Jennifer Krutsch
Media & Marketing Technician
Norco College, Career & Technical Education
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
First I enrolled in college and had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up.
Then I got put on academic probation and eventually was forced to quit college.
Worked a few jobs that paid minimum wage and couldn't afford to move out of my parents house.
Started teaching myself how to use Adobe Photoshop.
Got really good at it and started creating things for friends and family.
Created a portfolio of my work and started a small, freelance business.
Decided I had gained enough skills to apply for Graphic Design jobs.
Applied to Norco College, showed them my portfolio and landed my dream job!
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Associate's Degree
Norco College
Norco College
Career
Media & Marketing Technician
I design all the outreach and marketing materials for the Career & Technical Education Center.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Design
Education
Being Creative
Day to Day
I start my day off by opening Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator and they stay open all day. I spend about 85% of my day creatively working on advertising our Career & Technical Education programs. We have 42 different programs and a special program called ACE (Accelerated Employment & Certificate). I design flyers for our programs, posters, social media campaigns, direct mail postcards, ad campaigns, folders, newsletters...just about anything that needs to look good!
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for high school students
Enroll in some art classes. Sign up for a student Adobe subscription and start using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Watch videos, especially on Lynda.com, to gain basic skills. Buy the Adobe Classroom in a Book series and do the lessons, Practice, practice, practice! Draw and sketch regularly, even if you aren't very good at it. Invest in a real camera and learn how to use it. Then practice editing your photos. Practice using colors together, study color theory.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Associate's Degree
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Myself:
"You don't have any formal training. Nobody will take you seriously. You're not as talented as you think you are."
Challenges I Overcame
Returning to Work/Office
