Ill bet you that his book, once finished, is the key to him living in the fastlane.
After starting in Utah, 26-year-old lands from USC in Houston, where he scored an unpaid gig with Chevron
http://www.chron.com/photos/2009/01/27/15018831/260xStory.jpg
Daniel Seddiqui is spending a week with Chevron as a part of his quest to visit 50 jobs in 50 different states.
There were days, particularly grim days, when Daniel Seddiqui sat in his car and cried. Typically the waterworks came after another prospective boss turned him down cold. After 40 rounds of interviews and 40 rejections, the California man wondered precisely what kind of work his economics degree would bring.
And then he found the answer: boilermaking in Missouri, rodeo announcing in South Dakota, logging in Oregon, roustabouting in Oklahoma, corn picking in Nebraska, border patrolling in Arizona, archeological digging in Arkansas and running a general store in Fishtail, Mont.
Seddiqui never held a job long. Sometimes he didn’t get paid. But it was all OK.
Seddiqui was a traveling man with a clever plan. He’d visit all 50 states, work a week in each one, then write a book or maybe star in a movie about his adventure. He called it “Living the Map,” and along the way he sold T-shirts for gas money.
This week, Seddiqui, 26, hit Texas — his 20th state — where he landed a “job” with Chevron’s Houston petroleum engineering department.
Under the genial guidance of engineer Sue Park, the peripatetic Bay Area native is receiving a crash course in the oil business. “Sometimes,” he said, “I’m in over my head, but I catch on really quick.”
Few perks along way
Seddiqui’s Houston gig is unpaid . But he’s catching his fair share of perks — monogrammed Chevron shirts and all the barbecue and Tex-Mex he can eat.
Seddiqui said he graduated from the University of Southern California intent on a career in finance. But he found the profession intimidating.
“I went through some brutal interviews,” he recalled. “They’d say, ‘Come back and see me,’ but on the third session I’d be turned down. It was a big waste.”
Seddiqui’s parents thought he was lazy, he said. “They’d see my frustration,” he said. “They offered me psychological help. I didn’t really need that. I just needed a break.”
Seddiqui landed a volunteer job at a Chicago college, then painted stairwells to make ends meet. He worked for a while for a Georgia building supply company. None of the jobs satisfied, but he was intrigued by working in radically different trades in dramatically different places.
Then, gradually, the novel plan to work his way around the country took shape.
Anyone can find a job
Seddiqui spent weeks contacting prospective employers around the nation. He started with Utah, where he worked for a Mormon social services agency. After Houston, he’ll head to New Orleans to work in a music club during Mardi Gras. Ultimately he’ll arrive in Maine, where he’ll sell his Jeep to finance plane tickets to his final states, Alaska and Hawaii.
Even in hard economic times, Seddiqui said, it’s possible to get a job. But job applicants need to be bold.
“I’m a man who was able to find 50 jobs in 50 states,” he said. “But you’ve got to be willing to try new things. You just can’t think you don’t have the experience. Get the knowledge. And you’ve got to be willing to move.”
Seddiqui said he hopes to capitalize on his travels in a book and movies.
“Maybe I’ll go into public speaking,” he said of his future career options.
“I think I could get work at just about any marketing company. I definitely have the skills.”
After starting in Utah, 26-year-old lands from USC in Houston, where he scored an unpaid gig with Chevron
http://www.chron.com/photos/2009/01/27/15018831/260xStory.jpg
Daniel Seddiqui is spending a week with Chevron as a part of his quest to visit 50 jobs in 50 different states.
There were days, particularly grim days, when Daniel Seddiqui sat in his car and cried. Typically the waterworks came after another prospective boss turned him down cold. After 40 rounds of interviews and 40 rejections, the California man wondered precisely what kind of work his economics degree would bring.
And then he found the answer: boilermaking in Missouri, rodeo announcing in South Dakota, logging in Oregon, roustabouting in Oklahoma, corn picking in Nebraska, border patrolling in Arizona, archeological digging in Arkansas and running a general store in Fishtail, Mont.
Seddiqui never held a job long. Sometimes he didn’t get paid. But it was all OK.
Seddiqui was a traveling man with a clever plan. He’d visit all 50 states, work a week in each one, then write a book or maybe star in a movie about his adventure. He called it “Living the Map,” and along the way he sold T-shirts for gas money.
This week, Seddiqui, 26, hit Texas — his 20th state — where he landed a “job” with Chevron’s Houston petroleum engineering department.
Under the genial guidance of engineer Sue Park, the peripatetic Bay Area native is receiving a crash course in the oil business. “Sometimes,” he said, “I’m in over my head, but I catch on really quick.”
Few perks along way
Seddiqui’s Houston gig is unpaid . But he’s catching his fair share of perks — monogrammed Chevron shirts and all the barbecue and Tex-Mex he can eat.
Seddiqui said he graduated from the University of Southern California intent on a career in finance. But he found the profession intimidating.
“I went through some brutal interviews,” he recalled. “They’d say, ‘Come back and see me,’ but on the third session I’d be turned down. It was a big waste.”
Seddiqui’s parents thought he was lazy, he said. “They’d see my frustration,” he said. “They offered me psychological help. I didn’t really need that. I just needed a break.”
Seddiqui landed a volunteer job at a Chicago college, then painted stairwells to make ends meet. He worked for a while for a Georgia building supply company. None of the jobs satisfied, but he was intrigued by working in radically different trades in dramatically different places.
Then, gradually, the novel plan to work his way around the country took shape.
Anyone can find a job
Seddiqui spent weeks contacting prospective employers around the nation. He started with Utah, where he worked for a Mormon social services agency. After Houston, he’ll head to New Orleans to work in a music club during Mardi Gras. Ultimately he’ll arrive in Maine, where he’ll sell his Jeep to finance plane tickets to his final states, Alaska and Hawaii.
Even in hard economic times, Seddiqui said, it’s possible to get a job. But job applicants need to be bold.
“I’m a man who was able to find 50 jobs in 50 states,” he said. “But you’ve got to be willing to try new things. You just can’t think you don’t have the experience. Get the knowledge. And you’ve got to be willing to move.”
Seddiqui said he hopes to capitalize on his travels in a book and movies.
“Maybe I’ll go into public speaking,” he said of his future career options.
“I think I could get work at just about any marketing company. I definitely have the skills.”
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