I am knowledgeable about Seattle careers because I maintain strong ties to the city after living there for 10 years. Seattle is one of my favorite places and is considered a desirable location in which to land employment or start a business. Seattle is known for rainy drizzle, gorgeous scenery, and plentiful coffee.
There are seven Seattle area companies named in Fortune Magazine’s “Best Companies To Work For” list for 2012. They are, in alphabetical order:
- Hasbro (Renton)
- Microsoft (Redmond, Bellevue, and Issaquah)
- Nordstrom (Seattle)
- Perkins Coie (Seattle)
- Recreational Equipment aka REI (Seattle, Kent, and Sumner)
- Starbucks (Seattle)
- The Everett Clinic (Everett, Marysville, and Mukilteo)
From my experience, it isn’t easy to move to Seattle and land a job without Seattle connections unless you have a terrific track record to beat out significant competition. Seattle is a city that values Seattle-based work experience and education. For this reason, many people move there and are underemployed while they build up their resumes and meet the locals. Difficult as this strategy may be, it works.
Seattle is also a city where almost everyone is Internet savvy and a lot of networking takes place online. If you don’t live in Seattle and you wish to move there, one way to do so is to become an industry insider by joining online professional organizations and becoming known to the insiders who know where the job openings are.
If you are interested in moving to the Puget Sound or you are already there and exploring your employment options, here are some lists to help you:
Seattle Advertising, Public Relations, and Design Firms
Seattle Career Coach and Career Counselor Directory
Seattle Colleges and Universities
Seattle Government
Seattle Hospitals
Seattle Jobs Resources
Seattle Newspapers
Seattle Nonprofit Organizations
Seattle Recruiters and Employment Agencies
Seattle Resume Writers
Seattle Tech Jobs
Seattle Venture Capital
