10 Common Time Management Mistakes - Time Management Training from Mind Tools.com

10 Common Time Management Mistakes - Time Management Training from Mind Tools.com

Professionalism, why is it important?

What does it mean to be an entertainment industry professional? What does it mean to you? The meaning of this word is different for just about everyone I’ve met, and a lot of people do not even think it exists.

If you ask me, it’s determined by how you’ve made someone feel about your working relationship. You are probable thinking…FEEL? Yes, Feel! It comes down to two things; how you react to the things that happen in your working relationship, and how you treat people. Everyone wants to feel appreciated, or at the very least… respected. It’s not easy to work with someone who doesn’t show and give you respect.

Again, I know what you must be thinking, not everyone deserves respect, and that is exactly my point. If you can treat all co-workers with respect even when it is not deserved, and even if you feel that it’s not likely that you’ll work with them again, then you are a professional. Keep in mind the chances of having to work with that person again are actually quite possible.  It’s a very small industry.

This should be a mantra for you, and a rule of your working day. If you always treat everyone with respect, and treat them the way you’d want to be treated, then what’s the worst they can say about you? If you know how this business works, then you’ll understand that statement immediately. Your image, your professional work image, is how you get and keep jobs. This is how people are going to describe you when discussing working with you. “Oh, he’s such a great guy” or “Yeah, she does really great work”. 

Here are three key traits to becoming a working professional.

• Treat everyone the way you’d like to be treated. It doesn’t matter their station or status. Of course you should be professional with your boss or the president of the company, but why not with the receptionist or the person from the mailroom? Do they not deserve to be treated as a professional? Many times I’ve seen people who’ve started out in those entry-level jobs rocket into positions of power within only a few years. If you live by the mantra of always being professional, then these people will remember that you always treated them with respect and your working relationship will be all the better because of it.
• Time management. These days everyone is uber busy. But don’t be too busy to have respect for other people’s time. I read a sign recently that puts this idea into perspective. It said “your lack of preparation does not constitute an emergency on me” or something to that effect. Meaning, get your stuff together, and don’t expect me to move my schedule to accommodate your mismanaged time.
• Discretion. There is a side to the entertainment industry that is full of telling insider juicy gossip. The tabloids make a mint off of it every day. There is an unwritten rule in this industry; you don’t talk about your clients or the projects you are working on until they are finished and approved. One example of this is talking about your clients in public or about them to your other clients. Whether it is good or bad talk, it’s still talk. That is going to make them feel like you can’t be trusted with their projects or thoughts.  A lot of my clients didn’t want us to discuss the project with anyone else outside the studio. They wanted us to wait until it came out. Sometimes projects get shelved or have been cancelled because the company did not think it was any good. OUCH! That’s a major blow to their ego and even worse if the entire world knows about it too.

 Good luck,

-The Career Coach

How networking at school can help your career.

So, I’m sitting in a coffee shop at noon on a Thursday, and I see many people with their ear buds in working feverously on their laptops. Some are moms hanging out with other moms. There are kids playing in the “kids” area. Some look like writers about to finish their first novel or screenplay.

Next to me is a guy who at first seems to be lounging around talking on his phone, but after sitting here for a bit, I realize, (because I’ve been eavesdropping) he is a freelance musician. He his calling all his connections, telling them that he is in town for a couple of weeks, and is available for work. Some calls are short and sweet, and others feel like he is catching up with old friends. But let us not be fooled, he is working… he’s networking! He is calling, emailing, reading the web, and invested in his day. What seemed like a harmless phone call has now turned into an obvious workday. By the end of these few hours, he seemed to have landed another gig. This got me thinking about how networking is such an integral part of what we do. It should start at school, and it usually does!

Here’s a good example of networking at school:

Mack and Justin are two students that I had the pleasure to meet while taking my class. They both had mutual friends at school and met each other few brief times while attending school. I’d say they were good acquaintances.

After graduation, Mack moved to New York City to pursue a career in music production and landed a gig assisting for Mix Engineer. Meanwhile, Justin moved to the West Coast and started looking for internship opportunities in Los Angeles.

About a year later, the mix engineer (from New York) decided to move his business to the West Coast, opening up a studio in Los Angeles. Mack was not available to move, leaving the engineer with a void in his production team. Knowing that you should always give back to your network when you can, Mack offered Justin’s contact info to the engineer and gave a recommendation for the job. The engineer understood that Mack’s reference was extremely valuable and decided to give Justin a call. Justin was in an internship at a studio here in L.A., but didn’t really feel the potential for it to go anywhere.

When Justin got the call from the engineer, he jumped at the chance, and was able to take advantage of this opportunity. Justin busted his butt to make the job into what it is today. And as time progressed, the engineer has come to rely on Justin. Hard work and determination was the catalyst for originally getting that recommendation, and also what made him successful afterwards. Justin has developed his career as an Audio Engineer with that same hard work and solid work ethic. Justin has been credited on albums and has worked on all sorts of other great projects.

This all came from two students who knew each other and seeing a great work ethic between the two. Justin is a professional who is very talented and was always destined to have a great career. He was not afraid to put himself out there, to get to know his classmates and let them see his talents and personality. Making such a good impression on Mack all those years ago ended up leading to this opportunity, and that was a result of great networking.

I personally think networking is a human instinct. We have to do it to survive on a very basic level, and the more you do it the more you have to do it, and you get better at it. It’s addictive.

Students should start now in school. Take a few minutes to talk to each other. If you don’t know someone, then introduce yourself. You can’t be shy! Tell people what you like to do, what are your passions, and why you like the work that you do. Always be professional, you never know where it will take you…

How to deepen your network:

ü  Join professional organizations. AES/Audio Engineer Society, Film Independent, AWN/Animation World Network, IGDA/International Game Developers Association - to name a few.

ü  Volunteer to work for events, or just go to them.

ü  Put yourself out there. No one will know who you are. They can’t help you if they don’t know what you want to do.

ü  Surround yourself with like-minded people. You are only as good as your weakest link.

ü  Read! Sign up for newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds, blogs, READ THE TRADES or at least their websites. Keep yourself current.

ü  Social networks, be careful what you post and how you act online. It can hurt you and you can also hurt yourself. Protect your online profile like you do your social security number. One gives an understanding of your credit and financial background; the other gives who you are as a person. Think about that! 

-The Career Coach

Welcome to The Career Coach’s blog!

This blog is about creating a lasting and fulfilling career in the entertainment industry.

A lot of people are interested in launching a career in the entertainment industry, but aren’t fully aware of the steps to take, or the amount of time that is needed to really create a successful career. Most people think that a career in the entertainment industry is just about partying and having fun, but on the contrary, it is actually a lot of work.

Hard work and dedication are the ultimate and necessary skills when starting out in this field. There are a few other things to think about when entering into this type of work. Whether you are interested in becoming an audio engineer or a band manager there are common skills that everyone must possess.

This blog is here to help! I have worked, and still work, in the entertainment industry and I have for my entire career. I have seen many people struggle with their careers because they were not really given any guidelines on how this business works. My plan is to take the things that I’ve learned and seen throughout my career to help make navigating your career a little less difficult.

I hope you enjoy.

-The Career Coach