I’ve been sitting on an idea.
I was trying to keep this a little vague, but it’s hard to follow, so I’ll just tell y’all what’s up.
Background: I’m a chemical engineer. I used to do product development for a food company. My job search so far has focused on staying in that general arena.
About a week ago, I decided to take a little bit of a different tack on my job search strategy.
I let a friend sort of pressure me into it, because it’s what he does and he’s really enthused about the idea. He works for the military. Not in the military, for the military. He told me about what I could be doing if I worked in his office. And he told me about the good pay, the fast promotions, the gubment benefits.
As I’ve been working on doing what I need to do to make that work, my stomach has been doing flip-flops. Not because of the good pay, the fast promotions, the gubment benefits. Because of the shitty locations and the job that I know I would hate.
The military job wasn’t the idea. This is the idea. It’s got two parts.
Part 1: Just pick somewhere you like and move already.
Part 2: Suck it up and take a job that I thought was “beneath” me. Get on the inside of a company and then go from there.
I’m trying to stick to a principle here. My chief goal is to enjoy life in the way that only the young and unattached can. I don’t think spending a couple years living in a place that I hate and doing a job that I hate just to get some good experience under my belt is going to do it for me.
As it turns out, there’s a city that can satisfy both Parts and has the added bonus of not being outrageously expensive. I’ve visited the city. I know I’ll love it. It has an abundance of companies I’d love to work for. I’m not gonna mention here what it is because I don’t want to talk big and then renege jinx it. I already tipped my hand to Dean, so keep your mouth shut, man!
So, the projects for this week are to get the military applications in and to draw up a relocation plan.
I’m not ruling out the military job because there are actually a few semi-interesting things in some semi-okay locations. Mostly Army Corps of Engineers jobs, not chemical weapons development like at my friend’s AFB. If something down that route turns up relatively quickly, I’m right gonna follow the money.
But Plan B could be oh so good if it worked. It makes my stomach do flip-flops. The good kind.
