What do you do for a living?

I create online courses.

How would you describe what you do?

It’s part instructional design, part learning theory and cognitive science, part graphic design, part game design, part screenwriting, part movie making. I have a background in special education and graphic design, plus I’m an artist in traditional media, so all of those things come together. Also, I LOVE computers and technology of all kinds.

What does your work entail?

You have to know how to write learning objectives and assess for them. It’s not enough to give out information. Teaching is about knowing how to prove your learner learned what you came to teach. Then you have to work with subject matter experts. I work in industry teaching highly technical topics so I need to rely on these engineer types who have all sorts of complicated, arcane knowledge inside their heads. It’s my job to extract that and translate it into something a newbie can understand and learn from. You have to really know learning theory, especially adult learning theory. Interpersonal skills are pretty important. After you have your content, it’s time to design the course.

You ALWAYS make the assessment first. You write the test, create the final assignment, design the final project. Whatever that last big thing you’re going to test the learner on is, you have to create that first. Then, you build a series of learning activities that will help the student learn and practice what they need to be able to succeed at that final assessment. Your learning activities should build up to what the student has to produce.

That can be everything from audio/video presentations, games, interactive exercises, short quizzes, assignments, all kinds of things. I have to know a wide range of production media. If you work in an educational setting, like I used to, you also to have make all your materials ADA compliant, so you need to know how to caption and use the accessibility programming for web design. I work from a script so I have to write that once I have the assessment figured out. I also do my own voice overs so I narrate everything myself.

What does a typical workweek look like?

I usually have a few projects going all the time. One big major course I’m working on and then usually a few side things, like an instructor for an in-person class wants a video or someone in marketing needs to repurpose a flash thing you made. A lot of times, because of my art and graphics background, I do little quickie projects for people on the side. Finally, there’s a whole steering and planning thing. I document my work process very carefully because the technology I use to create learning materials is always expanding and changing. I’m always trying to get things done faster and with less effort. That means improving every production cycle and tracking things like the hours you spend creating animations or a game or just custom graphics.

How did you get started?

I was working in special education training adults with disabilities for jobs. I bought a computer and immediately became obsessed. I went on to get a job in graphic design, teaching myself most of the programs out there in the early 90′s. I missed teaching and went back to that but a friend told me to sit in on his instructional technology class at the state college in our town. I went and I realized that here was something I could go to graduate school to learn.

So I enrolled and took 2-4 classes and worked full time. In 2006 I got my MA and then a job at the community college teaching faculty how to do their online classes, from the technology to the delivery. There were a bunch of budget cuts and I knew I was going to be bumped by people in more senior positions so I looked for work. I found a position in industry creating online classes for a company that sells highly complex technical testing equipment that the customers have to be trained to use. That’s where I work now. We are building a state-of-the-art customer training portal.

What do you like about what you do?

I get to learn about almost anything. I have unlimited job potential. The world of eLearning is EXPLODING. I plan to go into business for myself eventually, once I’ve built what I want to at my current company. So it’s just all excitement and newness. I get to use my artistic talents, my writing ability and I get to use really fun software all the time. My last two fun classes I took were video editing and sound design. Our online materials have upgraded a whole level in production values and it doesn’t even feel like work to me.

What do you dislike?

Subject matter experts are often not very savvy about how people learn. They really believe that everything they know is self-evident and they often say people are stupid because most others don’t have the depth of knowledge that they do. It’s a kind of blind, not really mean, arrogance that I have to overcome in order to get them to explain things to me in a way that new learners can use.

How do you make money/how are you compensated?

Salary.

How much money do you make as an eLearning developer?

6 figures

How much money do you make starting out?

$60,000 in community college, but industry pays a lot more, although they expect a lot more and they give you much better tools to work with.

What education or skills are needed to become an eLearning devoloper?

I wouldn’t try this job without a lot of technical savvy for authoring software and a strong background in instructional design and educational theory. For that I would say a Master’s Degree is important. There are a lot of people who are experts at a topic, become trainers and then are asked to develop online materials. I find it’s like graphic design. You may have the machine, but if you’re not an artist, it won’t be that great. Same with teaching. You may have the ability to create a powerpoint presentation but that doesn’t mean you can teach.

What is most rewarding about this job?

Knowing that I can help people 24-7 to do their jobs better. Also knowing that when someone opens MY elearning course they will be pleasantly surprised. It’s going to be nice to look at, have a variety of learning experiences, and give them something to do. At the end they will know they have learned something. I have great confidence about that.

What is most challenging?

Getting the timelines shorter and shorter. Sometimes I have to give up doing an animation or having a great character walk around in the training and tell you stuff because there isn’t time. Also, being all on my own is sometimes really hard. There’s no one to bounce ideas off of. Most elearning developers are a one-person show so when I go to conference we kibitz about that a little.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Take online trainings, figure out what’s broken about them and how you would make it better. If you know that, then you have the start. Go get a master’s degree in instructional technology or instructional systems design. Join professional organizations. Make elearning even if you’re not working in a job yet. Everyone has something they can teach others. How much time off do you get/take? 2-3 weeks a year plus holidays

What’s a common misconception people have about what you do?

That it’s boring and that all I do is create graphics for people to put into powerpoint and drone over.

What are your goals and dreams for the future?

I am going to establish myself as a thought leader in this industry. After 17 years in special education I have some very definite ideas about online instruction can heal and repair the education gaps and problems in our world. I’m going to build a really tall soapbox and stand up on it and tell everyone what I think.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

There is no competition between online learning and face to face learning. They are different ways of teaching and learning and they do different things. Both systems are here to stay and all learners benefit from both.

What do you do for a living?

I am a Executive Assistant / Event Coordinator.

How would you describe what you do?

Simply put, I am an Internal Customer Service Rep.

What does your work entail as an executive assistant?

I provided advanced assistance to a department by performing various complex administrative support functions, including but not limited to, analytical and specialized administrative duties to ensure efficient office operations.

I performed advanced word processing and desktop publishing to include complex presentations, reports, spreadsheets and graphs; transcribe information of a technical, confidential and/or sensitive nature.

What does a typical workweek look like?

I took meeting and/or conference call minutes. Draft, review and/or edit written material to ensure accuracy, neatness, correct punctuation and grammar; recommend changes to improve readability and clarity.

I also coordinated, assist in planning, prepare agenda and monitor meetings; maintain calendar(s) and travel requests, handled highly confidential, sensitive and/or critical information, files, records and reports, and actively promoted and ensured clear communication within the department and facilitate inter-departmental communications.

Because I usually support 3-5 Executives and their direct reports (another 100 people or so), my workweek changes constantly. An Executive Assistant must remain flexible in her responsibilities in order to accommodate her department.

How did you get started?

Well I grew up in a very “dramatic” family. Learning how to communicate effectively was a must or else you would not be heard! I was a good public speaker and was able to present myself in a professional manner.

My first real job in high school was working in a Pharmacy as a tech. All of my friends were graduating from high school and going off to university somewhere. Even though I had the grades, my parents could not afford to send me to college, so I understood early on, I would have to work very hard and learn as much as I could in whatever job I was at. So when I worked at the pharmacy, I studied the Pharmacist and learned about pharmacy practices, medications, and insurance billing. When I worked for an Attorneys office, I learned about the law. I used the jobs I had as a means of training/educating myself. Taking what I had learned and building on it.

What do you like about what you do?

Because I usually support a President, CEO, or Vice-President it is sometimes required for me to travel with the executive. I have traveled all over the US and visited some very lovely cities.

What do you dislike?

After a while the very thing I loved became the very thing I disliked. . .traveling so much of the time and being away from my family.

How do you make money/how are you compensated?

An Executive Assistant is really one of the only careers where you don’t need a degree (although it helps) to become successful or make a pretty good living. I have a colleague who lives on the east coast in Washington, DC and she is a full-time, perm employee Executive Assistant at a pharmaceutical company. She makes over $100,000 a year plus stock options and a bonus!

Another direction is to consult with a consultant company. These companies are not recruiters/Temp Agencies, you become an independent consultant/employee of the company. Although there is usually no medical benefits or bonuses or stock options, they usually pay a more than fair hourly wage. Anywhere between 17.00 – 30.00 dollars per hour depending on what city you live in and the type of company you are assigned to work at.

Temp agencies are always an option. They usually have you come in and register with them. They will test you on your skill level, typing speed, programs, ect. After that you have to just wait by the phone for them to call you with an assignment.

How much money do you make as an executive assistant?

$70,000 + benefits in 2010

How much money do you make starting out?

I started out making an hourly wage of $14.00 in 1990.

What education or skills are needed to become an executive assistant?

A degree is always the most preferred, but it is not a REQUIREMENT. Knowing how to type and staying up-to-date on the latest office programs and information technologies are a must.

What is most rewarding about this job?

Organizing and coordinating a large meeting where information or ideas are being exchanged.

What is most challenging?

The most challenging part of being and EA is working with some many different personalities.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

If this is what you want to do, then go for it! Just remember you are an “INTERNAL CUSTOMER SERVICE REP” and we all know the customer is always right. Stay flexible, open, and available to everyone. Eventually when someone has a question or needs help they will come to you.

How much time off do you get/take?

It depends, I would adjust my schedule, doctors appointment, school conferences, and vacations around my Executives schedule so I was in the office when he was.

What’s a common misconception people have about what you do?

I think a common misconception people have is that being an EA is boring and we are stuck in an office all day.

In 1998 I worked for a government program that helped develop innovative ideas or technologies for the military. The DoD would invite small businesses with an innovative idea or technology to submit a proposal. If the idea or technology was accepted, they would be funded from research & development through commercialization. One of the technologies that was funded and developed was “real-time” technologies. This is the live streaming video media that is pretty common now, but in 1999 it was new cutting edge technology.

In 2003 Navy Seals / Special Ops used this technology to record the rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch.

I can’t help but feel a little proud of my small contribution.

What are your goals and dreams for the future?

Eventually, I would like to own my own independent consultant business and create a network of corporate professionals.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

Most people think I run around getting coffee and lunch for my executive. . .and I do sometimes but it’s not the only thing I do.

A really good Executive Assistant can do her bosses job too!

lol I’m just saying. . .

By Erin R. Robertson our contest winner and U of A journalism student

“A priest, a lawyer and a banker all walk into a bar…”

And so the gag begins.

Although they are often combined in such jokes, the roles of a loan officer and a minister, at first blush, could not be more contrasting. One crunches numbers in a business environment, while the other studies theology and devotes spare time to community service.

Yet, both careers are connected by the simple and invaluable maintenance of interpersonal relationships.

“[Relationships are] absolutely crucial,” Kevin Robertson, senior vice president of the First National Bank of Green Forest, said. “All banks are the same – every bank has the same kind of services and offers the same sorts of things, and the only difference in banks is your ability to establish and maintain a relationship with a customer.”

In his 29 years in banking, Robertson has seen many changes in technology and economic tactics, but nothing has remained as integral to his business as his client relations.

“We had a period of time…up until a couple of years ago where it was pretty easy to be a banker: everything worked, it was prosperous, about everything that everybody tried made money, and then that stopped and it was just the opposite. Nothing worked, everybody was in trouble, nobody wanted to borrow money, a lot of people couldn’t repay the money they borrowed,” Robertson reminisced. “But we didn’t have any control over that, so part of the challenge of being involved in the operation and management of a bank is making sure a bank is positioned for those inevitable times…when things aren’t going to be as prosperous.”

That includes taking care of clients and fostering trust, traits especially crucial in times of financial struggle.

“I enjoy working with people and helping people achieve success and being able to give them help in difficult times,” Robertson said of the rewards of his job. “It’s always good to see people that are able to benefit from financial assistance and take a business and make it successful, or take a farm and make it successful, or be able to get out of a crisis – it’s very rewarding.”

Mike Armstrong, pastor of the Rockhouse church and director of campus ministries for Christ on Campus at the University of Arkansas, echoed Robertson’s sentiments.

“There are the personal compensations, the spiritual blessings, the sense of reward that comes from being involved in the lives of people,” Armstrong said of the benefits to his job.

Among his many responsibilities, Armstrong highlighted simple duties in relationship building as some of the most important.

“A lot of [what I do] is just investing in the lives of students. There’s some teaching involved, but a lot of it is just life-on-life mentoring, talking, helping students to think about their lives, their goals, their careers, the direction their future is and how God is involved in those things.”

In many ways, the job of a pastor directly mirrors that of a banker: as a consultant, confessor and advisor. Although many details between the two careers are absent, the core motivation behind what Armstrong and Robertson do is straightforward – care about people.

It is the very least we all can do, all jokes aside.

What do you do for a living?

I’m the county tax collector.

How would you describe what you do?

My job is to collect ad valorem taxes on real estate and personal property. And ad valorem means a percentage of a value. The value comes from the assessor. She gives me a value, I put the millage rate against it, and I collect that amount on real estate and on personal property and on business.

What does your work entail?

I’m responsible for this office and two satellites offices. My job entails personnel issues, time issues, I also go to associational meetings. Right now, we’re putting in a new computer software system which is taking up a whole lot of our time.

[the misconception is] that we’re a little bit ruthless…we’re not necessarily ruthless, we want to call it consistent. I treat everybody alike: rich, poor, whatever. I’m here to serve the people of this county…I just do my job here. I come to work and go home like everybody else.

My number one job is to make sure that we’re collecting taxes and collecting the right amount, and then we disburse it. I have to make sure the taxes were collected at the correct millage rate for the right schools, and for each school district, and the city and county. Eighty percent of the funds goes to schools, ten percent goes to cities, and about ten percent goes to the counties.

How did you get started?

I began on the quorum court. I was on the quorum court for 8 years when this job kind of opened and I had to make a decision.

The quorum court was taking so much of my time I had to either get in or get out of politics. I enjoyed county government, and this job came open, so I ran for the position and got it 6-1/2 years ago.

What do you like about what you do?

I like working with county government. It is really unique, you meet a lot of statewide officials, we all do the same things because state government is just a collection of what the county government does. It’s really unique. I guess one of my big jobs is you deal with the odd things that come along, and it’s these problems that come along that challenge you most. We deal with bankruptcies and we deal with delinquent people that won’t pay. We also use the county attorney. He will file liens against these people, and we can have personal property sales to get the taxes paid. We can also sell businesses if someone is delinquent, but everyone usually pays so we haven’t had any real sales yet.

What do you dislike about being a tax collector?

Sometimes you find people with hardship cases, like poor little ladies on fixed incomes come in and say, My taxes have went up. How am I going to pay for it? . You hate to hear these stories and they’re heart-wrenching a lot of times. You’ll hear, My husband died and I didn’t know if the land is going to be sold at auction, and they’re trying to come up with money and ask Can I please just wait?. And I’m in a position where I have to work by the law. Which I’m glad, I’m kind of glad that I got a law that I have to work with and that’s the final determining factor. So, even though my heart goes out to these people, and it tears you up sometimes, but you have to go ahead and send those to the cases to the State. We do work with businesses who can’t pay and we will set up a payment plan for them. And as they pay off their delinquents and catch up and are current, we will give them their clearance. And they may not be fully paid up, but as long as we’ve set up an agreement, which is a signed notarized agreement and they make these payments, then we’d work with them and then they’d catch up over a period of hopefully around one year. Some of them may have to go beyond that. But we try and work with people to get paid up.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I’m on a salary.

How much money do you make as a tax collector?

It is now somewhere in the neighborhood of 70,000 a year.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

It doesn’t require necessarily a college education. I don’t have a college education, but I had a background in business when I went into the quorum court. To do it nowadays you really just need some computer skills.

What is most challenging about what you do?

The challenging thing about this job is trying to get information from the assessor and getting all the information the right time of the year. There’s always hold ups, there’s always lawsuits, there’s always things that have be taken care of quickly. Because we get real busy at certain times in the year.

What is most rewarding?

To me it’s very rewarding that we can handle so many people that will pay the last week of the year, and most people are coming in here later and later, closer to the last day to pay October 10th. So the fact that I’m responsible for having a system and personnel that can handle that high volume is very rewarding.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

You need to know Excel, Word, and Access, and just be familiar with your computer in general. You need to really work in some area of bookkeeping or accounting, because that’s what we are, bookkeepers for the county. We keep records. We collect money. It would be good to either work in the office or work in county government. It also helps having experience dealing with personnel issues. I’m constantly having to hire and replace people, so knowing how to hire good people is very important.

How much time off do you get/take?

I’ve seminars and schools that I’m constantly attending, but as far as personal time it’s usually around two weeks per year.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

That we’re a little bit ruthless. But we’re not necessarily ruthless, we want to call it consistent. I treat everybody alike: rich, poor, whatever. I’m here to serve the people of this county. And some people are a little bit, you know, I got to go to see the tax collector. I go to church and he’s the mean old tax collector, whatever. It’s kind of a misconception and I just do my job here. I come to work and go home like everybody else.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

My goal is very simple. I’m right now putting in a new software system. I’m trying to get everything on the computer. My goals would be that you can go online and see the delinquent taxes that’s another way of encouraging people to pay delinquent taxes, be putting their names online. I think I’m looking for being here another six, eight years, and then retire.