I just read this article in my local paper about job shadowing. I think it's a GREAT idea, especially in our industry cause, as you can find but just doing a search on this forum alone, youngsters who actually find a design job out of college are turned off within a year or so cause it's not what they thought. Nor do they know all the skills or have all the skills they thought they had coming from school. Even though this doesn't talk about design specifically it's still very telling!
Dream job could turn out to be nightmare
Before choosing a career, consider job shadowing or volunteering in that field, experts say.
By L.M. Sixel | The Houston Chronicle
Posted November 10, 2004
Lots of people choose the wrong career. They assume they'll like being a vet because they love animals. Or accounting will be fun because they enjoy math.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple.
Some animal lovers don't realize they'll probably end up running a small business and focused as much on payroll and liability insurance as sick animals.
Many would-be accountants may not realize the job requires a lot of repetition and routine work.
So before you invest a lot of time and money in going to school and picking up the skills you'll need, invest a bit of time and find out what a career entails.
Although there are books that discuss the pluses and minuses of dentistry -- good pay but few conversational opportunities -- or car repair -- also good money but requires contact with a certain share of irate customers who feel overcharged -- there's really no better way to investigate a career than by spending time with someone who does the kind of job you're interested in.
That way you can find out if it's a career that demands long hours, whether it pays well or whether there's lots of on-the-job pressure.
Steve Currall, associate professor of management at the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, is a big fan of career tryouts.
'You either decide more in favor of what you originally thought or you'll decide that's the last job you'd ever want to have,' Currall says.
'I think the experience also destroys some of the myths we have about jobs,' he adds. You can find out some of the real challenges along with the negative aspects of the job.
Someone who likes to play video games might think about a career as a computer programmer. But that requires a tremendous attention to detail, says Currall, and you wouldn't know that unless you spent time with someone who writes computer code.
Currall says he could have benefited himself if he had paid a little more attention when he chose his own career.
Even though he spent a lot of time in graduate school working closely with professors, he didn't find out until later how solitary the work was.
'I didn't grasp it until I really got into the career,' he says. 'A lot of the work is sitting at home at the computer. So for people who are more social, it's not fun to sit in front of the computer all day.'
Challenging coursework; unchallenging job
Cheryl Matherly figured she would go to law school and become a lawyer. But when she spent summers during college working for a law firm, she realized she didn't like the lawyers or the work.
It turned out they do a lot of research, they spend a lot of time preparing legal briefs and focus a lot on details.
'It wasn't very interesting to me,' Matherly recalls. 'I liked people contact.' She realized how much she liked working with fellow students at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque as the assistant residence hall director.
Today, Matherly is assistant dean of students and director of career services at Rice University, and she recommends students try career examination.
She finds that students who are studying engineering often enjoy the challenging coursework. But when they take an internship or spend time with a working engineer, they often report that they don't enjoy the job very much.
Sometimes, it's the culture that's the turnoff; other times the work is more focused on safety than creativity, she says.
So how can a student or midcareer changer find someone to shadow? To get the real story? Matherly suggests asking a family friend or contacting a professional association for ideas of people to contact. Sometimes, a school guidance counselor can help locate alumni.
For a longer-term experience, internships are an excellent way to try out a career, she says. Volunteering also is a good way to test a job before making a major commitment. Interested in working in the medical field? Volunteer at the local hospital.
She also recommends that students or midcareer changers conduct an 'informational interview' of someone with an interesting career.
Ask about the pros and cons of the job. Ask whether they like it. Ask how the job is expected to change.
Librarians, for example, don't work as much with books anymore as they work with databases, Matherly says. Learn where the field is going.
Matherly also says she has her students write a report after conducting an informational interview and describe what the work environment is like, whether people work in cubicles or private offices, how people dress and even how they address each other.
'Students have the leverage to do this,' she says. 'People are very inclined to help students out. They remember when they were in that boat.'
'I will become the most powerful Jedi ever!'
'I'm the damn designer, bitches!'
Check out my indie comic book!
www.assassinsguild.net/
Post Edited (defjoe) : 11/10/2004 5:49:16 PM GMT
Dream job could turn out to be nightmare
Before choosing a career, consider job shadowing or volunteering in that field, experts say.
By L.M. Sixel | The Houston Chronicle
Posted November 10, 2004
Lots of people choose the wrong career. They assume they'll like being a vet because they love animals. Or accounting will be fun because they enjoy math.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple.
Some animal lovers don't realize they'll probably end up running a small business and focused as much on payroll and liability insurance as sick animals.
Many would-be accountants may not realize the job requires a lot of repetition and routine work.
So before you invest a lot of time and money in going to school and picking up the skills you'll need, invest a bit of time and find out what a career entails.
Although there are books that discuss the pluses and minuses of dentistry -- good pay but few conversational opportunities -- or car repair -- also good money but requires contact with a certain share of irate customers who feel overcharged -- there's really no better way to investigate a career than by spending time with someone who does the kind of job you're interested in.
That way you can find out if it's a career that demands long hours, whether it pays well or whether there's lots of on-the-job pressure.
Steve Currall, associate professor of management at the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, is a big fan of career tryouts.
'You either decide more in favor of what you originally thought or you'll decide that's the last job you'd ever want to have,' Currall says.
'I think the experience also destroys some of the myths we have about jobs,' he adds. You can find out some of the real challenges along with the negative aspects of the job.
Someone who likes to play video games might think about a career as a computer programmer. But that requires a tremendous attention to detail, says Currall, and you wouldn't know that unless you spent time with someone who writes computer code.
Currall says he could have benefited himself if he had paid a little more attention when he chose his own career.
Even though he spent a lot of time in graduate school working closely with professors, he didn't find out until later how solitary the work was.
'I didn't grasp it until I really got into the career,' he says. 'A lot of the work is sitting at home at the computer. So for people who are more social, it's not fun to sit in front of the computer all day.'
Challenging coursework; unchallenging job
Cheryl Matherly figured she would go to law school and become a lawyer. But when she spent summers during college working for a law firm, she realized she didn't like the lawyers or the work.
It turned out they do a lot of research, they spend a lot of time preparing legal briefs and focus a lot on details.
'It wasn't very interesting to me,' Matherly recalls. 'I liked people contact.' She realized how much she liked working with fellow students at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque as the assistant residence hall director.
Today, Matherly is assistant dean of students and director of career services at Rice University, and she recommends students try career examination.
She finds that students who are studying engineering often enjoy the challenging coursework. But when they take an internship or spend time with a working engineer, they often report that they don't enjoy the job very much.
Sometimes, it's the culture that's the turnoff; other times the work is more focused on safety than creativity, she says.
So how can a student or midcareer changer find someone to shadow? To get the real story? Matherly suggests asking a family friend or contacting a professional association for ideas of people to contact. Sometimes, a school guidance counselor can help locate alumni.
For a longer-term experience, internships are an excellent way to try out a career, she says. Volunteering also is a good way to test a job before making a major commitment. Interested in working in the medical field? Volunteer at the local hospital.
She also recommends that students or midcareer changers conduct an 'informational interview' of someone with an interesting career.
Ask about the pros and cons of the job. Ask whether they like it. Ask how the job is expected to change.
Librarians, for example, don't work as much with books anymore as they work with databases, Matherly says. Learn where the field is going.
Matherly also says she has her students write a report after conducting an informational interview and describe what the work environment is like, whether people work in cubicles or private offices, how people dress and even how they address each other.
'Students have the leverage to do this,' she says. 'People are very inclined to help students out. They remember when they were in that boat.'
'I will become the most powerful Jedi ever!'
'I'm the damn designer, bitches!'
Check out my indie comic book!
www.assassinsguild.net/
Post Edited (defjoe) : 11/10/2004 5:49:16 PM GMT
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