Getting a job after college

[localflick]

Yeah, that is a good point. I do mostly front-end work, on html pages. Although i'm learning javascript, it's not enough to be effective with yet. I can do more back-end work with Flash and Actionscript. That is really the only language I list. I usually group html and css together with Dreamweaver and Frontpage since those seem to be the two most common editors these companies use. I'm becomming a fan of NVU, a free open-source html editor.
But yeah, I usually combine the scripting languages with the programs that go with them: html/css with Dreamweaver, Flash with Actionscript, and Director with Lingo. It saves space, and it took a little formatting, but it can be presented neatly with the grouping. I don't list JavaScript though, since I can understand it and alter it as long as a program generates it for me. I'm not familiar enough with the syntax to write any of it. Usually I just use it for drop-down menus and rollovers anyway.
That's one of the biggest problems with getting a job in this field. There are so many different skill sets, and my abilities are all over the place with them. Plus there's usually several ways to do any given task. I can make a decent JavaSript menu with Dreamweaver, or a killer menu with Flash. It's hard to know what to pitch without knowing each company's specific needs. You can't list all the software you know, or it'll end up as one of those eight page listings with audio editing, video editing, design, office, and other categories of software. It's easier to list off software suites, but your proficiency differs with each program in the suite usually. It's an odd problem.

[GhaleonOne]

I don't list JavaScript though, since I can understand it and alter it as long as a program generates it for me. I'm not familiar enough with the syntax to write any of it. Usually I just use it for drop-down menus and rollovers anyway.

List it anyways. I really don't know a great deal of the syntax, but can improvise well enough to make it worth it. I even list languages like .NET and ColdFusion that I don't know that well, but can at least say I have a basic proficiency in. It's not like you'll have a job that requires JavaScript only, and generally, if you say you know JavaScript, it's mostly for the things you mentioned (drop downs, rollovers, things you can quickly find code for on example websites then alter based on general programming knowledge).

Though really, your Flash experience should be really helpful. I've had recruiters call for two or three high-paying temporary jobs that were Flash Developers, but couldn't take them as I wasn't skilled enough in Flash (and knew I wouldn't be able to learn it fast enough to take the job). If you can do killer Flash stuff, push that emphasis, because lots of companies seem really interested in Flash-proficient folks. It's the one negative I really need to get down myself.

[localflick]

That's another reason I'm re-designing my site. I'm making a Flash version to go with the html one, because my current site has almost no Flash on it. Flash jobs do usually pay well, but updating a site can be a nightmare depending on how the original designer/developer set it up. It's another situation where there's several ways to do the same thing, and some people are accustomed to a certain method you might not be. It's also odd when they name objects as the default. That just sucks because you have to figure out what things like "Symbol 254" and "Tween 14" are. Sometimes just organizing it can take an hour or two. But starting from scratch is great. I try to set up comments and name things so someone else can understand what I did.
As for not knowing Flash, we all have stuff we wished we knew more about. I'd like to learn more php and asp myself. I guess that's why these companies want 3-5 years experience. We can go in with at least a basic/intermediate understanding of all these scripting languages.
And it is a good idea list the JavaScript, even though I don't know too much of it. I have snippets for nearly everything I need. I just alter the sizes, colors, and typefaces to fit the situation. For everything else I have one of those O'Reiley books with an animal on the cover as a reference.

[Kobalt]

I can completely sympathize with what your going through since right now I'm having a hard time trying to find worthwhile employment myself. Unlike your situation I don't even have a college degree to fall back on, with only a few years experience in the clerical/administrative field and also some voluteering experience to go with it. I was in school for a time however I was not able to come away with the degree. As far as your loan problem goes, I may have an idea. I know that this may sound strange but for ten months I was a full-time volunteer for an organization called "City Year", mentoring and tutoring kids, and one of the incentives of working their was that at the end of the ten month commitment they would give education awards, which could be used either for tuition payments or to pay off student loans, to whomever completed the program. The only real down sides is that their is an age limit which is ages 17-24 and it is a full-time commitment which means that you'll be working 40-45 hours a week and since it's a volunteer job the pay kind of sucks. Since you live in Chicago there should be a site near you. If you're interested I suggest looking into it, it may be worthwhile.

[Kizyr]

Don't listen to that nonsense.

Pick the field you want because you enjoy it. Not because it's the most lucrative. In the end, you'd rather have a job you enjoy that pays enough to get by than a job you hate that pays much more. KF

[PrettyGirlJean]

I'm sorry if this is a little off topic... but I've been seriously considering going back to college to major in Japanese and minor in asian studies. I really love the Japanese language and culture and it's something I really feel I want to do. However, my fiance always says it's a waste because "what are you going to do with that kind of degree? What is the purpose behind it?" Apparently, my love for it isn't good enough. I hadn't really thought TOO far ahead in regards to what I would do. I think it would be a lot of fun to be a translator of some sort. Whether it's in a company that has Japanese clients, or it's to work for a company that needs to translate Japanese literature.

I was going for an Art degree which I guess I should finish up instead of switching, but I feel (and maybe it's wrong) that it doesn't matter what degree I get, so long as I get one. I've heard that most people don't even work in the field that pertains to their degree anyhow.

I guess my question is, if I went for a degree in Japanese, what options career wise would I have?

Thanks!

[localflick]

if I went for a degree in Japanese, what options career wise would I have?

I'm sure there's plenty of full time translator work, but I know that there's many, many, websites (fansites mostly) that are looking to pay translators.

I want everyone to know that I actually had a full time job from about 2 days after the last post I made. The company I've been working with part time got a workload sufficient to have me at full. I also want people to know that getting work in this field has never been a problem. Finding a good company to work at full time is a pain in the neck though. I could freelance until the end of time if I wanted to, but I don't.

Also, I'm not going to repeat what Kizyr said, but I do support it 100%. I wake up excited and happy at the thought of work almost every day and I wouldn't want to have it any other way. The only downside is that I don't have enough time to work on my own site, but I'm not looking for a job so it's really not a big concern.

Thanks to all for your help and advice.

[Kizyr]

I guess my question is, if I went for a degree in Japanese, what options career wise would I have?

Thanks!

Seriously, seriously consider it before you go through with it. Most folks don't go all the way through, and it can be very difficult to find a job with something nebulous like a language major (e.g., what'd you expect of someone who majored in American English?). I'm not saying no, outright, but just that you want to look at all your options and be sure that this is what you want. Those who are sure of it can many times find jobs that they do, honestly, enjoy very much.

Beyond that, Japanese major =/= Japanese fluency. I likely speak a lot better Japanese than most of the folks from my university who chose that as a major. That, and translation is a different skill than just language compentency. So don't think that a degree is what'll give you the background to work with something like translation; it's something more than that.

That and I dunno why folks would willingly want to work in translation. I hate translating stuff, myself. KF

[Alunissage]

I also want to go back to school and study Japanese. And art. And computer science. And...you get the idea. Not because I anticipate a career in any of these, but because I'm interested in the subjects.

It does often seem to be the case that people end up working in fields other than what they majored in. I was a music and linguistics double major and I manage a computational biology lab. It's my long-abandoned CS major which has related most to my job, because I use vi to write my work log and update the lab website.

I can't help you with uses for a Japanese degree, but wanted to lend support to the notion that you don't have to want to learn solely as a career move. Something related may come from it, or it may not.

[GhaleonOne]

I also want people to know that getting work in this field has never been a problem. Finding a good company to work at full time is a pain in the neck though. I could freelance until the end of time if I wanted to, but I don't.

Agreed, but only depending on where you live. Don't you live in the Chicagoland area? I certainly didn't get close to that many opportunities freelancing around here. In fact, it was hard to just find someone to work on stuff for at times. Once you start looking past your local area though, finding companies to do contract work in this field for isn't hard.