The Best Career Fields to Get into in the Dallas Area

If you live in the Dallas area, you may find that you like it a great deal. You can follow high-profile sports teams like the Mavericks and Cowboys. There’s also a thriving music scene and many bars and restaurants.

Dallas has about 1.3 million residents, a number that has stayed pretty consistent in recent years. You can probably point to a stable job market as part of why so many people live in and around the area. 

If you want to move to Dallas, or if you live there already, then you will likely need to take a close look at the job market. Certain niches or industries do well there, while others seem to be on the rise.

Let’s take a few moments to talk about some of the industries or fields that you may choose to get into if you live in the area.   

The Legal Niche

You may want to consider getting into the legal niche if you live in or around the Dallas area. If you’re a lawyer, then you should do pretty well there if you stay in the realm of personal injury.

Personal injury lawyers tend to do well if they set up shop anywhere in the US, but Dallas sees a lot of car accidents, and you might find that if they’re your specialty, you will have no shortage of clients. Car accidents from drunk driving happen all the time, and you might run a lucrative practice if you also take on clients claiming medical malpractice or premises liability injuries. 

Tech

The technology sector also does well in the Dallas area. Several tech companies call Dallas home, including StackPath, Ascendix Technologies, and Texas Instruments.

AT&T also has office space in Dallas. They are mostly in the 5G market at the moment, though they’re also working on various other high-end or experimental communication technologies.

Software and cloud services also have office space in this area. For instance, Qualtrics has offices there, and they’re one of the premier providers of cloud-based services, which most people in tech consider a growth industry.   

You may also get into cybersecurity if you live in Dallas and have that particular skill set. CrowdStrike has office space there, and other cybersecurity names have made inroads in recent years. 

The Medical Sector

The medical sector also has many job openings in the Dallas area. If you live there, you will find that names like Texas Health Resources, Abbott, and US Southwestern Medicine usually send reps to job fairs to try and hire the best and brightest minds right out of college. Some of these will even help to pay for your advanced degrees in various aspects of medicine if you commit to working for them when you graduate.

Other medical entities, like CVS Health, UnitedHealth Group, and Parkland Health and Hospital have space there. You may recognize the name Parkland. It’s the hospital where the Secret Service took John F. Kennedy after his assassination in 1963. Though that dark day marred that hospital’s history for many years, it’s still one of the best in the area and frequently has open positions. 

Retail

You can always get into the retail sector as well. Dallas has many retail companies, both stand-alone businesses and chains. There are many grocery stores looking for stockers and cashiers. You can work in a clothing store or a flower shop.

If you look on Indeed, you will often see long lists of retail jobs in the Dallas area. If you don’t have a college degree, you might have some luck with some of these options. Many of these companies look for prior experience, though, so keep that in mind. 

Food Service

Food service always has many openings in the Dallas area. You might get a job as a server, bartender, or working in the kitchen of one of the many restaurants. 

You can sometimes find work with chain restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory or Yardbird, but it’s usually the stand-alone establishments or small, in-city chains where you can make more money. They typically offer a higher starting salary. 

Like retail positions, if you hope to have an entity in the food service industry hire you, it’s helpful if you have prior experience. Some places will train you if you’re willing to show up on time, work hard, and show the ability to execute the required tasks with an appropriate level of speed and skill. 

Uber and Lyft

Both Uber and Lyft operate in Dallas, and you might want to work for one of them, if not both. You will need to have a relatively new vehicle in good condition. The companies will also run a background check on you to make sure that you never committed a violent crime and that you have a clean driving record.

If you’re going to work for one of these rideshare companies, though, you will need excellent driving skills. If you run arriving or departing individuals to and from the airport, you can sometimes run into bumper-to-bumper traffic. It is also not uncommon to run into aggressive drivers on the highways in and around the city.

What Else to Keep in Mind About Working in Dallas

As you might expect, finding jobs in the food service industry or retail in Dallas doesn’t usually take too much effort, especially if you have prior experience. However, keep in mind that rent in this city remains very high. 

If you’re going to work at a lower-wage job, you might have a hard time living on your own. You may look for roommates and move in with them. You can also live in a part of the city with slightly more modest rents. 

If you have a college degree and training in the medical or tech fields, you should do better. The legal niche might also support your lifestyle better if you live in this city that features some of the nation’s consistently highest rents.