Arizona Millennial Professionals

Shutterstock   When businesses decide where to start up or expand, one of the first things they look for is an abundant source of young, smart job candidates. That's been a major factor for technology-driven companies such as Apple, ZocDoc, and Garmin, all of which have chosen to open offices in Arizona — in large part because of the strong pool of skilled and available talent in the state. There's no shortage of educated workers in the area. Arizona is home to more than 142 colleges, universities, and technical schools, including its three state universities: Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona (U of A), and Arizona State University (ASU), the nation's largest public university. Both U of A and ASU are ranked among the top 50 colleges in the country, and within the top 100 in the world by the Center for World University Rankings. The Wall Street Journal has also named ASU fifth in the nation for "best-qualified graduates." This robust talent pipeline contributes to the state being ranked No. If you have just about any queries about in which in addition to how to use can ho An Duong Vuong, you'll be able to email us with the web site. 1 in the country for expected job growth, as well as No. 2 in s killed and available workforce. And though San Francisco and New York City have long been popular destinations for new and recent college graduates, millennials are finding Arizona's metro areas to be attractive locales where the quality of life is high, the cost of living is low, and career opportunities are plentiful. With so many tech companies putting down roots or expanding existing operations in the Copper State, some Arizona cities are starting to mirror those of Silicon Valley. For example, PayPal and Verizon Wireless are among the corporations with sizable regional offices in Chandler, a city 26 miles east of Phoenix, which is also home to the nation's largest semiconductor companies. "There's a semiconductor company on every corner here," says Michelle Smith, human resources manager for Cactus Semiconductor. "A huge Intel lab and corporate campus is down the street — so are Freescale, Microchip, and Medtronic (the world's fourth largest medical device technology company). Not every state has something like that."