Help me to expand my search for a place to live (and a career)

March 26, 2018 6:49 PM

I moved to NYC last September with a BA in English from a good school and few marketable skills in my pocket, and I've had trouble finding work outside of a seasonal gig at a bookstore. I've had no luck finding any good tutoring jobs, which is the other thing I've done. So, I'm thinking about expanding my job search to outside the city, and I'm not sure what my best options in the USA are.

Huge pluses: bike-friendliness, arts scene, diversity, nature
Pluses: public transportation, food, cheap, young
Non-factors: weather, sports

I've contacted temp agencies to no avail, and, idk, I'd try anything at this point.

posted by rallizes to Work & Money (4 answers total)

Best answer: As far as I know, this is totally normal for someone that just finished school. Being from a good school mostly helps you in terms of networks and possibly name recognition. But that's about it. Have you seen the show Girls?

Suggestions:
- Contact your school's career services department and take advantage of everything they have to offer
- Go to your school's alumni networking events in the city
- Tell everyone you know that you're looking for work

You're going to encounter the same problems in any city. If you want to be in NYC, stay in NYC. Applying for a low-level office job in another city while in NYC may even be worse in terms of chances.
posted by k8t at 9:08 PM on March 26, 2018 [3 favorites]

Getting jobs in New York (or anywhere) is at least as much about knowing people as it is about having the "skills", especially for entry-level jobs. If you have any friends that are a few years older (maybe they were seniors when you were a first-year, maybe it's someone from the cafe you hang out in) can put your résumé directly on the desk of a person making hiring decisions, you've just upped your chances by a factor of ten.
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:49 PM on March 26, 2018

What do you want to do with that degree?
posted by woodvine at 5:43 AM on March 27, 2018

Response by poster: Just to clarify, in the case it matters, I graduated in the summer of '16.

@k8t Thank you for the advice. The alumni network in the city wasn't something I had considered, but I will look into it.

@woodvine I studied English out of personal interest - I had planned until my last year to go to medical school, so my major wasn't super important - so I can't say I had/have anything in mind regarding what I want to do with it.
posted by rallizes at 9:51 AM on March 27, 2018