Epic Job Search: Week Three

When I was in college and looking for jobs, I was fairly attuned to career search blogs and regularly read articles encouraging job hunters to not loose heart.

After jump-starting my job search three weeks ago, it has been difficult to not loose heart. While I would like to stay in Michigan and have dedicated the last three weeks to a singularly in-state job search, I have started looking at opportunities outside of the state.

This has been hard to do, especially since I have spent the last year of my life working on talent attraction issues for Spotlight Michigan. As part of our research, we found that job in interest area is the number one determinant in a relocation decision. I questioned these results because while in college, I was under the protection of the university life. I thought that when looking for next opportunities, I would want to stay in Michigan or possibly relocate to another area based on quality of life.

But, when it comes right down to it, I have been looking at opportunities all over the country based on job availability—not lifestyle components (quality of the community, a large young professional population, or recreation opportunities). Maybe I’m selling out, but for now, I need to keep all my options open, in Michigan and beyond. While working at Spotlight Michigan, I took pride in the fact that I would never be one of those many who are contributing to the brain drain. While I am still optimistic about staying in Michigan, in particular Lansing, I’m not going to rule out an out of state opportunity.

Regardless, of what happens next, I’ll be back. I’ll always love the Mitten.