Feel free to DM me if you want. I learned far too much about the process when I bought a few years ago. I can at least point you in the right direction.
Yeaaaaaaah. I was determined to leave Florida by the time I was 27. After college, I couldn't get a job in-state, so I ripped the band-aid off and moved without a job years before I planned to. It was reckless, I got lucky, and it was the best decision I ever made. I was also privileged enough to have my grandma loan me a few months of rent money. Without that, I couldn't have done it. My now-wife got a job within three months of moving, and I got a job two months later.
My advice—with some major caveats—is the sooner the better. It gets harder as you get older.
The caveats are the current job market. It's an employer's market (thank you, President Trump).
I was also on the hiring committee for a library position recently. It was brutal. Of the five candidates, four of them would've been the best person I'd ever hired. They were compassionate, smart, qualified people. The library staff member on the committee repeatedly told us how difficult it is to get a library job, particularly in a blue city/state. She herself lived in Texas for 15 years to get experience that she couldn't have gotten here. The candidate we hired was a former part-timer at a public library. Despite a decade of experience there, a full-time position never opened up.
So, I think it depends on where you want to go. If you want to live in rural Montana or a small town in California, I don't think you'll have much trouble. If you're looking at a major metropolitan area in a desirable state, it'll be challenging. I'd encourage you to apply whenever you're ready to go, though. You only need one job to take a chance on you. Two of the great candidates we interviewed lived halfway across the country. Two of our college's librarians just accepted out-of-state positions. It's possible.
It should be a lot easier to get a job at an academic library, too.
So, I think it depends on where you want to go. If you want to live in rural Montana or a small town in California, I don't think you'll have much trouble. If you're looking at a major metropolitan area in a desirable state, it'll be challenging. I'd encourage you to apply whenever you're ready to go, though. You only need one job to take a chance on you. Two of the great candidates we interviewed lived halfway across the country. Two of our college's librarians just accepted out-of-state positions. It's possible.
It should be a lot easier to get a job at an academic library, too.
