Working at AG...

[kitandkat]

What kind of major would you guys recommend if I wanted to work at AG? So far, I was planning on doing Creative Writing, and then eventually getting my master's in education. If I don't get my dream job of working at AG Magazine or as an editor for a book publisher then I can always be a teacher.

I emailed AG about this, and all they said was something about you have a long way to go, keep enjoying the dolls and magazine. It was a really stupid response. I'm no good at art, so that nixed graphic design and... fashion merchandising? Is that the people who set up the dolls? I don't think I would want to design doll fashions or anything. As I said before, I can't draw, and I'm a lot better at writing or history.

What about the people who research the time periods? Maybe I could minor in history, so I could write historical fiction books like I've always wanted to. Just looking for some ideas... I also want to work at an AGP one summer just for the discount [img]biggrin.gif[/img] .

[Bean Bunny]

Um ... depends. What do you want to do? I'm sure writers write the books, and market research people or people who majored in textiles design the clothes ...

Do you live close to an AGP? Maybe you could visit/call one.

[Patti7106]

I met a lady who used to live in Michigan, I think, and worked in the production of the dolls, sewing and stuff. She knows a lot of the old history of AG dolls. She quit several years ago and moved to Montana where she has a store that sells dolly stuff as well as touristy type items. You don't have to be good at design to be a professional seamstress, just be able to follow directions and good hand-eye coordination, stuff like that. I've sewn professionally and seen newbies to sewing catch right on.

[Kenshinchan]

I can tell you that I have a bachelor's degree in Creative Writing, and it has never once helped me to get any sort of work. In fact, I'm currently at a job that doesn't require a college degree at all. And if you want to be a writer, there's very few jobs that require a degree in Creative Writing. The fact is, you could get a degree in that and be a pretty terrible writer (at least, in my school). When you're a writer, it's your writing that gets you a job, or the things you've had published. I don't think any editors are going to say, "Well, that manuscript is only adequate, but she DOES have a degree in Creative Writing, so I guess we'll buy it." I'm not saying the degree will hurt you, but it's not remotely necessary to become a writer.

As to the classes themselves, I probably picked up some stuff, but not much more than I could have picked up from books about writing. In some ways I think they made my writing WORSE, because I now have a hard time writing stories where things happen (more on that later), and instead cobble together works that are more about, well, nothing much. If you're really interested in AGs, History might be a better major (even if the newer products are getting farther away from their historical roots). As far as writing, I've heard it suggested that majoring in English is actually better than Creative Writing, because then you have to read all the classics.

That's not saying you won't get more out of your classes than I did, but I honestly despised many of the short stories we read in our class (and if your classes are like mine, they highly encourage you to write only short stories--even though, as they note, it's almost completely impossible to make a living writing short stories, even less likely than making a living writing novels). An ideal modern short story seemed to be one in which something very minor and inconsequential happens, and the main character has an ephiphany as a result. If you tried to write anything that the folks at AG would be interested in (as in, a story that has something to do with history, a story geared towards children, and/or a story where something happens), there's an excellent chance that, in my classes at least, you would have been graded very poorly. If you haven't already, read "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver. If you think it's a work of pure genius, you would've loved the classes at my school. If you think it's rubbish, you probably would've been more like me.

Again, your mileage may vary, but the ONLY Creative Writing class I liked at all was my playwriting class, because that teacher actually encouraged us to write plays in which something HAPPENS. (Speaking of which, I suppose AG DOES need playwrights occasionally, but I doubt they have one working full-time, especially since their shows seem to be musicals...they probably focus on songwriters.)

Also, I don't know what kind of teacher you were thinking of being as your backup plan, or how education masters' degrees work, but there are very few positions even in colleges for creative writing teachers; most of my classes were taught by students getting their masters' in Creative Writing. And there's probably zero positions for Creative Writing teachers in elementary and high schools. If you're in a market where there isn't a really high demand for teachers, I would guess you might have a hard time getting a job teaching without at least a bachelor's degree in a field like math, English, history, or some other field actually directly taught in that school.

I do have a friend who got a degree in Creative Writing (not sure if she found it as useless as I did, although she's actually gotten paid for a bit of copy she's written [img]redface.gif[/img] ), and she's currently persuing her master's degree in Library Sciences.

ANYWAY, whatever field you choose, I wish you the best of luck! But to sum up, Creative Writing may not be your best bet. If I could do it again, I think I probably would have taken History. [img]redface.gif[/img] (I also majored in Sociology, but I don't think that pertains to AGs at all.)

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ September 09, 2006 11:25 PM: Message edited by: Kenshinchan ]</font>

[DScully717]

I think it would depend on what angle of AG you wanted to work in. For instance: there is writing (for AG magazine, the books, etc) which is more journalism and english, creating the movies for AG (film direction, communications, drama and art), the creation of their products (which is probably a mesh of business savvy, knowledge of history/historical accuracy and creativity), the business end of AG (finances, accounting, revenues, marketing, branding) which you'd need a business degree for, the AG website (web design, knowledge of computers and how the internet works), so you'd need some sort of science/tech degree, or the customer service/improvement end. *whew* I'm sure there are more aspects I'm just not thinking of, but those are some of them.

I went to a very large university with a LOT of great options for majors. I double-majored in broadcasting and political science and had a minor in spanish. (teehee, I'm a bit of an overachiever.) If you are interested in working for AG, I would focus first on what kind of job you THINK you'd like, and then see how it fits into one of those areas I mentioned. Are you creative? Do you like to write? Or would you like to be more on the business end, as in actually creating new products and marketing them (ie-dolls, books, etc) for AG? A business and/or advertising degree would help you there. If you really are interested in doing something like that, I would find out the names of some of the upper-level management at AG in that respective department you're interested in and write them a formal letter asking for advice on what kind of education they look for when hiring people. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM or email me. Trust me, I just went through all that agonizing over what major to pick not too long ago!! [img]wink.gif[/img]

[Jeanette M.]

I was listening to an interview on public radio the other day (yes, that is sometimes what I listen to [img]wink.gif[/img] ). The interviewee was an author and a professor of creative writing, although I can't for the life of me remember who it was. He says he tells his students that if they really want to be writers, they should quit taking classes on how to write, and take classes that would help them learn about the world they want to write about. I thought that was very sage advice. I think there has been a lot of wisdom in the replies to this thread as well. [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ September 10, 2006 02:08 AM: Message edited by: Jeanette M. ]</font>

[dalmatian101]

Get a degree in business or marketing, maybe minor in creative writing if it's your passion. At least you'll have something to fall back on and pay the bills. Then get a retail job and AG to get in the door and see what's available.

[auri]

I've worked as a professional writer for more than twenty years after graduating with a major in history. As Kenshinchan and Horsemom said, what matters are your writing samples, not what you majored/minored in. Creative writing classes need to be approached with care. There is a big emphasis on the short story form, or free verse for poetry. Neither of these prepare you to do anything marketable. Non-fiction classes might be better but there's really only so much to be said about how to write. The proof is in the doing. What can be helpful is to join a writers workshop group, where you critique each other's material. If the people in the group are good writers and respectful of each other, that can help a great deal.

As for working for AG, maybe it would help to focus a little more. What kind of work do you imagine yourself doing? If you want to write books for them, you'll need to establish yourself first as a successful YA (young adult) novelist. Otherwise, I'd suggest getting a varied background including some business classes, getting in on the ground floor, and working your way up.

[horsemom]

I ditto Kenshinchan. I work as a grant writer now and I majored in Anthropology. They could care less what my major was; I got the job based on my writing samples. The other two tech writers in my office did too. One was a Creative Writing major but he said the hiring process was entirely his writing samples and not the degree.

If you can write, practice and reading a lot of great literature will make you better whether you take classes in it or not. I really disliked the writing classes I took and I think the biggest amount of horse manure I've ever written came out of those classes. I would never, ever use that stuff as writing samples. I actually tossed all that stuff; I wouldn't even want to read it again myself.

Maybe other schools' classes are better... But honestly, I learned the most from reading good literature. Instead of a some formula, it just sort of soaks in.

[StephanieS]

You could always get a degree in business (which can apply to lots of different types of jobs) and then move your way up in the AG company.