Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Crista Cowan's Interview: "Career Spotlight: What I Do As a Genealogist"

Crista Cowan, the Barefoot Genealogist at Ancestry.com, was interviewed by Andy Orin on the Lifehacker blog, and it was published today.  See Career Spotlight: What I Do As a Genealogist.


This is an excellent interview, in which Crista describes her life's work, especially in genealogy.  Some excerpts:

"Specifically for Ancestry, a large portion of my job is genealogy education. I do a weekly webcast (archived on YouTube) called The Barefoot Genealogist. Each episode is 20-30 minutes long and I teach on a specific topic related to family history. In three years I have amassed a playlist full of these video tutorials. Some past episodes include a series on the Genealogical Proof Standard, a tutorial for searching the 16 billion plus records available through Ancestry, and interviews with the AncestryDNA program manager about how autosomal DNA works."

and:

"One misconception people often have about my job is that it is easy for anyone to get started in family history. You can take an AncestryDNA test to learn about your ethnicity and connect with distant cousins. You can also create an online tree at Ancestry by entering what you know about your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Ancestry then provides hints to records that might reveal more about your ancestors and their lives."

and:

"The key to advancement in family history as a profession is to always be learning. "

Please take the time to read the entire interview.  

It touches on all aspects of Crista's career and accomplishments in the world of genealogy and family history.  She talks about her career before her time at Ancestry, what she does at Ancestry, and her own development into one of the current Genealogy Rock Stars.  

I enjoy seeing and being in Crista's company.  She is smart, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and sensitive.  It's a pleasure to see her at conferences or watch her YouTube videos.  At conferences, she's usually in the Ancestry.com exhibit helping attendees with their research problems, or teaching in the little Theater in the exhibit.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/06/crista-cowans-interview-career.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

1 comment:

Jana Iverson Last said...

Randy,

I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/06/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-june-19-2015.html

Have a great weekend!