An Overdue Update on the Dreaded Job Search

I am happy to announce that I will be starting a new job this Thursday!  In the end my dreaded job search was mercifully short, considering the current state of the economy.  The job market here in Juneau is actually quite strong.  If you are willing to work, you can find something to do whether it be in nursing, healthcare, education, accounting, mining, retail, administration, working with people with special needs, hospitality…  If you don’t mind a little rain and would enjoy a small city with a LOT going on I would recommend checking out Juneau (ok, that was my shameless chamber of commerce-esque pitch for Juneau).  I ended up going to four interviews before finding the right fit.  I received a lot of positive feedback from the people who didn’t hire me and even ended up turning down one job offer.  It would be dishonest to imply it wasn’t discouraging at times, but I am pleased with the end result and feel very fortunate.  As I mentioned before, I have a varied background.  In particular, I invested a number of years working on an organic farm (and LOVING it) only to move to one of the few places in the country with zero farming (people here are enthusiastic gardeners, but there is simply not enough flat land for larger scale farms).  I was applying for jobs for which I had very little, if any, experience, but on the whole the interview process was interesting and positive and I met some great, dedicated people in the process.  In the end, I was offered a position with Juneau’s largest employer, the State of Alaska.  I’ll be working for The Department of Fish and Game at their Mark, Tag, and Age Laboratory.  According to their website,

“The goals of the Mark Tag and Age Lab (MTA) are to provide fisheries managers and researchers with timely, current, and historical biological data to help them manage, preserve, protect, and perpetuate Alaska’s fishery resources. The MTA Lab refines and develops diverse methods and means for providing critical data, develops new applications to address management issues and fosters a broad information exchange.”

More specifically, I will be working in the Tag Lab.  For a few photos and a detailed description of what goes on in the Tag Lab, check out their website here.  Basically, the salmon hatcheries insert tiny metal tags into the heads of salmon fry before they are released.  During the salmon fishing season, the heads of salmon that are harvested by the fishing industry are sent to the Tag Lab where their tags are removed and prepared for analysis.  This time of year they are analyzing herring roe and scales in order to make determinations about the herring fishery, as well as doing data entry.  Needless to say, this job will be unlike anything I’ve ever done before.  But I am looking forward to it.  I truly believe the thriving fisheries here in Alaska are one of our country’s greatest natural resources and need our fierce protection.  The State of Alaska has done a great job of managing them and I am excited to be a part of the process, even if that means a summer up to my elbows in fish heads!  The job is considered “permanent seasonal” so I will work through the summer, but most likely be laid off in the fall, depending on the work load.  The ”permanent” part comes in when the job opens up again.  The position will be waiting for me if I want it.  Again, I feel very fortunate and have heard good things about working for the State of Alaska.  Thanks for all of your kind words of encouragement and support throughout this daunting and dreaded task!