Moving to Alaska is an adventure - one that most people embark upon because of a job opportunity. Kentucky ranch hands who are tired of filling up horse waterers and Pennsylvania store clerks who are tired of stocking shelves pack up and strike out for Alaska in search of employment gold. But what chance do they (and you, if you decide to follow them) realistically have of finding a job in the Great White State, and if you do succeed in finding a job, what sort of a job will it be? This article should be able to answer these questions for you.

The unemployment rate in the state of Alaska is 8.4% (accurate to April 2010). Compare that to the United States unemployment rate and Alaska comes out on top by a significant amount. And what's more, the per capita (average per person) income for the state is upwards of $44,000, whereas most places are doing well if they can keep their numbers in the high $20,000s. This is because of the state's remoteness. You can get paid more for tightening compression lugs in Alaska than you can pretty much anywhere else in the country.

The unusual thing about Alaska's employment landscape is that much of its employment is seasonal. In the summer, when melting ice opens up more of the of the state, jobs open up as construction companies move in with their slurry mixers and tourists arrive to take advantage of the fishing and adventure tours. Because of this many Alaskans work only in the summertime, and more than 19% of the workforce doesn't make its permanent home in Alaska at all, rather arrives to do the job when it's there and then leaves.

So what sort of occupations might you find open when you move to Alaska? There are several industries which dominate the employment landscape - specifically oil and gas, forestry, and then fishery. Over 16,000 people are employed in the preparation of fish, while thousands more have various jobs required in oil rig camps, such as cooling water treatment chemical handling, bookkeeping, administration, repairing and operating equipment, and cleaning. Store clerks, hotel workers, and restaurant servers are needed in the summer, and there is always a demand for teachers and medical personnel in the more remote areas.

Job figures change slightly in cities like Anchorage. Emphasis shifts away from operating heatshrink sleeving machines and more to transporting them by truck or sea. There's also a large portion of the workforce working in government offices and nearly as many working in the tourism and hospitality field. Anchorage's largest employers are the Providence Health System, Safeway, and Wal-Mart, which are followed by more industrial firms like Alaska Airlines and BP Oil.