I've just returned from mentoring a student multimedia training project in San Francisco. Having worked on so many of these projects over the years, I remain in awe of how quickly our next generation grasps the tools needed to create, tell and distribute stories.  And, I remain amused that for 16 years, the questions at the end of each boot-camp have remained the same. The biggest is that I'm now much better at answering those questions.

Whether in a one-to-one coaching session or adding comments to a group debrief, finding a job remains a big Agatha Christie-style mystery of intrigue, emotion, luck, cloak and dagger. I had a student in San Francisco say, "finding a job is a lot like dating."  In a different conversation, a young lady remarked, "To find a job you have to be the biggest narcissist."  Laughing out loud I said, "You do have to spend an extraordinary amount of time talking about- albeit tastefully- your favorite subject: you." The constant rejection can be psychologically crippling. 

The latter student I just referred to is working on a graduate degree and has a lot of experience in science journalism both here in the US and in Europe.  Still, she's afraid her geography is hurting her prospects regardless of her public and substantive work record.  I told her she was obsessing on the wrong thing. Today, where you are living is less important than "where you are" professionally.  I suggested she pick some locations that personally and professionally appeal to her, call the media outlets there and introduce herself before she starts looking for a job.

For me your geographic situation doesn't matter because my job-related questions remain the same, "What have you done and where can I find it?" 

*Chantal de la Rionda edits this blog