Leadership Jobs and MBA Programs in South Dakota

Operating officers can find prosperity in South Dakota as the state has an abundance of educational and career opportunities. At 710, the number of jobs in South Dakota for operating officers is projected to rise six percent to 1,000 jobs by 2016. Prospects are significantly better for operating officers in the state when compared to the national trend, which projects a one percent drop in the number of jobs over the next 10 years. In general, operating officers recognize and create policies for the overall direction of companies or private and public sector organizations.

South Dakota photo by Dean Franklin

State figures show that operating officers in South Dakota earn $58 per hour or $120,000 per year on average. In the U.S. as a whole, their income is $77 hourly or $160,000 per year on average.

Nicknamed the Mount Rushmore State, South Dakota has a population of 812,383. It has seen its population grow by 7.6 percent over the last 10 years. The capital is Pierre. There were 566,490 total jobs in 2008 and workers in South Dakota earned more than the previous year with an average annual income of $38,644, up from $36,428. The unemployment rate in South Dakota was 4.8 percent in 2009. It went up by 1.7 percentage points since the previous year. The number of residents with a college degree is 21.5 percent. This falls short of the national average.

In South Dakota, the top employers are in nonstore retailers, gasoline stations with convenience stores, sign manufacturing and metal window manufacturing.

South Dakota is known for having important landmarks. Bowdle is known for the tallest water tower in South Dakota. One of the many things South Dakota is known for, fossilized remains of life 50 million years ago have been arranged in unusual forms, which is Lemmon's mark of distinction at the world's largest petrified wood park.

Leadership

Operating officers recognize and create policies for the overall direction of companies or private and public sector organizations.

They regularly present data at meetings or conventions to promote services and accomplish objectives and direct business or departmental efforts concerned with the production or distribution of products.

They are required to evaluate and judge the efficacy of solutions and manage and maintain budgets and other financial resources.

Operating officers should be able to think through problems and come up with general rules and piece together evidence to, in some sense, diagnose what is going on in a situation.

In order to be successful in the workplace, operating officers must have exceptional integrity and want to innovate to meet new challenges.