With the end of the semester near, students are preparing for life after graduation. They may wonder what jobs they will find and where they will live after college.  

On this campus, a majority of students who come through the University’s Career Center are specifically looking for job opportunities in Chicago, said Emily Wickstrom, assistant director of the Career Center. Although she did not have any specific data on how many students return to Chicago in any given year, she said she believes geography is a huge factor for them when seeking out jobs and deciding where to start their lives after graduation.

“So many students that attend this school are from Chicago,” Wickstrom said. “So it is very common for them to look for opportunities back home … just because that is easier for them.” 

Wickstrom said that she believes comfort plays a huge role in deciding where to move as well, as students like the idea of being close to their families and friends, and it is convenient for them.

Although this was not the case for Maggie Byus, University of Illinois alumna who graduated with the class of 2011. She said she understands why her peers may choose Chicago over a city like New York. 

“Chicago is the third largest city in the country and has so many opportunities to offer,” Byus said. “It’s not limiting, and although I wanted to move away, it’s not necessary in order to be successful and have a successful career and be happy.” 

Byus is currently working in New York at Starcom Media, a full-service media agency.

“It’s obviously a huge risk to decide to take a job far away from home,” Byus said. “If my job didn’t work out, I’d be in an expensive city with no job, no friends and no where to go. But it did work out for me, and I realized you do have to take that risk to get the reward of a new experience.” 

This risk may appeal to some students, but Laura Gordon, a sophomore at the Art Institute in Chicago, said she understands why so many prefer looking for a job near home. Although she has not graduated from college yet, she understands the unease of moving away from home. After high school, she traveled to New York City to study fashion at Parsons The New School For Design, but moved back home after one year and transferred to the Art Institute. 

“Fear definitely plays a part in why some people don’t want to relocate,” Gordon said. “To not have a good idea of what you want to do for the rest of your life can be really scary. If everything is kind of up in the air, it’s logical to stick to what you know and where you’re comfortable and where you’ve had a good life thus far.” 

Wickstrom said that the Career Center encourages students to be open to opportunities, since employers from all over the nation come to recruit, and she feels that students are limiting themselves if they only focus on a job’s location.

Gordon and Byus agree and believe that finding oneself comes with the exposure to new types of people and experiences. They both said they think the best way to do that is by traveling and being open to change and opportunities. 

“I loved living in New York; I learned so much about what kind of career I wanted and met a lot of cool people while there,” Gordon said. 

Now living in Chicago, Gordon said that all her classmates are back in her hometown and that being near home doesn’t allow for people like them to grow and change in the same way that moving away does.

“Home and your friends will always be there, and I think taking opportunities elsewhere will better you,” Gordon said, “My best friend is the same I’ve had since high school, but we wouldn’t be able to be best friends if we weren’t able to make lives of our own, grow and progress. Otherwise we’d just get bored.”

However, when it comes down to it, Wickstrom said the choice all depends on the individual.

“I think everyone needs to do what’s best for them,” Wickstrom said. “We talk a lot about matching careers to your values, and if your value is to be close to home, you’re probably not going to be satisfied or happy if you aren’t close to home.” 

She also pointed out that even though people may not be open to change right now, they will have to embrace it down the line when they have to switch jobs and relocate.  

“There’s the sense that the first job you get is going to be forever, and that is not the case,” Wickstrom said. “Jobs and locations will move, and people will most likely move with them. You may not be in Chicago forever.”

In addition to values, the location of a job also depends on a student’s career path, Wickstrom said. 

“If you want to be a marine biologist, you’re not going to find a job in Chicago,” she said.

For students in other fields, such as media or the arts, there is an understanding that they will most likely have to move away in order to establish their careers, Wickstrom said.

“Returning home won’t provide them with the opportunities they are looking for. But other students whose careers don’t demand such a specific location can get by with not moving,” she said.

Gordon said she thinks that despite the many elements that go into preparing for the future, students need to do what “feels right.”

“Just be really open minded,” she said. “Don’t do something just because it’s different, but don’t not do it just because others are, too … figure out what you want your life to look like … just figure out the place to be to help you get there.”

Saher can be reached at [email protected].