The vicious circle of applying for work
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- harv
Is it just me or is it a terrible irony that every job posting is asking for too many years of experience yet no one will give me the chance to get experience. I’ve been looking for new work as an assistant photo editor and/or content editor for months now and it is posing truly impossible. Free lance isn’t paying the bills and being young makes it impossible to get anyone to trust me.
Does anyone one have any tips, idea’s or anything that may help me with this? If anyone is a current or past photo/writing editor do you have any info you could pass on?
Thanks!
- i_monk0
You're in Toronto? The recession's over; stop making excuses, punk.
- j/k, but we've all been there.i_monk
- the recession is not over, fyiThePublics
- my parents just jacked the rent up 20%, cutting my bong budget in half. harsh.ThePublics
- I got a job = the recession is overi_monk
- shut up punkspraycan
- bulletfactory0
have you applied for an internship? Some are paid, others are not, but can give your that year you need to gain experience. Maybe the combination of freelance and intership will help.
Best of luck in your search.- Thanks bullet, unfortunatly magazines rarely offer internships to people finished school!harv
- harv0
Ya Monk I know I know. But its getting annoying now! Toronto has some great publications, but they're all full.
- whendog0
become friends with these people. Be a part of their world, including hanging out, going to conventions and classes, etc. The more you immerse yourself in that world, the more connections you will make. The more connections you have, the easier it will be to find a job.
- whendog0
become friends with these people. Be a part of their world, including hanging out, going to conventions and classes, etc. The more you immerse yourself in that world, the more connections you will make. The more connections you have, the easier it will be to find a job.
- GeorgesII0
Yeah, harv if you're lucky and still live with your folks,
try some internship,
one thing you could do, I did it some years ago,
is to spend a month not looking for work and create a new portfolio,
pitch yourself a concept, make a deadline (not more than a month), collect all your best work, create some in case you don't have enough, don't forget to get it CHECKED FOR GRAMMAR ERRORS (really important) and make a demo book with a cd which contains a pdf of the book and a pdf version of your CV.
Get 20 to 30 printed and send them to all the C.D. of the companies you want to work for.
you can always make more CD and send them around too
-
It worked for me, got hired no internship.
show them you want to work.
- monospaced0
The experience requirements, in my experience, aren't hard set. They're there usually to weed out the inexperienced and untalented. I have a position now that asked for 8-1
- oops...8-12 years of expereience, but I only had 3monospaced
- actually, I had 5 solid years, but I had nothing close to the required experience...persona... and bullshit go a long waymonospaced
- personality and bullshit go a long way (on top of a solid portfolio that shows thinking) with employersmonospaced
- harv0
Thanks everyone for some killer advise, much of what Ive been doing but some new ideas that will make their way into my arsinel. In the last two weeks Ive sent out a record number (for myself) of cold emails to many photo editors, publishers, art directors just saying "whats up" and letting them know I'm alive.
I know its a little crude but how else can I get free lance without knowing them?
- ok_not_ok0
You're being too picky...
- bored2death0
Soon you'll have too much experience for jobs...
- orrinward0
I'm far from an expert, but "cold emails" don't grab attention. Pick the jobs you want that aren't that far out of your reach and show genuine interest and understanding of the company, the work they do, what you can offer them that meets their criteria, and what extra things you can bring to the table.
"I don't have 3 years of experience, but I've a portfolio of a high standard with some work for similar sorts of clients I'd be working with if I were in your team. I think I would fit into your team well with my current skill set, and I can also bring this UNIQUE AMAZING TALENT to the table, that I currently think you might be missing."
If you're asked to show examples of your work, pick a combination of your best overall work, and also your best work that would match what they will expect of you if you were working for them.
You may not have the requested "3 years of industry experience", but "6 months interning for a company in exactly the same field as you" can easily be substituted.
When applying, don; t just throw your CV at the company and say "I tick all the boxes", try and think further and in your cover letter explain where you see yourself fitting into the team.
I'm not sure if this is the same for all companies but it has worked for me and for a bunch of my friends.
- clearThoughts0
I don't know where you are based, but in London if you want an editor job, you have to start as an assistant on a ridiculously low budget and then slowly go up the ladder.
- Hombre_Lobo0
^ like being a runner...oh what a dark time that is
- JazX0
I just tell really stupid companies all this total b*llshit and they hire me and I smile. It works.
- d_rek0
I can't speak for editorial/copy-writing lines of work... but what I did after graduation worked out quite well for me and I have thought about recently doing a similar run.
You will however need to prepare a little bit.
First, make sure your portfolio is in working order and you either have your printed book or electronic/online version available on hand. It helps to have a laptop.
Second, make yourself up a nice little stationery set consisting of resumes, business cards and preferably some sort of printed leave-behind that showcases some of your work. Kind of like a teaser piece. I used a 11x17" quad-fold that I duplexed by hand on the kinko's laser printer.
Third. Generate a list of places you want to apply to that are local to you. Then generate a road map where you start at the further one away and make your way closer to your closing destination.
Four. Take a day or two to hit all of the spots on your list. You don't need to call but it is a common courtesy. Just call and when you get the receptionist ask if it would be a problem to come in and just say hi and drop off a resume. The places you hit you can even request a creative director if you want, although this can go either way. You might get denied outright or will get to talk to the CD. This is why you want your book/laptop in hand in case they want to see some work. In any case leave behind a resume, business card and your leave-behind teaser piece.
Five. Happy hunting! Follow up on all the places you left behind some goodies at with, at the very least, a phone call. Then you just cross your fingers and hope someone takes notice!
- elDoctor0
Make yourself stand out from the crowd. Promo pieces, ship something creative the shop you're looking at. etc...
With the market being flooded with so many jobless people you have stiff competition out there.
- harv0
Ive have about 2 years experience and Ive worked as an intern for an online magazine a few years back when I was in college.
I'm fine with working as an assistant because I know there's plenty I need to learn about the industry. Its unfortunate that some publications do not have the budget to hire on an assistant photo/web/media editor and to this date I haven't seen a listing for a photo intern.Another question, would it be suitable for me to email companies I've already emailed, but haven't gotten responses from? I keep an on going list of places I've been in touch with and others that I haven't. I'm just wondering what the time frame should be for a "reminder" or If I should do it at all?