June 2008 Archives

Jeff Croft:

Forgive me if I sound harsh, but if your skill set is basically HTML and CSS, then I think you are worth maybe twelve bucks an hour. HTML and CSS are extremely simple languages anyone can learn in a weekend by picking up a good book or two. These are not particularly valuable skills. The same can be said for Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and just about any other piece of software or spec you can name.

So what is valuable? Judgement. Logic. Creativity. Ability to learn quickly. Ability to work under pressure. Experience. Empathy. Design theory. Design history. Opinions. Decisions. And so on. I’d like to think that a good 80% of what my employer pays me for is for these things. Hopefully only a small percentage of my salary is because I know CSS and Photoshop.

Andy Rutledge offers some great career advice.

If you’re a student aspiring toward a career in Web design, I think it would be prudent to reassess your current education or degree plan to ensure that you’re actually employable by the time you leave school. From my observations, the vast majority of students emerging from university, design school, and trade school lack fundamental skills and understanding necessary for the Web design professions (in all forms: experience design, interaction design, marketing design, communication design, information design, etc…).

Surely in large part this is the fault of our education institutions and the people who run them. These institutions are large, lumbering, and despite their liberal façade they generally have contempt for new ideas and information. So change occurs slowly in colleges and universities. There is good and bad that comes with this trait, but the result is that as professional requirements change—and they change rapidly in the constantly evolving eWorld—colleges and universities become less and less effective at preparing students for their careers.

Now more than ever, it is a student’s responsibility to craft his or her own career preparedness in addition to, even in spite of, the plans and curricula defined by schools.

I signed up as a potential source on HelpAReporter.com, a service that offers to pass queries from reporters on to people who might be able to help them. Here's a quote from the page that tells reporters how to use the service.

Welcome to the Journalist side of HelpAReporter.com. This site is very simple: Simply enter your query into the form below. It will get posted on the next mailing of HelpAReporter.com, usually within a few hours. (Queries go out a few times a day.) If you plan on using us as a resource, you may want to bookmark this page now.

Recent graduate Chris Ulicne and rising sophomore Lauren Miller were each featured in the latest issue of Forward (Seton Hill's alumni magazine... a PDF of the current issue should eventually appear on this page).

Rachel Prichard also gets a credit for contributing to the Campus News section.

Congratulations to all. Your accomplishments help show the world what Seton Hill University is doing right.

From the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. Are there any Setonian staff members who'd be interested in this?  I think we could manage the funding. I might even go, myself.

When: Aug. 18-22, 2008 Details: Basic training for entry-level editorial staffers and staffers-to-be. Speakers: Will include seasoned journalists and industry experts. Cost : TBD (Includes tuition, daily continental breakfast, daily lunch. Cost does not include lodging and some meals.) Registration: E-mail or call Bev Hendry, (717) 703-3003. Space is limited to 15 participants. Registration deadline is August 4.

Start Date: End Date: Monday, August 18 2008 Friday, August 22 2008 Address: PNA Headquarters 3899 North Front Street Harrisburg, PA 17110