Something to make me feel better
Although I’m not a new graduate, this blog post over at The Brazen Careerist made me feel better about my current situation.
As much as I love Fort Worth, It’s true and unfortunate that the city as a whole is really stuck in the “old” career-oriented mindset. I mean, take a look at our major employers: Lockheed Martin (multiple sites), Alcon, American Airlines, Bell Helicopter, Various Oil and Energy companies, the list goes on. All of these places are very much “Stick it out for the pension and gold watch” kind of places.
This “30 and out” attitude is not usually very encouraging for an entreprenurial spirit in an area, and I think it’s a good indicator of why Fort Worth and Dallas haven’t been as successful in the high-tech arena as places like Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area. People have to be encouraged to follow their dreams and do what they WANT to do instead of just what they have to do to pay the bills. That takes a little bit of a “hippie” mentality, and we all know that’s pretty lacking here in Cowtown.
I think Fort Worth is heading that direction at least; Austin is a great city that is what it is thanks to the creative class… but now that it’s being overrun by folks with money who’ve realized what a cool place those hippies had, I think you’ll see a shift of the creative class to up-and-coming towns like Fort Worth.
I’m actually optimistic that attitude is changing. Robert Earl Keen once said that Austin was the best city in the world to be poor in. That was a long time ago. Austin’s gotten damn expensive and I think that creatively-inclined folks looking for an affordable place to live in Texas should take a look a FW.
BTW, 30 and a watch is ancient history. You’ll probably have five different careers in your life and the only thing certain about working at a big corporation is you’ll probably be laid off at some point in the future. Build your network of friends, supporters and people who think you kick ass. You’ll find them much more dependable for finding work than some big ole corporation.