 One trend we've seen with job applicants over the years is a lack of confidence stemming from the feeling that prospective employers won't be interested in hiring them for various reasons -- they don't have enough specific expertise, they have spent too many years working on the wrong types of content for their desired job, or some other form of imposter syndrome. If you've felt this way, you're not alone! It's very easy to get stuck listening to your inner critic, and this is especially true when you're dissatisfied with your career because you're unemployed, underemployed, or simply bored. One way to combat this feeling is to take a step back to look at your career holistically. When you're bogged down by your day to day tasks, they may seem mundane or unimpressive. If you've left a job on bad terms, it's natural to get wrapped up in what went wrong rather than thinking about the good things you've done in your career. But when you consider your experience as a whole, you'll see that you’ve accomplished a lot more than you realized! A good place to start is to come up with a list of achievements. Think back to some of the most significant projects you have completed or challenges you've overcome in your career. What are you most proud of? Why? Consider how these projects made a big difference to your employer. And then think about what skills you used to achieve them. These are your main strengths, and they are value-adds you can use when speaking about yourself to a prospective employer. If you’re having a hard time coming up with a list of one-off projects, another way to think about your achievements is in terms of volume of work. If you’re doing a task that feels repetitive -- for example, giving notes on every script draft of every episode of a TV series -- you’re actually building up an area of expertise with a very measurable result. In this instance, you may step back and notice that you have helped shape over 100 episodes of TV. And in doing so, you have probably learned a lot! At the very least, you’ll certainly know more about that genre of TV than someone who hasn’t had your job. Ask yourself: What are you taking for granted? What have you learned by doing the tasks that are now second nature to you? How do your experiences complement one another? Most importantly, there’s value in your unique perspective. No one else has had the same career trajectory and life experience as you. And as employers look to hire a diverse roster of employees, this is more important than ever. What are you an expert in that others might not be? What specialized skills do you bring to the table? What relationships have you developed in your professional and personal life that will benefit you and your future team? What life experiences have shaped the way you approach work? Keep in mind that the things that differentiate you from your “typical” candidate are value adds, and you should be proud of them! We understand it can be hard to break out of the “I’m not good enough” mindset. But it's so important, both for your own peace of mind and for your job search. Once you can get past the negative thinking, you'll be able to prepare a stronger resume, articulate your perspective better in an interview, and impress connections to generate referrals for open roles. We encourage you to take a moment to reflect on everything you’ve done and try to consider your career from an outsider’s perspective. We think you'll be impressed with yourself after you do! -- Angela Silak and Cindy Kaplan When you're applying for jobs, it's important -- ideal, even -- to focus on open roles that utilize your main strengths, as these are the roles you're most likely to succeed in. And to get these roles, you’ll need to showcase your strengths in your job application and personal branding materials (resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, etc.). Even when you aren’t looking for new roles but are actively seeking out business partnerships or new clients, you’ll want your online persona to highlight your strengths. But when was the last time you took an inventory of your main strengths as an employee? We find that many of our clients haven’t stepped back to consider what they’re good at in quite some time, and they are often uncomfortable patting themselves on the back for their achievements. There are a lot of Hollywood jobs that teach us to diminish ourselves and act grateful for the opportunity, without ever taking stock of what we're good at or expressing pride in our work. Not only does this mindset reduce confidence (an essential component of any job search!), but it also makes it a lot harder to target the right roles and craft materials that explain why you're the best candidate for a job. So...how do you identify your strengths? We recommend starting with a skills list. Make a list of all your previous roles and responsibilities within them, and then assess what skills you used to complete tasks and projects. Consider – what projects were most successful and why? If something you did was instrumental in the project’s success, this is likely one of your main strengths. Hopefully your skills list will help you see patterns in your experience that will help you identify your strengths. Another way to pinpoint strengths is to make a list of your proudest accomplishments. This list might come from your skills list, or you could make it separately. It’s likely that your proudest achievements resulted from you leveraging your strengths to achieve a specific outcome or to overcome challenges that not every person would be able to tackle. So make sure you are actually considering what you did to get to the final product. Creating a list of achievements is a great confidence-booster, and it will help you pull anecdotes for interviews as well! Finally, sometimes an outside perspective is really useful in helping you realize your strengths. What has your boss said about your strengths in your performance review? Is there something your colleagues or business partners have said that could clue you into your strengths? If there’s something you are getting praised for often, don’t brush it off! These little tidbits of information are actually very meaningful, and if someone bothered to give you a compliment, it typically means that others are noticing this strength of yours as well. It's also okay to ask a trusted friend, or even a career coach, for their opinion of your strengths if you’re having trouble acknowledging them. They'll also be able to help you identify the connection between your strengths and your interests, so you can focus on roles you'll be great at AND enjoy. -- Angela Silak & Cindy Kaplan A common refrain among our clients is: “I just want to get any job, and I’ll take the rest from there.” There’s nothing wrong with needing a new job right away -- life costs money, after all -- but the whole process is easier if you can figure out what your long term career strategy is. Plus, going after jobs that will lead you toward your ultimate goal will mean fewer big, challenging transitions overall. Having a career endgame in mind can be a specific title – like Head of Development at a streaming network – or more general – consistent work as a camera operator on reality TV series. It’s also totally okay for your career endgame to shift as you evolve. Even if you decide to pivot and take a different road, it’s best to start out with a destination in mind. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to figure out what your career endgame is: 1. What day-to-day tasks do I enjoy doing? Do you enjoy managing others? Actively creating something? Developing ideas? Implementing logistics? Selling? Pitching? Communicating with clients? Generating reports? Building decks? Editing footage? Rigging lights? Designing graphics? 2. How much responsibility do I want to take on? Do you want to be judged on your work product alone, or do you want supervise a team? Do you enjoy mentoring others? Making strategic business decisions? Hiring and firing people? Managing budgets? With great power comes great responsibility, and it’s equally okay to decide that you do want to take on all the responsibilities that come with senior-level management or that you don’t. 3. What kind of content am I proud of? Is there a certain type of story you want to tell? An impact you want to make? Do you enjoy working on the same kind of content you like to watch, or would you rather preserve the magic of your favorite shows and movies and get into the behind-the-scenes of something you’d never watch? What kind of audience do you want to serve? How important is it for you to work on a hit show, an Oscar-winning film, a cult classic, or a beloved kids’ show? Do you care more about the process than the content? 4. Who do I like to work with? Do you prefer big teams or small teams? Do you like to work with the same people consistently, or switch it up? Do you prefer a client-vendor relationship or a boss-employee relationship? How independent are you in your work? Do you prefer a competitive environment or a collaborative one? Do you want to be surrounded by overachievers, or do you work better around people who are more chill and less ambitious? 5. What purpose does work serve for me? If you didn’t have to work to pay your bills, would you still work? How important is your work/life balance? How much does your job impact your conceptualization of your self-worth? Are there life goals or values you have that won’t align with a certain type of job or career? We recommend checking in with yourself every 6 months to a year to ask these questions and make sure you’re on the right path. If you’re leaning into a job search, these questions are even more important, as they’ll help you target your search to those jobs that align with your ultimate goals. Be honest with yourself about what your dreams are, be open to those dreams changing, and be unafraid to pursue them. -- Angela Silak and Cindy Kaplan |
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