chemical engineer senior in iowa want job in texas

mrund3rd09

I'm one semester away from finishing my bachelor's degree in chemical engineering at Iowa State. There are two main things on my mind right now: finding a job and relocating.

I have a 3.5 cum GPA (major GPA is like 3.7). But I have no internship experience, which is bad. For a long time, I've thought about extending my education through a masters/phd, but that's a big commitment, especially for a phd. I would rather get some experience in the field and figure out what I really like. Out of all the possible career paths in chem e, R&D seems the most appealing to me. What's the best, least stressful way to get there?

Also, I really want to relocate. I've thought about going to california, texas, or new england. So far, Austin seems like a really good place to live. But I can't get any job offers from there if I live in Iowa. And if I move there in a leap of faith and come out empty handed, I'd be SOL. One thing I've though about is getting a Masters from UT-Austin, but that school is ridiculously competitive for chem e (It's top 10).

any advice?