Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've been reading through this forum lots, and I'm just looking for any overall advice or guidance you can give me.
To give you some background info on myself, I'm 22 years old, will be graduating in May from a pretty good University here in Connecticut, with a bachelor of arts in Communications. I'm thinking of making a big move come graduation, as the Northeast is such a tough area to make a real start in because of the cost of living. I'm also SO sick of winter and would love to be somewhere where it's not 20 degrees in the winter.
I've never even been to Texas but for some reason, ever since hearing about Austin a few years ago, and after doing research, it's just really appealed to me.
What are the job prospects like for someone in the Communications field? I've had experience in journalism and have also interned at MTV in NYC in the production management department, so I'm pretty flexible and open in terms of what I want to do for a career. I've also thought of going to grad school within a few years to pursue something along the lines of social work, and I know UT in Austin has great grad programs!
Any advice for a young woman hoping to make a fresh start in the Communications field? Is Austin somewhere that might be a good match for me? I'm also looking into places in NC like Raleigh and Charlotte, and Florida (though from what I've read, it seems like there really aren't any career opportunities in Florida overall). I'm travelling to Raleigh for a few days in March just to get a feel for the place, and hope to do the same with Austin, but would love to hear everyone's opinions now. Thank you in advance!
I can't speak to the job market for communications - but in general the job market here is very tight. But probably not as tight as many other job markets. There ARE jobs - but I think many are filled through networking. The positions never get advertised or go out to recruiters.
Austin in general is a great city for a person out of college - although you are competing for work with many people. Tons to do and it isn't hard to have fun.
Where I live and have grown up is in a VERY small town in CT. My town literally has one stop light, and the surrounding towns where I spend much of my time aren't much larger, so I'm totally used to the small town atmosphere. On the other hand, as I mentioned, I spent 10 weeks in NYC interning and CAN handle bigger cities, though I think NYC is just too busy for my taste. (not to mention expensive). Don't get me wrong, I love certain aspects of NYC, but just can't see myself there as it's too busy and noisy and "anonymous" for my taste. I'm very polite, can be shy, but very friendly with strangers, and I like that a lot in a city.
I've been reading through this forum lots, and I'm just looking for any overall advice or guidance you can give me.
To give you some background info on myself, I'm 22 years old, will be graduating in May from a pretty good University here in Connecticut, with a bachelor of arts in Communications. I'm thinking of making a big move come graduation, as the Northeast is such a tough area to make a real start in because of the cost of living. I'm also SO sick of winter and would love to be somewhere where it's not 20 degrees in the winter.
I've never even been to Texas but for some reason, ever since hearing about Austin a few years ago, and after doing research, it's just really appealed to me.
What are the job prospects like for someone in the Communications field? I've had experience in journalism and have also interned at MTV in NYC in the production management department, so I'm pretty flexible and open in terms of what I want to do for a career. I've also thought of going to grad school within a few years to pursue something along the lines of social work, and I know UT in Austin has great grad programs!
Any advice for a young woman hoping to make a fresh start in the Communications field? Is Austin somewhere that might be a good match for me? I'm also looking into places in NC like Raleigh and Charlotte, and Florida (though from what I've read, it seems like there really aren't any career opportunities in Florida overall). I'm travelling to Raleigh for a few days in March just to get a feel for the place, and hope to do the same with Austin, but would love to hear everyone's opinions now. Thank you in advance!
I dont' know if moving anywhere without seeing it is a "good fit". A good adventure maybe.
You are going to be competing with MANY UT graduates in your field though. And if you do find a job, you will forever be competing with the new graduates churned out by UT year after year. I have a friend that graduated from UT 8 years ago with a bachelor's in communication. To this day he has not found a job where he uses it. It's a tough tough world for communication majors in Austin, and there are no major television or media outlets headquartered here, like they are in New England/New York. Basically there is a limited amount of jobs in your field, and the competition is fierce.
You really should check monster.com and jobs.com though, to see if there is anything that suits your fancy for what you want to earn. City-data.com is not really the best source for anything but generalized job information.
If you are just looking for more of a fast paced life, in comparison to your "one stop light town", I completely sympathize. However, you might be "painting yourself into a corner" as far as your career goes. There are many metro areas all over the country that have a stronger industry base in your particular field and will also satisfy your penchant for going out in the world.
If you do decide on Austin, welcome!! It will be nice to have you.
PS. You may be tired of Conneticut winters. I know I would be. Sometimes trading a Conneticut winter for a Texas summer though, is not really a trade up.
I am from Fairfield County and just moved back there after 17 years in Texas. Austin is a great place for someone your age. There are loads of interesting people and there is a reasonable amount to do. I grew up in Westport, CT and then went to U-Texas Austin for college and stayed for 12 years after college. I was always able to find a job in computers (I am a programmer and now I train them for a living). And yes, the winters are much milder than Connecticut.
However, the culture in Texas is VERY different. It is unlike small town Connecticut and unlike NYC. The people are different. Attitudes are different. Politics are different. The summer heat is unbearable for some (Think hottest summer day in CT 60 days in a row). The professional communities are insular and its especially to difficult to break in to the communications field-- especially with a Connecticut degree.. Trust me, they have never heard of Fairfield U, Conn College, Trinity, or any other quality school in Connecticut. It won't work in your favor.
That having been said, I'd sugest you sublet for a month and check it out. It may be perfect for you-- You may hate it. If you go down for a weekend, you tend to look at everything through rose colored glasses. Go experience it for yourself and make your own decision. Good luck
I am from Fairfield County and just moved back there after 17 years in Texas. Austin is a great place for someone your age. There are loads of interesting people and there is a reasonable amount to do. I grew up in Westport, CT and then went to U-Texas Austin for college and stayed for 12 years after college. I was always able to find a job in computers (I am a programmer and now I train them for a living). And yes, the winters are much milder than Connecticut.
However, the culture in Texas is VERY different. It is unlike small town Connecticut and unlike NYC. The people are different. Attitudes are different. Politics are different. The summer heat is unbearable for some (Think hottest summer day in CT 60 days in a row). The professional communities are insular and its especially to difficult to break in to the communications field-- especially with a Connecticut degree.. Trust me, they have never heard of Fairfield U, Conn College, Trinity, or any other quality school in Connecticut. It won't work in your favor.
That having been said, I'd sugest you sublet for a month and check it out. It may be perfect for you-- You may hate it. If you go down for a weekend, you tend to look at everything through rose colored glasses. Go experience it for yourself and make your own decision. Good luck
That's a bummer to hear Although it is neat to read about another CT native's experience I'm from the NW corner in Litchfield. I go to school at Quininpiac.
That is something I've worried about with my degree, going to an area that has never even heard of Quinnipiac. I hope that having MTV on my resume will help boost my chances, but as I briefly mentioned in my first post, I've also toyed with the idea of going to grad school for social work as NYC and LA are where all the best media/entertainment jobs are, and I'm not sure that's where I want to actually be in life. I want to be somewhere a little slower paced..
That's a bummer to hear Although it is neat to read about another CT native's experience I'm from the NW corner in Litchfield. I go to school at Quininpiac.
That is something I've worried about with my degree, going to an area that has never even heard of Quinnipiac. I hope that having MTV on my resume will help boost my chances, but as I briefly mentioned in my first post, I've also toyed with the idea of going to grad school for social work as NYC and LA are where all the best media/entertainment jobs are, and I'm not sure that's where I want to actually be in life. I want to be somewhere a little slower paced..
Yeah, I hate to burst your bubble, but unless you run into someone in Austin who's originally from the Northeast, nobody here will have heard of Quinnipiac University (I'm embarrassed to say that I've never heard of it, and I lived a third of my life in New England and the mid-Atlantic). Just to give you an idea of the vast academic cultural differences between the Northeast and here - I went to Tufts University, which is a well-known, internationally-prestigious university, and tons of people here have never heard of it. Texas really doesn't have the culture of small liberal arts universities like the East Coast has (which is why even though I went to middle school and high school in Austin, I only applied to colleges in New England). The academic culture in Texas seems to be more dominated by the large state and private schools like UT Austin, Texas A&M, Baylor, etc.
Others have mentioned that you'll run into a lot of competition from UT grads. I would agree. UT has a highly-rated communications program, and jobs in Austin in the communications field are very limited due to the fact that Austin isn't really a hub for media.
Have you gone to your school's career center for some guidance? Your academic adviser(s) should also be able to give you guidance. I don't know too much about the communications field, so I don't know where the best areas for job growth are. This is something you'll need to research. If you really are interested in Austin, definitely visit here and see if you can do some career networking while you're here (good excuse for a vacation + tax write-off!).
Yeah, I hate to burst your bubble, but unless you run into someone in Austin who's originally from the Northeast, nobody here will have heard of Quinnipiac University (I'm embarrassed to say that I've never heard of it, and I lived a third of my life in New England and the mid-Atlantic). Just to give you an idea of the vast academic cultural differences between the Northeast and here - I went to Tufts University, which is a well-known, internationally-prestigious university, and tons of people here have never heard of it. Texas really doesn't have the culture of small liberal arts universities like the East Coast has (which is why even though I went to middle school and high school in Austin, I only applied to colleges in New England). The academic culture in Texas seems to be more dominated by the large state and private schools like UT Austin, Texas A&M, Baylor, etc.
Others have mentioned that you'll run into a lot of competition from UT grads. I would agree. UT has a highly-rated communications program, and jobs in Austin in the communications field are very limited due to the fact that Austin isn't really a hub for media.
Have you gone to your school's career center for some guidance? Your academic adviser(s) should also be able to give you guidance. I don't know too much about the communications field, so I don't know where the best areas for job growth are. This is something you'll need to research. If you really are interested in Austin, definitely visit here and see if you can do some career networking while you're here (good excuse for a vacation + tax write-off!).
Good luck with whatever you end up doing!
Yeah, I know that the vast majority of entertainment & media jobs are in LA and NYC, both of which I don't think I wanna head to.
Hence why I'm pondering grad school for something a little more stable and flexible in terms of location, such as social work or therapy/counseling.
So now I'm thinking of going to Austin or any of the other cities I'm thinking of, and working whatever jobs I can and maybe doing a good grad program to get me that social work/counseling job. I just would need to figure out if receptionist jobs would let me live comfortably in Austin.
Yeah, I know that the vast majority of entertainment & media jobs are in LA and NYC, both of which I don't think I wanna head to.
Hence why I'm pondering grad school for something a little more stable and flexible in terms of location, such as social work or therapy/counseling.
So now I'm thinking of going to Austin or any of the other cities I'm thinking of, and working whatever jobs I can and maybe doing a good grad program to get me that social work/counseling job. I just would need to figure out if receptionist jobs would let me live comfortably in Austin.
If you want to go to grad school, pick the school and the program first, not the city. Research the specialties of the schools and the professors who will be shaping your experience. Picking the city first seems a little "cart-before-the-horse" to me. (Although, perhaps you already know that UT has the program you want, and you just didn't say that.)
If you want to go to grad school, pick the school and the program first, not the city. Research the specialties of the schools and the professors who will be shaping your experience. Picking the city first seems a little "cart-before-the-horse" to me. (Although, perhaps you already know that UT has the program you want, and you just didn't say that.)
Yes lol, I already know that UT Austin has the program I'd want lol!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Although it is neat to read about another CT native's experience 
