Entry Level Jobs In Orlando
Orlando is a major tourist destination and home to some of the biggest corporations in the world. While you might expect that it would be difficult to find a job in this city, there are actually quite a few entry level jobs available here. The most popular industries for entry level jobs in Orlando include hospitality and tourism, retail, healthcare, and education.
If you’re looking for an entry level job in Orlando, there are plenty of options available. You can check out our list below to get started!
Entry Level Jobs In Orlando
Orlando (/ɔːrˈlændoʊ/) is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released in July 2017, making it the 23rd-largest metropolitan area[4] in the United States, the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the third-largest metropolitan area in Florida behind Miami and Tampa. Orlando had a population of 307,573 in the 2020 census, making it the 67th-largest city in the United States, the fourth-largest city in Florida, and the state’s largest inland city.
The City of Orlando is nicknamed “the City Beautiful”, and its symbol is the Linton E. Allen Memorial Fountain,[5] commonly referred to as simply the “Lake Eola fountain” at Lake Eola Park. The Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the 13th-busiest airport in the United States and the 29th-busiest in the world.[6]
Orlando is one of the most-visited cities in the world primarily due to tourism, major events, and convention traffic; in 2018, the city drew more than 75 million visitors. The two largest and most internationally renowned tourist attractions in the Orlando area are the Walt Disney World Resort, opened by the Walt Disney Company in 1971, and located about 21 miles (34 km) southwest of downtown Orlando in Bay Lake, and the Universal Orlando Resort, opened in 1990 as a major expansion of Universal Studios Florida and the only theme park inside Orlando city limits.
With the exception of the theme parks, most major cultural sites like the Orlando Museum of Art and Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and world-renowned nightlife, bars and clubs are located in Downtown Orlando while most attractions are located along International Drive like the Wheel at ICON Park Orlando. The city is also one of the busiest American cities for conferences and conventions; the Orange County Convention Center is the second-largest convention facility in the United States.
Like other major cities in the Sun Belt, Orlando grew rapidly from the 1960s into the first decade of the 21st century. Orlando is home to the University of Central Florida, which is the largest university campus in the United States in terms of enrollment as of 2015.[needs update] In 2010, Orlando was listed as a “Gamma+” level global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.[7]
Contents
1 Etymology
1.1 Orlando Reeves
1.2 Orlando (As You Like It)
2 History
2.1 Settlement
2.2 Post–Industrial Revolution
2.3 Tourism in history
2.4 21st century
2.4.1 2016 mass shooting
3 Geography and cityscape
3.1 Skyscrapers
3.1.1 Downtown Orlando
3.1.2 Outside downtown Orlando
3.2 Climate
4 Neighborhoods and Suburbs
5 Demographics
5.1 Languages
5.2 Metropolitan statistical area
6 Economy
6.1 Industry
6.2 Film, television, and entertainment
6.3 Healthcare
6.4 Housing and employment
6.5 Tourism
6.5.1 Golf
7 Culture
7.1 Entertainment and performing arts
7.2 Local culture
7.3 Shopping malls
7.4 In popular culture
8 Sports
9 Government and politics
9.1 Municipal government
9.2 Police brutality lawsuit settlements
9.3 Politics
10 Education
10.1 Area institutions of higher education
10.1.1 State universities
10.1.2 State colleges
10.1.3 Private universities, colleges, and others
10.1.4 Supplementary schools
11 Media
11.1 Television
11.2 Radio
11.3 Newspapers
12 Transport
12.1 Airports
12.2 Roads
12.2.1 Major highways
12.3 Rail
12.3.1 Commuter rail
12.3.2 High-speed rail
12.4 Bus
12.5 Taxi
12.6 Airport shuttles
13 Notable people
14 International relations
14.1 Sister cities
14.2 Foreign consulates
15 See also
16 Notes
17 References
18 Bibliography
19 External links
Etymology
Fort Gatlin, as the Orlando area was once known, was established at what is now just south of the city limits by the 4th U.S. Artillery under the command of Ltc. Alexander C. W. Fanning on November 9, 1838, during the construction of a series of fortified encampments across Florida during the Second Seminole War.[8] The fort and surrounding area were named for John S. Gatlin, an Army physician who was killed in Dade’s Massacre on December 28, 1835. The site of construction for Fort Gatlin, a defensible position with fresh water between three small lakes, was likely chosen because the location was on a main trail and is less than 250 yards from a nearby Council Oak tree, where Native Americans had traditionally met. King Phillip and Coacoochee frequented this area and the tree was alleged to be the place where the previous 1835 ambush that had killed over 100 soldiers had been planned.[9] When the U.S. military abandoned the fort in 1839, the surrounding community was built up by settlers.[8]
Prior to being known by its current name, Orlando was once known as Jernigan. This name originates from the first European permanent settlers, Issac and Aaron Jernigan, cattlemen who moved from the state of Georgia and acquired land 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Fort Gatlin along the west end of Lake Holden in July 1843 by the terms of the Armed Occupation Act.[10][11] Aaron Jernigan became Orange County’s first state representative in 1845, but his pleas for additional military protection went unanswered.
Fort Gatlin was briefly reoccupied by the military for a few weeks during October and November 1849, and subsequently a volunteer militia was left to defend the settlement.[11] A historical marker indicates that by 1850, the Jernigan homestead (or Fort Gatlin in some sources)[12] served as the nucleus of a village named Jernigan.[13] According to an account written years later by his daughter, at that time, about 80 settlers were forced to shelter for about a year in “a stockade that Aaron Jernigan built on the north side of Lake Conway”. One of the county’s first records, a grand jury’s report, mentions a stockade where it states homesteaders were “driven from their homes and forced to huddle together in hasty defences [sic].” Aaron Jernigan led a local volunteer militia during 1852.[11]
A post office opened at Jernigan in 1850. Jernigan appears on an 1855 map of Florida, and by 1856, the area had become the county seat of Orange County.[14][8] In 1857, the post office was removed from Jernigan, and opened under the name of Orlando at a new location in present-day downtown Orlando.[11] During the American Civil War, the post office closed, but reopened in 1866. The move is believed to be sparked, in part, by Aaron Jernigan’s fall from grace after he was relieved of his militia command by military officials in 1856. His behavior was so notorious that United States Secretary of War Jefferson Davis wrote, “It is said they [Jernigan’s militia] are more dreadful than the Indians.”[15] In 1859, Jernigan and his sons were accused of committing a murder at the town’s post office. They were then transported to Ocala, but escaped.[13]
At least five stories relate how Orlando got its name. The most common stories are that the name Orlando originated from the tale of a man who died in 1835 during an attack by Native Americans in the area during the Second Seminole War. Several of the stories relay an oral history of the marker for a person named Orlando, and the double entendre, “Here lies Orlando.” One variant includes a man named Orlando who was passing by on his way to Tampa with a herd of oxen, died, and was buried in a marked grave.[16]
At a meeting in 1857, debate had grown concerning the name of the town. Pioneer William B. Hull recalled how James Speer (a local resident, and prominent figure in the stories behind the naming of Orlando) rose in the heat of the argument and said, “This place is often spoken of as ‘Orlando’s Grave.’ Let’s drop the word ‘grave’ and let the county seat be Orlando.”[12][15]
Through a retelling of history, a marker of some sort was believed to have been found by one of the original pioneers, but others claim Speer simply used the Orlando Reeves legend to help push his plan for naming the settlement after the Shakespearean character.[12]
Orlando Reeves
Historians agree that likely no soldier was named Orlando Reeves.[17] Folklore is that Reeves was acting as a sentinel for a company of soldiers that had set up camp for the night on the banks of Sandy Beach Lake.[18] Several different lakes are mentioned in the various versions, as no soldiers were in what is now downtown during 1835.[19]
The legend grew throughout the early 1900s, particularly with local historian Olive Brumbaugh (or Kena Fries[18][verification needed]) retelling in various writings and on local radio station WDBO in 1929.[12] Another historian, Eldon H. Gore, promoted the Reeves legend in History of Orlando published in 1949.[12] A memorial beside Lake Eola – originally placed by students of Orlando’s Cherokee Junior School in 1939 and updated in 1990 – designates the spot where the city’s supposed namesake fell.[17][18]
Conflicting legends exist. One legend has Reeves killed during an extended battle with the Seminoles after being field promoted after his platoon commander fell.[12] An in-depth review of military records in the 1970s and 1980s, though, turned up no record of Orlando Reeves ever existing.[12][17][18] Some versions attempt to account for Reeves having no military records by using the name of other people named Orlando that exist in some written records – Orlando Acosta; however, not much is known about Acosta or whether he even existed. Another version of the story has Orlando Reed, supposedly an Englishman and mail carrier between Fort Gatlin and Fort Mellon, allegedly killed while camping with his friends near Fort Gatlin.[12]
A second variation also places the story in 1835 during the Second Seminole War. This name is taken from a South Carolinian cattle rancher named Orlando Savage Rees. Rees owned a Volusia County sugar mill and plantation, as well as several large estates in Florida and Mississippi.[12] Rees’ sugar farms in the area were burned out in the Seminole attacks of 1835 (the year Orlando Reeves supposedly died). Subsequently, Rees led an expedition to recover stolen slaves and cattle. In 1837, Rees also attempted to stop a peace treaty with the Seminoles because it did not reimburse him for the loss of slaves and crops.[15]
Rees could have left a pine-bough marker with his name next to the trail; later residents misread “Rees” as “Reeves” and also mistook it as a grave maker.[15] In subsequent years, this story has merged with the Orlando Reeves story (which may have originally incorporated part of Dr. Gatlin’s story).[12]
On two separate occasions, relatives of Rees claimed their ancestor was the namesake of the city. F.K. Bull of South Carolina (Rees’ great-grandson) told an Orlando reporter of a story in 1955; years later, Charles M. Bull, Jr., of Orlando (Rees’ great-great-grandson) offered local historians similar information.[15] Unlike Orlando Reeves, who cannot be traced to any historical record, the record is considerable that Orlando Rees did exist and was in Florida during that time. For example, in 1832, John James Audubon met with Rees in his large estate at Spring Garden, about 45 minutes from Orlando.[15]
Orlando (As You Like It)
The final variation has the city named after the protagonist in the Shakespeare play As You Like It.[12]
In 1975, Judge Donald A. Cheney put forth a new version of the story in an Orlando Sentinel article.[15] Cheney (a local historian and then chairman of the county historical commission[20]) recounted a story told to him by his father, Judge John Moses Cheney (a major figure in Orlando’s history, who arrived in Orlando in 1885).
The elder Cheney recounted that another gentleman at that time, James Speer, proposed the name Orlando after the character in As You Like It.[12] According to Cheney, Speer, “was a gentleman of culture and an admirer of William Shakespeare…[15] Quoting a letter that Speer wrote, “Orlando was a veritable Forest of Arden, the locale of As You Like It.”[21] Speer’s descendants have also confirmed this version of the naming and the legend has continued to grow.[15]
This account also has some validity in that, as mentioned above, Speer was instrumental in changing the name of the settlement from Jernigan to Orlando, though he may have used the Orlando Reeves legend in lieu of his true intent to use the Shakespearean character. According to yet another version of the story, Orlando may have been the name of one of his employees.[12][16] One of downtown Orlando’s major streets is named Rosalind Avenue; Rosalind is the heroine of As You Like It, but this could also be a simple coincidence.
