Post-college Job Search!

Hello there!
As you guys know, I will be graduating in May of 2015. That's only seven months away!!! After that, I will be expected to go out into the world and find a job like a big girl. It's pretty nerve-racking. I definitely feel a lot of pressure to find the most correct, perfect job, on account of the fact that, who knows, this might be where I work for the rest of my life! And at the very least, this first job out of college will determine my experience in this field, in case I ever try to find employment somewhere else.
So much pressure!

However, regardless of this pressure to find the perfect job, I am kind of enjoying the fact I have a whole world of possibilities before me right now! I could go wherever I wanted, do whatever I wanted. I'm at a place where I can sit back and enjoy daydreaming about the possibilities.

So, with that being said, I have been looking into some companies that could possibly hire me right out of college and that would allow me to do something I enjoy. My ideal goal is to end up in a publishing company, translating famous literature from English to Spanish. For example, right now I'm reading the Harry Potter series in Spanish. How cool would it have been to be able to say I "wrote" the Harry Potter series???

(the company that translated these is in Barcelona, Spain... Maybe I should move there!)

Unfortunately, publishing companies do not hire grads straight out of college, and always require some sort of previous experience with translating (which I do not have). So, my current plan is to find a job that involves translating, preferably in writing, so that I can then have experience to show these publishing companies that I know what I'm doing.

Now, I have this wonderful professor that I am very close to, who has told me of two companies specifically that she has worked with, and she says that I can use her as a reference here to almost certainly land a job! Isn't that great???
The only issue I see is the location of these companies, which are both in Massachusetts. Wayyy on the east coast, super far away from all of my friends and family.
So right now I'm fighting between applying to these places, or staying close to home.

Now, the first place that she told me about (drum roll, please) is Cambridge Brickhouse!
http://www.cambridgebh.com/aboutus.html

This company not only translates youth literature from English to Spanish (which is what I would be interested in), but they also do editing, design, composition, and really anything you can think of that has to do with books and youth education.
From what I gather from the website, my job would be similar to one of a consultant. I would work directly with a client to translate what he/she needs. I guess this company is associated with over 20,000 translation companies, so maybe I would be able to find a job closer to home? The website is a little unclear about the specifics of the jobs, but there are currently a lot of jobs posted, so it seems like my chances of getting in here would be pretty good.

The second place that my professor recommended was the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/interpreters-and-translators.htm

This is the one that I'm really crazy about, mostly because their website is so specific on what I would be doing and very helpful for finding more information.
This is the overview on the job I would have:

I think this is gorgeous! That median pay... the fact that I only need a Bachelor's degree... short term, on-the-job training! It's just what I wanted!
So, as of now, I really really want to get a job translating for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It really sounds perfect.The website is very clear on what I would be doing, what's expected of me, what my work environment would be, and what my job outlook and opportunities for advancement are.


So yeah, this is my job search so far. I have really only looked into these two companies since they're the ones my professor recommended. Of course, translators are pretty sought after right now, so if I wanted to stay in Michigan I'm sure I could. I guess my only issue is I'm not super sure exactly how to go about finding these Michigan jobs.

So, what do you think? Think I should pick one of these two or keep looking? Do you know of any other translation or publishing companies that I could look into?

I hope you all have a fantastic week! And to my fellow students out there, good luck on all your midterms and projects!

Love,
Erica