As my summer internship is coming to a close, the gf and I have been talking a bit about what we are going to do after I graduate from my super awesome MPA program.

We’ve talked about staying in Atlanta. I vetoed that because I hate the traffic, hate the sprawl, hate the rampant poverty, hate the politics (I could go on). We talked about staying in North Carolina, where she could finish some course work and I could work in a place where I have already established a network. She vetoed that because she’s already lived in NC for 10 and wants to try something else, and she also made a good argument about me moving beyond my comfort zone. So, bottom line, we are moving somewhere completely new.

I have been building a list of “places to live” for a while, and amazingly so has the gf. And even more amazingly, we have a number of cities in common. So the places that we are currently looking at for next year are Denver, Colorado and Tempe, Arizona.

The gf, who is a bit more “control” than I am, asked me last week if I had started looking for jobs, to which I replied that no, I hadn’t started looking at jobs (I’m not moving until next year!!! I have some time yet.) I was able to report that I had started researching the different organizations in the city to see if any interest me. Actually, I started looking at a number of cities as early as last August to see the different kinds of downtown planning they were engaging in.

That’s when the gf said something that I’d never thought of. She said that by looking at the job market now, I could start preparing for what will be on the market next year.

In her care, it totally makes sense. Her field is Educational Technology, which is still so new of a field that she sometimes has to explain to potential employers that they need someone with her skills. So if there are organizations in Denver and Tempe that already understand that they need someone with her particular skill set, then she already has a leg up.

In my case, I’m not so sure that canvassing the job market now will give me any indication of what will be available because local governments don’t really recruit on CareerBuilder. They usually recruit on their own sites and on government specific job sites. I can put myself in a better position by making friends with government headhunters or with local government managers in the area or that already work in organizations that interest me. It makes more sense for me to tell them that I’m interested in moving and working in Denver/Tempe/wherever and beg them to keep me (and my resume) in mind. (I’m already starting to work on strengthening my network in the mid and southwest)

We did have a giggle at my ability to get jobs just by expressing interest and asking for an informational interview. So often when talking to potential employers, I start by saying, I’m Monica. I’m an MPA student at UNC and I’m interesting in learning more about what you do. Can I come by and talk to you? During the interview, if I like what I hear, I give them my pitch. I tell them how I can help them with whatever problem/issue/new development they are having. I’ve gotten at least two of my last jobs that way

And even if having informational interviews doesn’t get me a job, it still gives me one more person to add to my network.