I’ve surrendered! God willing, I will be taking a job after I graduate. As opposed to staying home and watching Wendy Williams re-runs all day?, you may be asking. No, as opposed to working for myself hustling up money and trying to juggle that with pursuing writing, talk show hosting, and filmmaking. I’ll still continue my entrepreneurial pursuits in coaching if work happens to come my way, but I’m realizing that working for yourself in a real way requires a full-time commitment–and that defeats the whole purpose of my coaching as a side job that leaves me time to be an artist.
Then why don’t you be an artist full-time? you may be asking. The truth is that as much as I consider myself to be an artist, I am also a businesswoman and over $100,000 in educational debt (I have absolutely no other kind of debt). I’m not interested in being a starving artist. I’m interested in being seen and heard as well as being creative. I’ve been told repeatedly by Harvard and Pomona alumni that working “in the industry” will get me closer to my goal than trying to work outside of it. But there’s a caveat!
I am very aware of the trap of brainy, overeducated creative types going into the “business” side of media and entertainment with hopes that some day they will magically be able to cross over to the creative side. There’s even a whole book written about it. These people end up raising higher and higher on the business side of media, never able or willing to cross over to the creative side or they just end up leaving the industry period. I hope that this doesn’t happen to me. I want to write books. I want to make movies. I want to tell people’s stories to audiences around the world. But I also don’t want to be desperate. And hungry. And discouraged because I spend more time fretting about my finances than I do actually creating anything.
One day at a time, as my grandma says. So how does a girl choose which jobs she will pursue? Here’s how I plan to do it:
Industry: Choose the industry you want to be in, and go take a job in it if you can. Don’t take a job in an adjacent or similar industry. You’ll be climbing a ladder propped up against the wrong building. I want to be as close to the film and television industry as possible. Book, magazine, and web publishing are all intriguing to me as well.
Learning: Although I am taking great courses this year, I still have a lot to learn about the industries I want to be a leader in. I need to choose a job that will give me opportunities to learn more about the day-to-day experience of TV and filmmaking and learning about what makes a book a bestseller.
Exposure: I want a job that will expose me to the people that can help me achieve my long-term career dreams. I know that media and entertainment is an industry of relationships, so the ability to establish even more of those will hopefully open doors for me more quickly than sending out cold-call emails (which is great while you are a student not really asking people for anything but their time and advice).
Work design and Culture: I know that I would be absolutely miserable sitting at a desk all day. I’d probably be miserable running around all day like a crazy person (a la Devil Wears Prada). I need to find a job that has a healthy mix of interacting with people, idea generation, being creative, and being strategic. I also need to find a job where I can be my outgoing, animated self. I hear the people in media and entertainment can be very flamboyant. Sounds like where I need to be.
Experience: With the exception of a field study and my own independent pursuits (which I am thoroughly enjoying), I am a media and entertainment newbie. I hope this helps me get more experience doing things that people see as “legitimate” experience. The key is for me to not let my experience on the business side keep me from getting experience on the creative side.
Money: Seemingly contrary to what I started out this post saying, money is my lowest priority in choosing a job. I’ve been listening when all the seasoned professionals come to Harvard and give us advice on choosing jobs right out of college. They always say that we should privilege learning over money. I believe that. I’ve taken jobs primarily because of the money or the brand name, and it has never been a great match. If you have the financial ability to do so, make money a lower priority than pursuing your passion. You shouldn’t have to starve to be happy, but your money won’t fill the hole in your heart if you are doing a job that takes you further from what you love.
So if you’re looking for a job, and you aren’t sure what to pick, focus on industry, learning, exposure, experience, and money–in that order. At least that’s what I’m planning to do.
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Thanks for this one! i have been applying for jobs myself- but I’m not really sad about it because I am working on the business plan for my yoga studio simultaneously! So I totally understand having to get that job.
I don’t feel sad about applying to jobs either! Since I’m very clear about what I want in the long term, I actually feel very relieved to not have to take care of everything by myself. Keep me updated on the progress of the yoga studio business plan! Love it!
This is how I should have been thinking when I graduated – actually, before I even started [i had no clue about what to do].
If you can constantly refer to these points and keep them active, then you should be fine. It’s when you do get sucked into a ‘j.o.b.’ and the money and don’t maintain your goals, that you forget where you were headed.