A deadline, or Three new jobs (2)

I've tentatively decided that I'm going to be working by the end of January. I think this is the first arbitrary deadline that I've set for myself, so I'm hoping to make good on it. My resume "is being considered" for a part-time job at a newspaper publisher in New Haven. I haven't heard anything back from the two I sent several weeks ago (Atlanta and Virginia), so I'm ruling them out (pardon my repetitiveness, but it never ceases to gall me that 95% of the places I apply to never get back to me--and I sent my materials by mail to those two!). Here are three leads I dug up this morning. They were all clustered together in the Newspaper/Wire Services section on JournalismJobs.com.

Position: Opportunity to Learn the News Biz!
Company: The F*
Location: Colorado

Description:
The F*, an award-winning weekly newspaper in Colorado (50 minutes SW of Denver) seeks an individual with good writing and reporting skills to cover county government, breaking news, features and other assignments throughout Park County. This is a great opportunity for someone to get inside the newspaper business and cover a variety of news stories, as well as learn pagination and layout programs. Journalism degree and experience preferred but we will work with the right individual. The successful applicant must be well-organized and be able to turn around multiple news stories under deadline.

See how it says "Park County"? Well that's South Park, like the cartoon. That reason alone is almost enough to warrant applying. Another interesting note: I was going through some recent issues on the paper's website, and it seems as if there's been a dust-up about the paper's decision to publish the name of a juvenile sexual assault victim. I remembered seeing another ad from this paper seeking an Editor-in-Chief--maybe they're doing a little house-cleaning after the scandal. Could be an interesting place to go in and make a mark. Next:

Position: Reporter/copy editor
Company: S* R* & L*
Location: North Carolina

Description:
The S* R* & L*, a 15,000-circulation daily near Charlotte, N.C., has an immediate opening for a reporter/copy editor. December grads are encouraged to apply. This position involves general assignment reporting three days per week and working on the copydesk two days. Send a cover letter explaining why you are an ideal candidate for this job along with your resume and work samples.

I like this one mainly because it's two jobs in one. I really liked doing layout and page design in college, and I'd actually be excited to get some professional experience in that niche of the business. And it'd take some of the pressure of turning out daily stories off.

The part about "December grads" got me thinking: am I now going to be up against a fresh influx of job-seekers? I've never had the slightest clue of how many people are applying to the same jobs as I am. The fact that I got an interview at "Food & Wine" suggests that it's not hundreds, but who knows? Not that I'd notice if it suddenly got much harder to get writing jobs, since I haven't been in serious contention for any of them to this point anyway. Third, and finally:

Position: Reporter/Writer
Company: M* N*
Location: New York

Description:
REPORTER - Award-winning weekly newspaper group in upstate New York offers excellent opportunity for ambitious journalist. Report and write community news, features and sports. Great situation for recent college grad to launch career.

Probably the most appealing of the three. It's in the Northeast. And Google Maps suggests that it's quite close to a little Vermont town called Poultney, which I happen to have heard some wonderful things about. Once again, the word "ambitious" is something of a turn-off in this context (which is odd because my life has been propelled by one ambition or another for as long as I can remember). But where writing is concerned, my ambition isn't to break big stories and muscle my way into scoops. To analogize: I don't write to exorcise the demons of others, I write to exorcise my own.

However, it's long been obvious that I'm going to have to start somewhere. Will any of these be the place? Will I find something by the end of January? (I hope I hope I hope)