Top Ten Minnesota Job Vacancies

The following table shows the top ten job titles with the most vacancies in Minnesota during Fall 2009.

Job title	Number of job vacancies	Job vacancy rate* (%)	Median wage offer** ($)
Home Health Aides	1,328	4.1%	$10.15
Retail Salespersons	964	1.3%	$7.50
Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants	862	2.8%	$10.30
Combined Food Preparation and Service Workers, including Fast Food	830	1.4%	$7.25
Registered Nurses	652	1.2%	$24.86
Stock Clerks and Order Fillers	495	1.3%	$8.25
Waiters and Waitresses	478	1.0%	$7.25
Licensed Practical and Lincensed Vocational Nurses	387	2.0%	$15.89

* The job vacancy rate is the number of job vacancies expressed as a percent of the total number of existing jobs.
** The median is the point at which 50% of workers make less and 50% make more (as reported by employers).

Job Quality

When comparing occupations, you should also take into account job quality. Some aspects to consider include:

• Wage
  Low wage occupations are more likely to be affected by high turnover and therefore appear to have a lot of openings, such as Food Preparation and Serving.
• Seasonality
  Occupations like landscaping or highway construction work are highly seasonal. Therefore, demand for these jobs drops at the end of the summer season and picks up again in the spring.
• Work status
  Some openings are predominantly part-time and temporary. If your dream is to become musician or actor, and you see lots of openings in Arts, Design, Entertainment and Media, consider that some professions hire freelance or temporary employees to help with specific projects. or events and rarely hire new employees for long-term, permanent positions. If job security is important to you, look at industries or occupations where permanent work is most common.

Source: Minnesota Job Vacancy Survey, 2nd Quarter 2009, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.