Alumni Profile: Jeff
Exhibit designer
BFA in painting
When you first came to UIUC did you know for sure what you wanted to do as a major/career?
Yes.
How many majors/careers did you "go through" during your years here and how did you finally come to a choice?
My interests didn't change during years at UIUC. But job opportunities did afterwards. Artists don't get jobs, craftspople do.
What was one UIUC event, memory, person, class, that made a substantial difference in your career choices?
A few years after graduation fellow student/friend told me of a position open in a museum .
What was your first job after you earned your degree?
Catalog layout rendering and design.
How did you land your first career related job?
Word of mouth.
List all positions you have held since graduation up till now (including those not related to your major, i.e. waitress, temp, teacher, etc.). Please provide brief descriptions for clarity if necessary:
- Catalog designer
- House painter
- Museum preparator
- Museum exhibit carpenter
- Exhibit designer
- Exhibit consultant
- Writer / illustrator
What is your current occupation and how did you come to it?
Museum exhibit designer. Worked my way through the ranks after 10 years. My first job as a preparator was introduced to me by a friend / fellow student from UIUC.
If you changed career paths after school, did you make a conscious choice to make the change, was it forced on you or did it naturally evolve?
It naturally evolved as opportunities presented themselves.
What steps did you take in making the transition?
I moved to where the work was.
What advice would you give to an FAA student who might be interested in your current or past careers?
For museum work: volunteer, find an internship or start at the bottom at any entry level position you can find, just to get your foot in the door, your face seen, your work acknowledged, and in order to make inside contacts. The museum world is very insular. If you took further training in a museum studies program, you'd still have to start at the bottom somewhere.
What advice can you give an FAA student who is currently undecided about their future career?
Sorry to be corny, but as Joseph Campbell said, "Follow your bliss." Find the most mundane aspect of the thing you're happiest doing, and there's probably a job out there that will pay you to do that. Nobody pays for "idea-comer-upper-withers." They're a dime a dozen. They pay for your time and labor skills. I love creating mood altering, educational, interactive environments. 10% of my work is very creative, but the other 90% is the endless figuring out and drawing of detailed plans for every square inch of that environment on the computer. After 25 years it's still absorbing and entertaining—like playing a complicated video game.
Additional Comments?
Unless you want to continue in the education field, tout your practical skills on your résumé. Networking and personal contacts are the best way to get to where you want to go though. Be willing to do anything. Try anything once.