The question that is plaguing out-of-work job seekers is, “Should I take any job for the sake of having a job?” The answer, in simple terms, is you should do everything you can to avoid it. The most important thing for your career is to move forward. You may ask, “Am I not suppose to take a job unless it is my dream job?” The answer again is no. You can have several jobs until you are working in your ideal career but the key is with each successive job, you are getting closer and closer to your dream job. You are the CEO of your career; therefore, you must be strategic in planning your future. Can you imagine an elegant restaurant suddenly adding fast food to their menu because they heard that fast food profit was increasing? The idea is ridiculous. In the same way, you cannot take any job for the sake of making a few bucks. Think always of your future and ask yourself, “Does this job give me the experience I need to move forward to my ideal career?” The concept begs the question of, “What can I do if I need a job but I can’t move directly into my dream job now?”
1. Have a very clear vision of what your ideal career is (if you have not found it yet read Discover your purpose in 20 minutes). This is the foundation of your plan.
2. Gap analysis. Look at the job descriptions in your ideal career and determine what skills, experience, and knowledge are missing from your resume.
3. Fill in those gaps with positions that can build your experience. Determine only to take jobs that fill in the gaps. For example, if you dream of being a professor but have no teaching experience, consider taking a couple of part time teaching jobs maybe in extra moral classes or private secondary schools. The jobs may be lower paying than a full-time position in another industry, but in the end, you will receive greater payback. The recession won’t last forever and you will be in a position to be a much more experienced candidate when companies are in the hiring mode again.
Three Steps To Move Ahead In Your Career In order to move ahead in your career, you have to generate a lot of energy. Sometimes you can get stagnant and out of practice at making things happen. Here is a simple five-minute/three-step way to get back on track:
1. Review Your Goals Review your entertainment career goals to make sure they are clear and up-to-date. Maybe you thought you wanted to be a talent agent, but after six months on the desk of an agency power player, you changed your mind. What’s your goal now?
2. Describe Your Career Goals Create a really solid two to three sentence description of who you are and what your entertainment career goal is. This is also known as an “elevator pitch.” It’s called an elevator pitch because the time it takes to say it is supposed to be the same amount of time as a short elevator ride. You get on the elevator and there’s Bob, the guy your company just met with about a project. You want to meet him because you are dying to intern/work for his company. “Hi. My name is Emeka and I’m a DELSU student,” you say. “I want to work in movie marketing when I graduate and I’m looking for an internship for next semester.” Or, “My name is Joshua. I just graduated from School of Media and Communications and I’m looking for an opportunity to break into production.” With your pitch polished and ready to go, by the time those elevator doors open, you could have yourself a lead on that sought-after internship or job.
3. Introduce Yourself To Someone Now, reach out to someone you admire who doesn’t know you and introduce yourself. Don’t wait to luck into an elevator ride with Bob. Send him an e-mail, make a phone call, or go up to him at the studio commissary. Yes, you can do it. All you have to say is, “Hello, Bob, I don’t believe we’ve met.” And then lay out your elevator pitch. Bob might mumble a quick, “It’s nice to meet you” and move on to join his business associates for lunch. Or he might just tell you who to contact to talk about opportunities at his company. ***To be continued***
