Looking to relocate

I know we have a similar thread already, but I’d like to get more up-to-date suggestions folks have on places to relocate. I’m very open to working for a consultancy or in a corporate position. Arizona is far from a bustling hub of design and employment opportunities are scarce. I’ve spent the last few years since graduating from university working in marketing, animation, graphics etc with a few opportunities here and there to do contract ID work. I’d love to get involved in developing kids products, but I really am open to anything from housewares to consumer electronics, etc.

Like I said, I’ve got a family so really the only thing that restricts me from some locations is cost of living. Not opposed to dealing with winters (lived in Ukraine for a while so I know I can hack it). Feel free to take a look at my portfolio and post suggestions on where you think design opportunities are going to be plentiful. :slight_smile: http://www.rjcluffdesign.com

Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

Well you have a family so you can just get up and move somewhere without a job lined up, I assume. So doesn’t it just depend on what you see on the job board? What position are you looking for? Junior ID?

There’s some neat info here: Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Portfolio is pretty good, a little light. A few short notes: I have no idea what problem the fish tank solves as I scanned over it. I don’t see any projects in your portfolio from jobs listed on your resume outside of college, which isn’t a great look. You mention CAD several times and 3D printing, not enough of it in your portfolio. Though with NDA’s it has made my portfolio seem barren in the past, not sure if this is the case here.

I should also mention that 95% of the jobs I have gotten have been through a friend of a friend or something. Networking with classmates has done wonders. I’ve only gotten one job from applying to job boards, it was through craigslist and I quit after a month because of how bad it was.

I’ve heard ID jobs are few and far between in Arizona… Ironically Arizona State seems to have a pretty good ID program. Meanwhile there are lots of ID jobs in SoCal (relatively), and there is only one small program south of Long Beach. I’ve always gone to where the opportunity is. If you want to do kids products, I’d start with that and build a portfolio that focuses there and start applying!