sightlines.usitt.org: With the power of the Internet, anyone can find a “How-to...” video providing instruction on ways to do almost anything. Whether it’s rewiring a household lamp or getting rid of woodchucks, answers can be found.
The same can be said for those seeking career advice. Thousands of websites offer critical information about how to succeed in an interview, how to write the perfect cover letter, and even how to negotiate the very best salary.
14 comments:
I've definitely been in this position where I've looked up "how to" for college and future careers. But it wasn't so I would know how to do it myself, but it was more to see how others viewed it differently than me. However, if I didn't know exactly how to approach something then I would use the how to for guidance. This article makes a great point about actually doing it, instead of looking at tutorials that take you through baby steps to get you to where you want to be. The down side is "how to" for a career are usually opinionated and are online so they aren't a physical guide you can talk to and follow. How to guides like these remind me of the PB&J directions we were supposed to write for science class. When students research these things, they just go and search for the best explanation and use that for future knowledge, but nothing beats the at act of physically going out into the world and learning it from your own experience instead of someone else's.
Theatre is difficult. I love the idea that instead of reading and theorizing on "how to" that we actually "do". Most, especially in the theatre, are visual/physical learners. This article speaks to that.
I cannot say that I am often looking up and researching "how to." I like to do things on my own, even though sometimes it leads to my own demise.
I was recently having a conversation with a grad student about experience and I guess "doing." We spoke about how she wasn't receiving jobs before coming to Grad school because the places she was applying to suggested that she have more experience. She was put in a catch 22 position. How was she supposed to get more experience if the places that were supposed to hire her in order for her to get the experience were not doing so? Now my question is how do I learn "how to" and further my education outside of school if places that I would like to work require more experience? Is my CMU undergrad education/degree enough or am I looking at furthering my collegiate degree? Because in the real world more often than not there isn't a "how to" on Google.
“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Now that's some damn good advice. This reminds me similarly of what my own response is to when people ask me how I'm so good at drawing-- I tell them that I've just done it over and over and over again a bajillion times. I didn't come out of the womb being able to draw the way that I draw now. I'm able to draw the way I draw now because I've done it so many times and honestly, that really is the only answer. Talent is incredibly, incredibly cheap and when it comes down to it, work ethic is what will really set you apart. And it really is the truth-- with the internet nowadays, there's really no reason not to know how to do something. There are so many resources to help you figure out what you need to do. There's no shortcut when it comes to getting good at something. I guess there is a tad bit of innate talent involved, but for the most part it's just about buckling down and putting your 10,000 hours into it.
So this topic is one that is near and dear to me; how we learn and how do we maximize our learning? There’s no universal right or wrong answer, and because of that a lot of confusion can be created when a person is looking for a straight forward answer to their “how to” question. People can get caught up on what works for them instead of what might work for other people, often times the distinction between a process that has defined steps and a process that has more loose a process. Sometimes both can be valid approaches to an end goal.
The most important thing we do here at CMU Drama, at least in my opinion, is talk about what we do. The doing is important, but doing without reflection can reinforce bad habits and doesn’t allow us the opportunity to grow as people or designers or managers or performers, or whatever the hell you want to be. Most, if not all of the classes that the school of drama provides are heavily driven by discussion and conversation as a tool to better understand the concepts that are taught, as opposed to lectures that you might find in other programs.
Not that there aren’t any lectures, but the nature of them is such that you can ask a relevant question and have a quick conversation to clarify the confusion. But for many classes, there isn’t even necessarily a lecture structure. Instead, there’s a conversation about what we think, what we like, don’t like, what we feel (all in the context of creating art of course). This component is vital if you are to learn to build upon yourself. The reflection is required if you are to learn from doing.
Looking up ‘how-to’ videos and articles on the internet aside, I think Shanda is right about his answers and philosophy – up to a point. I think that for any career choice there is some amount of ‘if you want to do it, just go out and do it.’ On the other hand, for every career there is some amount of training and/or education involved. This could be as basic as on the job training or the more complex seven years of medical school. Working in theater, and without trying to offend anyone, I think that there are certain career choices that require more education and training than others – mostly ones where mistakes could result in serious injury. Where I think Shanda’s philosophy comes into play more is in applying/auditioning for jobs. One shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to apply for a job or audition for a role just because they think they aren’t good enough or skilled enough to get the job. Any chance to apply for a job and interview/audition is a chance to improve on those skills and that may be the difference between getting the job or not.
This response walks a fine line. Such broad theories on educating people how to do their job have proven to be ineffective, so it's hard for me to see such a general and sweeping suggestion made without having reservations. I agree, the heart of learning any trade or task is getting experience in it. For theatrical technicians and designers, there aren't many opportunities to "get experience" other than internships, and many internships require you to have some prior experience in the first place. While internships are powerful, it's also important to recognize that as students we want people to be there to help us, because of how focused the theatrical arts jobs have become. The standards are so much higher for each individual stage manager, sound designer, scenic designer, etc. simply because of changes in the workplace. This is largely to blame on technological advances, which require a great deal of time spent on learning each component of programs like AutoCAD and QLab, which have become an industry standard that has to be known inside and out BEFORE were even allowed to get some kind of real-life experience.
It is incredibly frustrating to me when people assume that the arts are just something you're talented at, or you're not. As Michelle was talking about with the example of drawing, my mom is an artist and tried to teach all three of her kids to drawing and paint. My sister gave up on drawing because she didn't think she was good at it, without giving herself the time to get good at it. I kept learning with my mom and took art classes, etc. Sometimes my sister will have spurts where she takes up drawing again, but when I ask her to give me one of her drawings or to draw with me, she'll say she doesn't want to because I'm better than her. I'm not better, I've only been doing it longer.
It is very rare that people are just automatically talented at something. Mostly you have to work hard to become skilled at anything. Unfortunately in our society we are instilled with the idea that certain people have certain skills. People are good at things because they just are. There are science people and arts people. I believe that there are just people, and what we are good at are the things we care enough about to put the time and energy into
There are so many lessons in this article that I think are really valuable and that anyone can use in any aspect of their live. When you are new to something or have no idea how to get to where you want to go, you often seek advice from those who know what to do or those you look up to, and while that can be helpful, I think that that strategy can also hinder a persons ability to learn what way really works for them and closes them of to so many other ways of going about achieving their goals. There is not one right way to do something and I think that if you try to figure it out mostly yourself, you will learn more about how to do the task and what worked best for you personally. I think that if you really want something, you should do everything in your power to achieve it and going out and getting experience is a great way to learn and grow. "keep doing your job and be so good that you can't be ignored." I think this is great advice, To never stop working at improving because you can become the best and stop working, but then someone who never stopped working can surpass you. overall, this article does a great job of explaining that to be truly successful you need to find your own way to be successful and never stop working at it.
While I think that this article couldn’t touch upon every complex aspect of “just doing something” in its short and simplistic form, I definitely appreciate its sentiment. Too often in theater you hear people complaining, or acting hopeless, or just in general being negative about their abilities and the future and what they aren’t doing right/ what isn’t being given to them. I think, every now and then, we (as hopeful designers/ managers) need to be told directly and brashly to simply “do”. This article reminds me of words so graciously told to our freshman DP class by Molly during a meta skills PTM class; “Just suck it up and do it!”. There’s only so much preparation one can put into a career as vague and creative as theater, and I think, because people are so passionate about it, there is a tendency to forget how fortunate we are to be doing what we love, and to focus too much on how difficult creative work can be. I feel like the advice of hard work, while definitely overused, is totally and completely valid. Even from the very small amount of artistic experience I have had over middle school, high school, and the first fourth of this year, I can tell that nothing will reward you more than straight-out hard work will, not even talent or luck.
I love finding how to’s online. The internet is such a great resource for quickly finding out how to do things. When I was trying to remember how to knit I looked up some quick videos online. Later my mom, who was the one who taught me to knit in the first place, joked about how the internet was going to stop people from going to ask their elders how to do things like they would have in the past. Which I think I kind of sad that we don’t ask our parents or grandparents for help like we used to, but at the same time it was so quick to look up the how to and I was able to almost immediately start working on my project. And this article is saying much the same thing. To be good at things you just have to do it. Go out and learn until you are so good you can’t be ignored. Whether that means getting advice from people who know what they are doing or doing some internet research, there has to be action.
I agree that the best way to be successful in an industry is to actually work in it. It may be difficult to get into the industry in the first place, but starting at the lowest job can teach you a lot. As a stage manager it may be difficult to get a job as a stage manager if you do not have any experience. Most people are willing to teach young aspiring theatre artists. If you start out as an intern and follow around the stage manager and watch what they do, you can learn a lot. Asking a lot of questions and observing is a very good way to learn because it is a very hands on job. It may be a good idea to intern or watch a few different stage managers work because there are many ways to stage manage and everyone has different methods.
For me, learning something is very similar to learning directions in a new place. As someone who has a horrible sense of direction, it always takes me forever to know my way around a new place. I can still remember the number of times I got lost in Purnell, on campus, and on my way from campus to Rez when I just got here. Now, I can walk home without even consciously thinking of where I'm going. I think the same applies to learning almost anything. Without effort, talent alone is quite frankly useless. Sometimes talent (or rather the sense of superiority/arrogance that talent brings) can even hinder an individual - some will believe that they have the natural talent and thus not put in any effort, ultimately unable to grow in order to become better. On the other hand, people who think they are not talented will be much more willing to learn, and become much more successful people.
I so agree with this article and its view on "how to". Just jump in into the world of theatre is so terrifying but it's the first step in growing to have a successful career. Now I may be biased but some training is extremely useful, I mean, that's why I'm in college to learn how to, so I can go do. This article relates so much to me because of the way I fell into technical theatre. Being a performer my entire life till junior year of high school, that's all I knew how to do. Once I discovered the other side of theatre, I fell in love with it but kept asking myself, how do I become this, or how do I do that. And just like that, my teachers put in situations where I just "did it". Sort of self taught with a lot of it but it helped me so much with the foundation I needed to want more education and training.
This is definitely the mentality that I've noticed here in the School of Drama in my first semester, and while initially intimidating, I think it has definitely helped me become more honest in my assessment of my skills. Upon my arrival here I was extremely nervous about how I would do in art classes surrounded by people who had been doing art for years, but I learned quickly how important it is to not compare myself to those people because of course their art is going to be better. What's most important is understanding your own progression as an artist and understanding which skills you personally need to improve on, and the headfirst dive into the art classes was the best way to force me to start doing that. We are all here to grow as artists and learn the skills we need to be successful in the real world, and the way Carnegie Mellon teaches us this is by throwing us into the deep end to "just do it!"
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