How far should you go to get experience?

Screenshot of Google Maps for Google Headquarters.

Oy. It’s been a while.  I guess that’s what I get for working four jobs and going to school full time.

But alas, the spring semester has ended and now I’m finally free! So what's been up since December?

I started an internship with Right Source Marketing in January that I thoroughly enjoy.

BUT gaining this experience has only expanded my curiosity of what kinds of businesses are out there that I could get my hands on.

I’ve caught myself wondering what it would be like to work for a major tech-savvy company such as Google or Pinterest, and from what I’ve been told my entire undergraduate career, there is nothing wrong with reaching out and seeing what is available.

There’s only one problem—location.

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Every single company that has a major name in technology seems to be based on the west coast…  Google, Facebook, Yahoo!...

Heck, when I searched for the exact location of Google, you can even see that Facebook is right up with the street and Yahoo! Inc is Google’s neighbor (see picture above)!

In attempt to prove myself wrong, I tried to look for smaller, less well-known tech savvy companies through LinkedIn.

One of my suggestions was Rich Relevance, an omnichannel personalization company, which is an area of expertise that has always caught my interest.

To find more information I checked out their website…it highlights how much fun the employees have both in and out of the workplace all while making incredible solutions for personalized shopping experiences! Sounds fantastic!

I scroll down for more information, and where are they located?...None other than California!

Ugh! So I moved on to suggestion number two.. My Buys, another personalization company. The website looks cool and what they do looks even more interesting. But yet again, they’re based out of California!

In my final attempt to look for an interesting company to gain some experience in, I figured I look to see where Pinterest is headquartered.. and one can only guess where… Cali!

For a while I gave up and just accepted the fact that getting those company names on my resume just wasn’t reasonable.

Until one day I met Ben Makusha at Towson University’s Scholarship Luncheon. After a short conversation, he told me about how he recently had an interview with Google and was getting ready to pack up and move to California after graduation.

THEN IT HIT ME. Why shouldn’t I do that?

Now is the time. I’m not married. I don’t have a house. I’m young and strongwilled. It just makes sense.

What I'm really interested in finding out, though, is what others, who have gone through this process already, think.

Is it necessary to travel to California to get that tech-savvy experience? Should I take a leap of faith and move to a new place while I'm still young? Is immediately after graduation the right time to pack up and move?

I want to hear what you have to say! Let me know your thoughts in the comments!