinator for the Brattleboro Union High School. With a growing wave of retirements, regional opportunities in education are growing.
- Academic Advisor at Landmark College. Careers in education here include 8 public school districts (that’s just Vermont, not counting nearby states) and about 50 colleges within commuting distance.
- Personal Lines Team Leader/Supervisor at The Richards Group, a locally owned Vermont financial services, insurance and HR firm. Opportunities in this sector have grown steadily in southern Vermont.
- Cyber Security Manager at G.S. Precision, a local aerospace firm with facilities in Brattleboro and Keene, NH. Precision manufacturing has deep roots in this region but also an aging workforce. They need talented people with cutting-edge skills.
- Executive Director at the Nature Museum. Yes! You could be top dog at a beloved cultural institution and live in Vermont. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, you will be constantly surprised (we still are!) by the amount of cultural activity and creative economy jobs in this region.
- The trades. We don’t have one specific listing to point to because when we called folks they all said they were too busy to talk – lots of work and not enough workforce! You get the drift. Here’s some information on construction firms in the region to get you started.
Some Final Job Hunting Tips!
Vermont employers aren’t always tuned into the norms of other job markets, so if you’re looking for a career in southern Vermont:
- Look at the local classifieds – we have local newspapers in every region and people use them! Set up google alerts for the towns where you are looking.
- Everyone uses Indeed, not enough use LinkedIn, don’t hold it against us.
- Reach out to your friends from SoVermont.com