Career Development

            Career development is a topic that is thoroughly close to my heart as I would very much prefer to have a career over simply a job like many others do.  Additionally in my line of work as a communication design major career development goes hand in hand with personal brand development, another major interest of mine.  Doctor Tao mentioned a plethora of valued and interesting options for career starting points and possible areas of advancement.  It was interesting to hear Tao’s point of view and information about the various means and methods of starting one’s career in comparison to the advice of the alumni a couple weeks previous.  I do wish Doctor Tao had touched more on internships, in particular some of the troubling stories I’ve heard from friends, colleagues, and mentors about the way internships can be used to farm talent as it were.  Though I’m sure there are any number of serviceable internships that serve to give you a foot in the door at a company I’ve heard a fair share of horror stories about unpaid internships that exist solely to get as much work out of students as humanly possible while giving them as little back as possible with no hiring at the end of the experience.  I personally am more inclined towards the freelance and self-sufficient approach to career development as it’s more compatible with my own goals and life template.  Options like developing my own games, doing freelance 3D modeling for clients, and case-by-case communications work strikes me as a preferable approach to developing my professional resume and personal brand than slaving a way at a permanent post if only because of the autonomy afforded you through freelancing and personal projects grants a greater chance for personal achievements and accomplishments.  To me that’s what a career is in essence, a collection of accomplishments that speak to your skills and capabilities.  I do of course recognize and acknowledge the risks of this approach and in particular the enhanced work demands of approaching a career from a more independent position but I feel the personal and professional gains far outweigh the risks.