Jack-of-all-trades tries 1-week job in each state

Theresa, Wis. —- At a time when some people are having trouble finding one job, Daniel Seddiqui is lining up 50 —- one in every state.

Each job symbolizes the state’s most famous industry, and each lasts one week —- just long enough for the 26-year-old to appreciate the labor and explore the region.

Since starting in Utah in the first week of September, he’s been a park ranger in Wyoming, a corn farmer in Nebraska and a wedding coordinator in Las Vegas. His projected schedule puts him in Georgia sometime in mid-June.

Last week, in Week 23 of his yearlong saga, he was a cheesemaker in southeast Wisconsin. He mixed ingredients, hoisted slabs of cheddar —- and tasted plenty of his work.

“I would say this was as hard as logging,” he said, referring to his stint as a logger in Oregon three months ago. “Everything here is done by hand so there’s a lot of heavy lifting.”

Seddiqui, who grew up in Los Altos, Calif., insists his job-hopping isn’t a gimmick. He said it’s a legitimate effort to travel the U.S., learning about cultures across the country and developing a respect for what other people do.

For example, at his Nebraska job he was surprised that every farmer he met had a college degree.

“That’s the problem with stereotypes. People think farmers aren’t educated, but probably every one was more educated than me,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing you learn when you do this.”

The hardest job so far was toiling in a meatpacking factory in Topeka, Kan. Seddiqui said his employer said he could slaughter a cow with a rifle, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“That was a little too extreme,” he said.

The goal of his project, which he plans to write a book about when he’s done, is to force himself out of his comfort zone. By daring himself to try all sorts of jobs —- rodeo announcer, border-patrol agent, archaeologist —- other people might be willing to follow his example, he said.

At least one person already has, according to Seddiqui. After a news crew in Kansas City, Mo., reported on his stint as a boilermaker, an unemployed dentist who saw the story decided to brush off his old welding skills and apply. The next day the man had a $40-per-hour job, Seddiqui said.

Seddiqui, who as a kid loved to study U.S. road maps, earned an economics degree from the University of Southern California in 2005.

But he struggled to find a job, despite a 3.7 grade-point average.

Finally he decided to combine his boyhood dreams with his job search. Now, in his words, he’s “living the map.”

Of his remaining 27 jobs, he’s most looking forward to being a meteorologist in Cleveland.

But he’s a little wary of the West Virginia job he’ll have at the end of May.

“I’ll be a coal miner. That’ll be a little scary,” he said. “I’m not looking forward to that one at all.”

A VERY VARIED RESUME

Some of the jobs Daniel Seddiqui has had in the past 23 weeks:

> Arizona: Border patrol agent.

> Arkansas: Archaeologist.

> Idaho: Real estate agent.

> Kansas: Meatpacker.

> Louisiana: Musician coordinator .

> Minnesota: Medical device manufacturer.

> Mississippi: Dietitian at nursing home.

> Missouri: Boilermaker.

> Montana: General store owner.

> Nebraska: Corn farmer.

> Nevada: Wedding coordinator.

> New Mexico: Landscape architect.

> Oklahoma: Roustabout.

> Oregon: Logger.

> South Dakota: Rodeo announcer.

> Texas: Petroleum engineer.

> Washington: Marine biologist.

> Wisconsin: Cheesemaker.

> Wyoming: Park ranger.