Fingerprint specialist - as intriguing as that sounds, it just don't pay the bills

I was idly looking around the New York Times this morning when I read the following headline for a Times Select Op-Ed piece: "'Couching' Toward The Future - In The Graduates blog, Missy Kurtzweil and her friends worry about finding a job." I didn't read the piece because it's Times Select and I would have had to pay, but the title of the piece was enough to evoke in me the fear that has been popping up every now and then ever since I started grad school.

My plan has been to move back to Michigan for a while, find work there, and get a start at paying back my loans. And every now and then I look at job sites online in order to get a feel for what's out there. What's out there? Not much. A million jobs in sales - from cold phone calling, to radioshacking - and lots of opportunities for upward mobility at several Wendy's locations around the state.

A search for federal government jobs within Michigan displays a host of job opportunities that include joining the army, the National Guard, or working in some civilian military capacity. Other jobs include things like mine inspector, human relations specialist, or fingerprint inspector with the IRS (at $13.83 an hour!)

State government job searches look a bit more hopeful, but I still feel like I'm stretching it in imagining that I'm qualified for any of these jobs. I cross off all the probation / corrections officer positions; rule out the many positions open for unemployment claims administrators; and deem that, despite what I think, I'm not actually qualified to be a doctor or nurse. What we have left is an odd mish-mash of legal jobs, state workers (like paiges or gals friday, I'm assuming, as the pay is $8/hr), and a few departmental analyst jobs that require a comfort with statistics I just don't have.

But in the midst of all this is a position entitled State Office Administrator 17. I thought at first it was something along the lines of being an executive assistant, but when I explored it further, it turned out to be so much more. The job description reads as follows:

Serve as Director of the Urban Revitalization Division. Responsible for oversight of the Authority's programs, initiatives, and staff that focus on improving the quality of life for Michigan's residents by creating vibrant cities, towns, and villages. Responsible for evaluating and ensuring customer satisfaction surrounding urban revitalization efforts as well as overseeing, developing, and managing relationsihps with key partners involved in all efforts to revitalize Michigan's communities.

An opportunity to work with revitalizing Michigan cities? A chance to have a say in the cool cities project? That sounds awesome. I'm excited, I want to apply for that job right now, knowing I don't really have the requisite experience. But, boy, am I dying to get a part in that. And just reading something like that begins to calm me down. I remind myself over and over that Tony's mom works for that state and that knowing someone on the inside goes a real long way. At the very least, I don't feel quite so helpless now about heading back to Michigan.