The Job of Finding a Job

A while back, we made a somewhat life-altering decision regarding the direction Blake's education here at Ball State would take both of us. To recap briefly, we essentially decided that Blake would postpone his Ph.D. in favor for a few years of work experience first.

Well, that's all well and good, but I'll tell you what, finding a post-graduate career is no easy task, especially for Blake, who is about as academically minded as they come. He is a student through and through. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you. Blake is one of the most intelligent, intuitive, and eager people that I know. He loves learning and he loves school. But he's also anxious to get his hand in the field and start applying the knowledge he's gained from all this schooling.

So for the past month or so Blake's been making his resume shine. (And if I may say so, I think it looks pretty sparkly.) He's also started dipping his toes in that whole networking thing, and has had some pretty good responses so far. But with Blake's hectic school schedule (a full load of classes, a thesis, and two other independent research projects - of which he is the principle investigator), busy church calling (ward executive secretary), and family/relaxing time (hey, I've got to figure myself into the equation somewhere, right?), it's no simple job to find time to research and secure a full-time career.

So that's why job fairs are so great. Ball State had a job fair a few weeks back, but judging by the advertisements, there wasn't going to be a lot there that would help Blake with his specific job-searching endeavors. (And the recruiters who come to Ball State aren't nearly as glimmering as those who come to BYU.) So he opted out, thank you very much.

Luckily, he found another job fair being held down in Indy. (For those of you just joining us, Indy is what the cool people call Indianapolis.) This one looked potentially much better than the one Ball State had to offer, so last Friday, Blake donned his new black suit, gathered a stack of his resumes, and took himself to the heart of downtown to rub shoulders with the big wigs.

One employer was particularly interested in Blake. After the basic introductions were made, and Blake told her that he was interested in the research position they had open, she asked to see his resume. She, too, thought it was sparkly, and she told him that his qualifications were just what they were looking for. She told him that he should definitely contact her in January to inquire further about the research position that would be opening up for the spring. Blake told her she'd definitely be hearing from him again.

So that's exciting! It's exciting to know that Blake's education really is giving him marketable skills (for a while there, it was looking as though he'd need to be a business-inclined salesman to be able to find a job). The job fair also helped Blake to further pinpoint just what it was exactly he's trying to get hired for (research and development, or really any non-financial analyst or intelligence position, for those of you scoping the field out for us at home).

So, my faith has been renewed and all is not lost. Blake will find a job. There are companies and organizations out there that will want to hire Blake for his fantastic skills. And that makes me happy because Blake deserves to be needed, too.