No Jobs In Portland (employment, university, closing)

[tiffela74]

I see ads all the time for CNAs especially in nursing homes...its not hard to get your licence and you can work pretty much anywhere once you have it....a thought?

[tiffela74]

and just for reference, on the Oregon Employment Page...under JUST the directly IN Portland jobs...theres more than 970jobs listed.... might wanna take a peek, maybe you'll find something that would work out....
best of luck!
Tiffany

[annonymous1]

Bend your options a bit more. Like other posters, I relocated to Portland (2500 miles) specifically for a job, and have continued to remain at that same location for 3yrs now. My husband who is a freelancer, has taken a different temproary retail job to earn extra pocket money several times since we have been living here.
Are you restricting your options with your personal requirements for the job?
In other words, are you flexible with a shift or type of product you would be selling? Everyone is always looking for the "perfect" job that fits all their ideals, but are you willing to look for a job that gets you in the door and gets you a paycheck first? Forget restrictions and start out by broadening your horizon.
I disagree completely with the person that says you have to know someone to find a job here. It is that way everywhere if you are restricting yourself to where you are willing to work. We knew absolutely no-one when we moved here and had no problem finding work.
Keep your head up and look a bit harder, I'm sure you will land something if you give it a bit more thought. Go in with the attitude that you are going to land the job and I bet you will get what you want.
Here's some additional leads:

Retail, Grocery & Wholesale Jobs around Portland - Oodle.com
Restaurant & Food Service Jobs around Portland - Oodle.com

Oregon Jobs, Washington Jobs, Job and Employment Search Engine - Jobdango

retail Jobs in portland Oregon | Monster.com

[Minervah]

I disagree completely with the person that says you have to know someone to find a job here. It is that way everywhere if you are restricting yourself to where you are willing to work. We knew absolutely no-one when we moved here and had no problem finding work.

I didn't say you had to know someone to get a job, I said it helps greatly and that is from my experience not my opinion. I have mine you have yours. Networking is always a helpful tool in job hunting as any book on the subject will tell you.

One reason it is helpful is because, again my experience, employers I have had will ask present employees if they know so-and-so who just applied and can they recommended them. If there was an position open they would ask employees to recommend qualified people.

[esya]

I see lots of jobs posted, but the recruitment "industry" has inflated the market with multiple postings and too frequent trollings for what are not really much in the way of jobs. I agree recruiters are mostly idiotic custom followers and not independent thinkers. Nevertheless, there are jobs and the key is really spending the time to focus on telling the person hiring why YOU are the one supreme being who can make his or her life easier. To do that, you have to actually think about each job and you have to do a lot of internet research. In a way it seems stupid but no one ever got a job thinking that way. Just get out and meet as many people as you can and eventually you will find a job. If you are a writer or creative type, then do it by the internet.

By the way, even in 1975 it took me longer to find a job in Portland than anyplace else I had ever looked. I was down to the bag of beans and rice the food bank gave me, before I could pick up my first paycheck. Everyone should have to do that, at least once. It makes one a bit more charitable.

[running-girl]

Another poster suggested being a CNA--they truly are always in demand. However, it's extremely difficult work, and you need to love it because the pay sucks for how difficult the job is. ($9 an hour). But if you think it's something you'd like, PM me because I did the CNA training in 3 weeks last year to get into a nursing program, and it was a great training school.

[BridgeTownBaskets]

The job market in Portland is worse than most places in the country. Also, Portland is provincial (i.e., a big town). You absolutely must know someone to land decent employment (I was born here and know). Don't pay attention to anecdotal posts from others announcing that they found employment and then concluding the market must be fine for others. This is cognitive bias and is unhelpful at best. If you want to break into the market, arrange for informational interviews with recruiters of twenty or so companies you would like to work for. Ask them how they got where they are, what they look for in recruits, and for some advice about your application materials. Follow up with a thank you letter. Odds are one of those twenty will have a position open in the near future and you will know the decision maker and what he or she wants (and how he or she wants to read it).

[EnricoV]

Wow, I'm impressed, BridgeTownBaskets. How did you get so smart as to be the ONLY person who really knows what the employment market is like in Portland?

Shame on all us "anecdotal" posters, misleading the general public with our provincial attitudes and misleading experiences.

[catharsis]

Originally Posted by bean805

Hi ive lived in Portland for 3 months now and havent been able to find any work. I am looking j for an average job nothing special restuarant/retail work. My friend went to an interview for a restuarant job in Portland the other day and was told he was picked for an interview out of 500 resumes. I have heard jobs start opening up in summer does any one know. Also does anyone know about the job market in Austin TX I am considering a possible relocation if I dont find anything soon thanx----triz

I wouldn't wish Texas on anyone, but there are a lot of low level jobs in Dallas. And really, Dallas isn't too bad because I lived there for a couple of years and only met one redneck seriously!

But they do have a great economy and jobs seem to abound in both IT and service/retail. Hope that helps.

[catharsis]

Originally Posted by BridgeTownBaskets

The job market in Portland is worse than most places in the country. Also, Portland is provincial (i.e., a big town). You absolutely must know someone to land decent employment (I was born here and know). Don't pay attention to anecdotal posts from others announcing that they found employment and then concluding the market must be fine for others. This is cognitive bias and is unhelpful at best. If you want to break into the market, arrange for informational interviews with recruiters of twenty or so companies you would like to work for. Ask them how they got where they are, what they look for in recruits, and for some advice about your application materials. Follow up with a thank you letter. Odds are one of those twenty will have a position open in the near future and you will know the decision maker and what he or she wants (and how he or she wants to read it).

this is excellent advice for just about anywhere. Even though recruiters are notorious for not responding, those who believe in common courtesies and excellence are the ones that must step up to the plate, follow-up, act. In other words, the winners must pick up the slack and be gracious about the behavior of the slackers. Grace usually always wins. Winners usually do the things that losers refuse to do. Good luck to those of you looking for work!