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My Rant: The Job Market

leftbanke7

leftbanke7

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 4, 2004
746
1
West Valley City, Utah
[rant]

So I graduate from college next week and I have spent the last month or so looking for decent work. Well, for somebody who is getting a degree in Film Studies, there isn't s**t out there. I knew that getting into film wasn't going to easy so I have been looking elsewhere. Pretty much trying to find anything I may be qualified for.

HA!

There isn't crap out there for anybody who has a degree in a Fine Arts field. Well, there is but you have to sell people crap. I couldn't sell a man dying of thirst in a desert a bottle of water. I dislike the thought of bothering people trying to sell them stuff. I hate it when they do it to me.

I've looked at all the shipping companies (DHL, FedEx, UPS) having done that sort of work for around 8 of the last 10 years but they aren't hiring anybody or at least not me as all of my resumes have gone unresponded to. In addition to that, I have resumes posted all over the place and the only responses I get are from companies that won't even tell you who they are and what exactly they do. They link you to an automatic web interview page. The only "legit" response I have gotten is from some model and talent scouting agency looking for an administrative assistant but, again, I don't feel 100% comfortable with this company as something about it just doesn't feel right.

And being that I am in the ever so wonderful situation of having student loans which have already had their 6 month grace periods used up, come June, I have to start paying them their money. Luckily I have 6 months for a majority of my loans though.

So this is really ***** frustrating. All your life you are told to go to college and get a degree and you can get a good job. Bulls**t. They should update that to say "Go to college and get a degree in any math and science related field and you can get a good job but if you decide to get a degree in any Fine Arts field, you'd better get used to flipping burgers because that's all you're worth."

So I imagine that this time in two weeks, I will be doing some menial task for 10 bucks an hour and realizing that college, for me, was a real big waste of time and money.

[/rant]
 
I've had friends that started looking back in their Junior year and they still have yet to find a real stable job years later. You have to give it time. Don't expect to work with Van Sant right off the bat.
 
At least you didn't get a degree in English like I did. Fortunately, that's an OK degree to have if you're going to law school (which, after taking a year off this past year, I am about to do).

Having a $10/hr. job to start off with isn't so bad, really, and at least you could try to put some short stuff together in your spare time to build up your portfolio. A little while down the road, you could definitely have enough stuff to help get on somewhere (and never underestimate making commercials - there's good money to be had in it, and it may be an easier market to get into than what you're looking at).

Just don't give up, and try to keep your eyes open for things even if you end up taking an office job somewhere!
 
welcome to the life of a struggling artist.

as a fellow failure, let me encourage you to take my exact path:

attend respected fine arts school.
win awards for your work.
graduate.
get a few small freelance gigs.
move to a city where there are NO jobs in your field.
go to temp agency.
get hired for low pay, no benefits, for a job well below your skills.
cry a lot.
get shot down on application after application for real jobs.
no responses from interviews.
cry more.
win an oscar for your work.
continue being rejected for jobs.
cry.

any questions? ;)

ps. don't settle for 10/hr. i get 12.25!!! ignore the fact that the temp agency gets like 18 and just sucks the rest up, along with my heart and soul.

enjoy!
 
leftbanke7,

Why don't you post your resume here (appropriately scrubbed for security's sake) and see if anyone here can help you find a job? I work for a big, industrial Fortune 100 company. We certainly don't have a need for film makers (if we did we would contract out for it), but we do hire plenty of college grads, and not all of them with Eng and finance degrees.

Tell us a little about what you would be willing to do and where you would be willing to do it (relocation?) and maybe a little networking on MR might help?

BTW - I have a BA in political science and work in finance. Degree does not always equal position.

Also, there are a number of different kinds of sales. There are cold-call sales (like you mentioned) which are for a certain kind of person. In my business virtually all of our sales are inside/corporate sales. Our National Account Managers call on other businesses that are already customers or have contacted us about business. A small part of their time is spent actively recruiting new business, because all of the major players in our industries are already known. they strive for win-win sales and long-term relationships. No used-car saleman tricks. We'd be out of business if we were a single sale business.

Good luck,

Dan
 
gwuMACaddict said:
certain undergrad degrees are worthless these days. go back and get more education somewhere. think masters, phd, etc.
Click to expand...

I am really considering this. Unfortunately, the career fields I am interested in have little in terms of employment opportunities also:

Teaching degree in History - The line goes around the block for that one
Teaching degree in Physical Education - Ditto and being that it is a science degree, there is a lot of math involved and me and math don't get a long.

I'm a firm believer that if I have to sit in a class learning it, I'd better be interested in it....sadly many people don't feel this way.

It's just kind of frustrating that's all. I pretty much abandoned all hope of getting into film in any way a long time ago. I suppose I can always go back to loading airplanes.
 
Here is a job description that I found on our corporate website:

Title Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Coordinator~
Requisition Number 3434BR
Job Function Manufacturing / Operations
Business Unit Alcoa Global Engineered Products
Location AZ-Chandler
Job Status Full-Time
Relocation Eligible Negotiable
Minimum Education Required Bachelors
Minimum Years of Experience Entry Level
Minimum Travel Required 0-25%
Position Description This opening is with Alcoa’s Global Engineered Products business at our Chandler, Arizona site. Pimalco is part of the GEP (Hard Alloy) Division and manufactures extruded shapes, cast and scalped forged ingot, extruded rod, seamless tubing, drawn seamless tubing, and automotive driveshaft product.

The role of this position is to develop, coordinate, implement and communicate activities related to Total Productive Maintenance. The principle challenge is to be the TPM Champion and change agent for the location.

TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Problem Tag Tracking & Reporting
Audit TPM Boards
Train and coach TPM board owners
Develop and implement 5-S cleaning standards
Accelerate deployment of TPM
Coordinate TPM Events
Schedule TPM events and workshops
Apply Lube Standards developed by Maintenance Organization
Own TPM communications
Conduct Equipment Auditing
Conduct TPM Training and track participation & results
Managing logistics for events such as number of people, lists, etc.
A-3 action items follow-up
Develop supplies checklist, min/max, and maintain TPM supply cabinets
Coordinate with Maintenance Planner
Report on Tag Statistics such as oldest, etc.
Coordinate with OpEx TPM owners
Evaluate & develop Promotional Materials
Coordinate with Lafayette TPM resource
Ensure metrics tracking related to A-3
Assess drive of level 1,2,3,4 activities
TPM internal auditor – maintain scores
Conduct Shadow board auditing
5-S Coordinator in addition to TPM
Manage contractors for equipment cleaning, etc.
Manage and standardize Kick-off Materials/Check List
Publish TPM Newsletter
Track TPM budget with Maintenance
Purchase low value supplies such as cleaning supplies, food, award, etc.
Preferred Qualifications This position requires a Bachelors Degree in a field of business, engineering or operations with minimal manufacturing experience. It is required that the incumbent have good people skills, communicative abilities, a desire to learn new concepts, multi-tasking capabilities, and motivation to be a change agent and promoter of TPM working with all levels of the organization.


It says that you need a degree in business, engineering or operations, but that is the "preferred qualifications". But the main thing they really want is this:

It is required that the incumbent have good people skills, communicative abilities, a desire to learn new concepts, multi-tasking capabilities, and motivation to be a change agent and promoter of TPM working with all levels of the organization.

If you can get the first interview and show them that you can do all of this, then you are half-way there and often the hiring manager will overlook your degree in consideration of your other qualities and experience.

Give it a try, what can it hurt?

http://www.alcoa.com
 
dansuz1 said:
Here is a job description that I found on our corporate website:
Click to expand...

ALCOA, eh? Their main HQ (I think it's the main one still, anyway) is just down the street from here (Knoxville). They even have Hwy. 129 named after them - Alcoa Hwy. Small world.
 
I'm down that way all of the time. But Knoxville is home to one of our largest smelters and rolling press plants, but not the corporate HQ. Corporate HQ is now in NYC (moved from Pittsburgh). In Knoxville there is a business unit HQ downtown.

And it's not just the HWY named Alcoa, the city is named Alcoa too! It's weird to drive around and see a sign for Alcoa Hardware store or Alcoa burgers.
 
:D
leftbanke7 said:
Teaching degree in Physical Education - Ditto and being that it is a science degree, there is a lot of math involved and me and math don't get a long.
Click to expand...

If you're smart enough to own a mac, you're smart enough to handle the math required to earn a degree in Physical Education ;) :D
 
What does a degree in film studies entail? Writing? Camera work? Sound mixing?

How about the A/V field? Companies are always looking to promote themselves at tradeshows and on the web. AV rental companies provide camera operators and sound technicians...

If writing is your gig, try writing film reviews.

Never understimate the power of the internship/apprenticeship. Check with your professors to see what contacts they have in the professional field, and if any are willing to take you on. Even at no pay. You'll get your foot in the door, which is what you need to do. At the very worst, you'll still end up with job experience.
 
gwuMACaddict said:
:D

If you're smart enough to own a mac, you're smart enough to handle the math required to earn a degree in Physical Education ;) :D
Click to expand...

LOL...thanks. However the Math requirement is not from the PE department, it is from the University itself and being that the U is renown for their math and science programs, they don't make it easy as to weed out those who don't make the grade. I believe that getting a science degree requires taking at least 2 4000/5000 level math courses. I got my ass kicked taking Math 1010.
 
dansuz1 said:
I'm down that way all of the time. But Knoxville is home to one of our largest smelters and rolling press plants, but not the corporate HQ. Corporate HQ is now in NYC (moved from Pittsburgh). In Knoxville there is a business unit HQ downtown.

And it's not just the HWY named Alcoa, the city is named Alcoa too! It's weird to drive around and see a sign for Alcoa Hardware store or Alcoa burgers.
Click to expand...

Ah, good to have that cleared up. And I know the town is called Alcoa, but it's fairly small (even by this area's standards), while the Hwy. is actually decently long - and pretty important (you even have to take it to go to the airport!).
 
Black&Tan said:
Never understimate the power of the internship/apprenticeship
Click to expand...

I would really love to do an internship but from what other film majors I have talked to in the dept have told me, you have to intern for at least a year before any sort of paying gigs come around, or at least that was their experience. I don't want to work 8 hours a day to pay the bills, then go intern for 8 hours a day to get my name out there and then try to sleep/eat/have a social life/coach little league football/and if there is time bathe in the remaining 8 hours. Sadly, something would have to give and as much as I love it, it would have to be the film internship.

The professors here are not much help when it comes to helping people out getting jobs. Unlike USC/UCLA/NYU, here at the Univ of Utah, they have geared the film department towards teaching film majors how to teach. The Undergrad Production side of it is lacking to say the least. And, of course, to teach anything in college, you need a PhD....much more school than I can handle or even afford.

This is why I am looking towards the shipping industry. I have more than enough experience (8 years) and many of the jobs requiring degrees aren't real specific about which degree that is.

Idealy, I would like to find a steady job and have a small little indie production set up that I do on the side. Just doing stuff like commericials and maybe small little web films.
 
leftbanke7 said:
I don't want to work 8 hours a day to pay the bills, then go intern for 8 hours a day to get my name out there and then try to sleep/eat/have a social life/coach little league football/and if there is time bathe in the remaining 8 hours.
Click to expand...

clearly you aren't dedicated to your craft. ;):p

leftbanke7 said:
Unlike USC/UCLA/NYU...
Click to expand...

i went to nyu. see my previous post about my situation. ;)


where do you live? can you relocate to LA or something? what is it you actually want to do? write reviews? be a cameraman? what? there are TONS more jobs in LA than here in dc. but i have my reasons for sticking around here. ;)
 
jelloshotsrule said:
clearly you aren't dedicated to your craft. ;):p



i went to nyu. see my previous post about my situation. ;)


where do you live? can you relocate to LA or something? what is it you actually want to do? write reviews? be a cameraman? what? there are TONS more jobs in LA than here in dc. but i have my reasons for sticking around here. ;)
Click to expand...

I live in Utah and have zero desire to ever move to LA. In one of my classes, the professor invited a gal who works in the industry (worked with Tim Burton for a few years) to come and talk to us about the ins and outs of Hollyweird. The class was essentually 3 hours on how LA will (not might, but will) chew us up and spit us out. Despite of the fact that is where a good portion of the jobs are, there is no way I could ever live there.

In addition to that, there has been much talk about a large studio starting up here in Utah that would take in all of the small Utah based Indie/Underground production houses.

I think I have a much better chance to make it going Indie then I ever would trying to get my foot in the door at a studio, and as we all know, neither of which is anywhere near a sure thing.

It's all luck.
 
leftbanke7 said:
I think I have a much better chance to make it going Indie then I ever would trying to get my foot in the door at a studio, and as we all know, neither of which is anywhere near a sure thing.

It's all luck.
Click to expand...

...actually, I would say work experience, in your field, is what you need most. And sadly, you need to "put in your time," do the menial jobs and learn from the bottom up. That's how you make connections, and that's where opportunity/luck often comes from.

If you're GOOD, the menial jobs will last only a short time and you'll be on the road to your dream. Otherwise, you'll need to work harder and longer to achieve what you want.
 
leftbanke7 said:
It's all luck.
Click to expand...

agreed.

what exactly do you want to do? what part of the production process do you want to be in, ideally?

i totally agree about LA by the way. even if i didn't mind leaving dc, i wouldn't want to go to la really. that's just not the way of life i want.
 
jelloshotsrule said:
clearly you aren't dedicated to your craft. ;):p
Click to expand...

You joke, but you're actually on to something. That's what it takes to make it in that business, PLUS moving to LA. If you're not willing to do that, you're very likely not going to make it.

Which is fine, but then don't complain about it. That's what life in the film industry is, for all but the tip top superstars. And it's what life was like for them before they made it. If that's not the life you want, then you need to find the life you do want.
 
very well said, munger. i can certainly say for myself that it's not my top priority to work on a feature film someday. so what i'm trying to do is find where i can fit into the "lower" ranks of the system... it's taking a while, but i'm still hopeful i will pull it off!
 
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