Top 20 Best Hot Jobs in McLean VA - New Transportation in Internet Alley

McLean in Northern Virginia and inside the I-495 Capital Beltway is a community of sufficient numbers of historic places, commercial enterprises, residential options, curious features, and recreational attractions vie for "Wonder of the World" status with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Early in 2010, BusinessWeek announced McLean to be the fastest growing city in the Commonwealth of Virgnia. It is located in Fairfax County, probably the most agressively planned business and high-tech hub of the Eastern United States.

Interestingly, the county develiopment authority maintains offices around the world to develop global business. These offices include sites in California, London UK, India, Germany, South Korea, and Israel.

For an unincorporated "place" near another unincorporated location - Tysons Corner - McLean is well developed and visually present in the 21st Century of technology. I first visited McLean near the Potomac River after high school graduation and was awed by then. Today the advances in the community are incredible and offer a growinf job market connected with these developments.

Tysons Corner and its array of malls is a daytime commuter district that includes over 1200 high-tech companies and supports 100,000+ workers and others during usual business hours. The McLean community to the east is the home of increasing numbers of congressmen and other government workers, while Tysons Corner is developing additional residental spaces and is called "Internet Alley." These two locations in Fairfax County lead business and residential growth, McLean ahead of Tysons Corner.  

A fraction of those people live in the community, but residential developments under way will increase that figure substantially, eliminating commuting costs for many professionals, including government workers that commute to Washington DC. At the same time, a larger metropolitan trasportation terminal is under development and construction, adding a vareity of more frequently accessible communting options.

On my first trip to McLean, the local high schools in the area were titans of expanse that housed three different student bodies each huge structure. Every multi-high-school had its own planetarium and/or observatory and I was pleased to know one of the teachers that operated a high school planetarium at the time. His wife was the sister of a classmate of mine and was also a teacher in a local school that was much like today's charter schools. They showed me many interesting sights and historical places in McLean, Tysons Corner, Alexandria, and Georgetown.

Tysons Corner Center, less than 4 miles to the west and just across I-495, was more than I could imagine. The structure itself was breathtaking - a gigantic floor space. three levels, an annex, and in-mall decor that included floor-to-ceiling bird cages housing birds of paradise. The range and types of stores I saw in there differed markedly from those in the Midwest.

My friends had delved into local history as they moved to the area several years before and shared that the area around Tysons Corner had been called Seven Corners (a double strip mall today) after the juncture of 7 saddle trails worn along Native American paths and later used by wagons, rail lines, and the automobile. Seven Corners Shopping Center is named after this history and is another mall located near Tysons Corner Center. To the south is the large Fairfax Square Mall.

In the 21st Century, plans move forward for residential subdivisions within an urban atmosphere in Tysons Corner and McLean, new professional services, additional local bike paths, green spaces and parks; pedestrian walkways; new bus services; and free lunchtime shuttles around the community. A new railroad terminal is part of a developing larger mass transit system as well, with high speed rail intended to cut commuter times from Tysons Corner and McLean to DC to a fraction of current requirements.

Performance spaces and an ice rink are awaiting contruction at the regional mall. Tysons Corner Center is becoming its own city, it seems, with the new Tysons (II) Galleria mall across the street. This is much like the dual-mall development in Pearl City, Hawaii, the fastest growing city in that Pacific state. In the development of increasing numbers of large malls and office buildings as well as residences in Tysons Corner, more and more new residents are drawn to Tysons Corner, McClean and surrounding communitiies.

1. I-66/Roosevelt Blvd
2. Route 7 - Leesburg Pike
3. Route 50 - Arlington Blvd
4. Route 613 - Sleepy Hollow Road
5. Routes 28, 227 juncture 
6. Route 338
7. Old Wilson Blvd 

New construction through 2016 in transportation infrastructure, namely a subway system from Washington DC's subway to Dulles International Airport and to Tysons Corner will help make the community into a a walkable neighborhood. Along Route 7, a related elevated railway system is already being built in the median.

Fairfax County leads the Commonwealth in numbers of companies owned by Asians and Pacific Islanders, African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and women. Many people of these groups own thousands of businesses.

Native Americans alone (5% of total minority owners) own over 475 companies. These companies are largely involved in two industries:

1. Computer Systems Design
2. Facilities Support Services

Sculptor Jim Sanborn produced Kryptos for the grounds of the CIA Headquarters in the Langley neighborhood og McLean in 1990. The sculpture includes encrypted messages among many characters. The fourth and final section of the work remains unsolved as of 2010.

The links to the right include pictures and a timeline of the cryptographic work of professional and enthusiasts toward the final solution.

JOB MARKET IN MCLEAN, VIRGINIA

Jobs listed across all Internet sources for the Tysons Corner Area (25 mile radius) include 171, 500 job openings.

Referencing the chart below, the area in and near Tysons Corner Center experienced an increase in jobs, especially with the seasonal increases usual during the winter holiday months. However, during the first week of February 2010, over 600 jobs were open in the area.

Some of the companies located in and near the Center that require more workers are Books-a-Million store, Ann Taylor, Marriott Hotels, Edie Bauer, Honda, Bank of America, Cheesecake factory, Embassy Suites, and several others. Growth in Jobs declined somewhat after 1st QTR and picked up numbers beginning late August 2010.

Today, it is hard to imagine the Seven Corners - Tyson Corner area with only one regional mall and plans for added residential properties and new transportation systems are incredible. What would Washington and Jefferson think? -- Capitalism and government flowing with wealth, perhaps. Regardless, McLean is one of the places seemingly not harmed so heavily by recession in 2008 - 2009 as other American places.

McLean is not incorporated and is indeed "just" a place that is recognized by the US Census for statistical purposes: a census-designated place (CSD). Therefore, there is no city income tax, an attractive proposition for resident and businessperson. BusinessWeek and US Census analysts report a population of 39,000 in 2000, with 50,000+ in 2009.

Suburbs such as McLean VA and Atascocita TX are communities expanding so quickly that they nearly touch the borders of nearby large cities. These communities join with larger cities into metroplexes, filling in additional lands with businesses and residents - like Dallas-Fort Worth and Minneapolis-St. Paul or the Cincinnati-to-Dayton sector in Ohio called the Space Corridor. A matter of a decade can turn corn fields into housing complexes, shopping centers, and high schools.

We can envision the same progress for McLean and other smaller communities around Washington DC. One day everything inside the I-495 Beltway may be considered one metroplex this area has already been a part of the larger 22-county Washington DC - Baltimore MD marketplace.

1. SAIC
2. IBM
3. General Dynamics
4. BAE Systems
5. Inova Health System
6. Sibley Memorial Hospital
7. Accenture
8. CACI International
9. Deloitte
10. Federal Government Jobs
11. Raytheon
12. Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC)
13. Critical Connection
14. Booz Allen Hamilton
15. Capital One
16. Kaiser Permanente
17. Washington Hospital Center
18. Tysons Corner Center businesses and nearby companies
19. Mariott
20. US Federal Government
21. Cybercoders

1. OR-Surgical Technologists - Washington, DC
2. Project Managers
3. Software Engineers
4. Systems Engineers
5. Occupational Therapists
6. Physical Therapists
7. Program Managers
8. Java Developers
9. Occupational Therapy Assistants and other
10. Administrative Assistants
11. Physical Therapy Assistants and other
12. Network Engineers
13. Sales Representatives
14. Senior Software Engineers
15. Business Analysts
16. Systems Administrators
17. RNs for Labor & Delivery
18. Financial Analysts
19. .Net Developers
20. Program Analysts