Today at noon I'll be going to a local private school for a three-hour "Career Café." I get a free lunch, and then kids in grades 9 through 12 who are interested in finding out about graphic design as a career option will sit around a table with me and ask questions about the work I do and how I've gotten here. I'm excited to represent my profession and give them a real example of a workable life path.
But I also feel a little weird about potentially undermining the advice they're probably getting from their parents and guidance counsellors. "If you want to work from home, make your own hours, and rely on nothing but your own creativity and ability to communicate, the best thing is to drop out of school, find some friends who work at a design agency, and get them to teach you everything they know. Then get some jobs doing in-house design and quit the jobs once you've developed a dependence on your talents in the people who hired you. Voilà! Instant clients!" Makes me very grateful to think about all the random coincidences and sheer luck that have brought me to where I am now.
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3 comments:
True, Andrew. But it takes a long time to build up to where you are now. You worked for many other people before you headed out on your own. You have tons of experience!!
Yeah, that's pretty much what I ended up telling them, explaining the different aspects of the business I learned from each job I had. Plus I made sure to acknowledge that there are good design programs at schools around here, if they felt like planning their careers out a little more than I did.
Thanks, Anonymous!
Your welcome, Mum
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