Category: Being an Assistant

Sep 27

Job Hunting Questions

Sarah sent me a question about job hunting:

Hey Rachel,
I just want to say I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog and have found your tips on cracking into the business very wise. I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind. I’m a recent college graduate and received my B.A. in TV Production this May. I have been an intern for different companies for over a year and have a decent amount of office experience and on-set experience thanks to my school projects. However, I have been sending out plenty of applications online through entertainmentcareers.net and have only had a few interviews but no luck yet on snagging a job. I have a couple of contacts from my previous interning, but definitely not alot. I’m feeling somewhat concerned that perhaps my cover letter or resume might be an issue. Any help or advice would help so much. Thank you for your help!

  Fellow job hunter,
                                                                                                                             Sarah 

Well first congrats on graduating in May!  Welcome to the real world :)

Finding your first production or entertainment job after college can be very difficult, especially depending on what type of jobs you are looking for.  To find an assistant job you would go a completely different route than if you are looking to work on set as a production assistant.  I’ll explain both ways you can go, and then try to help you figure out why you aren’t hearing anything back after you apply.

Assistant Jobs

The assistant route is a good one to take if you are looking to be a talent agent, studio executive and sometimes a producer.   Assistant jobs, especially for big studios or producers are very cut throat and hard to get.  These are not easy jobs by any means think of The Devil Wears Prada.  However, if you stick with it and work your butt off it could get you to where you want to be.

Now how to find these jobs.  There are several websites you can go to which I mentioned before but you have to keep in mind that hundreds of people are applying to the same jobs that you are so you need to stand out (more on that in a minute).

Another good way to go is to also take a look at the websites of the studio or production company you want to work at and see if there are job listings on there or if you can find an HR contact.  For these jobs it is better to find out who exactly is hiring and get your resume to them rather than the random gmail account (for example assistantjob@gmail.com) where your email will get lost with the hundreds of others.

The best way I think to get jobs though is through referrals and networking.  Contact anyone and everyone that you know in the industry and let them know that you are looking for work.  If you don’t really know anyone then go to networking parties/events, which you can find information about online.

Production Jobs

The production route is good to take if you want to become a director, producer, editor, director of photography or any other production position.

These jobs you can also find online on those websites however it is the same as assistant jobs where hundreds of people are applying to the same four jobs.  I certainly would say to continue to apply to these jobs online but do not let this be your only avenue of finding work.

Networking I think is even more important for people looking for production jobs rather than those looking for assistant jobs, because most production jobs are not posted online.  You have to know someone that knows someone to send your resume to.  So again contact anyone and everyone you know and go to networking events.

Now back to your question as to why you might not be hearing anything back.

There are three reasons why people don’t hear back from jobs posted on entertainmentcareers.net or other websites.

First, your resume got lost in the hundreds of other resumes that got sent in.  The only way to help yourself in that situation is to send your resume in first.  That means you need to stay on top of the job websites and as soon as you see a job or a gig you want apply for it.  I actually have a saved draft of my resume/cover letter in my email so I can just add the email of who I need to send it to right away.  That way I can get an alert on my phone while I am away from home and still be able to apply to that position.

Second, you don’t have the qualifications that are needed for that job.  Are you applying to producer jobs when you have barely been a PA on set?  Or are you applying for assistant jobs that require 3 years experience?  Make sure you take a look at the qualifications before you apply, that way you will have a better chance.

Lastly, the reason why you might not be hearing back is because your resume sucks.  I don’t say that to be mean.  I just can’t tell you how many resumes that I have seen that are absolutely terrible.  Check out my other post about resumes and that should help you out.

If you still have questions about your resume after you re-worked it or if you just want another set of eyes on it I can take a look at it for you.  Email me at rachelmmarks@gmail.com

Hope this helps with your job hunt!  If you have anymore questions let me know.

4
comments

Posted in Being a Production Assistant, Being an Assistant, Job Hunting

Apr 04

Comments about UTA Joblist

 

So after posting that I have the newest UTA joblist and I am willing to email it out to you I received an enormous response.  While looking through some of the comments I noticed this one posted by Tyler and I felt like I really should address this:

I would love the list as I am looking for a part time gig to go with my bartending job once a week. Thanks

Ok here is my huge problem with this comment.  The UTA job list does not offer part time gigs.  If you are looking for a part time gig to go along with bartending then I would highly suggest trying to find something else.

The UTA joblist is a list of assistant jobs that are full time and that are available in Hollywood.  The list is sent out to hundreds of people so you can imagine that these jobs are rare and highly sought after.  I can also assure you that if you do not live in Los Angeles you will never receive a call for one of these positions.  Hollywood tends to mostly hire from within but the rare times it does not it will offer interviews to those people that live in that city.

If you are serious about an assistant job in Hollywood I would suggest contacting companies directly rather than trying to land a job through this list.  Try websites like media-match and realitystaff.com as well because they usually have some pretty great positions on there as well.

 

2
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Posted in Being an Assistant, Job Hunting, UTA Job list

Jan 10

To be an assistant or to stay freelance

 

For the past year I have been working freelance as a production assistant and I have to admit there are some days when I wish I could finally land a full time job.  It admittedly gets very old having to look for a new job every couple of months.  That being said I think my career path would take a different turn in the industry if I decided to stop working freelance, and here are my options:

I could try to find a position as a producer or director’s assistant.  The pro’s of this position would be that I would be working directly or close to directly underneath an producer in Hollywood and I would be somewhat involved with the films or tv shows that he/she is working on.  I would be doing a lot of script coverage which means I would be reading scripts and taking notes on them to help the producer decide if the script is worth them reading.  The con’s would be that I would be doing a lot of regular assistant duties like scheduling, answering phones, and picking up coffee.

I could also work at a network or a studio as someone’s assistant.  There are a lot of different divisions at a studio and a network from legal and financing to development and business affairs.  Depending on who I am assisting my job could differ however  most likely I would end up doing a lot of regular assistant duties with a few interesting projects thrown in.

Last but not least I could become a personal assistant to a director, writer or even a celebrity.  In this position my main job would be dealing with scheduling, and basically organizing that persons life, which could usually end up meaning I would have no personal life of my own.

As you can see most of these positions are not the most glamorous positions, but then again neither is being a PA.  Either way I will have to work my way up from the bottom.

I have never really been an assistant so I’d love to hear someone’s experience being one.  Email your story or post it in the comments.

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Posted in Being an Assistant

Jan 03

Questions About The UTA Job List

 

So I recieved this question in my inbox from Justin about the UTA Job list:

Hey Rachel,

Thanks so much for sending that along. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your connection to the industry? Do you work for an agency? Some of the articles I’ve read made the List seem pretty unobtainable unless you knew the right people so I was just kind of curious how you got it. I understand if you can’t tell me. And I was wondering how often they update it and who it gets sent to once they do. Do they always send it to the same people, and if you get it once does that mean you’ll necessarily get it again? I’m sorry if this is too much, but you did say not to hesitate to ask questions. And I’m trying to absorb as much information as I can about assistant/mailroom/trainee positions out there.

Well first a foremost I am just a freelance production assistant and I have no “real” connection to the UTA Job list.  I actually get the job list through a friend who probably gets it from a friend that gets it through a friend.  The list is actually kept very secret by those who create it and apparently if you contact UTA and ask about the list they will deny that it even exists.  The best way to get the list is to get it from someone else that already gets it.    As for who the list actually gets sent to I have no idea.  I honestly think know one really knows except for the person that physically sends out the list.  I would love to one day speak to that person, however, that has not happened yet.

As for being an assistant/mailroom/trainee it all really depends on what you want to eventually end up doing.  If you want to work at a talent agency working in the mailroom and then moving up to an assistant is the way to go.  If you want to work in production you can go a few ways.  The first is finding work as a producer’s or director’s assistant.  Here you will work directly under that person and learn a ton while doing so.  However, there is a downside to this.  You will most likely not being working on set.   You will be spending most of your time doing general assistant tasks such as organizing your boss’s calendar, answering phones and reading scripts.  The other way to break in is the way I am, by being a production assistant.  You can work a PA on several different types of projects for web, tv and film and slowly start to work your way up.  Either way know that you are starting on the lowest rung on the ladder and that someday hopefully you will make it to the top.

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Posted in Being a Production Assistant, Being an Assistant