Careers

What in the world is this new Oxnard city manager trying to do? He has presented a plan to put more police officers on the street. Sounds good, right? Keep reading. Instead of hiring new police officers, which would be wonderful, he thinks it would be a good idea to just dissolve the Oxnard Fire Department (which is already cut to the bone), take all of the firefighters, give them a gun, some training, and wham! Instant fire/police officers. Oh, the politically correct term would be "public safety officers."

Between 30 and 40 representatives of private and public sector businesses are expected at Mission College's 1994 job fair, "Focus on Careers." Students and community members will have a chance to meet with employers, career counselors and education professionals at the fair, to be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 26 at the college's campus center.

Here are tips for how to get on board the multimedia express: * Gain experience. Get your name on a multimedia project, even if you have to volunteer. * Network. This is a big word-of-mouth industry. Join trade groups such as Multimedia Development Group in San Francisco and International Interactive Communications Society based in Beaverton, Ore., which offers a job hotline to members.

Subha Palanivelu wandered around the Granada Hills High auditorium picking up brochures, filling out information cards and chatting with recruiters Thursday at the school's career fair. "Sometimes I think I want to be a doctor or an astronaut," the 16-year-old junior mused. "Right when I think I've got it, I change my mind. It's so hard."

They didn't hang around long enough for even a cup of coffee, the Cuban kind. Just a week after joining the Mission College baseball team, two Cuban defectors who played on various national teams from the Caribbean island have left the squad to explore professional opportunities with major league organizations. "It was a whirlwind," said John Klitsner, the Free Spirit coach. "I think they have something in the making about getting into professional baseball."

Matt Fong traveled to Asia six times last year on business for his clients. So far this year, he has had time for just two trips. "It has been very difficult, but I am working part-time," said Fong, a Los Angeles attorney and Republican candidate for state controller. "As long as you have a big mortgage, a small house and a couple of kids in school, you have to keep working." Running a statewide campaign can be a grueling, time-consuming ordeal that stretches the limits of any conventional job.

James Schroeder, a cerebral, 52-year-old lawyer in Washington, gets a bang out of being compared with hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, 27. No, Schroeder hasn't taken to the ice for a new career. But like Gretzky--who stunned the sports world by agreeing to move from Edmonton, Canada, to Los Angeles, partly so he could spend more time with his actress-wife Janet Jones, 27--Schroeder did something that might have gotten him elected Wimp of the Year in any number of bars nationwide.

Before Robin Givens married Mike Tyson, she was young, beautiful and a not-very-well-known actress hoping to parlay a sitcom role into stardom. Now that Givens and Tyson are divorcing amid a maelstrom of media frenzy, she is young, beautiful and a figure of national notoriety. But what has this done to her career? On Wednesday, another chapter in the Givens-Tyson soap opera played out when Givens, through her lawyer Raoul Felder, announced that she was giving up claim to Tyson's millions.

When Janek Bielski was chosen as one of five finalists in the West Hollywood Civic Center competition last summer, the 34-year-old architect had been working independently for less than two years, living on a net income averaging $1,000 a month. The international competition took up all his time and almost "wiped me out financially," Bielski said. "But to be chosen as a finalist gave me great confidence. It helped me answer the basic question: Am I going to make it on my own or not?"

Orange Coast College students looking for career guidance will have an easier time finding it because of a $74,600 grant awarded to the college. The grant from the California Community College Chancellor's Office will help train staff members to become more effective career counselors. "Research indicates that California community colleges need to provide students with up-to-date career information on an ongoing basis," said Patsee Ober, the college's grant writer.