The Creative Career

1. Location, Location, Location!
   Location is everything. It affects how much time you’ll spend on that train or bus each day (as well as how crowded it will be), how much time you’ll spend tromping through the cold and snow to get to that train or bus, how you get groceries and how you see friends. A lot of new grads move to Lincoln Park, Lakeview or Wrigleyville—the commute downtown from these neighborhoods ranges from 20-30 minutes, plus walking. When I lived in Wrigleyville, I left at 8:00 AM to get to work by 8:40.
2. Transportation
   Before you even make the move, go to the CTA website and order yourself a Chicago Card Plus. You can set this to automatically reload for increments of money—or, if you commute every day, you can have it reload every month ($86 per month for unlimited rides).
3. Groceries
   There are a few chain grocery stores in the Chicago neighborhoods—Jewel-Osco, Dominick’s, Treasure Island and Trader Joe’s—along with a few smaller neighborhood stores. Trader Joe’s tends to be a popular option. A lot of people who work downtown pick up their groceries at the Ontario store after work. If you’re going for a big grocery trip, don’t be afraid to buy a folding grocery cart (they are totally socially acceptable, I swear—I bought mine at The Container Store at North and Clyborn).
4. Apartment and Roommates
   I recommend finding roommates, if you haven’t already. It will save you a good amount of money (I paid $745 for my half in my first place—a two bedroom walk-up in Wrigleyville). A lot of Chicago newbies use Craigslist both for roommates and to find an apartment (I used it myself). There are also free apartment finding services such as Apartment People and Apartment Finders.
5. Social
   If you’re new to town and don’t know a lot of people, there are a ton of ways to get out and make new friends. You just have to get out there and get involved. There’s volunteering, social club sports, Tweetups, Twenty-something blogger get togethers and plenty of events (generally, follow other twenty-somethings on Twitter to find out when they come up).

I’m certain that I’ve left a lot out, so if anyone has anything to add, leave your comments. I may end up updating the post in the future.

Photo Source: Good Egg under Creative Commons

Education doesn’t end after college. There are plenty of resources that professionals can (and should) be taking advantage of on a regular basis. One of these resources is, as always, books. I’ve always been a proponent of reading or listening to books on a regular basis.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about web design, Jeff is doing a giveaway for his new book, Head First Web Design—the compliment to Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML.

If you’re interested in expanding your current skills (or lack thereof), check out the book giveaway on Jeff’s site.