After graduating from the University of Utah, Anderson worked at several jobs. He built buck fences at a ranch in Wyoming, tended bar in Salt Lake City, drove a cab, waited tables at a restaurant, worked at a methadone clinic, typed trucking bills, and worked in construction. He started graduate school in Philosophy at the University of Utah, then traveled to Europe and lived and worked for a few months in Freiburg, Germany before returning to the United States to attend law school.