Just Married, moving to Portland, in need of a creative job (Bangor: appointed, for sale)

[Middle name: Robert]

Hello forum,

I am a new member to this, but I've seen such great feedback from members that I thought I would give this a shot.
My wife and I are making the move to Portland, from North Carolina, very soon. We are both young, about a year out of college, and are finding it difficult to land a full-time job. We both recieved Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees with concentrations in Photography.
She will most likely try to freelance once we get there. She has already spoken to a number of Photographers in the area, all who say they only use freelancers. I, on the other hand, need a steady income for college loans, rent, etc.
I am interested in any job that is creative, challenging, even adventurous.
Creative jobs seem to be the toughest to track down on the internet. So, if anyone could help lead me in a direction, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks for your time.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by Middle name: Robert

Hello forum,

I am a new member to this, but I've seen such great feedback from members that I thought I would give this a shot.
My wife and I are making the move to Portland, from North Carolina, very soon. We are both young, about a year out of college, and are finding it difficult to land a full-time job. We both recieved Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees with concentrations in Photography.
She will most likely try to freelance once we get there. She has already spoken to a number of Photographers in the area, all who say they only use freelancers. I, on the other hand, need a steady income for college loans, rent, etc.
I am interested in any job that is creative, challenging, even adventurous.
Creative jobs seem to be the toughest to track down on the internet. So, if anyone could help lead me in a direction, I would really appreciate it.


Thanks for your time.

I think there are others on this list who will agree that there are certain aspects of Maine that you need to consider as you plan your move:

1. Finding a job will be a difficult task unless you are actually here and marching around with your "boots on the ground".

2. Maine is a very big state with a very small economy. I am not sure what you describe as a "creative" job, but there are plenty of jobs that are somewhat dangerous. Most don't pay terribly well, and if you think you can live in the greater Portland area and find exactly what you are thinking about, you will probably be disappointed. You may even become hungry.

3. You are a recent college graduate, and I would assume that you have little, real world experience. You will find plenty of work when you look around for it, but it will most likely be entry level work that you never would have considered while in college.

4. Above all else, remember this: Maine is a very, very large state. It is larger than all of the other New England states, COMBINED.

5. There are ONLY 1.2 milllion people in the entire state of Maine. The majority of them are located in the southwestern corner of the state, in a semi circle about fifty miles in diameter. The rest of the state is very small towns, and wilderness. There is plenty of adventure here, but not much of it pays well.

When my daughter graduated from the University of Maine (high honors in journalism) in mid year, her goal was to "hang around" the greater Orono area and then the next summer work in the tourist industry before taking a trip around the country. I said, "oh no you won't." And I packed her off to southwest Florida where she lived in a high income, densly populated area. The first two years she worked in the food service industry and then got a terrific position using her major, managing the internal publications of a medium sized Florida corporation.

Eventually, she returned to Maine to live for a while. This time with a husband and two children. Her husband got a decent paying job with MBNA in Belfast, and they lived well in that area for about six years. They now live in Virginia, where career advancements have taken them.

While I don't want to discourage talented young people from coming to Maine, my strongest advice is to stay somewhere that has more "action" for young people, and after you have had five or six years experience, travel to Maine if you wish, and explore the area and see where you find the best opportunities for your own creative skillsets.

Now, having said that, you can indeed "make it in Maine". But it will be far, far different than you can imagine coming from North Carolina, and probably be far, far more difficult.

Good luck!

[mollysmiles]

I just wanted to say I really hope you get some more great feedback, in addition to Acadianlion's post....I can't help as I'm on the other side of the state and not in your field, but I will say this.....you are both young, you are together, if you're willing to work to make money you will be able to find a job--but acadia's right, chances are it won't be in your field yet!

Also this.....if you don't try this adventure now, when will you? will you at all? the worst that can happen is that it doesn't work out and you'd need to move, possibly out of Maine, in order to get where you'd like to be in your career. You would still have this experience.....but that's me, and I'm an eternal optimist, and usually up for an adventure

[Elcarim]

Molly, are you a Saggitarius? I can SO relate to that adventurous spirit - life is supposed to be an adventure, and if we don't indulge, we're taking a huge chance of missing out on our intended purpose.

I'm very regretful that I've stayed where I am for so long. When you grow up somewhere, you tend to get stuck in the rut and feel like you are just living the life you're supposed to live and where you're supposed to live it. WRONG! You are living the life your parents lived where THEY chose to live it. I think all young adults should strike out and find their own place in the world, and we'll never find it unless we look!

I also believe you can make a living anywhere in the world you choose to do it. If other people live in a place and are able to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, why can't you?

[dmyankee]

Ayup...what they said.

Lion made a good point though! Most college grads, anywhere, with the exception of maybe health care will need to see 5 years of experience in a field before they will get an entry level position with a decent employer.

[starwalker]

I am on the coast of NC, an experienced graphic designer (currently own my own company) and just got back from ME from an exploration prior to my move.

I think you will be more likely to find opportunities in Portland (and surroundings) than I am likely to find, as I do NOT want to be in the well-populated coastal area.

There is a professional job oriented branch of Manpower in Portland (covers the whole state, so I was informed in Bangor...) but my experience was that (as was said earlier) there is a reluctance to hire "from away."

While I plan to continue hunting from here, I am also being QUITE flexible in that I am considering almost any job as a starting point and as a backup plan am working on the "save up enough to live on, move and pray" option.

good luck

[Northern Maine Land Man]

There is a good market for photographers willing to do panoramic shots of properties for sale. These are called virtual tours, visual tours or various other marketing descriptions. All it takes is a good digital camera, tripod and a good ability to find properties. Some agents can't write accurate directions to a property. It's like they have a left/right dyslexia.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

There is a good market for photographers willing to do panoramic shots of properties for sale. These are called virtual tours, visual tours or various other marketing descriptions. All it takes is a good digital camera, tripod and a good ability to find properties. Some agents can't write accurate directions to a property. It's like they have a left/right dyslexia.

Is this so?? I thought about signing up with a company that was franchising such things (a proprietary way they turn a series of specifically positioned still shots into what seems to me to be a dizzying spin 'round in a circle <g>) but they wanted too much out of pocket from the photog.

So I counseled "my" relator here to just do slide shows of the properties (he shoots -- he has a good eye and usually can keep the camera level! LOL and I set up shows on the websites I host/manage/webmaster for him). We've had good feedback.

This is something I might look into... IF it doesn't require being a franchise of someone.. can you DM me more info??

I got a good "bump of direction"... I found all the properties that I went looking for in the boonies, with only one wrong turn down an road that become implassable.

[399083453]

I looked into photographing for real estate offices.

- $25 per house
- Houses were all over the place, but the photos were needed right away
- No benefits, of course

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

...good ability to find properties. Some agents can't write accurate directions to a property. It's like they have a left/right dyslexia.

LOL, you ain't just whistlin' "Dixie" there. It's a good thing the Army taught me how to read a map.