New graduates are very blessed right now with the ability to choose where they start their careers.  

Before you begin looking for jobs or considering any specific opportunities, it’s important to sit down and ask yourself what qualities you want in life. 

Picture what you want your days to look like. Is there traffic? Is there a yard? Do you have a family or pets? Is your work focused on a particular specialty or is it diverse? Are you alone or with colleagues? What is the pace? What are you doing after work? Does your significant other need to find work? What are their hobbies? 

These are all questions that I had to ask myself when choosing my job, but I was choosing more than a job. I was choosing a lifestyle and hoping to fulfill my dreams. Every person's idea of what that looks like is different. Being honest with yourself is step one. Are those qualities something you can find anywhere? 

You will spend more than 32,000 hours or 1,920,000 minutes at work if you work 8 hours a day, 4 days a week for 20 years. Taking your time and not settling is important. 

When I went to look at practices 15 years ago, I had a list of qualities. I knew I wanted to be within a day's drive from my family, within one hour of an airport, and enjoy my work family. I wanted a voice amongst my colleagues to help choose support staff and collaborate on ideas for the practice. Colleagues that were transparent and could be a partner with someday. The opportunity to incorporate technology and treatment protocols into my day with some creative thinking behind it. I wanted to play golf and volleyball while raising a family. 

I found my job in Muscatine, Iowa, a place I never would have thought about before starting my search. By setting my sights on the qualities first, I found a hidden gem and an amazing work family with incredible mentors. All my practice colleagues have moved to the area because of our practice and found a new home. Not one of us are from the town originally. You are all qualified, so focusing on the culture and integrity of the office and the vibe amongst your colleagues is crucial. Vision Source practices are a group of practices that fit a lot of my qualities. The NEXT website can narrow your focus when looking at the vast number of opportunities. 

Once you pick and move to your new home, my advice is to commit! Put your whole heart into the community and your work family, and you will never regret it. If you love where you work, you never work a minute in your life and remember, there may be a job in your dream city, but is it the dream job?