Does the idea of moving somewhere new excite you? Or does it make your skin crawl? Yes, the logistics behind a move are unsettling (and expensive, to say the least), but moving to a new city can bring you that much closer to your goals.
How? I’ll use myself as an example. After graduating with two degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and several internships under my belt, I had a hard time finding that elusive “dream job” in the Live Music Capital of the World. I applied to hundreds of marketing and public relations jobs, interviewed at dozens of firms and received zero offers. Yes, zero offers in six months.
Then, I had a lightbulb moment: What if I expanded my job search beyond Austin? I started applying to jobs from coast to coast in cities I never dreamed of calling home. Even though moving was second nature to me (I had lived in three different countries by this time in my life), I was hoping to make Austin my permanent address. I just wanted a place to call home for a long, long time.
Alas, life rarely works out the way we think it will, and shortly after expanding my search, I landed an internship at NPR’s headquarters in Washington, DC. That internship eventually became a full-time position working with one of the most prestigious news organizations in the world.
If I wasn’t willing to move and take a leap of faith, my life would be completely different. I’d probably be working a job that didn’t fulfill me as much as the work I do now.
Here are just a few benefits of moving to a new city:
- Finding more job opportunities
- Making new friends
- Trying new food
- Seeing new places
- Advancing your career
- Becoming more adaptable and resilient
- Discovering skills you didn’t know you had
- Gathering great stories to share and look back on
So go ahead and make your move. It might be scary and intimidating at first, but you won’t regret it in the long run. Risks often lead to rewards if we listen to our hearts — and our intuition.
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