Personnel Qualifications

DEGREES OF INITIATIVE

The qualifications and education levels of advertising personnel in aerospace education is quite varied. Some government agencies require full college degrees in advertising or other related disciplines such as communications, business or public relations. In some small grass-roots organizations, all that is required is the initiative to do something. Most people organizing promotions for aerospace education in the state of Washington do not have any specialized advertising education, although th ere are a few exceptions. Those who do have a college degree of any kind are most likely to have studied business or a social science.

Starting out can sometimes be tough for students just graduated from school. Networking is a must, and is definitely a positive consideration when looking for that first position. Wendy Fujioka, Account Coordinator at Waggener Edstrom, a publi c relations and communications firm in Portland, used networking to her advantage. Fujioka was the 1995 National PRSSA Conference Coordinator for the national conference that was in Seattle late October. Through planning and developing the conference line -up, Fujioka met with innumerable public relations and advertising professionals from around the country. Meeting a contact at Waggener Edstrom, a high technology-based firm with Microsoft's PR accounts, was a highly fruitious find. She pursued this relati onship, and this, plus her conference coordinator credentials, landed her the job. This is a small example of how important the skill of networking is to the advertising/PR/communications professional, or pre-professional. Fujioka says that it wasn't her h igh-tech skills that gave her an "in" at Waggener Edstrom, quipping "I didn't even have a clue as to what my accounts were talking about when I started" (Fujioka).

OUTLOOK LIMITED

The outlook for advertising in the aerospace education industry in Washington is somewhat limited depending on what the individual considers as a successful career. Opportunities abound; jobs do not. This is an industry mostly run by volunteers a nd a few administrators at larger institutions and corporations, and even these few struggling non-profit administrators are not paid an immense amount of money. This is definitely not a career area for someone wanting to climb a corporate ladder to the t op. Aerospace education's corporate ladder is a step-stool.

Opportunities in the standard general aviation and airline industries are considered to be good to very good. This is partly due to intense competition between the airlines, producing massive ad campaigns, and new legislation on product liabil ity that has revitalized the general aviation industry; Cessna is now making small aircraft again. Advertising professionals in this field can expect to make between $25,000 to $90,000 a year (Aircraft Owners:2). In working with a ge neralized firm, new personnel can expect to start between $20,000 to $24,000 (Fujioka).

A MUST HAVE

In the place of formal education, most people rely on an aspect that has been coined as a "must have" to succeed in aerospace education: The love of the subject (4). Georgia Franklin, Northwest wing leader of the Civil Air Pat rol can't emphasize this enough. Franklin has made it her mission to bring aerospace education to the classroom. She says that desire is the thing that all people successful in aerospace education seem to have. "It's kind of like going to church-you must have faith."

BE PERSISTENT

At the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Greg Moyce is the education coordinator. He organizes the youth program for the museum, and performs some public relations and advertising functions. Moyce says there are no real education requirements for the job, and that qualifications are based on the accomplishments and skills of the individual. Moyce himself has a degree in art history and has taken graduate coursework in museum studies. He got the job at the museum through his interest in aviation and th rough connections he had with foundation sponsors. Most museum education directors are certified flight instructors, or similar aviation and space related individuals. Most all are pilots and most have blended a couple of skills together to form their qua lifications to promote youth aerospace education programs.

Moyce says that keeping at it may be the key to success in the aerospace education administrator/advertising position: "It's an opportunistic type thing. Be patient and persistent."

CERTIFICATION REQUIRED

NASA has specific aerospace education positions in its ranks and has departments dedicated to this purpose. Most require college degrees, and some require teacher certification. Teacher certification is required for positions that develop aerospa ce education programs and curriculum. Advertising and public relations managers are not required to have teacher certification but are usually people with an interest in the subject. Many people who organize PR and advertising for NASA's aerospace educatio n programs are not specialists, but are generalists who work at one of NASA's research centers around the country. They produce promotions and publicity for the entire research center community, not just aerospace education. NASA sees retraining teachers a s a top priority and is initiating programs to do so. NASA's Strategic Plan for Education says that "Immediate upgrading of existing teacher workforce is necessary to improve student performance" (11).
GO BACK to the front page.
Created: Tuesday, March 05, 1996, 6:25:57 PM Last Updated: Tuesday, March 05, 1996, 6:25:57 PM