How to recursively get all fields in a unidirectional relationship?

Can't have the career I want now, so how can I get it later?

• Just out of grad school (HCI, social psych focus), and for logistical reasons I'm having to look for jobs that are at best tangentially related to my interests and skill set. What can I do now to give myself the best chance of getting a more relevant job in the future? I'm out of school with my MS earlier than I'd expected to be, and I've been trying to find a full time job. My training is in HCI, but I'm much closer to a social scientist than a computer scientist. Unfortunately, most of the jobs directly related to my skills and interests are out of state. I plan to move in a year or two when my SO's also finished with school, but moving now would make things very complicated. The tech-related jobs here are primarily for programmers, and my programming skills are minimal (I'd like to improve my programming skills at some point, but I couldn't do that in time to land a programming job here). I'm also not a design person, at all. The only jobs I see advertised here that are even remotely related to my specific skill set are research jobs that are in non-technical fields. That would be preferable to a completely unrelated job, but I'm applying for those as well, just to cover all the bases. There are probably more relevant opportunities for me elsewhere, but if I move now I'd have to do so alone, and it'd put a lot of strain on my relationship. I don't mind getting an unrelated job to make ends meet until we can move, but I would also like to maximize my chances of being able to get a job that's actually relevant to my degree when the time comes. I'm sure there have to be others who have been in this situation one way or another - what do you suggest I do to be competitive on the job market after a year or two of working in a completely different field and/or capacity? In case I've left out relevant details (or if anyone would prefer to email off-site), I've set up a throwaway email at: [email protected] - I'd appreciate any advice the hive mind can give me.

• Answer:

  Can you continue to take classes? Even one per semester would allow your resume to say "2009-2012 Graduate studies, XYZ University," allowing your day job to recede into the margins.