If you have any questions, you can ask me. I grew up in a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale.
Pharmaceutical and Insurance companies are really big in the Ft. Lauderdale area (I think Merck, Sundown, and Cigna all have some huge office buildings in the area). Many software companies have headquarters here (Citrix). If you're looking specifically in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, many banks have offices there such as Suntrust, Bank of America, etc. Basically, almost every company has either an office or store within the Ft. Lauderdale area.
Miami is only a 45 minute to 1 hour drive away. There's even more companies there. The big industry in Miami is the cruise line industry. I know that a lot of the cruise lines down there are always looking for marketing representatives, financial reps, etc. But, they do prefer that you're bilingual in both English and Spanish.
If you don't want to live in Ft. Lauderdale, the surrounding suburbs are really nice. I'll give my opinion of some of the suburbs.
Plantation: nice area, family oriented
Cooper City: same as Plantation
Pembroke Pines: nice area but a lot of retirement villages around there
Hollywood: it's ok, there are some nice parts but you can find nicer and closer suburbs
Deerfield Beach: there are some really nice parts and then really crappy parts of the town; beautiful homes along the beach and intercoastal
Coral Springs/Parkland: My home town!
It's a little bit of a drive (about 20 to 30 minutes from downtown) but it's a beautiful area and very family oriented. The public schools in this area are rated as some of the best in Florida. The homes around here are a bit pricey so it depends on what you're looking for.
West Palm Beach is not too far away (a little over an hour drive). Delray Beach is about 20 minutes North of Coral Springs/Parkland. Office Depot has their headquarters there. I know lots of people that work there and I've heard they're a great company to work for.
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