THE NEW HOLLYWOOD LEADER

Memo to NAB Jobseekers - Micro-Niche Branding and Resumes

Memo to NAB Jobseekers - Micro-Niche Branding and Resumes

Hi there,

Just  got back from a Career Day Event with NAB in Vegas Last week. Here’s letter I wrote to the people I met with there.

There may be something in it for you guys too:

See ya

-db

Hi folks.  Hope you all had a productive and informative time at NAB last week.

It was great to meet and speak to so many of you.  It was exciting to see and hear your new ideas, enthusiasm and willingness to try new approaches to your career.

It’s obviously been a strange time, both in the entertainment industry and the world, but I do believe there are new and lucrative work opportunities for us all.

The challenge is often about getting a clearer picture of who we are, what we’re good at, what we care about and how it relates to the current market opportunities.

GRADUATES AND MENTORS

I met some of you who are still in college and some of you who’ve been in the workforce for decades.

The broadcast and entertainment industry is different now than it was 2 years ago, let alone 20 years ago.

Your ability to thrive is in direct proportion to your ability and willingness to re-invent yourself in a way that is true to yourself and relevant to the professional world as it exists today.

It used to seem like the best way to stay gainfully employed in the old days was to find a way to mold ourselves to the shape of an existing job. Now the challenge is to figure out what we’re best at, what we care about and what organization needs our help to get where they are going.

MICRO-NICHE: WHAT ARE YOU REALLY BEST AT?

Things are changing and happening so fast that many employers know they need help but don’t know what how to ask for or what who they need.

Companies have been shedding jobs that fit their old view of their process and business model but they’re looking for help in reworking their business model for the future.

Therefore, if you can explain on your resume objective and cover letter what your skills and interests are and how it relates to the current business environment then they will be more likely to bring you in for an interview or meeting.

FRESH OUT OF SCHOOL?

If you’re fresh out of school and looking for a first professional job it’s important to show your special interests, as they relate to the job you want to do.

It’s not just that they make you stand out from the crowd of boring resumes it’s that it shows you’re a person  who’s got an eye out on the world and paying attention and ready to be a contributor to the team as well as to the world.

SPRING, SPRUNG: JUST DO IT, EDITION

After a quiet midwinter dip in energy (or was it a surge of reflective, nurturing energy) the Hollywood earth is thawing and ready for planting new seeds.  
 
The entertainment landscape has certainly changed but it hasn't disappeared. Now is the time to reframe and possibly rebrand your career in accordance with the seismic shifts of the past 2 years.
 
I know I've used the past few months to do an assortment of things.  
 
NO DIRECTION HOME?
 
I've looked at where Hollywood is going and how I fit in. Both as a career coach and as a creative person.

I always talk with my clients about their need to continue to be creative in addition to working your day job or your hunt for a day job or your hunt for financing or whatever you're hunting for.  
 
Continuing to create is an essential fuel for the fire that is our life as creative people. It sounds stupidly obvious, but how many of us have been looking so hard for the right creative "job" that we forgot to express and work in the creative part of our life that we do have control of.
 
YOU KNOW . . .
 
Writing a script, writing a song, taking a photo, shooting a web series or a feature or a short.
Or writing a spec. Or going to the museum. Or staying up late reading or writing.

Or waking up early and swimming in the ocean.

See a movie. Write a blog about what your love or hate or fear about the state of the industry or art or world or politics.  
 
It's our job to follow the creative urges and to see where it leads or lands.
 
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY?

Of course we must be responsible to the day job and be responsible for our finances, that's a given.