Rural Tips to Finding Work?

[Bull]

I've been spending 50 hours a week looking for work since I graduated college in early May. Prior to going to school, I had a career as a carpenter and finding work was easy. I decided to go to college because I had hit the top of the carpentry pay-scale (~$54k/yr) and thought I'd take advantage of the "green revolution" with an ecology degree.

Then the recession. No more jobs, not even carpentry ones. I've found temp work as a janitor or landscaper, but you know the drill, we've all been there.

My question is this:

How does one go about finding a stable, regular job in their field if they live in a rural area?

I've pretty much relegated my time and efforts to the internet.
Since I graduated, many of my friends and peers have left the area so my network is full of holes. The online searching alienates me from the "real" world, so the job search seems to be an isolating catch-22.

I am open to transferring anywhere in the US, or the world for that matter. I was lucky enough to take out my maximum student loans while in college and save them, so I have a $6000 cushion to help me make it through.

Most of the tips I have found for getting a job apply to the corporate world, not to the field-based, ecology world.

I've had my resume edited by a professional, which helped me land interviews, but I have yet to receive any offers.

Anyone else in the same boat? I don't feel like it's sinking, but it certainly isn't heading out of port yet.

[techie]

Bull,

As I see it, you have mentioned a couple of things, you are fresh out of colllege, so I assume you are young. Then I am making the assumption that any ties to where you are may be family and/or friends. You have also said that you are willing to go anywhere in the world! Wow! That's great, and I envy you. I had this chance over 20 years ago. I would have jumped at the change. But I was too concerned about some family. And I also had a psychological type feeling that I would be sad if I left, 'memories'.

I think the memories would have subsided and as far as family it is tough, but I too had left home and gone over a 1000 miles away, and had a great working life. My social life was okay, though most of my social life was with people I worked with.

All I can say Bull is 'do the research' and you 'know the drill'. Google it, Bing it or Yahoo it. Find out where the jobs are in your fields. And then I would check out a couple of places that you want to go to. If you love the mountains then make sure you include at least one of the places you check with mountains.

I wish I had done this before, but I'm tied down to where I am, and my area is much above average in depressed number of jobs.

And Bull good luck, I think you will find a job before the summer is out, if you do your research!