Jobs prospects in non major metro-areas

Question

I have had some discussions with my wife over the last few days and both of us have decided that it is better if I go to a school in an area where she can find a job as well. She works in IT and I think it is quite a ubiquitous field, BUT I want to know about prospects for her to find a job in

1. Hanover, NH
2. Durham, NC
3. Charlotesville, VA

I am trying to decide on whether to apply to these universities. Anyone have any input?

Ozmba · Answer

Dosa, use Hjort metro ranking post and monster/dice As far as the places listed above, forget 1 and 3 - They are just remote villages Option 2 is your best Bet ....RT area is the tech hub .... no wonder married desis wanna land in Duke :-)

riverripper · Answer

I am facing the same issue and having a wife who is a software engineer (amazingly neither of us are indian, seems like most of this board is though). Doing anything related to computers eliminates a lot of schools right away...look around a huge school like Michigan and there is nothing. Same with Cornell.

Hanover has very very few software jobs. If she knows network support or hardware she might get a job at the hospital or the college...getting a job there would be tough without any contacts in the area though. There are no real commuting options either since its a couple hours from any area large enough to have a chance of find a good job.

Duke has tons and tons of jobs there for computer people. We were both suprised by that...though I don't think I will apply there since my wife doesnt want to move to the south, we like winter, its a great school in a nice area.

Ozmba · Answer

Tri state is the best bet for finding a IT job...

I recommend Yale/NYU - if spouse job during bschool is a key criteria!

aceman626 · Answer

I think unless you're M7, there will be regional constraints. For example, Tuck is more of an East Coast school, UCLA or more west coast, etc. There will be difficulties when you try to get jobs in an opposite coast.

piper41955 · Answer

For IT work, there really are only a few major metro areas that one can work in and expect top dollar. SF/Bay area, Seattle, Washington DC, NYC are the big ones. Don't get me wrong, you can find work elsewhere, but salary wise there is a major difference. What sort of IT work does she do?

mNeo · Answer

Has she considered working from home? Recently a lot of companies are opening up to letting their software developers work from home.

mbagal1 · Answer

Or consulting would be an option - smaller consulting companies like mine dont care where you live, just that you are within driving distance to an airport, since we are required to travel 4 days a week anyway. And the pay is quite competitive, especially given you can choose where you live. Besides, if the client is not particular abt travel, one gets to work from home. 

Someone in my company lives in jackson hole, wyoming because he loves skiing. Travel to anyplace becomes a pain then, but thats his choice.

ncp · Answer

Hi! Welcome back.

mbagal1 · Answer

Thanks! Feels good to be back.

I'm glad I got the gmat out of the way in April. Things got real crazy at work right after.

ncp · Answer

hsampath, so are you still planning to apply only to PT schools or have you now decided to jump in the ring for full-time?

What schools are you applying to?

bherronp · Answer

Don't forget the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Pay is actually better and the cost of living lower in Dallas vs. Seattle.

Oh, Atlanta has alot of tech jobs also.

dosa_don · Answer

Unfortunately I dont find a lot of good univs in Dallas or Atlanta (maybe Emory?). 

mNeo-she will be starting her job this coming October (just got her H1). So we are not sure where her projects could be. I do think that would be awesome if she ends up with a company that lets her work from home. 

Oh well- the only downside to this decision is that Tuck is out. NYU is in. And I should probably apply to Yale after their performance on the MBA Challenge show last night :D

ncp · Answer

Yes. Yale won. But I think Texas was consistently the better school during the entire competition. Yale were very lucky to win.

dosa_don · Answer

I thought for sure that Texas would win. Anyways, I think the contest itself was a little weird and not very well designed (giving $5000 for the ticker symbols was just nuts). Having said that, I was surprised at the participants lack of knowledge. They could not get some really easy questions (Googles version of Paypal last night). Infact I would say that GSB had the WEAKEST team of the lot.

ncp · Answer

Ya. I was surprised that nobody knew about "Google Checkout". That should tell all the schools to get some cyber-active Indian Male ITs in there :wink:

mNeo · Answer

Yeah, Nobody saying "Google Checkout" surprised me too. I also wasn't very fond of the format or the type of questions asked .. but it was fun watching some B-Schools competing.

I also hoped for Texas to win. Their team was the best after MIT shot its own foot in the first round.

dosa_don · Answer

I dont know how many of you actually noticed this- I think 7 iPhones were given out over the entire show (4 episodes) and atleast 3 of them were desi's

Wonder how many of them were applicants ;-)

mNeo · Answer

Haha .. I did .. I did. The final was the only episode when no desi won any iPhone.

mbagal1 · Answer

Question I'm still asking myself. Part time at Ross (assuming Im admitted) seems to make the most sense. FT - am not sure if Im competitive for the top programs, plus all the other cons (loss of pay, having to move back to F1 visa status etc). But everyone Ive talked to says to do Full time if I can, people who have done part time as well as people who have done full time. I'm really torn. 
Maybe I will apply to some top FT programs in the midwest (U Chicago, Kellog) and give it my best shot. If it works out, great. If not, Ross PT it is. (Ross doesnt allow us to apply for PT and FT at the same time)

Jobs prospects in non major metro-areas

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