One job in every US state lets this Californian 'live the map'
February 25, 2009
By Dinesh Ramde
Each job symbolises the state's most famous industry, and each lasts one week - just long enough for the 26 year old to appreciate the labour and explore the region.
Since starting in Utah in the first week of September 2008, Seddiqui has been a park ranger in Wyoming, a maize farmer in Nebraska and a wedding co-ordinator in Las Vegas.
Last week, halfway through his year-long saga, he was a cheese maker in southeast Wisconsin. He mixed ingredients, hoisted slabs of cheddar and tasted plenty of his work.
"I would say this was as hard as logging," he said, referring to his stint as a logger in Oregon three months ago. "Everything here is done by hand, so there's a lot of heavy lifting."
Seddiqui grew up in Los Altos, California, and insists his job hopping is not a gimmick. It is a legitimate effort to travel the US, learn about cultures across the country and develop a respect for what other people do, he says.
For example, at his job in Nebraska he was surprised that every farmer he met had a college degree.
He said: "That's the problem with stereotypes. People think farmers aren't educated but probably every one was more educated than me. That's the kind of thing you learn when you do this."
The hardest job so far was toiling in a meat packing factory in Topeka, Kansas. Seddiqui said his employer said he could slaughter a cow with a rifle but he could not bring himself to do it.
"That was a little too extreme. But they didn't really expect me to do it. They just said I could if I wanted."
The goal of his project, which he plans to write a book about when he is done, is to force himself out of his comfort zone. By daring himself to try all sorts of jobs - rodeo announcer, border patrol agent, archaeologist - other people might be willing to follow his example, he said.
At least one person has already been inspired, according to Seddiqui.
After a news crew in Kansas City, Missouri, reported on his stint as a boiler maker, an unemployed dentist who saw the story decided to brush off his old welding skills and apply. Seddiqui said the next day the man had a job.
Seddiqui tries to line up jobs only three to four months in advance. Following his week in Wisconsin he has his next eight weeks charted, starting with a position this week at the John Deere headquarters in Moline, Illinois.
He lined up his cheese making position by googling "cheese factory Wisconsin".
Seddiqui loved to stare at road maps as a child and imagine how it felt to live in all those cities. He earned an economics degree from the University of Southern California in 2005 but struggled to find a job.
Finally he decided to combine his boyhood dreams with his job search. Now, in his words, he is "living the map".
His approach impressed Shawn Peck, sales and marketing director at Metal Craft in Elk River, Minnesota, Seddiqui's fifth stop.
The company makes medical devices such as those used in spinal surgery and Seddiqui's job included using lasers to etch part numbers.
"He's a really nice guy who's interested in what he's doing," Peck said. "If he wanted a full-time job here, in the departments where you don't need lot of training and education, sure, we'd be interested."
Seddiqui gets paid at every job but pays fro his own medical aid. He has no dental insurance and hopes a recent bout of wisdom tooth pain will not resurface before he finds full-time work.
Each of his weekly employers provides room and board, usually in their own homes. Seddiqui drives from one state to another, and has put thousands of kilometres on his 1997 Jeep Cherokee since his adventures began.
He plans to sell the car to buy plane tickets to Hawaii, where he will teach surfing despite never having surfed before, and Alaska, where he will be a cruise director.
Of his remaining 27 jobs, he is most looking forward to being a meteorologist in Cleveland. - Sapa-AP
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