sometimes

What is your background? What types of degrees, skills, experiences are necessary for this field?

I am very creative and learn software programs quickly. I attended classes at the community college.

How did you get started in this field?

I love to create! Whether it's cutting out construction paper and glueing on to another piece of construction paper to make a birthday card...painting....crocheting....sewing.
I worked as an assistant to a sales manager in the advertising industry and I loved to watch the graphic designers make the ads. I wished I could do that too, so I took some classes and whaallaa! I'm a graphic and web designer.

What college (if any) courses have been most helpful for your career?

Visual Basic class to help me learn how to program which also helped me program with HTML. I also learned how to use Photoshop and Flash from books.

What are your specific responsibilities?

Work with project mangers to create and design beautiful websites.

Describe a typical workday and workweek. What do you do during a typical day?

I work on many projects at once. Each project is in a different stage of development. As I'm waiting for feed back on a design, I start working on another design. It can get pretty crazy at times when I'm working on several projects at once, but it keeps me busy and keeps me from getting bored working on the same thing all the time.

Name 5-7 job skills that are needed for your job.

1. Organization and time management
2. Creativity
3. Good spelling and grammer skills
4. HTML programming skills
5. Graphic design skills (Photoshop, Illustrator)

Are you in a team-oriented position?

Yes

Do you have flextime? Vacation time? Work at home? Telecommute?

I work as a contractor so I don't have any vacation time. In my industry, I could telecommute, but this job does not allow us to do so. What is nice about being a contractor is that I get paid a little bit more (to make up for not getting sick days or vacation days), I don't have to work overtime and I can take days off when ever I want to with out much trouble. I also have the flexiblity to move from one company to another should I choose to.

How many hours per week are expected or warranted for peak performance?

I work 37-40 hours a week.

Are many evenings or weekends required for your job?

I never work evenings or weekends because I get paid by the hour and they don't want to pay me overtime.

How much travel is involved with a job in your field?

I don't have to travel at all.

Could you give me examples of projects that you are working on?

I'm designing websites for a cosmetic company.

Could you describe your work settings? Offices, machinery, resources etc.

I work on a PC and use a LAN connection as well as a modem at times. I have used a flat bed scanner as well as taken digital photography to create websites. I use a copy machine and a fax machine sometimes.

What personal qualities do you think are necessary for someone to be successful in this occupation?

I am creative, organized and easy to get along with others.

What is the major challenge you face at work?

Finding enough time to finish all my projects on time.

What aspects of your job do you find most rewarding? (Pros) Least rewarding? (Cons)

I love getting the recognition for a job well done.
Least rewarding is when I work hard on a design and no one likes it.

Are you confronted with difficult decisions or situations in your position?

Sometimes I am confronted with difficult decisions, but my boss usually handles most of the tough decisions.

Do you have a lot of interaction with a certain occupation? I.E. media, engineers, etc.

I have a lot of interaction with project managers.

What is the Female to Male Ratio in your position/field?

I would have to say 50:50 because I work for a cosmetic company. Other places I have worked the ratio was more like 20:80.

Describe the changes taking place in your field. Project future trends?

Design is just as important as the back end programming. If you can do both....you're even more valuable to the company.

What is the turnover rate like in your field?

Because I'm a contractor working in a high tech field, I have seen a higher turnover rate, especially because I worked for 2 failing dot-com companies.

Do you think women avoid technical careers? What do you think can be done to encourage girls to get more involved in the technology field?

Yes I do! I avoided a technical career when I started taking other classes in high school and eventually started working in a daycare center because I thought that's what women did.

Do you believe that women will be in more technical jobs in the future?

Yes I do! With the internet, many women can still stay at home to raise their children and work part time from home at the same time!

Do you have any advice for women and girls that are interested in going into the field?

Discover what you love to do and then figure out how to make money at it. I discovered that I loved to design and create web sites. My first web site was of my penny collection. I took all the photos and cleaned up the images and created all the graphics and programmed the HTML. It was a lot of fun especially when people from all over the United States started sending me emails because they saw my web site. I read alot of books, took classes and learned alot from trial and error.