Back To Square One. Again.

What does a head of cabbage have to do with job searching, you ask? Absolutely nothing.

Hello all. It's been a couple weeks... and what an eventful two weeks it has been, between Thanksgiving, helping my parents do some home renovation work, and excavating my pit of a room as Step One of the "I'm Going to Grad School Next Year and Need to Move Out" plan*...all of which helped to distract me from the email I got right after arriving home.

The email, from the Sieberts of Clear Spring Creamery fame (remember them?) basically told me that while they like me, they can't afford to have a full-time, paid intern who will be leaving in August. They did offer me an unpaid but full room/board sort of situation - not unlike being a WWOOF-er - for a few days a week, which would allow me to find a part-time job off farm. It's not ideal, but what is?

It is, however, a plan fully dependent on my ability to find some sort of part time work. Which I definitely could, but I am picky, and I'm the first to admit it. Also, said part time work would likely be in Baltimore or DC, which would be a lot of driving.

This is unfortunately the same story I've heard from multiple farms - "We'd like to hire you, but we need someone here the full season. Sorry." So while I'm not totally back at Square One... I'm sort of back at Square One.Which has me re-evaluating my situation. After some thought, I've come up with the following three options:



Continue the Farm Search
Just because I keep coming up empty doesn't mean it will happen forever. I actually sent in a farm application just this morning. Who knows? It never hurts.


WWOOF-ing Galore
Not gonna lie... I find this a very attractive idea. It gives me the chance to travel around, to work on a variety of different farms, meet a ton of people, and to continue learning. It allows me to be as flexible as I want with my schedule, which is handy. And wonder of wonders... one of my AmeriCorps friends emailed me just yesterday asking if I'd like to WWOOF with her in California for a month, starting in late January. Serendipity? Perhaps.

There are some cons, however. A big one is money. I saved a few thousand this past year, which is not too shabby, but I was planning on keeping it back for grad school. So before I go haring off into the Wide World of WWOOF, I will need to do some calculating and some budgeting.

Another con is that, in an ideal world, I'd like to stick close to DC for (ahem) personal reasons. At any rate, the idea bears some thought.


Other Job Options
Although farm work is pretty high on my list of what I'd like to do, there are a lot of other opportunities out there that could be very valuable learning experiences. There's a lot to be said for working in a nonprofit or for an agency where I can learn about grassroots organizing, the legislative process, media/communications work, or other skills useful for advocacy.

I've been checking Idealist and Good Food Jobs regularly for internship opportunities - sent in two applications this morning, as a matter of fact. A lot of those jobs happen to be unpaid, however, and if I'm going to be unpaid, it will be while WWOOF-ing.




So that is where I am. Updates to follow, of course. And any thoughts or ideas are appreciated, naturally.




*No judgment, please. I have 25 years worth of stuff in there.

Back To The Drawing Board...

As the end of my time at Brightwood Vineyard and Farm draws near, I am starting to think about what I'm going to do once October 31 rears its head, and my internship is officially done.

Ideally, I'd like to find another farm apprenticeship - or perhaps an internship for a non-profit organization - for the first six months or so of next year. So now it begins again... trawling sites like ATTRA, Good Food Jobs, Sustainable Food Jobs and Backdoor Jobs, dusting off my resume and letters of interest, and emailing farms far and wide.

Since I'm hoping to begin graduate school in Fall 2012, it means I won't be available for the full growing season, which cuts a lot of farms out of the equation. However, a lot of places hire shorter-term help in spring. There are also dairies and livestock operations that need workers year round.... or so I'm hoping.

Of course, getting started early isn't necessarily helpful. Most farms haven't even begun to start thinking about hiring for next year, or even updated their ATTRA listings. Internships for non-profits are still only posting jobs for this autumn. But as Popeye said, "I yam who I yam", and I plan in advance. Far in advance.

I'll be posting updates about the job sitch as I continue to research and (hopefully) to hear back from potential farms. So wish me luck, friends.