Knowledge Management Jobs and MBA Programs in North Dakota

Those thinking about careers as computer services directors can find educational and employment prospects in North Dakota. For computer services directors in North Dakota, the job pool currently sits at 460 and is expected to grow by 26 percent to 670 jobs by 2016. This is better than the national trend for computer services directors, which sees the job pool growing at about 16 percent over the next 10 years. In general, computer services directors create and implement information systems for a client firm and supervise their maintenance.

North Dakota photo by Bobak Ha'Eri

In North Dakota, the income for computer services directors is $39 per hour or $80,000 per year. In the U.S. as a whole, their income is $57 hourly or $118,000 per year on average.

North Dakota, also known as the Flickertail State, has a population of 646,844. It has grown by 0.7 percent in the last 10 years. Bismarck is the state capital. In 2008, there were a total of 498,718 jobs and at $39,874, the average annual income in North Dakota was higher than the previous year's per capita figure of $36,678. The unemployment rate in North Dakota was 4.3 percent in 2009. It rose by 1.1 percentage points from the previous year. Roughly 22.0 percent of state residents have college degrees. This is below the national average.

Farm product raw material merchant wholesalers, farm machinery merchant wholesalers, lawn equipment stores and farm supply stores are the top employing fields in North Dakota.

While being known for many things, one of the most noteworthy, Devils Lake is the largest natural body of water in North Dakota. Devils Lake derives its name from the Native American name Miniwaukan. Early explorers incorrectly translated the word to mean Bad Spirit. Bolstered by the many legends of drowned warriors and lake monsters the name evolved into Devils Lake. This very fertile prairie lake grows large numbers of the fish known as walleye, northern pike, and white bass. The lake has earned the reputation of being the Perch Capital of the World. One of the unique tidbits about North Dakota is Dakota Gasification Company in Beulah is the nation's only synthetic natural gas producer.

Knowledge Management

Computer services directors create and implement information systems for a client firm and supervise their maintenance.

They regularly design computer data resources, providing for data security and control and disaster recovery and evaluate the organization's technology use and needs and recommend improvements.

They are required to evaluate the effectiveness of systems in order to improve their performance. Also, they must use core mathematical skills in problem solving.

Computer services directors must be able to articulate ideas and problems. They should also have the ability to listen to and understand others in meetings.

In order to be successful in the workplace, computer services directors must be reliable and believe in an agile approach to problem solving and deal with change.