on the hunt

my boss has been traveling the past 2 weeks, so i haven't had many opportunities to talk with him. of course, this whole time i've been worried about my next career move, and i've even started to apply to new jobs. this isn't news to him, but i feel a little weird doing all this without telling him everything. we're actually pretty close. we talk a lot, and he's a great mentor. he takes me out to lunch often and drinks after work sometimes, and those are great times to get to know someone, or catch up, or gossip, or complain about life.

anyway, i've missed all that with him in the past 2 weeks, and he's going to be gone for the next two weeks as well. but our chat yesterday was finally a time for us to catch up.

first, i ran down all the office gossip and what's been going on lately. there have been a lot of staff shake ups recently, even outside the editorial department. i was telling him in particular how assistants from all different departments have been getting new jobs within the company. (i was kind of trying to hint at my own future moves) then he said to me, "you can't leave, you know." to which i replied, "there's no where for me to go!" and then he said "unless you get a writer or reporter job, i'm not going to let you leave me."

the sentiment is nice, if a bit foreboding. i know he wants what's best for me, and he wants to help me move up in the world, but the one problem with being an assistant, especially if you're good at what you do, is that your bosses secretly never want you to leave. i guess i would consider staying longer, if i get a raise. (see previous posts about future plans to move again and possibly get a dog)

so in the mean time i'm on the hunt for a new job. i'm just curious what's out there, if they're interested in me, and what they would pay me. i've applied to 12 jobs in the past two weeks. here's what i'm up for:

fashion assistant at a national mag
editorial assistant at a food mag
five editorial assistant positions for various imprints/publishing houses
assistant production editor at a publishing house
assistant producer for a lifestyle tv channel
editorial assistant for a website for a national mag
associate style editor for a lifestyle mag

and a partridge in a pear tree...

if i get any bites, you'll be one of the first to know.