AFSNews Careers Column August 1995

Careers

Most of us, as we anticipate conducting a job search, experience quite a bit of anxiety. The stress of not knowing how we will be able to pay our bills can be intense, and it is heightened by our uncertainty about where we will be living and what we will be doing. Some of us have the added pressure of "dissertating" at the same time that we must look for work. It can seem overwhelming at times.

An added source of stress for some of us is our mentors' insistence that we not "sell out"--that we must find "real" jobs as university faculty members. Fortunately, in recent years, this narrow vision has broadened to include public-sector folklore. Unfortunately, it often does not include other types of employment. Almost all of us have heard faculty members bemoan the "loss" of promising students who took jobs as something other than folklorists.

It is unlikely that there will ever be enough teaching positions for all folklorists. Fortunately, we do not all share the goal of becoming faculty members. What we do share, I believe, is an identity as educators, regardless of the venues in which we practice our craft. And the skills that folklorists share are not merely marketable; they are in demand! (See June 1994 AFSN, p. 16.)

Our mentors and colleagues can help relieve some of the anxiety that we face by supporting us in our job searches and in our choices. They can help us identify ways in which to apply our education in new settings, to use our skills in ways that we find both enjoyable and profitable.

In future columns, we will hear from folklorists whose jobs are anything but "traditional." Perhaps their stories will inspire you as you explore your own options.

Another note: The World Wide Web is a rapidly developing segment of the Internet that use "hypermedia"--that is, a combination of text, photographs, other still images, video, and sound. Text and images can be "linked" to other files. By clicking a mouse button on a highlighted term, you will get more information on that topic. To explore the Web (WWW or W3), you will need a "browser" like Lynx (which accesses text only), Mosaic, or Netscape.

Once you have access, visit the pages I have set up for career planning and development at Ball State University. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for the starting point is http://bsuvc.bsu.edu/~d002career/resume.html. These pages cover resume development, self-assessment, interviewing, and many other topics in great detail. After you have explored them, send me your comments.

Another WWW resource that you may find helpful is Margaret Riley's "Employment Opportunities and Job Resources on the Internet." The URL is http://www.wpi.edu/~mfriley.

If you have suggestions for future columns, please contact me at Career Services, Lucina Hall, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306 (tel: 765/285-2430; fax: 765/285-3757; e-mail: 00jpgoodwin@bsuvc.bsu.edu).

Joseph P. Goodwin Ball State University