CAREERS : SHIFTING GEARS : Jumping aboard the superhighway

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. Morph’s Outpost, a magazine, has an on-line listing of jobs and candidates and can be reached by calling 1-800-GO MORPH. And The Canyon Co. in San Francisco regularly sponsors “nerd networking” parties for multimedia workers and would-be workers.

* Consider the corporate world. Many companies hire contractors to put together training and other presentations.

* Learn the tools. Take classes.

* Read magazines on the subject. Among the many on newsstands today are Multimedia World, published by PC World Communications; MewMedia, published by HyperMedia Communications; Electronic Entertainment, published by IDG Communications Inc.

* Attend trade shows. New Media Expo, among the many, is April 12-14 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Entry fee for exhibits is $50.

* Don’t be one-dimensional. Put your outside interests--cooking, skiing, mountaineering--on your resume. You never know when a company might be looking for an expert on black rhinos.

* Adore computing and get comfortable with digital technology. Compton’s for one looks for a mix of technical background and pop culture sensibilities.

* Be prepared to work long, hard hours, with unforgiving deadlines.

* Be a team player. Multimedia projects are group efforts. Expect to spend some time as an apprentice.