One of the most important parts of moving to a new city is securing employment, often ASAP. If you are looking for work while also moving to Bend, we understand that it can be a little overwhelming. To help out, here is a quick guide on what to know about employment in Bend, and how to make your job search a bit more efficient.
Key Jobs Industries in Bend
If you want to lock down a job right away, it’s a good idea to focus on the key industry in the Bend area. Common options include:
- Retail: Bend has a lot of shops in areas like Downtown or Old Mill, plus centers like Cascade Village or The Forum, and new shops are opening all the time. This can be a great way to find a job fast.
- Hospitality: Bend’s bars, taphouses, and pubs are often looking for extra servers or experienced bartenders (or can refer you to another spot that is looking for workers). It’s also a good idea to check out Bend’s food trucks and restaurants: They tend to look for new workers as well, especially around the changing of the seasons when they lose employees to schools or need to hire new workers to meet new demands.
- Healthcare: Healthcare is one of the largest industries in Bend thanks to St. Charles Medical Center and a variety of smaller centers located throughout the city. This field can be competitive, and required training is very important, but it’s also filled with valuable opportunities.
- Construction: The City of Bend has plenty of construction projects outlined and contracted for the coming years, which should yield a steady amount of work. Private developments also continue to expand and open as available. Construction tends to slow down over winter, but in the warmer months it can be an active and easy way to locate a job fast!
Looking for Bend Jobs Online
We probably don’t need to tell you how to search for Bend jobs online – a basic Google search will bring up dozens of sites you can check out. However, we will call out a few options for being especially helpful at this time:
Google’s own job search: Google’s job search does a surprisingly great job of staying on top of the recent jobs in Bend, favoring new jobs and popular employers to help provide the most value for your search. In contrast, sites like Craigslist aren’t used as much for Bend jobs and may not offer as much value for your time.
Bend Oregon Jobs: It may not be as large as some of the big job board sites, but www.bendoregonjobs.com is nice for searching local niche jobs in Central Oregon. It also provides handy data on the most popular industries, biggest employers, and some tips on how to look for a job in Bend.
Contacting Major Employers
Are you interested in finding work with a specific employer? Some of the biggest employers in the city include:
- St. Charles: We already mentioned they are one of the largest employers in Bend, but you may also want to check out Summit Medical Group.
- Les Schwab Tire Centers: These tire centers also get very busy around seasonable changeovers and may be looking for more help!
- Cascade Bancorp: Financial and banking services offer different types of employment for those with experience in customer service and finance.
- Deschutes Brewery: The famous brewery is also a large employer in Bend, operating both the brewery itself and one of the largest pubs. However, there are plenty of smaller breweries looking for workers if you want to build up your experience!
If you have any other questions or would like help taking some of the pressure of moving to Bend off your hands, we can help with that too.
