The 2007 Student Affairs Job Hunt

In Medias Res #23- I'd rather do this instead of packing

How is it that something you can enjoy in the abstract can become stressful and mundane in reality? In other words, when did apartment hunting start to suck?

I was excited about this before (as you could probably tell from the last few posts). A new apartment! A new neighborhood! Possibly even places to go out where students are nowhere to be found! Don’t get me wrong I love students, but I love them even more when they stay away from my favorite restaurants and coffee shop (which where I am now happens pretty rarely).

Apartment hunting really isn’t all that bad. I just thought it would be easier. I don’t know why I thought moving to a new city with a major real estate market would be easy. But I did. So tomorrow I start the trek back to my new campus to hunt for apartments. That in itself could serve as the premise for a blog.

Here’s some stuff I’ve noticed for you graduate students (or professionals) who may be planning a major move:

-I should have started saving for this when I started my job search. Granted, I figured there was a good chance I’d be living in (although it’s not as if that move would have been free either). It would have been the smart thing to do, though. For example, I won’t get my security deposit or utility deposits back before I move into the new place. Since I would like to have the electricity turned on I’m going to need to front that money. And pay off my credit cards for the job search. And subsist on no salary. My new employers are giving me moving funds, but it’s all through reimbursement.

-Oh yeah, I won’t be getting a salary between now and the end of July. So again, I probably should have saved some more. Right now I have enough cash on hand to get me through an apartment deposit, utility deposit, and buying some new stuff for the new apartment. I will be cutting it close, and to be completely honest I don’t know how much this new city is going to cost.

-Craigslist is not the be all end all. Although, you’d think so if you asked my friends where they found their apartment. Lots of websites, like rent.com and apartments.com only have listings for major complexes (and if that’s where you want to live, kudos). You’re best bet? Going to the website of the major newspaper and looking through the electronic classifieds. Apparently everybody still advertises in the newspaper (real estate professionals are so Web 1.0).

I’ll give you all an update on the apartment hunt (maybe even with pictures if I can get my act together) when I get back. Hopefully it will be relatively uneventful and I will return with a job, a masters degree and apartment (although 2 out of 3 aint bad).

posted by StudentAffairs.com @ 4:41 PM