The time is quickly approaching when I must seek full-time employment.  RyBread will be starting daycare soon, and I need to bring home some bacon.  Job hunting sucks, but it’s worse now than it has ever been because I might keep this job for a long time, at least until I find something better or I win the lottery or the inevitable apocalypse makes having a job irrelevant.

This image really has no connection to my post, but these cakes look awesome! I always wanted an orange one, but I think I’ll take a cake version instead…

What I’ll probably look for in a job is boring, parent-y stuff like a decent wage, benefits, and a boss that doesn’t make me want to shoot myself, although that last one can sometimes be a tricky one to predict.  But wouldn’t it be awesome if we could pick jobs based on the real factors that make us want to come to work every morning?

Objective: seeking a boring desk job with access to a computer, a lax attendance policy, a cool break-room with a huge TV and multiple video-game consoles, funny coworkers who like comics and cartoons, and awesome restaurants that deliver. Oh and a boss who is out-of-town a lot. Requested salary: however much I need to pay bills, plus $1000/month grocery money, free meals at previously mentioned awesome restaurants, and a running tab at thinkgeek.com

(I realize that aside from the lax attendance policy, which was my down fall, and the ridiculous salary request, I sort of had this job once…)

In all honesty though, one thing I’d really like to find in this new job is some people who share my interests.  Work is way more fun when the people you work with can keep up some enjoyable small talk.  I love my friends, but I think most of them still think I’m a little strange for watching cartoons and reading comics.

For those of you reading my blog from someplace other than Charleston, SC… (*sigh* I know I’m only talking to myself, but it helps to pretend…)

Charleston is a geek black hole.  We’re all underground.  We have to hide our geekiness from the rest of society like it’s a gross STD or something.  We exist here, I promise we do.  We even have a celebrity geek or two. We have a comic shop and we go to midnight movies and stuff like that.  But we can’t congregate the way geeks can congregate in other cities.  We have to quietly nod and touch our noses when we make eye contact with someone in a Blue Sun t-shirt.

It’s getting better.  Our comic shop is doing an awesome job arranging events. I know some local Sherlock fans who started meetup recently.  Attendance at midnight movies has gotten better over the past few years. But it’s still a group that’s largely underground.

Evidence that geeks exist in Charleston. Must be the younger, more energetic crowd. http://charlockians.tumblr.com

If I had any readers at all, I would ask you what kind of jobs you think I should look for that might yield a few geeky coworkers?  I don’t mean at all to stereotype, and if I expected any responses I would hope that my readers would avoid stereotypes as well.  I would just ask, from your personal experience, what jobs have you had, or have your friends had, that seemed to attract a geekier crowd?

And I would ask you, what do you suggest we do about the utter lack of pride and communication within the Charleston geek community?  Because I’d really like to know. I’m a self-starter who works well with others.  Add that to the résumé.

I look forward to your job suggestions non-existent but loyal fans.