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RESUMES
Charting a Smart Path
A new guide from the College Board helps those
who don't know what job to look for
When a biology major becomes a medi-
cal student or an education major
becomes a teacher, it doesn't take
clairvoyance to chart their career paths.
But in her new book, "College to Career"
(260 pages. The College Board. $9.95), Joyce
Slayton Mitchell points out that more than
half of all college graduates enter careers
that are unrelated to their majors. How do
they know what opportunities to pursue?
"CollegetoCareer" helpsdevelopamind-
set that should keep you sufficiently nimble
to move in and out ofseveral careers during
your working life. For starters, the book
describes more than 100 jobs in 14 career
groups, from the arts to technology. A
15th group covers "a dozen odd jobs" that
defy classification: adventure-tour opera-,
tor, concert promoter and intelligence offi-
cer, among others.
Job descriptions begin with helpful
anecdotes about people still in the first
five years of their careers. They also list
the requisite educational, technological
and personal skills. "All you need to be a
concert promoter is a telephone, a state
entertainment license and a gift of gab,"
says Mitchell. Listings cite the estimated
number of people working in each ca-
reer-including the number of women
and blacks-and the average salaries and
primary geographic locations of specific
jobs. A helpful "related careers" para-
graph following each job category gives
suggestions for other careers that employ
similar skills. Each listing concludes with
the addresses of trade and professional
groups. And to keep expectations realistic,
Mitchell-a former teacher and school
counselor who now heads the Women's
Center at Jersey City State College-in-
cludes Department of Labor forecasts on
trends in the economy.
CONNIE LESLIE
NAME: Paul Talley
AGE: 26
OCCUPATION: Staff pho-
tographer, Southern
Methodist Universi-
ty, Dallas; free lance
EDUCATION: B.S., East
Texas State Uni-
versity, photog-
raphy major
HONORS: 1986 Council
for the Advance-
ment and Support of Education
(CASE) photographer of
the year
Q: How did college best prepare you for
your work?
A: During the summers I
worked for as many different ad-
vertising photographers as I
could. It was a big education,
more so than some of my
classes.
Q: What were you least prepared for?
A: The business side of photogra-
phy. One thing they can't teach
you in school is how to bid on
jobs and price yourself.
Q: Have you reached the top of your
profession?
A: No. And I don't know it all. In
photography, once you think you
know everything, some shot or
lighting condition comes along
that makes you think you don't
even know the basics.
Q: What advice can you offer students
interested in photography careers?
A: You have to understand that
there aren't as many photogra-
phers out there as you may
think making salaries in six fig-
ures. Assist as many photogra-
phers as you can. Learn every-
thing they are doing and ask a
lot of questions. Join organiza-
tions. The American Society of
Magazine Photographers is ex-
tremely helpful to students who
are working as assistants. They
can help you promote yourself
and get jobs and understand the
field. Also, when you are taking
photo classes, understand that
that is only one in a million
ways of doing things. Once
you have technique, don't ever
stop looking at things for the sub-
jects they are and the way light
hits them.
Samples from Talley's award-
winning portfolio (left)
Look closely at the funnies. Just to
the left of "Peanuts," where hap-
piness still is a warm puppy, you
see a Gary Larson beach scene:
two alligators lie on their backs after
eating, as one says contentedly,
"That was incredible. No fur, claws,
horns, antlers or nothin' .. .
Just soft and pink." Or open up
The New Yorker, where
you've skimmed the same basic
cocktail-party cartoon a thou-
sand times, and behold Roz
Chast's tiny triptych labeled
"The Three Certainties": un-
der the word "death" is a tiny
skull and crossbones, under the
word "taxes" is a tiny check to
the IRS and under the word
"Bobo" is a tiny clown. No
matter where you turn right
now in the cartoon universe,
you can find something strange
happening-work that is fun-
ny, yes, but ina profoundly off-
beat way.
Meet the new wave of idio-
syncratic cartoonists. Some
carry on comic traditions but
add a dash of weirdness, like
Berke Breathed, who can be
simultaneously hip and senti-
mental in his strip "Bloom
County" (page 12). Other top
cartoons wax downright bi-
zarre; Larson's "The Far Side"
(page 17) often renders humor
from the gruesome and
grotesque.
Cartooning away in the
magazine world, meanwhile,
are Chast with her quirky
minimalism (page 18) and Lyn-
da Barry with her rococo ex-
pressionism in Esquire's "Mod-
ern Romance" (page 18).
Alternative newspapers, as al-
ways, feature a number of
brave new talents. Matt Groen-
log (page 19)brings a stand-
up-comedy sensibility to his
"Life in Hell" strip, while
Barry works even closer to the
cutting edge in her strip, "Er-
nie Pook's Comeek." And, from
a nonjournalistic medium,
there's Ken Brown (page 19),
who makes fun of contempo-
rary icons in postcards.
Dr. Seuss: Certainly, these
cartoonists for our times have
benefited from the break-
throughs of others. If Garry
Trudeau hadn't fought to
get-and keep-his forthright
political opinions on the com-
ics page, "Bloom County"
might never have had a
chance. And artistically, these
innovators credit, among oth-
ers, B. Kliban, Walt Kelly, Ga-
han Wilson and Dr. Seuss.
But unlike some of their
predecessors, this offbeat
bunch has gained relatively
wide exposure. Inspired by
best-selling cartoon collec-
tions, book publishers are will-
ing to take a chance on artists
like Groening and Barry. And
then there's the power of mer-
chandising. Ken Brown may
not stamp his images on thou-
sands of products, but he does
hawk enough merchandise to
justify his own mail-order
catalog.
Look closely at these car-
toonists. You'll laugh, certain-
ly, but there's more. These
artists have more to tell you
than a joke. "I believe," says
Lynda Barry, "that when some-
one is laughing, they're open
to new ideas." Whether it's an
unsettling Everyrabbit mak-
ing fun of our day-to-day foibles
or a young boy whose anxi-
eties are so real they overflow a
closet, these folks can make us
think and feel and wince. We
laugh-and learn.
RON GIVENS
OCTOBER 1986