College Matters

My AmeriCorps VISTA experience has concluded, so I’m no longer working 60+ hours per week. It has indeed been a life changing experience. It’s been a path of self discovery and purpose. I’ve finally found a place to call home: Belfast, Maine. I’ve been going through letters from the last year - which I’ve continued answering, just haven’t had time to bring them out of email onto the site - and decided, in light of finally finding “home”, this one is relevant. A college graduate and job seeker wants to move to the land - any land! - of far, far away. She doesn’t understand why she can’t find a job, despite not being bound by geography.

As I told her, in the current economy, being open to relocating only broadens your potential interests. It does not necessarily broaden your serious prospects, especially as a new graduate. A company takes a big risk hiring someone who must relocate for the position, whether or not the company pays for the relocation. What if the person hates the new location? What if it’s somewhere they’ve never been before, and they have no family or friends for support? These are personal questions that an employer simply cannot ask, but are extremely relevant to an employee’s long term potential. A company also takes a big risk hiring a new graduate with little or no work experience. Put those two risks together, and the likelihood of getting hired across latitude and longitude lines decreases significantly.

Does that mean she’s stuck living in one place until the pendulum of the economy swings the other direction? Definitely not! I know I’ve blogged briefly about AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, but my next several blogs will be much more detailed, related to my year of experience and the benefits - both the selfish and the unselfish. You’re a college graduate? Want to move? Try out a new life? A year - or two, or three, or a lifetime - of service to your fellow man is a fantastic way to do it.

Career AmeriCorps, College job hunting, Peace Corps, relocation