QAUSUITTAQ/RESOLUTE - As Nunavut's economy continues to mature, more and more job opportunities are being created for residents.

For one man in Resolute, however, it's already created more opportunity that he can handle.

Resolute's Joadamee Amagoalik is in the driver's seat when it comes to his career - he's got people lining up to hire him as either a fisherman or a heavy equipment operator.

"In Resolute, things are a little different," said Joadamee Amagoalik. "About 85 to 90 per cent of our workforce is employed - we're one of the few communities in the North with such a high employment rate."

For Amagoalik this has meant his phone has been ringing a lot lately with potential job offers.

Last year, he went to sea with the Baffin Fisheries Coalition and fished for turbot.

"I first started as a commercial fisherman back in 1982-83," he said. "I did a course in St. John's and went out on one of the shrimp boats working the Grand Banks."

While he enjoys working on a boat and the money is good, he's also been asked to take a heavy equipment operator gig in his community.

"Between March 7 and May 12, 2007, I went to Morrisburg, Ont., for the heavy equipment course," he said. "I was the first representative of Resolute in the program - we called ourselves the dirty dozen."

He really likes running big machines and thought the training was good, of course he didn't need the class to tell him he liked the career.

"For a number of years I was a heavy equipment operator on a service crew at Polaris Mine near Resolute," he said. "The money was really good, it was about $85,000 to $90,000 even though that was a few years ago now."

Polaris' closure several years ago proved to be a real eye-opener for the fisherman/equipment operator. At first he tried to earn a living with an office job that paid about $24 an hour.

"It sounds good, but in Resolute you can't support a family on that amount," he said. "We have the highest cost of living in the country."

So no matter what he chooses to do - turbot fishing or operating heavy equipment - he's glad he'll be earning enough to make a living in his community - thanks largely to the training programs he has taken over the years.

"It's good to have choices," he said. In coming years, he added, his community of about 230 will be getting busier.

"The federal government has announced they're going to build the military school in Resolute," he said. "I think it will be a good thing. It should mean more jobs and more people coming to our community."