Advice for young couple considering a move to the DC area?

[Anonymous]

Sure, lots of people move to DC in their 20s with no jobs. But they usually are the kinds of kids who have a "plan". Went to a good school, have some family money, have been driven since high school and have a decent resume that will get their foot in the door of some unpaid internships, planning to go to law school or grad school for a future policy job or an MBA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give a sense of one trajectory: I made the DC move at 26 because I was unhappy at my financial job in another city, my college friends had a room in their group house, and my boyfriend (now husband) was in a graduate program at UMD.

Prior to D.C. my post-college experience was a year as a babysitter/ nanny (really well paid where I grew up) followed by a year doing administrative work at a financial company. I lived with my parents during those years and saved money so I gave myself 6 months in DC to find a job. I took an unpaid internship (3 months) at a well-regarded think tank while looking for work. By the end of 3 months I had a job at a non-profit doing fund-raising and public affairs. That was about 15 years ago but at the time I was paid just over $30k a year.

After two years I was pretty unhappy and realized the types of jobs that interested me all required an advanced degree. I received an academic scholarship to one of the area's schools, got a part-time job as a research assistant but mostly lived off savings and got a master's degree in public policy. I got a job straight out of that program that I'm in still in 9 years later. I'm no longer sure it's the right fit and I'm trying to figure out my next move. I love D.C. (Beautiful city, good friends) but don't love the jobs I've held here.

Fund-raising for non-profit sounds like sales without a product or equivalently begging for money. I did a very temporary stent at University working at an organization where my job was to call people and get them to commit to make contributions. I hated it! It feels as though these sorts of jobs are easy to get because the organizations figure if you don't bring the cash they will fire you and hire someone else.

Fundraising can also be very lucrative. If you like asking for money, I've seen a lot of ex-fundraisers switch sides and do political giving for large corps. YMMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give a sense of one trajectory: I made the DC move at 26 because I was unhappy at my financial job in another city, my college friends had a room in their group house, and my boyfriend (now husband) was in a graduate program at UMD.

Prior to D.C. my post-college experience was a year as a babysitter/ nanny (really well paid where I grew up) followed by a year doing administrative work at a financial company. I lived with my parents during those years and saved money so I gave myself 6 months in DC to find a job. I took an unpaid internship (3 months) at a well-regarded think tank while looking for work. By the end of 3 months I had a job at a non-profit doing fund-raising and public affairs. That was about 15 years ago but at the time I was paid just over $30k a year.

After two years I was pretty unhappy and realized the types of jobs that interested me all required an advanced degree. I received an academic scholarship to one of the area's schools, got a part-time job as a research assistant but mostly lived off savings and got a master's degree in public policy. I got a job straight out of that program that I'm in still in 9 years later. I'm no longer sure it's the right fit and I'm trying to figure out my next move. I love D.C. (Beautiful city, good friends) but don't love the jobs I've held here.

Fund-raising for non-profit sounds like sales without a product or equivalently begging for money. I did a very temporary stent at University working at an organization where my job was to call people and get them to commit to make contributions. I hated it! It feels as though these sorts of jobs are easy to get because the organizations figure if you don't bring the cash they will fire you and hire someone else.

Fundraising can also be very lucrative. If you like asking for money, I've seen a lot of ex-fundraisers switch sides and do political giving for large corps. YMMV

"If you DONT like asking for money"^

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, I think your brother's wife could find a job here pretty easily. For your brother, it sounds like he could easily get a Business Development Associate role at CEB, Advisory Board, or a similar place. These places pay $30k-$45k/year and have kids straight out of school cold-call people to drum up business. If you can put up with it long enough, you move into an Account Executive role. Lots of young people in these jobs and they're pretty low-stress, so he can meet people and have a good time (on a budget, but still). TONS of positions like this in the area.

[Anonymous]

Lincoln, NE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I think your brother's wife could find a job here pretty easily. For your brother, it sounds like he could easily get a Business Development Associate role at CEB, Advisory Board, or a similar place. These places pay $30k-$45k/year and have kids straight out of school cold-call people to drum up business. If you can put up with it long enough, you move into an Account Executive role. Lots of young people in these jobs and they're pretty low-stress, so he can meet people and have a good time (on a budget, but still). TONS of positions like this in the area.

Good luck landing a job with Advisory Board without stellar credentials. They recruit from ivies and the like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they aren't going to be able to make a lot of money, I don't recommend DC.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I think your brother's wife could find a job here pretty easily. For your brother, it sounds like he could easily get a Business Development Associate role at CEB, Advisory Board, or a similar place. These places pay $30k-$45k/year and have kids straight out of school cold-call people to drum up business. If you can put up with it long enough, you move into an Account Executive role. Lots of young people in these jobs and they're pretty low-stress, so he can meet people and have a good time (on a budget, but still). TONS of positions like this in the area.

Good luck landing a job with Advisory Board without stellar credentials. They recruit from ivies and the like.

This. It's absurd the stuff people are recommending on here. Yes, sure people come to DC without jobs in their 20s. Yes, sure people get unpaid internships on capital hill and end up in a well placed lucrative career building off that. Yes sure people get jobs at the Advisory Board Company. But those people are people who have been preparing their resumes for 8 years. You don' t just show up in DC with an associates degree or fourth tier college from rural CT with some low level job experience and get one of those jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I think your brother's wife could find a job here pretty easily. For your brother, it sounds like he could easily get a Business Development Associate role at CEB, Advisory Board, or a similar place. These places pay $30k-$45k/year and have kids straight out of school cold-call people to drum up business. If you can put up with it long enough, you move into an Account Executive role. Lots of young people in these jobs and they're pretty low-stress, so he can meet people and have a good time (on a budget, but still). TONS of positions like this in the area.

Good luck landing a job with Advisory Board without stellar credentials. They recruit from ivies and the like.

This. It's absurd the stuff people are recommending on here. Yes, sure people come to DC without jobs in their 20s. Yes, sure people get unpaid internships on capital hill and end up in a well placed lucrative career building off that. Yes sure people get jobs at the Advisory Board Company. But those people are people who have been preparing their resumes for 8 years. You don' t just show up in DC with an associates degree or fourth tier college from rural CT with some low level job experience and get one of those jobs.

LOL...good luck trying to even get an admin assist/paralegal job at a personal injury law firm or a small company...

[Anonymous]

They shouldn't do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I think your brother's wife could find a job here pretty easily. For your brother, it sounds like he could easily get a Business Development Associate role at CEB, Advisory Board, or a similar place. These places pay $30k-$45k/year and have kids straight out of school cold-call people to drum up business. If you can put up with it long enough, you move into an Account Executive role. Lots of young people in these jobs and they're pretty low-stress, so he can meet people and have a good time (on a budget, but still). TONS of positions like this in the area.

Good luck landing a job with Advisory Board without stellar credentials. They recruit from ivies and the like.

This. It's absurd the stuff people are recommending on here. Yes, sure people come to DC without jobs in their 20s. Yes, sure people get unpaid internships on capital hill and end up in a well placed lucrative career building off that. Yes sure people get jobs at the Advisory Board Company. But those people are people who have been preparing their resumes for 8 years. You don' t just show up in DC with an associates degree or fourth tier college from rural CT with some low level job experience and get one of those jobs.

Maybe 10-20 years ago, but certainly not today. If you went to an Ivy League school and are sitting on the phone, cold-calling people for $30k at ABC, I'm surprised you passed through the Ivy admissions process at all.