The word “job” absorbs all of the focus in the phrase “job search.” No one asks, “How’s your job-and-possible-move-to-another-state search going?
A move is implied, I guess. Or “job search” just rolls of the tongue easier. But with graduation less than a month away, I’ll be making at least one move back home to Cleveland.
My resume has logged a lot of mileage. I’ve applied to papers as near as the neighboring Great Lakes states and as far as the West Coast, a region I’ve never been in.
When I’m searching, I have Google Maps loaded on the page next to the job listings site, just in case I’ve never heard of the place where I’m about to apply.
I’ve encountered a handful of local papers, too, and something clicked subconsciously to push me to chase those positions much harder.
Part of it is financial, as well as the ability to slow my transition to adulthood to something a bit more manageable. If I could commute to work from home, I could collect a nest egg for my future bachelor pad.
But I don’t want to limit myself to staying in Northeast Ohio, either. I’d prefer the opportunity to live in different parts of the country. I imagine it would make me a better-rounded individual.
The pros and cons of each usually trigger my dodging of any questions to where I’d like to live for my first job.
I have some preferences of where I don’t want to live, however, and at times I feel pickier than those couples on “House Hunters.”
I was born and raised in the suburbs, and I don’t think I could live anywhere else.
Would I accept a promotion to city living? You bet. But a move to a rural area?
That’s what I’m struggling with most.
My hesitation was undeniable in my most recent phone interview. The editor didn’t ask any questions about my qualifications for the reporter position. She just wanted to gain a read on my living preferences.
When I heard “hunting lodges” through the receiver, I immediately forgot about the position. Despite maybe ending the search for my first job, my prejudices took over.
I have no way of knowing if there was a job waiting for me on the other end of the line. But perhaps this paper has been turned down before because of its locale.
And last week, I reinforced that number.
I’m still waiting for that perfect first job, the company where I have the best opportunity to enter the journalism field and grow as a writer.
But while I continue to search, I doubt I’ll be able to clutch my living preferences for much longer before I’m forced to swallow a less-than-ideal living situation.
When the calendar changes to May, a job tops my priorities list above “comfy living.”
