Hi, Fiona and Fiona's mom - I followed a friend-of-a-friend link to this very cool project and have enjoyed reading about everyone else's jobs. Here's mine:
What your job title is, and what that means
My official title is "Non-Teaching Faculty: Communications Specialist - Digital Media." Which is a long way of saying I make Web sites for the <http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu">Oregon Sea Grant program at Oregon State University. We fund research about the oceans, and then teach people what our scientists have learned. Our small communications office (there are four of us) publishes books and brochures, produces videos, builds Web sites and does everything else we can to get the information out.
A description of a typical day
My days vary a lot, though most of them are spent sitting at a computer. I might be designing new Web sites, checking to make sure the links on the old ones still work, updating things, or taking on-line classes to keep my skills current (there's always something new to learn.) Some days I meet with Sea Grant researchers or Extension specialists to help them put together special projects such as this one (http://www.watershedweeks.org) or this one (http://www.heads-up.net/) or this one (http://oregonstate.edu/groups/marinemammal/). And three or four times a month I get to drive over to the Oregon Coast for meetings, which is always fun.
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
When I started building Web pages, I was working as our program's science writer, and I taught myself everything I knew from books and by looking at other people's sites. Since then I've taken lots of classes, some of them on line (http://www.hwg.org/) and some here at the university, because the technology changes so fast that you have to keep learning to keep up.
I have a lot of writing and art and design in my background, and all of those things helped.
Why you like it and (if you dare)
I like being part of an organization that's working to teach people about our fragile oceans and the creatures that live there. I like designing Web pages and figuring out what works and what doesn't, and why. I like having a third career that isn't anything like my first two (newspaper reporter and science writer). I like learning new things because it keeps my brain sharp.
Why you dislike it
Some days I have to be here even though I don't have anything to do. That's kind of boring. But mostly I love what I do.
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
Computers can crash, deadlines can get missed, and things can stop working for no obvious reason. But it's all pretty easy to fix, and nobody's life depends on it.
What kind of person thrives in your job
Someone who can work alone without a lot of supervision, who can meet deadlines, who likes figuring things out, and who has a good enough eye to recognize good design.
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
The neat thing about this career is that you can get some practice at it without taking a lot of classes or spending a lot of money. Building a Web page isn't hard - kids do it all the time. If you don't mind sitting at the computer for hours at a time, it can be a lot of fun.
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Date: 2003-04-24 04:12 pm (UTC)What your job title is, and what that means
My official title is "Non-Teaching Faculty: Communications Specialist - Digital Media." Which is a long way of saying I make Web sites for the <http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu">Oregon Sea Grant program at Oregon State University. We fund research about the oceans, and then teach people what our scientists have learned. Our small communications office (there are four of us) publishes books and brochures, produces videos, builds Web sites and does everything else we can to get the information out.
A description of a typical day
My days vary a lot, though most of them are spent sitting at a computer. I might be designing new Web sites, checking to make sure the links on the old ones still work, updating things, or taking on-line classes to keep my skills current (there's always something new to learn.) Some days I meet with Sea Grant researchers or Extension specialists to help them put together special projects such as this one (http://www.watershedweeks.org) or this one (http://www.heads-up.net/) or this one (http://oregonstate.edu/groups/marinemammal/). And three or four times a month I get to drive over to the Oregon Coast for meetings, which is always fun.
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
When I started building Web pages, I was working as our program's science writer, and I taught myself everything I knew from books and by looking at other people's sites. Since then I've taken lots of classes, some of them on line (http://www.hwg.org/) and some here at the university, because the technology changes so fast that you have to keep learning to keep up.
I have a lot of writing and art and design in my background, and all of those things helped.
Why you like it and (if you dare)
I like being part of an organization that's working to teach people about our fragile oceans and the creatures that live there. I like designing Web pages and figuring out what works and what doesn't, and why. I like having a third career that isn't anything like my first two (newspaper reporter and science writer). I like learning new things because it keeps my brain sharp.
Why you dislike it
Some days I have to be here even though I don't have anything to do. That's kind of boring. But mostly I love what I do.
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
Computers can crash, deadlines can get missed, and things can stop working for no obvious reason. But it's all pretty easy to fix, and nobody's life depends on it.
What kind of person thrives in your job
Someone who can work alone without a lot of supervision, who can meet deadlines, who likes figuring things out, and who has a good enough eye to recognize good design.
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
The neat thing about this career is that you can get some practice at it without taking a lot of classes or spending a lot of money. Building a Web page isn't hard - kids do it all the time. If you don't mind sitting at the computer for hours at a time, it can be a lot of fun.