COMMENTARY: Place matters in job hunt

List the most important qualities of a town you’d choose to call home. (Feel free to write in the margin below this column, or even around the logo; I’m not proud.)

I’m not clairvoyant, but I’ll bet you considered listing good schools, a variety of good-paying job opportunities, active local organizations and churches, affordable homes and apartments, a clean environment and streets, lively cultural and sports events, historic districts, and quality health care.

It’s doubtful that anyone preferred living in a town “where I can’t make a difference.”

Last fall, a local educator who’d moved to Terre Haute around the turn of the century told me she likes this city because “you can move the needle here.” That means Terre Haute is small enough that an energetic person or group can initiate new activities, start a new tradition or change a policy. Yet, Terre Haute also is large enough — with a population of 61,000 in the city and 108,000 in the county — to support those high-profile events, such as the Blues at the Crossroads Festival, the NCAA Division I cross country championships, or the 2013 Year of the River celebration.

Each of those events originated with one or a handful of people, a big idea and enough gumption to rally more forces and resources. Here, they were able to become difference makers.

Around 900 students from Indiana State University walked through the outer concourse of Hulman Center, where recruiters from 115 companies and public entities set up booths for the college’s annual spring Career Fair on Wednesday. When I asked Danielle Burgess, events coordinator for the ISU Career Center, how far-flung the recruiters were, she pointed to the first kiosk for the Chinese company Echo Education, offering one-year jobs for graduates to teach in China.

“When we ask [the students], ‘Would you like to go to China? They go, ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought about that,’” said Ruth Warren, a retired South Bend principal working for Echo Education.

The students, dressed in suits and ties, business skirts and slacks, had a lot on their minds as they strolled the circular hall and chatted with the employers. Does the job fit their career plans? How much does it pay? Is advancement possible? Would the job be secure, and for how long? Are there insurance and other benefits?

Some considered the location of those prospective jobs. Just as with the recruiting companies and the positions available, the students graduating this spring should have a batch of questions about the communities where those jobs are based. The graduates’ future home, ideally, would feature amenities and events of interest to a young resident. Are there safe places within walking distance to get dinner and drinks in the evening? Is there a concert venue, and how often do they occur? Are there trails leading to parks or neighborhood shops? How costly are new homes or modern apartments? Is there a variety of places to worship?

“I’m looking for a nice, friendly environment,” said Jay Newell, an ISU senior who will graduate in May. “Maybe a place where there’s lots of things to do, like maybe with a large city close by, with lots of sports games.” That destination’s cost of living matters to him, too.

Newell came from Jasper to ISU, where he’ll earn a business degree in sales and operations management. Like many of the soon-to-be graduates, Newell is open to a job “anywhere,” but specifically “anywhere down south, where it’s warm,” which Terre Haute typically lacks in the winter.

Terre Haute doesn’t boast year-round sunshine or vast beaches (unless you include the Wabash River sandbars, or county park swimming areas). Still, the town rates high for its affordable housing, good schools and parks, and college-town activities. The presence of ISU, Rose-Hulman, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ivy Tech and Harrison College also injects a great diversity into the community. That’s a consideration for many people — recent college graduates or otherwise.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers surveyed 2016 college graduates on their preferences for an employer and jobs. The top criteria, not surprisingly, were the opportunity for growth, friendly coworkers, job security and good benefits. But the No. 5 preference was a place with the “ability to improve the community.”

In fact, more than 90 percent of the Class of 2016 listed the ability to improve their future community as important. Seventy-seven percent of the graduates said it was important to be “located in a diverse, inclusive community.”

Impressively, several of the students at the Career Fair said Indiana cities, even Terre Haute, would suit them. Brett Horman, a 22-year-old ISU senior majoring in operations and supply chain management, said, “I would love to stay close to family, where I grew up.”

Samantha Nance, a 28-year-old wife and mother, returned to ISU, aiming for an accounting degree and a job near Plainfield, where she and her family live. Nance is confident. “We have businesses popping up monthly,” she said. “There’s new opportunities and jobs and opportunities to grow. And, it’s right off the interstate.”

Terre Haute, of course, also sits right off the interstate.

With the right offer, ISU senior Ariel Nicholson would consider staying in Terre Haute. “It’s an OK place for me. And I’ve worked here before,” said Nicholson, a Paoli native who favors a small-town atmosphere.

Sampson Levingston will earn an ISU marketing degree in May. He grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from Cathedral High School. He’s studied the history and cultural background of Terre Haute, his home for the past few years, and thinks he could live and work here. He also understands that Terre Haute can improve its economic future by enticing more college graduates to call this “home.”

“It’s going to take some of these kids here at this career day to stay,” Levingston said.