A “fresh out” told me her story about having a hard time finding a gig since she graduated. She went back to her professor and asked for advice. The prof offered up this pathetic solution.

He told her to fill in the blank and then go for it:

I want to be a ____.  

How do you answer that question if you don’t know what’s out there?

Go for it?

How do you go for it when you have no idea where the entry point is?

These primary questions usually leave the rising professional (that’s the term I was told to use hahaha) confused and making uneducated decisions. They then default to the worst statement you can make when applying for a posted job or talking to a professional who is willing to help.

“I just want to get in.”

Or

 “I am willing to do anything. I just wanna get in”.

Get in WHAT?

This isn’t a private club your hoping to join or a rave you want to get into.

These are industries made up of businesses that are looking to make money!

You need to be an asset to the company or a person you’re talking with? They need to believe you have a passion to grow in the position, even if you don’t. You need to identify a specific goal and talk passionately about it.

Whether it’s your dream job or not it’s your way IN.  It’s the way you are going to start making connections and seeing the diversity of jobs available to you.

While you are meeting new people “pressing the flesh” as they say, you need still should keep filling out those digital postings.  But remember in the digital world the person initially reviewing your app isn’t a person at all, it’s usually a filtering bot. So, make sure the terms you use to describe yourself are keyword specific to that particular posting. Frame your experiences so they highlight things related to that post. They don’t care about your dreams or aspirations unless they relate to that particular job post.

NOW YOU’RE IN

Regardless of the gig you land and how you got it, several things will happen.

• You will learn something you didn’t know. 
• You will learn something you didn’t know and find out you are good at it.
• You suck at it but saw another gig while you were there that you are good at.
• You suck at it. You don’t see another opportunity BUT you met people in the biz who you can now call on for advice and direction.

Companies’ are not interested in building your career.

They need to fill a position, “Truck drive wanted with CDL”.

You can’t reply with, “I drive a car and can learn to drive a truck if you teach me”.

If your dream is to become a writer / storyteller. You can stay home in your mom’s house, continue writing, continue submitting your work blindly into the world and hope it lands on somebody’s desk who is looking for that exact story.

Every day you can fill out dozens of job postings on Indeed, Monster, Zip, etc. and wait. By the way how do you know what jobs to chase since you really have no idea what all the different job titles mean and what you are even remotely qualified to do.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, talked about in the interviews I did on FerroTV, spoke about at college meet ups or replied to on the dozens of emails I get every day…..

“Take any gig anytime anywhere.” 

Everybody is always looking for free labor, from wedding bands to the concert promotor. From the recording studio to local bands.  From a local biz who needs social media videos.  That list is endless. Grab a gig as grip, utility, guitar tech, jib assist, anything that gets you in the game.  From there you will meet people in the industry and begin building your NETWORK. Look up people you graduated with. Find an industry retailer or rental house and take a job stacking boxes. Anything is better than sitting home waiting to be discovered.

How do I know it works? Because we all did it. Scratch the surface of any pro and you’ll find they were a newbie who did tons of unrelated industry gigs.

You are correct in thinking those jobs have nothing to do with your end game.  But it has everything to do with meeting people who work in the industry that will eventually be your end game.

Everyone in the entertainment production industry, in all sectors, know other people in different aspects of these industries.  A lot of us have moved up and around in these industries throughout our careers.  That’s not a bad thing. It means our vision of what was available to us or what our hidden skills were didn’t happen until we got in the game.

Let’s say your circle of friends and contacts are all teachers in high school and your goal is to be Broadway choreographer.  The best opportunity you’re going to be offered in that group is, “our school is doing West Side Story this year. Why don’t you help out with show?  I’m sure they would love the help”. Might be fun but most likely a dead end for meeting people of value in the theater industry. 

Now assume you’ve been working on a film set in NYC as a runner.  Your making friends with people on the crew.  A bunch of you go out for drinks. You start talking about how much you LOVE dance and would love to work on Broadway as a choreographer.  Somebody in the group mentions their friend has a roommate who works on Broadway as a grip and they’d be willing to introduce you to them.

In either scenario people are offering you what they know to be a possible connection. Neither is doing what you want but the second is getting you closer to community you need to network in.  

Keep your eye on your prize. Get off your mom’s couch and “press the flesh”.

BTW you can always jump on Ferro City’s home page and hit me up on ASK A PRO.

Good Luck and talk soon.