Cleveland provides ample job opportunities

These days, any national attention Cleveland, Ohio receives typically relates to its hometown sports hero LeBron James. However, don't sleep on the city's burgeoning job market. Job seekers will find a plethora of job opportunities here - in fact, Cleveland achieved a sub-4 percent employment rate as of December 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Cleveland Rocks
Cleveland got its nickname, "The Rock and Roll Capital of the World," for playing host to some of the groundbreaking moments in the genre's history - including giving Elvis Presley his first few shots at the limelight, according to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. In modern day it's an industrial city with promising job opportunities for those in the area, though it still has some of that rock 'n' roll charm.

Residents experience a wide range of temperatures, from frigid winters to balmy springs. The average year will feature a high of around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, with a low of 43 degrees, according to U.S. Climate Data. While it's not Florida weather, the climate is comfortable compared to that of neighboring states.

The U.S. census last reported around 390,000 people live in the city, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics last tallied the employment number at slightly over 1 million. This means that the bustling city is spacious, but many people commute for work without much difficulty (the mean travel time, 24.3 minutes, is lower than the national average of 25.5).

"The thing about the Cleveland market is that it is a lot larger than people realize," says Jeff Rosen, Regional Vice President of Beacon Hill Technologies in Cleveland. "It includes Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Elyria, and Mentor, allowing for massive opportunities within a fairly small geographical area. Our office is 10 minutes from downtown Cleveland and 30 minutes from downtown Akron. There are six or seven multi-billion dollar companies in Akron, and another couple in Canton. All that adds up to a lot of activity packed into Northeast Ohio."

Residents will enjoy the weekends, where they can take in a number of sporting events from the three major sports teams that call the city home - Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians, the National Basketball Association's Cavaliers and the National Football League's Browns. National Hockey League fans can travel to Columbus to see the Blue Jackets play.

Besides athletics, residents can visit the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, explore the Cleveland Museum of Art which hosts pieces spanning 6,000 years, adventure through the Metroparks Zoo and shop in the West Side Market.

See the Forest (City) for the Trees
Cleveland makes sense for job seekers, as it boasts an unemployment rate a full percentage point lower than the national average, according to the BLS. But that's not all:

• Education and health services account for 200,000 workers, with a job growth rate of 3.8 percent over 2015.
• Trade, transportation and utilities employ 188,000, and new jobs are popping up at a 1.7 percent rate.
• Around 68,000 work in the financial activities sector, which boasts an incredible 5.7 percent rate of new jobs being added over a 12-month period.

In addition to robust growth from these sectors, employers are also posting tech positions with astounding frequency. "The IT job market in Cleveland is as healthy as I have seen in my 18 years of experience," notes Ken Cole, Beacon Hill Technologies' Senior Recruiting Manager in Cleveland. "It's difficult to find qualified IT professionals who are looking for new opportunities, and all of our clients are having the same difficulty with various skillsets. It's been that way for the past several years in Cleveland and there doesn't seem to be any sign of slowing down in the near future." With demand outpacing supply, experienced IT professionals are poised to take advantage of the job seeker's market.

The city is quickly becoming a major job creation region in the United States and job seekers that take advantage now will reap dividends in the future.