Expanding my horizons

As you may have noticed in the past week or so, there's been a new theme on the blog: job search. I'm actually having a good time in the search, being one of the fortunate ones who is looking for work while still in a job. But I thought I'd share where I am, why I'm looking now, and what I'm looking for. Maybe in the articulation, I'll understand it better myself.

I've been ordained since 2001 and figured I would be an assistant rector, then rector of a small church, then rector of a larger church, and generally have a smooth progression from one church position to the next. Ha ha ha. For a variety of reasons, this has not happened. My career in the church thus far has been unconventional and full of interruptions.

I had thought one thing that would make it easy (well, easier) to have a career in the church was that I could move anywhere and didn't need to stay in a particular location. Ha ha ha. For a variety of reasons, I find myself settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region with a lot of clergy and very few church jobs.

I've also made the mistake of applying only for jobs I would like, rather than any job I could get. This was, of course, a choice that I made that limits my options severely. I can't regret it, but it certainly means that I narrowed my chances of the career I had envisioned down to almost vanishingly small odds.

And so I find, nine years out of seminary, that it is time for me to expand my horizons and think about doing something else.

It's hard coming to terms with giving up on the one direction I thought I was headed and going elsewhere. I'm not even sure I've been able to do that. There may still be a church job that calls out to me that I need to consider.

But the fun part is that I can now also seriously consider other things and feel neither in-between things nor unfaithful. I have been having the best time doing informational interviews, just learning about professions I have never considered before. So far, I've talked to a development director, venture capitalist, non-profit administrator, and the owner of a video production company. (I'll probably blog about these in the coming days.)

It's exciting. I don't know where this is going to lead me, but I'm very hopeful. I'll keep you posted.