Future
In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it. They must not do too much of it. And they must have a sense of success in it.
The future of electronic media, including motion pictures, is only partially dependent on the advances in the development of new equipment. Smaller, less expensive, higher-quality equipment will make a difference, but knowledge and inventive use of communication is the key—software and brain ware, not hardware, will determine the future of electronic media, especially for you as a writer. Social, civic, legal, and economic forces interact to guide changes, either to advance or to impede progress in any changing aspect of society. Each step in the move of communication to the digital world has done so only with the combined final agreement of each of the levels of society: government, corporations, the law, and finally the people determine the final outcome of the next step.
As a writer, you will need to study and follow the changes in distribution methods, since convergence has brought distribution methods into question as to which one will serve which market. Today, new technology and audience demands provide you with two extremes—high-definition widescreen, or low-definition on a miniature screen. HDTV or mobiles each demand a different type of technical production and as of now, there is no certainty as to what type of creative production will serve each better than the other. At the same time, no one knows what the newest distribution system will be. As of this writing, the decision between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray as a home distribution is undetermined, even as a newer and better system, Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD), is being developed. Technology will continue to free individual workers, such as writers, to find their most comfortable environment for working, whether it occurs with a group in an office, or in isolation for concentration in their home or hideaway.
The premium skill you depend on is your ability to use the best writing skills applied to whatever market or audience exists. The opportunity has widened with the narrowing of the audience into smaller interest groups, providing niche positions for new topics not previously acceptable for the mass media. It is more than likely that English will dominate as the world language, but at the same time an understanding of non-English cultures, customs, and languages will be needed. There always will be more writers and potential writers than positions to be filled. Despite the industry’s continuous cries for new talent, the competition always will be tough; getting the first job without experience, when experience is the first requirement, will not change. Follow the suggestions in this chapter, and hopefully that break will come your way.
Although some businesses (broadcasting and companies funded by the federal government) must by law advertise publicly for any open position, other companies do not have to openly advertise. Even with advertised positions, they may be filled immediately, often from within the same company. Relying on advertising is a poor method of finding potential job openings. Some of the best methods of learning of job openings come through networking, knowing people in the industry, being related to someone in the field, or serving a semester as an intern. Joining a professional organization such as the student branches of the Radio TV News Directors Association (RTNDA), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), or the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), or the Gamer’s Association Annual will teach you the inside scoop about that business as well as give you access to people working and in position to know of openings. Belonging to a newsgroup, monitoring blogs, and keeping close contact with your professors who have contacts in the business provide potential career contacts.
The search for that first job, or for that matter, each job as you move through your career, consists of three basic steps; finding the opportunity, preparing the paperwork, and surviving the interview. For most media-oriented jobs, the technique known as networking serves as the most efficient way to locate a potential job. The paperwork consists of three parts; a cover letter, the resume, and your portfolio. The heart of interviewing involves preparing for the interview. More about interviewing and paperwork is detailed later in this chapter.
The first step in building a network consists of sitting down and creating a list of everyone you know, who your family knows, and who your friends know in the media business. Let them know you want to find a position in the business. The list needs to include the complete name (proper spelling), title, company, address, phone and e-mail address. This list also should include all of the contacts you have developed at your internship (more about internships later), volunteering at nonprofits, and even names of people you read about in the newspaper or professional publications. This is the first of several research phases you will go through in your job search, so approach this phase as a very important one. Take accurate notes, think in broad terms of finding contacts that might lead you to potential positions, and also people who might assist you in your search.
Each of the media fields publishes some type of listing of all of the companies in that field. In broadcasting it is an annual publication titled Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook. It is an expensive volume, but most large libraries carry the latest copy. It lists all broadcast stations, cable channels, many production companies, and companies associated in some manner with broadcasting. The list includes addresses, phone numbers, and management-level employee names and titles. Before you call or write to an individual, call the company first and make certain that person still holds that position. Managers come and go at a high rate in broadcasting, and you don’t want to ask to speak to or mail a resume to the incorrect person.
Don’t ignore personal contacts. Check with all of your relatives and friends, and ask if they know someone in the business or at the company you are interested in. Don’t hesitate to use your family or friends’ names in requesting an interview after you have gained their permission. As an absolute rule, never use another person’s name without specifically asking permission to do so, and that includes using them as a reference. More about references later.
Your job search needs to include exploring market sizes and knowing the differences between a major market, a middle market, and a smaller market. Larger markets seldom hire inexperienced people unless it is at a small operation within that market. Middle markets will consider some inexperienced people for their lowest-level entry positions. Small markets often welcome people willing to start in a small operation to learn the business and get the experience needed for a major market or company. It is much easier to make mistakes to learn a business when the financial stakes are not high and forgiveness comes easier since your pay is low enough in a small operation to make up the difference. Explore industries just beginning the move to the digital or interactive world. They will be expanding and needing people with digital training, especially writers. This includes newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television stations, cable channels, film studios, and small independent production houses. If they have not yet begun using digital media including Web sites, newsgroups, and other interactive forms, they will need qualified help.
If you are working already but want to move on to another job, be aware that the person who may hire you wants to talk to your present boss. You can ask for confidential respect, up to a point. At some time you are going to have to be honest and up front with your present employer. Also make certain you give proper notice, 2 weeks minimum, but have the same consideration of your present boss as you would expect him to have of you.
One of the best network possibilities is the people you will meet during your internship. But you need to earn an internship first. Depending on the policy of your school and the companies that offer internships, there are minimum qualifications to be placed as an intern. An internship does not replace coursework. Don’t expect an intern host to teach you everything you need to know to work in the field of your choice. The knowledge you acquired in school should prepare you to qualify as an entry-level employee. You should wait until near the end of your academic career before enrolling in an internship. There are two reasons for this decision. First, you need the education and background to prepare you for the internship. Second, if the internship works well and you are offered a full-time job, you need not be placed in the position of having to choose between accepting the offer requiring you to quit school before graduating, or turn the offer down because you realize you must finish your degree. Any company offering you a fulltime position while serving an internship will be willing to wait if you are in your last semester of school.
Also, if you do an internship during the fall or spring semester, make certain you carry as light an academic load as possible. To take full advantage of an internship, free yourself of as many obligations as possible to concentrate your energies and time on the internship. If you apply for an internship during the summer, expect very heavy competition from many different schools that allow students to intern only during the summer. During the internship, work to prove you will make a good employee. Perform any job assigned to you, be positive about all of the activities at the host company, even if some of them are boring, repetitious, and not at all what you thought the industry was all about. Ask if you can perform work not assigned to you, but ask first and make certain you know what to do and then do the job well.
Be aware of two negative incidents that may occur during an internship. If your assignments consist only of clerical work, answering telephones, getting coffee, running errands, or sitting around just watching people work, you have the right to report this to both your school’s intern supervisor, your supervisor on the job, or the human resources (HR) office of the company. Expect to be assigned to low-level jobs during an internship, but it also is an educational activity and there must be some potential for learning, or it is of limited value to you. Your school needs to be aware of your insufficient work assignment. The second is the more serious matter of sexual harassment. If you feel threatened at any time or are approached by an employee in an offensive manner, report the incident immediately to the HR department and your school’s intern supervisor. At the same time, make certain you dress appropriately and act professionally toward all employees at all times.
An internship should not be designed to replace the work of a full-time employee. This may be a difficult judgment to make, depending on the type of company and the manner in which they assign work to their employees. Too often a company will attempt to avoid hiring the full-time staff they need by taking on as many interns as possible and assigning each of them a part of the job of an employee. The determination of this judgment is the responsibility of the school’s intern supervisor, but it may not be obvious to him or her unless students report back such a situation in their weekly reports. An internship at a for-profit company must be performed for academic credit or some level of pay. Labor laws and legal responsibilities can only be fulfilled with credit or pay. The rule does not apply to nonprofit corporations such as public broadcasters PBS and NPR stations. You may volunteer as an intern with those organizations, but the job responsibilities are the same at a for-profit company and in some cases the opportunities for excellent work experience are better at nonprofit operations.
As part of your preparation to serve an internship, you should begin assembling your job application file, which consists of four documents: your resume, cover letter, portfolio of your work, and a package of personal information for interviewing and for filling out application forms.
Although a cover letter precedes a resume, writing your resume will organize the information you need to write cover letters that you prepare for each job application. Your cover letter describes who you are, how you got to where you are, and where you want to go. It needs to be succinct, comprehensive, accurate, and without any typos, grammatical errors, or superfluous filler. Your resume may be organized as either a list of all of your information aesthetically arranged on the page, or a narrative written as a short monologue of who you are. As a writer the last form may seem to offer an opportunity to show your creative writing ability, but be very careful of this format. A resume’s basic purpose is to succinctly tell someone who you are in a form that quickly reveals the critical information the reader wants to see. The narrative form requires a thorough reading, and therefore requires more time and effort on the part of the reader.
Whichever format is used, keep in mind the KISS rule: keep it simple and succinct. Hold it to one page if possible, and no more than two unless an additional page of references is called for. Don’t try to be humorous, especially in the narrative form; save showing your writing skills for your portfolio. Avoid overly unique design, layout, paper, and font styles. Make it readable but enjoyable at the same time. Keep in mind the reader may glance only at the first part of the front page, so make it stand out and stick in his mind so that he will continue reading the entire document
Begin with your full name, the one you want the interviewer to call you by—no nicknames unless you are stuck with one. Include accurate contact information: address, phone number(s) indicating whether cell or land line, and your e-mail address and Web site if you have one and you want the interviewer to see it. This is a good time to clean up your Web site and any other site with your name on it. Keep in mind your potential employer may have the research staff look for you wherever you may have left your name. Your contact information must be accurate and current. If you are about to return home or move to a new city, make certain you can be found easily. No one will want to hunt you down. If the first try to reach you fails, the interviewer will go to the next candidate and dump your resume.
The order of the next list of items depends on the job you are applying for and the strength of several of your past characteristics. For someone just graduating, you first list your schooling. List each school’s full name and location if the name does not clarify its location (no high schools, unless you went to a specialized school that taught media writing), the date of graduation, and your GPA if over 3.0. Indicate your major and minor if it adds to your value (no animal husbandry unless applying to a veterinarian publication). If you attended more than one college, list only, the last one, unless the others included specialized media training. List honors awarded and extracurricular activities especially if they represent any form of media connection. Any publications, research, or academic media production work needs to be listed. Fraternity or sorority activities may be listed only if they involved responsible or elected positions. Other elected campus responsibilities also may be listed, but only if there is space and the activity indicates some value to your future career.
Figure 11.1. A narrative resume appears to be a short story of who you are, but it is more difficult for the reader to obtain the critical information needed in a job application.
If your employment record includes items that specifically prepared you for a writing career, then list important employment next. Employment could be listed ahead of education if your job record contains media or writing experience. List jobs by the title of your job, a very brief description of your duties as they either apply to your career choice, or indicate specialized responsibility or management experience. List only those jobs that would impress a prospective employer, but be prepared to fill any gaps with a package of personal information later in your interview. If as part of your job experience you were involved in research, media production, or publications, list those items under the employment record, but indicate where and how you participated.
Specialized computer and media production skills, language proficiency, and international travel experience round out your life’s history. You must make a judgment about what is most important and fit the information neatly on the page so that it reads easily and quickly.
Often your references may be on a separate last page. You may change the references depending on the company and job requirements. List at least three people who know your work habits and your writing skills. Do not list your religious contact; he or she never say bad things about anyone, and your prospective employer wants to know the truth about you. Make the reference choices based on your perceived knowledge of the personal attitude toward you and the person’s willingness to spend some time responding to specific questions about you and your writing ability.
Do not list anyone unless you have contacted them first and made certain they are willing to act as a reference and that they do remember who you are. It is helpful to them if you would send a copy of your resume by letter or e-mail to help them remember you. Add the classes you took from that person and your grade in that class, and the date of the class. Don’t lie about the grade; most professors keep grade records until they die. While asking for permission to use them as references, make certain you have the correct spelling of their names, their present titles, accurate addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. Most prospective employers want to talk directly to references but do not want to spend much time trying to track them down. If they can’t find the references, they will go to the next applicant.
Figure 11.2. An outline resume lists important information in a manner that is easy for the interviewer to read and pick out critical information he or she needs to know.
Your cover letter will offer the first impression to a potential boss. Research and write it with the best prose you have ever created. If you have completed the research suggested above for your resume, then you have completed much of the background work for your cover letter. Each job you apply for requires a separate cover letter written specifically for that job and company. The well-written cover letter accomplishes three goals. First, it is your introduction to a complete stranger. Show your best side, personally as well as professionally. Second, show that you know what the company produces and what you offer that will benefit the company. Third, give enough of your background and experience that they will want to meet and interview you to find what else you can give to the company.
Remember, this is a business letter. Use a standard business letter format; this is not the place to show your creativity, but rather your ability to be responsible and organized. Start with a business heading: the name, title, company, and address of the person you are approaching or answering, nicely spaced on the upper left side of the page. Don’t forget to date the letter just above or at the top line of the heading. Make certain you spell the person’s name correctly and use his or her correct title.
The greeting should be to the specific person, never “To Whom it May Concern.” The best addresses are Mr., Dr., or Ms. followed by his or her full name. Your first line may explain why you are writing but only if there is a specific reason such as answering an advertisement or responding to a letter. Don’t waste your time with a lengthy explanation; get to the point. Briefly outline your qualifications (leave the details to the resume) and why you would be a good fit for the job. Indicate if you have enclosed your resume, and if you also enclosed any writing samples. Be sure to specify which job you are applying for. Never say “any job available.” If they are not hiring for the job you ask about, they may have something else, but give them the opportunity to indicate that fact. Never try to rationalize why you want a job at that location. They don’t care if you want to be near a beach, if you have relatives nearby, or if you like mountains.
Your last paragraph must include a statement that you will follow the letter with a phone call within a week or ten days (specify which) and then be sure to call within that time block. Within that statement indicate that the reason you will call is to give him or her a chance to discuss your resume, answer any questions he or she may have, and if possible arrange for an interview. This last paragraph is as important as the first line of the letter. This indicates you are willing to take the initiative by following the letter with the call and not just sit back waiting for a response. This is a little pushy, but remember you have to find some way to stand out among the hundreds of other people applying for the same job.
Sign off the letter with a closing such as “Sincerely,” a handwritten signature, your full name, and a block of all of your contact information. Lay out the material in an open but compact design. Use white space to separate sections; don’t cram the entire body in a clump at the top of the page, but spread it out for a pleasing visual appearance.
Your portfolio provides a means for you to show what you are capable of doing and have accomplished in the past. As an artist, you are proud of your work and you want to show it in the best light possible. Your portfolio is the setting to do just that. The approach you use may follow two different paths. One, show samples of at least one example of each type of writing that you are capable of. The other method is to create a portfolio containing only one type of work. The latter selection is best used if you are applying for a specific job such as copywriting at an ad agency, or as a newswriter for a television station. Some jobs require a range of work, from short spot writing to lengthy documentary or dramatic writing. A portfolio for that type of job should include as wide a range of samples as possible. If you are talented in several different genres, use the best sample of each, but be sure to include only excellent samples to show your abilities.
Figure 11.3. The cover letter is the first impression an interviewer will have of you. Make it speak well of you, make it professional and to the point, summarize, don’t duplicate your resume.
An important consideration requires that you include only your best work. The impulse to include every piece that you like or have an emotional attachment to creates a mediocre portfolio. It is better to have one excellent example of your work rather than one good one and several mediocre. The reader will remember the mediocre samples. Choose wisely and critically as if you are looking at someone else’s work, not your own. If there were production restrictions beyond your control, you may explain, but do not rationalize or excuse poor or mediocre work—just don’t include it in the portfolio.
Once you have chosen your work, use only clean copies, preferably printed with a laser printer. Ink jet printers are okay, but not a dot matrix printer. Check every page for typos, grammar and punctuation errors, printer smudges, or wrinkled paper. Make certain each page is carefully written in professionally formatted styles. Each page should have your name on it. Very few examiners will look at the entire portfolio, so make certain the first few pages are the very best and will entice the reader to look farther into the samples. A separation page with a brief explanation preceding each sample will give the reader a context for the work. A table of contents with tabbed pages separating different examples will facilitate scanning through the portfolio. All of the material should be mounted in some type of loose-leaf binder so the work may be removed and viewed by more than person at a time and yet may be reassembled to its original order and form. The case should have a clean professional appearance; again save your creativity for what’s inside the case, not the case itself. But it needs to be carefully labeled on both the front surface and on the spine, if the case has one. The labels need to be visible and contain your name and contact information.
Selling writing is a brutal business. Editors, news directors, film, TV, game, Web producers, and agency managers all are busy people often faced with a deluge of portfolios and submissions. If your presentation does not grab them within the first 30 seconds, your work may never receive full consideration. Every portfolio won’t appeal to every interviewer; you may need to redesign the portfolio for each different type of job that you apply for. Often your portfolio will not be viewed until you have been given an interview, and as a part of that interview you will be given the opportunity to show your portfolio. If you have prepared it well, it should speak for itself, relying only on you for explanations or more detail about your experience.
If the portfolio is mailed, make certain you have copies of all of the work contained in the package. If necessary, have a professional mailing service wrap and ship the portfolio to make certain it will not be damaged in shipment and will arrive at its destination on time. A little money spent at this point will pay dividends in the long run. Also include a prepaid self-addressed return-shipping label if you expect to have the portfolio returned. An alternate to shipping the actual portfolio is to burn a CD of the portfolio contents and ship the CD with your resume and cover letter.
For most people, including those who have gone through the process more than once, interviewing for a job can be an uncomfortable situation. It doesn’t have to be, if you prepare yourself and your materials. Remember, both you and the interviewer have a common goal: to find out if you will fit the requirements they have for a position. The session need not be a confrontational battle, but a give and take of you explaining who you are, what you are capable of doing, and how it fits with the needs of the company. If there is no fit, then don’t take the rejection personally. It is better you don’t accept a position that doesn’t match your interests or capabilities than end up on a job that will make you unhappy and not allow your creativity to blossom.
To begin with, it is crucial for you to be yourself, your adult self, not your campus comedian and style leader. Avoid extremes of clothing, hairstyle, metal accessories, and tattoos. Many companies that specialize in artistic and creative works may not show any concern about such extremes in appearance, but it is better to appear more conservative at the first meeting and show your creativity in appearance later, once you are on the payroll. This caution is especially important if your interview is with the HR department representative and not the head of the department you expect to work for. At the same time, they do want to know who you really are and if you will fit with the rest of the employees, but they are interested in the adult you, not the immature you.
Be willing to start at or near the bottom of the rank and file. Don’t stay in that position long; more than 2 years in an entry-level position means it’s time to look for another company if there is no possibility moving up at your present operation. The amount of money you make should not be the major motivating factor in the choice of your first positions. Find work that gives you the opportunity to prove yourself, get experience, and develop those all-important networking contacts. Once you are working, then you will have the opportunity to submit script, game, Web designs, and story ideas with some chance they will be viewed as coming from a professional. Don’t expect to follow a linear path from your first job until you reach your final goal. Often, that path will not appear because as you work toward your goal it will change and you will discover more satisfying opportunities that you didn’t even know existed when you left school.
Thoroughly research the company, the job you want, and the work you may be expected to perform. Be prepared to answer questions that reveal your knowledge of all of those subjects. You may not be asked detailed questions at the first interview, but knowing what you have learned from your research will give you confidence in talking intelligently about the company, and confidence is one of the best characteristics to show during an interview. Arrive on time fully prepared for both the face-to-face part of the interview and depending on the size of the company, a stack of forms to fill out.
To prepare for the forms as part of your research—research yourself. Arrive with every possible bit of information about your past that they might be interested in. The list needs to include your last three to five residences, the addresses and who you paid your rent to, your past three to five employers, supervisors, pay, addresses, and telephone numbers. You may be asked to name someone as a contact in an emergency and their contact information, what medical insurance you have and your primary doctors. After you have been hired you may need to list family members, spouse, children, or anyone you may be responsible for. You may be asked to make decisions on what type of medical coverage and retirement programs you want to enroll in. Some of these decisions arrive fast and furious and may have important bearings on your future; think about them in advance to be able to make accurate and beneficial choices for you and your family. Depending on the company and what you position you are applying for, you may be asked to submit to an examination or test. For a writer, you may be asked to quickly write a story, commercial, or treatment with basic information provided. They may intentionally ask you to complete the test in your handwriting or they may give you access to a computer. Your portfolio should provide this type of information, but some companies will want to see if you can write with basic information against a deadline.
If your primary interview is through a telephone interview, it may be a conference call with several other people listening and possibly asking questions. At the beginning ask for each person’s name and title and try to remember what their voices sound like. Don’t hesitate to pause after each question is presented; think carefully of your answer, but don’t wait so long that they wonder what you are doing on the other end of the line. Have a copy of your resume, cover letter, and portfolio in front of you as references. Also keep close at hand a copy of all of your personal information to provide quick answers if asked.
Negotiating pay and benefits is a difficult challenge for all new employees, but even more so for creative applicants. We all know what we think we are worth, but it is difficult to face someone across a desk in a suit and demand that figure. Again, begin this part of the process with research. Find out what such a position in that company or similar companies in the same market size pay beginning employees. Don’t be afraid to ask for more if the figure they offer is less. Knowing your own value again shows confidence. Don’t argue. If you are told the figure is the maximum the company is willing to pay, don’t walk out the door. Explore other perquisites (perqs) such as car or clothing allowances, provided equipment, overtime pay, moving expenses, or a signing bonus. Don’t take rejection personally; try to assume a pleasant negotiating stance, not an argumentative position. If you cannot come to terms satisfactory to you, don’t hesitate to thank the interviewer for his or her time and for considering you for the position. Leave your resume and cover letter for possible future positions or budget changes that will allow you to reach an agreement for accepting a position later with that company. If the rejection comes from a complete lack of your fitting in with this company, always ask if he or she knows of any other open positions with that company or any other the interviewer might be aware of. Always leave on a positive note, even though you may be disappointed and hurt.
If the interview ends with a “we’ll call you,” be sure to ask how soon you might expect a call. If you are told or the ad you answered says: “don’t call,” then don’t call. Wait a reasonable amount of time, 2–3 weeks maximum, and then send an e-mail inquiring about your interview. Even the busiest of HR people will reply to an email. This may give you a quick rejection, but that is better than waiting without knowing whether to pursue other possibilities and get on with your search. Most companies will have the courtesy to respond within a reasonable amount of time, but there may be extenuating circumstances beyond their immediate control. They may be waiting for budget clearance, depending on the job, or they may be waiting on security or personal clearance information. At this point patience is a virtue, but don’t ignore other possibilities while you wait.
Sending blind inquiries may yield a result, but be prepared to send hundreds if not more to get one or two responses. Never send unsolicited portfolios or scripts. They will be returned unopened or destroyed. Submit scripts only when requested, but unsolicited resumes and cover letters may receive some limited attention.
Freelancing allows you the opportunity to work for yourself or your own company by finding an individual project and selling your services to the client. It would be best to avoid trying freelancing until you have had several years’ experience working on staff at other companies, saving money, and building a list of clients and potential clients. You will need to sell yourself or work with a partner who enjoys the selling end of the game. When you first start you may have to accept projects that don’t offer the creativity or even the pay you would prefer, but early on you can’t be too choosy; you need to build a sample reel of your work. Do follow a set of ethics; never take a job that you can’t philosophically accept. As a freelancer, the second major problem after getting work is getting paid for it. The standard in the industry for writers is to be paid on the one-third system. You bill and receive one third of the budgeted figure on acceptance of the idea and on a signed contract. Then you bill one third and collect on acceptance of the rough draft, and the final one third on completion and final acceptance. Finding quality clients and collecting your legitimate fees for creative personnel are onerous and annoying parts of the field.
The problems of finding jobs and clients, negotiating salary and fees, and collecting the money owed created the field of artist representation. At a certain level in your career you may feel you would prefer to leave those awkward and unpleasant activities to an agent or representative. The agent’s responsibility permits him or her to sell you and your work for a 10% cut of whatever your fee is. That means unless an agent gets you work, he or she doesn’t make any money. At the same time the agent becomes a liaison between producers, station managers, and company HR departments to bring to them only the best possible person to fill the job the company needs. That means an agent won’t represent you unless you have had experience, can write what is needed, and make a good appearance for an interview or a pitch. You must give the agent work to sell; an agent can’t wait until he or she finds a job and then have to wait for you to turn out a script. Give the agent good work and his or her job is to find a producer who needs that script. There must be a good deal of mutual trust between you and your agent, so don’t sign with an agent until you are ready, have the work to sell, and you have carefully researched to make certain you have found the correct match for you in an agent.
For freelancers, an agent is almost a necessity. Producers and publishers normally will not speak directly to you as a writer. They are afraid if they look at your work they may be sued for stealing your work. If they go through an agent, a record exists of the transaction. An agent is not a union steward, he or she can negotiate for you, but you must handle grievances yourself, through a manager (another 10% off the top), a lawyer, or through the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Two Writers Guilds represent writers across the country: the WGA-W (West represents more film and West Coast writers) and WGA-E (East represents more network television and East Coast writers). WGA-W offers special contracts for freelancers: one for games and CD-ROMS, and the other for Internet scripts. Their major responsibility is to write contracts for staff and freelance writers as a group who work for the studios.
Finding work as a writer for both staff writers and freelance self-employed writers follows the same pattern. The best search philosophy requires a three-step plan. First, a detailed search based on research gathered on the companies who might be hiring, developed contacts from friends and family, and your internship. An internship is one of the most beneficial activities you as a soon-to-graduate student can engage in to prepare yourself for building contacts and learning on a practical level what a job in the field of your choice actually is like.
Once a reasonable goal has been sighted, preparation of the paperwork needed to apply for and gain worthwhile employment becomes your next job. You write a cover letter written for each individual company and position, a resume that describes you completely but succinctly, who you are and what you are capable of giving to an employer, and your portfolio. Each must be carefully and professionally prepared since they each represent who you are and what you are capable of doing. Hopefully, an interview will follow, and again you need to do background research into the company, what they produce, what their pay scales are and how your skills may be attractive to them.
Figure 11.4. The freelance contract is designed to protect the work and career of writers who are self employed and belong to the WGA.
Hiring an agent and/or a representative serves a useful purpose once you have reached the professional and experience level and income to support another person. Few people in creative fields follow a linear path in their careers. First, many find their original choice is not what they expected it to be like as a employee. Second, and most important, if your ideal position is not open or available to you, take whatever job you are able to perform and learn all you can from that position. You may find it provides a better view of the world than your original goal and may open entire new possibilities for your creative drive.
Now that you are working, staff or freelance, here are some helpful hints.
1. Avoid legal complications from copyright, patents, and trademarks under Intellectual Property Laws.
2. Aggressiveness and competitiveness are positive values, but they require restraint.
3. Small business anti-golden rule: What goes ‘round comes ‘round. Whatever dirty deed you do to someone else in the business, the chances are very good he or she will have the opportunity to pay you back plus more.
4. Get organized fast and stay organized.
5. Your first job probably won’t last long. Prepare for jobs #2 and #3 right away.
6. Accept constructive criticism and reviews as a positive means of improving.
7. Be flexible, multi-skilled, and constantly learn new techniques.
1. Assemble all of your personal data that you will need to fill out employment forms.
2. Using the Broadcasting Yearbook, compile a list of all of the companies (TV, radio stations, cable companies) that you are interested in working for, and call to make certain the person you need to send an application to still works there and that they still accept applications.
3. Using the Gamer’s Annual Guide, find a game company near your location and call for an interview.
4. Google PRS and AAAA, and check their Web sites for instructions on applying for jobs in those industries.
5. Do the same for RTNDA and NAB.
Attkisson, Sharyl, and Don R. Vaughn. Writing Right for Broadcast and Internet News. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2003.
Bermont, Todd. 10 Insider Secrets to a Winning Job Search, Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press, 2004.
Bucy, Erik P. Living in the Information Age: A New Media Reader. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2002.
Crawford, Tad, and Kay Murray. The Writer’s Legal Guide. 3rd ed. New York: Allworth Press, 2002.
Edwards, Christina. Gardner’s Guide to Finding New Media Jobs Online. Herndon Lane, VA: GGC Publishing, 2003.
Kent, Simon. Careers and Jobs in Media. London: Kogan Page Limited, 2005.
Levy, David B. Your Career in Animation: How to Survive and Thrive. New York: Allworth Press, 2006.
Miller, Carolyn Handler. Digital Storytelling: A Creator’s Guide to Interactive Entertainment. Boston: Focal Press, 2004.
Reddick, Randy, and Elliot King. The Online Student: Making the Grade on the Internet. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1996.
Taylor, Jeffrey, and Douglas Hardy. Monster Careers: How to Land the Job of Your Life. New York: Penguin Press, 2004.
Tuggle. C. A., Forrest Carr, and Suzanne Huffman. Broadcast News Handbook: Writing, Reporting & Producing in the Converging Media World. 2nd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
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