Q: (Initially posted on February 10, 2003) FROM MENTEE CHRISTIE O. IN WA
I am interested photography and I now have an interest in the field of
technology, perhaps web design in particular. But I don't know what kind
of a career/job I could pursue in the field of technology, whereas I can
analyze, give opinions, and create a foundation for a website or whatnot.
If anyone can help give me a sense of direction of which job I might
enjoy doing and can do particularly well in, please let me know. Anything
will help. Thank you!

February 12, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR MARCELINA MARTINEZ IN NM
I believe you have a variety of opportunities available to you if you
pursue a career in photography in conjunction with web design. Lately I
have been speaking to people that have side businesses that could use a web
designer. Ironically, most recently, my office mate - who has a side
business in photography - is considering having his own web page. However,
he does not have the time or resources to learn everything there is to know
about web design and security (so that his photos are not pirated, copied,
etc.) so he would like to be able to hire a "free lance" web
designer. With your interest in photography, you could kill two birds with
one stone. If you understand less obvious details such as web page
security, you could support your own photography business full-time or a
variety of photography businesses and yours part-time. In addition, two
non-profit organizations that I am involved with both retain services from
web designers for their web sites. It appears to be a field that is quite
up and coming and that could offer a variety of experiences. If you're
designing for a few organizations, you're obviously going to be challenged
and learn a lot in the process. Many companies also hire full-time web
designers to create, update and maintain their web pages. I can't say that
there are any particular "science-based" university programs specifically
geared toward web design because I have always been under the impression
that web design goes hand in hand with such fields as education or
business. I believe it is a field that would be worthwhile to look into
and pursue if it is truly an interest of yours. If web-design curricula
that incorporate science do not exist, perhaps you could be a trail blazer
and present ideas to local universities to make it so?