The job listings on Gov.-elect Pat McCrory’s website are a treasure trove for job hunters, if they can figure out what they’re applying for.

The hundreds of jobs posted include the well-defined: executive chef, Department of Commerce secretary, or regional psychiatric hospital director, for example. But some are ambiguous, such as “Chief Deputy III” or “attorney” for unspecified cabinet agencies. Job seekers can even apply to a department without naming a job they want.

Since workforpat.com launched two weeks ago, hundreds of applications have poured in.

McCrory’s transition team is using the website to develop a talent pool, said his spokesman, Ricky Diaz.

“We’re using it as a tool to gather a group of skilled professionals interested in working for state government,” he said. The job list includes people expected to change with a new administration – the governor’s staff, cabinet secretaries and department division leaders.

For McCrory, the list has grown from 400 to 1,000 because the legislature this past year increased exemption protections of the State Personnel Act. That means that more people can be dismissed with the change in administration.

But McCrory said last weekend that he did not foresee a massive wave of departures when he took office.

“I don’t perceive an immediate order to remove people from their jobs that are currently in their jobs,” McCrory said.

Which may be a good thing. Otherwise, who would run the zoo?

Director of Zoological Park doesn’t usually come up in talk of political jobs, but it falls into the category of exempt management positions that include the aquariums division director in the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The new governor can hire a new N.C. History Museum director and a new N.C. Arts Council executive director, too.

Dr. David Jones, director of the North Carolina Zoo, didn’t know his job was on the recruitment website.

“I’m intrigued,” he said. “Does it sound like the job is up for grabs?”

Jones has been at the zoo for 19 years and leads a staff of 270 state employees. The roster swells by 100 to 120 people during the peak summer months.

The legislature this year discussed privatizing zoo operations, and Jones hopes to be in his job long enough to see that idea through.

He suspects the McCrory team might see significant interest in his job. When the zoo advertises vacancies, he said, it receives about 300 applicants for each opening.

“I’ll have to go and see if I need to reapply,” Jones said.

Staff writer Rob Christensen contributed

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