How should I start my job search? (applying, interview, employers)

[ScottyBee]

I’m looking for a little help starting a job search. I will be graduating with an MA in English Language in Literature (with a concentration in Creative Writing) either during the 2010 Spring or Summer semester and need to find a professional position for after I graduate.

Most of my credentials are academic. I have two years experience substitute teaching and will have worked for 1 year in our Writing Center as a Graduate Assistant. I have a 3.85 GPA currently and expect that to remain steady or to rise slightly. I have a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Telecommunications (Media Production).

After I graduated in May 2006, I lived out of my parents' house and worked as a substitute teacher for two years. I sent out a lot of resumes to various businesses looking for work and only had one good hit. I was flown out to Madison, WI for an interview for a technical writing position, but I was not hired.

I have been in grad school since Aug. 2008, and had one interview for a state government job in Communications. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the position; however, I was one of five chosen for a panel interview. The job paid ~$58,000.

I suppose I am looking for several types of advice. I would like to know to which positions I should be applying, resources besides Craigslist and Monster.com, etc, I should be utilizing, and how I should market myself.

I was thinking about finding larger companies in certain cities and applying to any and all related positions to my field. I will also look for temp. or full-time faculty positions in community colleges. I might also just move to a larger city and find work until I can find a professional position someplace.

Moving after graduation is absolutely necessary. There is no work in the area around my school besides fast food, and I refuse to move back to my parents—they live in a town of 700 people and it is literally an hour away (at 70 mph) from a real shopping center.

It is important that I get out of cold, snowy winters. I get deeply depressed during the winter, and it affects me greatly. However, I don’t wish to live in the extreme heat either. I am trying to focus my search in Portland and Seattle, but I will also consider less preferential areas. New York, Tampa, Northern California (maybe Sacramento), Boston, and Baltimore are also on my list; although I am pretty much settled on the Pacific Northwest.

Thank you.

[FarNorthDallas]

Do employers come to your university for on-campus interviews?

[geekychick]

Try going to state websites and university websites and look under careers or jobs links.

Here is the link to jobs in Kansas... for example

Civil Service Job Search