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| Friday, August 17, 2007 |
| Head East Young Worker? |
This CareerJournal.com article is not going to make Bay Area left coaster's happy - Will Your Career Get Started If You Head to San Francisco?
The result: many college graduates wind up waiting tables or making lattes.
"So many of the people I know just work in restaurants and coffee shops who are brilliant people, and came here with the hopes that they could find meaningful work," says Mr. Colin's roommate Jean Klasovsky. The 25-year-old looked for a full-time position at a nonprofit for a year while working two part-time jobs, six days a week, at a bookstore and an after-school tutoring center. Now she works at a nonprofit management consultancy. But she says it's not a career that interests her, and wants to become an elementary school teacher. She will soon choose between several teaching fellowships and graduate programs in Boston and New York.
Why not San Francisco? "There's a huge contingent of young people who aren't really doing anything here, and I've somehow fallen into that crowd," says Ms. Klasovsky, adding that at least a third of her friends have either moved or decided to move in the last year.
Mr. Colin, a photography major, says he was laid off from his first job at a photo lab. He revised his career goals and sought work in a nonprofit that's focused on environmental conservation. After a handful of interviews, he had no offers. He hasn't given up, but he's broadened his search, and recently interviewed for a job at a media start-up. He was rejected. In the meantime, he's doing temporary data entry and administrative work at local companies. "I'm getting less and less young, and it's kind of a depressing situation," he says. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 2:10 PM *
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| 5 Comments: |
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I am a failed San Francisco transplant. I moved there after college and just survived two years before heading to Boston and professional wages. I really wanted San Francisco to work for me, but the one-two whammy of poor job offers and ridiculous cost of living was the deal killer for me.
I have been in Boston for four months now and landed a great job right away (no longer ashamed to tell my parents what I do for a living considering they went into debt to give me a free college tuition) and the rents here are not bad at all.
I would not say my two years in San Fran was a waste, but I probably should have given myself a shorter deadline (12 months) and then bailed. Now if only I could get some of my super cool San Francisco friends to transplant to Boston with me...
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My move from Boston to SF 2 years ago has worked out. I came out here on an internship and soon after had a job paying professional wages. My friends have all found decent jobs also...
Yes the cost of living is high, esp housing. I can easily afford my 1 br apt downtown, but I don't know how I'll ever be able to afford a house or condo. Actually I do know, marrying a girl with a career would give us as a couple enough income to afford a house. Are there any singles in SF reading this? lol
-Russ
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Mr. Colin, a photography major, says he was laid off from his first job at a photo lab. He revised his career goals and sought work in a nonprofit that's focused on environmental conservation.
Maybe he can't get a job because he's a dilettante? Wanting to make a career change, preparing for it, and going about it in a methodical way is one thing -- hoping to fall into a job in a highly competitive industry is another. I actually feel bad for people shut out of non-profit salaries because the people who have those careers subsidized by parents drive down salaries for everyone. But
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I have also experienced moving to the big city seeking for a better career. It turned out that living in big city charges greater expenses. I had to worry about just bed- and-breakfast needs. So any job was appreciated.
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Great article. It was exactly true to my experience moving to SF after college and staying two years (1997-1999). Although it was beautiful and a great city, there didn't seem to be much *paid* work in the arts/nonprofit sector, and housing costs were outrageous.
Then I moved to the other idealized coastal city, New York, where there are technically more jobs but also fiercer competition and longer hours. Not to mention a much worse quality of life.
These cities aren't as idealistic/romantic when you have to work your butt off at crappy jobs just to support yourself in a substandard way.
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I am a failed San Francisco transplant. I moved there after college and just survived two years before heading to Boston and professional wages. I really wanted San Francisco to work for me, but the one-two whammy of poor job offers and ridiculous cost of living was the deal killer for me.
I have been in Boston for four months now and landed a great job right away (no longer ashamed to tell my parents what I do for a living considering they went into debt to give me a free college tuition) and the rents here are not bad at all.
I would not say my two years in San Fran was a waste, but I probably should have given myself a shorter deadline (12 months) and then bailed. Now if only I could get some of my super cool San Francisco friends to transplant to Boston with me...