A Working Girl in Beantown

'A Working Girl in...' is a post written by a contributing writer that appears on Working Girl twice a month. This week's post was written by a Working Girl living in Boston, Massachusetts and her job at an internet marketing company. 

Last year, I graduated from an A #1 university in Connecticut and I made my triumphant return back to my hometown of Boston. I was ready to grab my own title in this city of champions - a marketing title that is. And with that title, I was looking for an office - preferably a corner office (with a view too) and it wouldn't hurt if it was over-looking the Charles. 

There was just one small teeny tiny problemo. There were no jobs amigos. Nada, zip, zilch. Nope, even after months of applying and endless interviews I had returned home to find myself unemployed and living with my parents and three siblings in our loud and crowded home. At this point, what is a determined Working Girl to do?

In this my case, it meant reverting to my summer job on Cape Cod, waiting tables, and living with my grandmother in another loud and crowded house.  And although my dreams of a corner office, a corporate card, and a VP title right out of college had been dashed, a great summer did await me. I had lots of good friends, great family, plenty of beaches and tons of booze, and even a hot summer romance. I spent my summer making tons of cash (but spending most of it), laying out on the beach, and hanging with friends and my summer beau-hunk. Like all good things though, summer came to an end - as did my seasonal employment (as well as my beau in case you were wondering).

It was time to say my goodbyes and head over that bridge to the "real world." I bit the bullet and after a few interviews I finally landed a job at an internet marketing company outside of the Hub. No corner office, no cushy title, no corporate card, but it's a start. First of all, it's a marketing position, which is what I have been searching for all these months. I have learned a great deal and have worked on some interesting projects. 

I can't lie though, this is not the start I had hoped for myself and I can't help but feel that I am slightly overqualified (ie: it's 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday as I'm writing this and I'm finished the projects that my boss had thought would take me the rest of this week so I plan to spend most of the rest of this day writing this article and looking online at clothes I can't afford). But as the news and gas prices keep indicating, these are hard times. So I can't help but think at least it's a start, right? Right?

In this question lies my inner struggle as a fairly new Working Girl. Am I being greedy or presumptuous wanting more? Or have I settled for too little? Which makes me wonder...would I settle for just an OK pair of jeans or a mediocre boyfriend? Absolutely not! So why am I settling for a job I am fairly confident I am better than?

With this revelation I have begun the big search. Somewhere in this city lies my dream job - one where I'm busy more than two hours a day and I have projects assigned to me that actually interest me. But as my search continues, I know one variable that will remain constant. I will always live in the city that I love. Even if your job totally blows, in Boston you can at least count on being able to get a half day once a year to attend a championship parade. I kid. But truly, Boston is a great place to live and work (not to mention all the attractive Working Boys in Beantown). If you've never been to Boston, let me tell you, it's a great place to come and stay forever.

Yeah, I said forevah. We're not just a city of "wicked pissah sports teams" (although we have plenty of those). Boston has a great nightlife, good food, and great drinks. We have no problem getting hammered and doing karaoke on a Wednesday. We're superstitious and we look out for each other, and if you're not with us, you're against us. We won't tolerate fakers or liars (with the exception of a few of our own athletes and politicians of course). Not only that, but we're responsible for Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, NKOTB, and Good Will Hunting. We will however not take credit for Ben Affleck, but you can certainly thank us for real New England Clam Chowder, basketball, Vineyard Vines, Cheers, Aerosmith, Steve Carrell (and most of the cast of The Office) and much much more.

The moral of my story - yeah, so my job pretty much totally sucks right now, but I have faith that something better will come along. And I can deal with it for now, because I live in a city that knows how to have a good time - even if it has to wait to start until after 5:00.