Above: Illustration by Stephanie Weinger ’20 from the forthcoming children’s book All Dogs Don’t Bite by Marie Hernandez (Deet Publishing, November 2021).
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Weinger was finishing her senior year, in-person communication was becoming non-existent. Nonetheless, Weinger made sure she remained connected with the LCC, even after graduation; she knew it would be a good resource as she continued to search for work.
With many connections to local artists and arts opportunities, the LCC kept students and alumni informed about new job openings. In late 2020, one of the LCC’s emails featured Marie Hernandez, a local author looking for an illustrator for her upcoming children’s book. With her BFA in Illustration with a Business minor, Weinger jumped at this opportunity.
The two began to meet virtually and Weinger found that she connected with Hernandez’s vision and storyline for the book, loosely based on a true family event. Using the skills she learned at Moore, particularly elements from Associate Professor Joe Kulka’s class, Weinger is now the sole illustrator of All Dogs Don’t Bite, due to be released in November 2021.
This is not the only time Weinger has benefited from the resources available from the LCC. Prior to this opportunity, Weinger had been working on a different freelance illustration job that she learned about through LCC emails. While still a student, Weinger also took advantage of the resume help the LCC regularly offers to students, and impressed her interviewers at Flight Safety International with her resume layout and presentation. She now works full-time as their textbook graphic designer.
The Locks Career Center continues to produce more stories just like Weinger’s, thanks to a host of invaluable resources. This summer, the LCC staff have partnered with Moore’s Advancement department to take this work a step further, merging Moore’s in-house job board with Connect Moore, Moore’s online community platform. This new platform will make it easier for job applicants to connect with alumni who have worked in their field, or even at their potential place of work. The platform is a great place to network within the Moore community, to find a new opportunity, or to hire another community member. All alumni and students (including Continuing Education students completing certificate programs) are welcome to join Connect Moore, and current students can even use their Moore login credentials to easily check out the job board.
As Weinger embarked upon each the various opportunities the LCC provided to her, she admits that she had moments of fear and doubt–but the confidence she developed at Moore, thanks to her studies and the support from the LCC, made her fully prepared for everything in front of her. Her advice for anyone who may have those same feelings as they seek new job opportunities is simple: “Try to ignore self-doubt and those harsh words inside your head. Either you know what to do or you’ll figure it out! Take risks and say yes to things, even if you don’t know exactly how they’ll turn out.”
Explore Connect Moore at connect.moore.edu, and follow the Locks Career Center on Twitter @MooreCareers. To learn more about Weinger’s featured work in All Dogs Don’t Bite, head to its website at AllDogsDontBite.com.
