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By KARLA L. MILLER The Washington Post Q: Five years ago, I reconnect- ed with a fellow through an on- line dating site. He complained nonstop about his then-job. I didn’t see a romantic spark, but invited him to stay in touch be- cause there might be an opening for him at my federal workplace. About a year later, he was hired after I sang his praises to the hiring panel. We used to spend a lot of time together, hitting the gym after work and being each other’s confidants. He said some things after he was hired that suggested he was disappointed I didn’t choose to date him. I was the last to hear when he got engaged. Now our supervisor is retiring, creating a promotion opportu- nity that I’ve been waiting on for a decade. My co-worker has been acting weird since the announce- ment, launching into soapbox speeches of changes he wants. I’ve learned he is also apply- ing for the promotion. I saw it coming, and I know he must have felt too awkward to tell me himself, but I hate that I heard it from someone else. We used to discuss the future of our depart- ment, always under the under- standing that I was the logical choice for supervisor. He used to ask a lot of questions about what I would change. Now I feel like I can’t trust him. Any advice? A: Your history indicates he’s happy to receive the informa- tion and favors you willingly supply, but keeps his own cards close to his vest. Maybe he’s just reserved in general, but I think you have to consider that there may be a strategic purpose to his reticence. For example, complaining about his job won your sympa- thy and got you to open doors for him; telling you about his engagement would have gener- ated no similar benefit. And if he knew he was interested in the promotion even as he was encouraging you to spill your ideas, then he was treating you as a competitor while you were treating him as a confidant. Of course, just because you recruited him doesn’t mean he should automatically step back and “let” you have the promo- tion. And you don’t indicate what makes you the “logical” successor besides seniority and patience. But now the question be- comes how you will deal with whatever decision is eventually announced. One or the other of you is bound to be disappointed. Whether through skills or schmooze appeal, if he gets promoted, will you be able to respect his position? And if you are the one pro- moted, history suggests he’ll withdraw and make comments to indicate his disappointment at not being chosen. Can you trust him at your table? Before the announcement, you can make one last attempt to lay your cards on the table and in- vite him to do the same: “I know both of us applying for the su- pervisor’s job makes things kind of awkward. Whatever happens, I hope we can agree to have each other’s back.” In the meantime, work on your poker face. Karla L. Miller offers advice on work- place dramas and traumas. Send ques- tions to work.advice.wapo@gmail.com. P Report: Too many teens want to be managers By CAROLYNN LOOK Bloomberg Teenagers aren’t being imagi- native enough with their ambi- tions as they aspire to a short list of 20th-century occupations in their future careers, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Huge changes in the world of work — driven by developments in technology and social media — are having too little impact on the job expectations of young people, according to a report by the Paris-based organization. “It is a concern that more young people than before ap- pear to be picking their dream job from a small list of the most popular, traditional occupations, like teachers, lawyers or business managers,” Andreas Schleicher, OECD’s director for education and skills, said in a statement. “Too many teenagers are ig- noring or are unaware of new types of jobs that are emerging, particularly as a result of digita- lization.” The report cited a survey of 15-year-olds showing that career ambitions narrowed in the last two decades. Roughly half of boys and girls from 41 countries said they expect to work in one of just 10 jobs by the age of 30. Such roles originate over- whelmingly from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as doctors, teachers, veterinarians, business managers, engineers, police of- ficers and lawyers. The report also said that 39% of jobs that teenagers want to do run the risk of being replaced by machines within the next 10 to 15 years, underscoring the dan- ger that the labor market could shape up as a missed opportunity for many young people. Several of the top jobs are also not very accessible. Young people’s aspirations are frequent- ly misaligned with the education and qualifications required to achieve them, the OECD said. CAREERS The future of botanical drawing is endangered, but the job is vital By ADRIAN HIGGINS The Washington Post From her fifth-floor office in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., Al- ice Tangerini has a stellar view: to the right, Constitution Avenue runs in front of the Classical Re- vival facade of Federal Triangle. To the left, the Washington Monument rises from behind the National Museum of American History. She doesn’t spend much time with this vista; as the Smithson- ian’s botanical illustrator, her gaze is on plants, dried speci- mens of dead plants, up close, and closer, under a microscope. Sometimes she hydrates stems and flower parts, coaxing zombie life into them. She can become so absorbed in the structures that four or five hours will pass with- out her realizing that the sun has long set behind the Washington Monument. After a week or so, she will have produced a line drawing in ink of her subject. When I visited recently, it was of a tropical rela- tive of the mistletoe. Magnified, she could see that some of the tiny flower stalks bore female flowers, other stalks male flower parts, all attached like micro- wave dishes to their towers. The finished illustration will form a composite of a dozen or so draw- ings, some showing flower parts whole and in section. “When I first looked at them, I thought they were all in bud. They weren’t; that’s the mature flower,” she said. After decades of this, the discoveries keep coming. The other reason Tangerini doesn’t need the view out the window is that she has been living with it for an awfully long time. Now 70, she came to work in the museum’s Department of Botany in 1972, right out of col- lege, and had worked there as an intern dating back to 1968. The wing she works in, which was just three years old at the time, holds one of the world’s larg- est collections of dried plants, an herbarium of some 5 million species. Botanical illustrators like Tangerini are rare and becoming as endangered as some of the plants they draw. And yet their work has been essential for bota- nists describing a new species, or assembling plants for floras — voluminous lists of wild plants in a region or country. Bobbi Angell, a botanical artist in Brattleboro, Vermont, explains the shift: Floras are not com- missioned as they once were; they are laborious and expensive undertakings, botanists retire and are not replaced, and much of plant taxonomy has shifted to the molecular level. “I get calls from young, aspir- ing artists, and it’s kind of hard to encourage them,” said An- gell, a freelance artist who has worked for more than 40 years, including on commissions for the New York Botanical Garden as well as the Smithsonian. The prospect of being among the last of her kind is one of the reasons that Tangerini, who could have retired some time ago, is still here. But she hangs on mostly be- cause drawing plants is her life and the botany department, her family. “Working here is the best. I’m using my talent, they respect it, and I don’t run out of work,” she said. “It’s very rewarding.” Her office is relatively small, with a drafting table, a pair of large screens for digital work, and a table for her microscope and its attendant devices, includ- ing a hot plate to dry hydrated plant parts. There are trays for tweezers, snips, needles and hooks. Other containers hold quilled inking pens and stippling instruments. The ink-on-paper drawings tend to be in black and white. For color work, she draws on the computer. She shows me how this is done, quickly and accu- rately, using a stylus to draw a fresh stem on the subject plant. Most of her work, however, still takes place on paper. On a nearby desk, a large her- barium sheet holds the mistletoe, named Dendropthora, and she shows me a finished illustration of a tropical shrub named Paul- linia. A stem with foliage forms the spine of the composition, while the edges are full of vari- ous flower and seedpod dissec- tions. The work is a composite rather than a portrait. The goal is to reveal the aspects of the plant that characterize the species, down to the length and place- ment of stem hairs. Such an illustration can convey information that the descriptive text struggles to make known, said Laurence Dorr, one of the department’s eight botanical curators. “The illustration does it better than almost anything else, and does it much, much better than a photograph.” Even if she is too modest to state it, Tangerini and her col- leagues have devoted their lives to the task of discovering, and thus protecting, plant species and their ecologies that are the basis of life on Earth. Plant com- munities are under threat, spec- tacularly in the mass fires of the Amazon or the Australian bush and less visibly in the cumulative loss of habitat to a subdivision here, a new highway there. As Dorr puts it, “She’s helping us look at the world.” A D R I A N H I G G I N S / T H E W A S H I N G T O N P O S T Botanical illustrator Alice Tangerini at her drafting table at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. (Washington Post photo by Adrian Higgins). I L LUSTRATOR : “I get calls from young, aspiring artists, and it’s kind of hard to encourage them.” Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development B L O O M B E R G Limited aspirations Teenagers are increasingly targeting one of just 10 jobs Rank Boys in 2000 Girls in 2000 Boys in 2018 Girls in 2018 1. Managers Teachers Engineers Doctors 2. IT professionals Doctors Managers Teachers 3. Engineers Lawyers Doctors Managers 4. Doctors Psychologists IT professionals Lawyers 5. Sportspeople Nursing Sportspeople Nursing 6. Teachers Managers Teachers Psychologists 7. Lawyers Veterinarians Police officers Designers 8. Mechanics Writers Mechanics Veterinarians 9. Architects Secretaries Lawyers Police officers 10. Police officers Hairdressers Architects Architects Percentage who aspire to one of the Top 10 jobs 38.4% 49% 46.8% 52.9% WE WERE FRIENDS. NOWWE’RE BOTH GOING FOR THE SAME JOB S M I T H S O N I A N Tangerini’s illustration of Eri- olaena rulkensii. A D R I A N H I G G I N S T H E W A S H I N G T O N P O S T Tangerini works on a drawing. CAREER ADVICE By KARLA L. MILLER The ashington Post : Five years ago, I reconnect- ed ith a fello through an on- line dating site. He co plained nonstop about his then-job. I didn’t see a ro antic spark, but invited hi to stay in touch be- cause there ight be an opening for hi at y federal orkplace. About a year later, he as hired after I sang his praises to the hiring panel. e used to spend a lot of ti e together, hitting the gym after work and being each other’s confidants. He said so e things after he as hired that suggested he as disappointed I didn’t choose to date hi . I as the last to hear hen he got engaged. No our supervisor is retiring, creating a pro otion opportu- nity that I’ve been aiting on for a decade. y co- orker has been acting eird since the announce- ent, launching into soapbox speeches of changes he ants. I’ve learned he is also apply- ing for the pro otion. I sa it co ing, and I kno he ust have felt too awkward to tell me hi self, but I hate that I heard it fro so eone else. e used to discuss the future of our depart- ent, al ays under the under- standing that I as the logical choice for supervisor. He used to ask a lot of questions about hat I ould change. No I feel like I can’t trust hi . Any advice? A: Your history indicates he’s happy to receive the infor a- tion and favors you illingly supply, but keeps his o n cards close to his vest. aybe he’s just reserved in general, but I think you have to consider that there ay be a strategic purpose to his reticence. For exa ple, co plaining about his job on your sy pa- thy and got you to open doors for him; telling you about his engage ent ould have gener- ated no si ilar benefit. And if he kne he as interested in the pro otion even as he as encouraging you to spill your ideas, then he was treating you as a co petitor hile you ere treating hi as a confidant. Of course, just because you recruited hi doesn’t ean he should auto atically step back and “let” you have the pro o- tion. And you don’t indicate hat akes you the “logical” successor besides seniority and patience. But no the question be- co es ho you ill deal ith hatever decision is eventually announced. One or the other of you is bound to be disappointed. Whether through skills or sch ooze appeal, if he gets pro oted, ill you be able to respect his position? And if you are the one pro- oted, history suggests he’ll withdraw and make comments to indicate his disappoint ent at not being chosen. Can you trust hi at your table? Before the announce ent, you can ake one last atte pt to lay your cards on the table and in- vite hi to do the sa e: “I kno both of us applying for the su- pervisor’s job akes things kind of a k ard. hatever happens, I hope e can agree to have each other’s back.” In the eanti e, ork on your poker face. Karla L. Miller offers advice on work- place d ramas and traumas. Send ques- tions to work.advice.wapo@gmail.com. P Report: Too any teens ant to be anagers By CAROLYNN LOOK Bloomberg Teenagers aren’t being imagi- native enough with their ambi- tions as they aspire to a short list of 20th-century occupations in their future careers, according to the Organisation for Econo ic Co-operation and Develop ent. Huge changes in the orld of ork driven by develop ents in technology and social media — are having too little impact on the job expectations of young people, according to a report by the Paris-based organization. “It is a concern that more young people than before ap- pear to be picking their drea job from a small list of the most popular, traditional occupations, like teachers, lawyers or business managers,” Andreas Schleicher, OECD’s director for education and skills, said in a statement. “Too many teenagers are ignor- ing or are unaware of new types of jobs that are emerging, par- ticularly as a result of digitaliza- tion.” The report cited a survey of 15-year-olds showing that career ambitions narrowed in the last two decades. Roughly half of boys and girls from 41 countries said they expect to work in one of just 10 jobs by the age of 30. Such roles originate over- whelmingly from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as doctors, teachers, veterinarians, business managers, engineers, police of- ficers, and lawyers. The report also said that 39% of jobs that teenagers want to do run the risk of being replaced by machines within the next 10 to 15 years. It also underscores the danger that the labor market could shape up as a missed opportunity for many young people. While many of the top jobs listed aren’t vulnerable to au- tomation, several are not very accessible. Young people’s career aspirations are frequently mis- aligned with the education and qualifications required to achieve them, the OECD said. f t r f t ic l r i is r , t t j is it l By ADRIAN HIGGINS The ashington Post Fro her fifth-floor office in the National useu of Natural History in ashington, D.C., Al- ice Tangerini has a stellar vie : to the right, Constitution Avenue runs in front of the Classical Re- vival facade of Federal Triangle. To the left, the ashington onu ent rises fro behind the National useu of A erican History. She doesn’t spend uch ti e ith this vista; as the S ithson- ian’s botanical illustrator, her gaze is on plants, dried speci- ens of dead plants, up close, and closer, under a icroscope. So eti es she hydrates ste s and flo er parts, coaxing zo bie life into the . She can beco e so absorbed in the structures that four or five hours ill pass ith- out her realizing that the sun has long set behind the ashington onu ent. After a eek or so, she ill have produced a line dra ing in ink of her subject. hen I visited recently, it as of a tropical rela- tive of the istletoe. agnified, she could see that so e of the tiny flo er stalks bore fe ale flo ers, other stalks ale flo er parts, all attached like icro- ave dishes to their to ers. The finished illustration ill for a co posite of a dozen or so dra - ings, so e sho ing flo er parts hole and in section. “ hen I first looked at the , I thought they ere all in bud. They eren’t; that’s the ature flower,” she said. After decades of this, the discoveries keep co ing. The other reason Tangerini doesn’t need the vie out the indo is that she has been living ith it for an a fully long ti e. No 70, she ca e to ork in the useu ’s Depart ent of Botany in 1972, right out of col- lege, and had worked there as an intern dating back to 1968. The wing she works in, which was just three years old at the time, holds one of the world’s larg- est collections of dried plants, an herbarium of some 5 million species. Botanical illustrators like Tangerini are rare and becoming as endangered as some of the plants they draw. And yet their work has been essential for bota- nists describing a new species, or assembling plants for floras — voluminous lists of wild plants in a region or country. Bobbi Angell, a botanical artist in Brattleboro, Vermont, explains the shift: Floras are not com- missioned as they once were; they are laborious and expensive undertakings, botanists retire and are not replaced, and much of plant taxonomy has shifted to the molecular level. “I get calls from young, aspir- ing artists, and it’s kind of hard to encourage them,” said An- gell, a freelance artist who has worked for more than 40 years, including on commissions for the New York Botanical Garden as well as the Smithsonian. The prospect of being among the last of her kind is one of the reasons that Tangerini, who could have retired some time ago, is still here. But she hangs on mostly be- cause drawing plants is her life and the botany department, her family. “Working here is the best. I’m using my talent, they respect it, and I don’t run out of work,” she said. “It’s very rewarding.” Her office is relatively small, with a drafting table, a pair of large screens for digital work, and a table for her microscope and its attendant devices, includ- ing a hot plate to dry hydrated plant parts. There are trays for tweezers, snips, needles and hooks. Other containers hold quilled inking pens and stippling instruments. The ink-on-paper drawings tend to be in black and white. For color work, she draws on the computer. She shows me how this is done, quickly and accu- rately, using a stylus to draw a fresh stem on the subject plant. Most of her work, however, still takes place on paper. On a nearby desk, a large her- barium sheet holds the mistletoe, named Dendropthora, and she shows me a finished illustration of a tropical shrub named Paul- linia. A stem with foliage forms the spine of the composition, while the edges are full of vari- ous flower and seedpod dissec- tions. The work is a composite rather than a portrait. The goal is to reveal the aspects of the plant that characterize the species, down to the length and place- ment of stem hairs. Such an illustration can convey information that the descriptive text struggles to make known, said Laurence Dorr, one of the department’s eight botanical curators. “The illustration does it better than almost anything else, and does it much, much better than a photograph.” Even if she is too modest to state it, Tangerini and her col- leagues have devoted their lives to the task of discovering, and thus protecting, plant species and their ecologies that are the basis of life on Earth. Plant com- munities are under threat, spec- tacularly in the mass fires of the Amazon or the Australian bush and less visibly in the cumulative loss of habitat to a subdivision here, a new highway there. As Dorr puts it, “She’s helping us look at the world.” A D R I A N H I G G I N S / T H E W A S H I N G T O N P O S T Botanical illustrator Alice Tangerini at her drafting table at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. (Washington Post photo by Adrian Higgins). Limited aspirations Teenagers are increasingly targeting one of just 0 jobs Rank Boys in 2000 Girls in 2000 Boys in 2018 Girls in 2018 1. Manag rs Tea hers Engineers Do tors 2. IT prof s ionals Doctor Managers Teachers 3. Engineers Lawyers Doct r Managers 4. Doctors Psychologists IT p of ssionals Lawyers 5. Sportspeople Nursing Sportspeople Nursin 6. Te ch rs Manage s Tea hers P ychologists 7. Lawyers Veterinarians Police officers Des gners 8. Me anics Writ rs Mechanics Vet rinarians 9. Architects Secretari s Lawy rs Pol ce officers 10. Police officers Hairdressers Architects Architects Percentage who aspire to one of the Top 10 jobs 38.4% 49% 46.8% 52.9% Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development B L O O M B E R G I . ’ I D E P A R T M E N T O F B O T A N Y S M I T H S O N I A N Alice Tangerini’s illustration of Eriolaena rulkensii. A D R I A N H I G G I N S T H E W A S H I N G T O N P O S T Leaf stippling: Alice Tangerini works on a drawing. CAREER ADVICE 2 R SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2019 | | Business B