Where a person lives can be attributed to a number of reasons. As a child your location is determined by your parents and their idea of a good home. As you grow older, your place of residence becomes somewhat of a choice; leaving home to go to school, moving in with friends, leaving the nest for the first time. And sometimes where a person lives is completely circumstantial; people become stuck, affordability is an issue, finding a job creates limitations.
Today, many young professionals find themselves in a position to make this choice for the first time, outside of college or job limitations. More and more millennials are choosing a home based on factors besides job availability, or education level, or even affordability.
I am one of those young professionals.
In a sea of job openings, housing options, and flashy cities, I made a conscious choice to base my decision on something else.
Choosing a city to be your home and finding a job in that city is a very unfamiliar concept to older generations. Job security trumped all when it came to locating a home. Today, success isn’t measured by how long a person has been with a company or how long it’s taken to rise through the ranks to obtain a high level position over time. Success can be measured by the number and quality of professional experiences that one has had. My VP once told me that she only had three jobs, and for a woman of her generation, that was considered to be a fair amount. But she recognizes that the young professionals of today are capable of being and doing more than one position and job their entire lives. Success in the city of Detroit will be fully maximized when those working for its revitalization abandon their silos. What better way to gain insight and experience than working in more than one career field.
I moved to Detroit for a lot of reasons: to work for my host company and to become a part of Challenge Detroit, but mostly to experience professional success based on my own desires and measures of happiness, not those governed by the dated traditions of corporate success.
Where a person lives can be attributed to a number of reasons. My reason is first and foremost to become a player in the tale of the underdog, the City of Detroit.