Career Advice, Manga Style

1. There is no plan. "Playing it safe" or "keeping your options open," generally speaking, don't lead to advancement. Instead, decide what you really want now -- take a job because it's cool or interesting, not because you think it'll lead you somewhere. In the end, you'll probably end up somewhere better.
2. Think strengths, not weaknesses. Research shows successful folks don't worry about their weaknesses but capitalize on their strengths.
3. It's not about you. Your job is about serving others, not serving yourself.
4. Persistence trumps talent. Persistence and performance feed on each other, allowing for faster growth than talent alone.
5. Make excellent mistakes. Mistakes don't mean that you're a failure -- they mean that you've tried. You improve yourself by going out there and trying to succeed where others haven't.
6. Leave an imprint. Think about what you want to accomplish at the end of your lifetime, and start doing something about that now.

from "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need" by Daniel H. Pink.

Here's a trailer for the book:

U.S. News' Overrated Careers

According to U.S. News, the most overrated careers in 2008 are

Advertising executive
Architect
Attorney
Chef
Chiropractor
Clinical psychologist
Medical scientist
Nonprofit manager
Physician
Police officer
Real estate agent
Small-business owner
Teacher

The article discusses the upsides and downsides of each career choice, and best of all, offers an alternative career that may be a more suitable choice.

Find out more here.

Interview with an actress

Ms. Wu (no relation to me) is an actress living and working in New York City. She has appeared in films, commercials, plays, and TV shows like Law and Order.

Q1: Did you take any special classes to be an actor/actress?
A1: I went to college to study acting, and got my BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts).

Q2: How long does it take to memorize your lines?
A2: Depends on the script. Shakespeare is much easier to memorize because it has a meter, and often, a rhyme. Contemporary scripts with lot of words like: "um" and "like" and "so" are more difficult to memorize because the thoughts/speeches are more disjointed. Usually you pick up the lines by rehearsing over and over after about 2 weeks.

Q3: Did you act in school?
A3: Of course!

Q4: Do you get calls for different roles or do you send out letters?
A4: I have an agent who calls me for different roles

Q5: Do you have any suggestions for a good acting school or a school that can prepare you for acting?
A5: Go to college. The following schools have great undergraduate programs: SUNY Purchase, North Carolina School of the Arts, Carnegie Melon, Boston University, Cinncinatic Conservatory of Music, Northwestern, Juilliard, Rutgers.

Skip NYU (undergrad) and Columbia. These programs are not respected, and cost way too much, (NYU Graduate Acting program, however, is
highly respected, but I suspect you'll be too young to be thinking about your masters yet).

It is also a good idea to get a solid, regular undergraduate education and then pursue acting later---in your graduate degree. That way you'll have gained the life experience and maturity to really develop your characters and work on your craft in graduate school. Sometimes kids work on acting too soon---before they have enough life experience to understand characters/people/humans. Of course, for some, it is just innate.

Q6: What made you want to be an actor or actress?
A6: It is fun, it is creative, and it is rewarding. that is why I do it.

Career Advice

Professor John Krumboltz teaches at one of the nation's most prestigous universities, Stanford University. Here's his career advice, summarized from the article, "How People Choose Career Paths."

1) Think positively! Don't let a few obstacles or setbacks prevent you from pursuing a career. Scared of blood? Doesn't mean you can't be a doctor -- many doctors have overcome this fear quite easily.
2) Do a little research! Many people never decide what they want to do -- they simply end up with a job and stick with it. "A decision with such profound consequences deserves careful study," Krumboltz says.
3) Don't choose a career because you think it will earn you prestige or respect -- choose a career that will make you happy and successful. Lots of students want to be doctors, lawyers, or professors, but there are plenty of other rewarding and valuable careers.

Interview with a theatre actor

Mr. Dingman is a fellow Swarthmore alum and currently performing in the play, "Kill Me Like You Mean It." He's not only an actor, but also an improv comedian as well. Here's his responses to Chanel's questions about being an actor.

Q1: Did you take any special classes to be an actor/actress?
A1: Yes, I've taken classes in scene study, voice, and movement from a variety of different teachers. A lot of acting classes have similar names, but no two are the same.

Q2: How long does it take to memorize your lines?
A2: HOURS. I think I'm a bit slower at it than most, but I'd say I need about an hour per five pages of script.

Q3: Did you act in school?
A3: Yes, since 2nd grade. I then went on to major in theatre studies in college.

Q4: Do you get calls for different roles or do you send out letters?
A4: A little of both...once you send out enough letters, you hopefully start to get a small trickle of auditions, and then hopefully from there you get cast in something, and from all of this you meet people who sometimes call you. I find I have to try to keep up with both at the same time.

Q5: Do you have any suggestions for a good acting school or a school that can prepare you for acting?
A5: It depends on your interests of course, but I really appreciated the opportunity to study at a liberal arts school while I was majoring in theatre, because it gives you a perspective on your work, and allows you to cultivate interests for those times, which are all too frequent, when you're not getting to act. Once I got to New York, I started taking acting classes at a couple of studios around the city (Upright Citizens Brigade, which I don't really reccommend, and Studio Dante, which has been excellent). There are hundreds of these classes, and I think they're invaluable because they keep you sharp and connect you to other actors and teachers, which is the only really reliable way to know what's going on in the city. The advice you'll get casually in class is more valuable than anything I've ever read in a book.

Q6: What made you want to be an actor or actress?
A6: Watching Jim Carrey in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." I thought, "if this guy doesn't care what people think of him, then I shouldn't either." It's developed from there, of course, but I have to admit that was the thing that gave me the spark.

Being an Emergency Room Doc

Many of you have expressed an interest in becoming a doctor someday. But what does it take? And what is the job actually like? Dr. Shen, an old family friend of mine, is a physician working in a NYC emergency room. From the sound of it, he's got his hands full in the ER. Thankfully, though, he has graciously taken time out of his busy life to answer Victor's questions. Read on to see what he has to say...

Q1: What happens every day? What do you do?
A1: I see essentially anyone that makes his way into the Emergency room for whatever reason. This includes people who are itchy, are in pain, have been shot/stabbed, hit by a car, are giving birth, smelled something funny, have pus coming out of their arm, have diarrhea, are vomiting blood, want medications, hear voices, twist their ankle, are severely drunk, or are just visiting. My job is to figure out what's going as fast as I can without missing anything dangerous or life threatening and then to fix the problem either through medications, procedures, or referring to the appropriate specialist, like your heart doctor, or your surgeon for instance who might do something much more invasive like open heart surgery or removing your appendix. I don't do surgeries, but what I do include draining pus pockets, putting tubes down tracheas to help patients breath, and doing spinal taps.

Q2: If something goes wrong, what do you do?
A2: There are things that you can't predict happening, and you do the best you can. There are many other doctors working at the same time, many of which are specialists who can give their input as to what's going on if you ever have a question. If something goes wrong and you're responsible, you own up to it, and examine the case so problems like that don't happen in the future. Patients are very unpredictable and some even lie against their own better judgement.

Q3: Are you happy with what you do?
A3: Yes. It's very fulfulling at the end of the day. When you're in the midst of the madness in the Ed it's easy to lose sight of why you do what you do since you're stressed, tired, and frankly, people in emergency situations aren't the nicest folk. However, when all the dust settles, you yourself know what you've done and the good you've done for these people. Half of the patients you make a huge difference for and you can tell they're appreciative. Another quarter leave mad wondering why they spent so much time in the ED. These patients usually aren't that sick and have problems that I can't fix in one day. I don't feel bad that I couldn't fix them, it's just the nature of the disease or the human. The last quarter end up in the hospital, hopefully assured in some way that we the doctors know what's going on, but also somewhat apprehensive over the future course of the disease which may be dependent on the next several days of treatment or impending surgery.

Q4: Do you regret any decisions that you made as a doctor?
A4: I'm lucky since I'm still in training and none of the final decisions are on my shoulders; however, there are always decisions that are being made that you don't quite 100% agree with. In truth, it's very difficult to know what exactly is going on with many of the patients. You have limited resources and often limited information to make your decision and there will always be doubt. The trick is to make that doubt small enough by knowledge or tests so you can be reasonably assured that this person can go home safely.

Q5: What did you do to become a doctor?
A5: I went to college for 4 years, took a hard exam, went to medical school for 4 years, took more exams, and poof here I am. It's like jumping through hoops. You know exactly how high and how far the hoops are. The question you must ask yourself is if you are willing to put in the time and effort. Also, you have to decide if it is in fact what you want out of life / career. There a many ways to help people, many ways to make money, many ways to do good in the world -- becoming a doctor is a long journey, but a worthwhile one if you're doing it for the right reasons.

Thanks for your input, doc! Got a comment for Dr. Shen? Post them below! Want to hear from other professions? Write down your questions, post them, and I will see what I can do!

Career Day

A few weeks ago, Victor suggested that Mott Hall 3 hold a Career Day, inviting speakers to come in and talk about their jobs. While I think that's a fantastic idea, it may be a bit difficult to organize. So, instead, I thought that we could interview some of my friends via email, and post these responses on my blog. Luckily, I know a few people who probably wouldn't mind taking 10 minutes out of their day to answer a few questions for you all.

Off the top of my head, here are some careers I know people involved in: architect, author, banker, biologist, chemist, child advocate, computer engineer, consultant, dentist, drum instructor, economist, emergency medical technician, engineer, entrepreneur, graphic designer, journalist, lab technician, lawyer, medical doctor, nurse, performance artist, pharmacist, professional athlete, professional poker player, teacher, writing instructor.

If you're interested in another career, let me know and maybe we can find someone to talk to.

Choose a career that you're interested in. Do some research about it on the internet, and then come up with some questions you want to ask a person in this field. If you do a good job, I'll forward the email, and hopefully we'll see some interviews published on this blog in the next few weeks!