While it depresses me they don’t understand my Saved by the Bell references, their ideas and achievements are truly remarkable. And approximately once a week, I get a request from one of them to talk about “careers” –a topic that they know they should care or think about, but aren’t really sure how.
9 comments:
This has a lot of good advice. I have come across some of these articles in the past and normally find that they offer something I have already heard or already knew. They didn’t add much insight but simply regurgitated common advice. This was new to me. Something I never considered was name/reputation versus growth. I’m sure that I’m like most and tend to think that a big name like Disney behind me could be great and it can be to a degree; but what this advice focuses on is the actual growth you can achieve working at any given place. I never really thought about growing at a place. I can see how that is much more beneficial; growing as a person and growing in your field is important and can be done at a company like Disney. It can also be done somewhere else too. What’s also important is how that place grows too. I have never thought about this before either. A company that grows while you are there is important because you had something to do with it during that time and that can be more valuable than actually working there as your hand somewhere else has the potential to help grow that place as well. Growth is important and makes sense why it is the first point. The article talks about so much more and I think gives some fantastic advice.
This is always an interesting topic for people to write articles about because not only is it based off of their personal experiences, but it’s also based off of what they’ve seen other people do throughout their careers and what has worked and what hasn’t. I think the most important piece of advice in this article is the “Don’t Fire Back on Feedback” point because it’s so easy to have a guttural reaction when your peers and supervisors comment on your work and just go off of that. I have had many times in my years here where I’ve been super mad or happy about something a professor or classmate said and then the next day I figure out a deeper, more meaningful action behind their words and actually learn from it and can take steps forward instead of staying still. It also shows great maturity in being able to distance yourself enough from your work to be able to get stuff done and problem solve without getting worked up.
I generally like to read these kinds of articles because I am interested in any continuity I can find between them. The advice they give is a result of what they found worked in their specific situations with the people that they were interacting with. I find that it’s really interesting to learn the different ways in which people carry themselves through the world. I think that the piece of advice that stands out the most, possibly because it is most relevant to me now, is “don’t fire back on feedback”. It can be very difficult to accept criticism in our environment because we spend so much time on so many of our projects that the become representations of who we are as artists, and so we are emotionally tied to all of them. I think that something that we need to remember is that this is a learning environment that is designed for us to do the work, heard the corrections, and learn how to implement those corrections without losing what makes us unique as artists. I really like the idea of letting the feedback “soak for 24 hours” because it gives the time and space to figure out what parts to take in to really improve ourselves.
I always like these advice articles about careers and job building for younger people. My favorite tip from this is the first one: "Early in your working life, you’re defined by the company you keep, so choose wisely. It’s very easy to pick the company with the biggest name or the biggest paycheck, but I recommend following our Cofounder Dharmesh Shah’s advice: Solve for growth.
Far too many people pick companies based on their current reputation rather than their possible growth, but you get far more career credit for being the fifth employee at LinkedIn after its explosive growth than you do for being the 5,000th employee at Radio Shack before it stops growing entirely." I think oftentimes that young people want to get the biggest name on their resume instead of choosing a job that will nurture their career goals, and let them grow with the company that they work for.
This article was super important. Right now is the weird in-between time from waiting to get interviews and applying for internships. My fellow students and I always have conversations about who’s applying where and people always say the big summer stock names. I think people who are applying for internships should just like the list said look for growth. Just because it is the biggest name will it help you and your career. Doing spot for one of the big summer stocks I don’t think will help but maybe getting a design at not the biggest name could. Be a self-advocate and go where you think is best. I think this list was extremely useful and is something we need to talk about more in classes such as professional prep. Being young in this industry is extremely hard to begin with and this list will defiantly help once I get a job.
Wow, an advice article that is generally somewhat helpful. Far too often these articles just fly above the issue never giving you any advice that genuinely helps. This hits on several key points that have come in to contact with them in the "real world" feel all the more true. There were two that stood out to me. First, the don't fire back on feedback, more frequently than people want to admit they jump at anything that would critique what they have done. What should happen is you accept it at the time and then reflect on it, later asking questions to bring further understanding if you remain confused. Many actors adopt the mentality of "just take the note" and we should too. The second statement that I find to be true is solve for growth which also fits with always be learning. You want to find a place that wants to make you better than when you started. This shows that they are invested in you and makes you more valuable to them as a person.
This article knows its audience, but doesn’t talk down to them. This attitude makes it effective and appealing. I agree with Nicholas, rather than just regurgitating the same generic advice, such as “Networking is Important,” I like that this article takes the extra step and explains how these little pieces of advice can be actualized. Ultimately this article boils down to how you interact with people, because those relationships will get you jobs in the future. To me that advice makes a lot of sense, because even if you do good work no one wants to hire an obnoxious person. I think the tip I expected least in this article is #3, always keep learning. We tend to think that once you leave school, it’s just about working and “adulting,” but I think often learning doesn’t factor into that plan. But it’s really important to keep moving forward and not get stuck in the same routine.
I like this article a lot because while it's stuff people should know, it's often things that don't get told to younger or inexperienced stuff because, well, the older staff thinks everyone knows them. Stuff like 'solve for growth' or 'the best way to network' - these are things you often learn over time, but being told them can not only help boost you tremendously but also benefit the company by giving them more informed and harder working employees.
The point about managing your career is also really important. It's tough, especially as college freshman, to start managing your career and life on your own - I know for sure that my mom still helps me out finding internships and scholarships to apply for, which is both good and bad. But this adjustment is often overlooked and taken roughly when people realize it too late, when they're already working and realize they don't know how to apply for a job or write up their own resume without help from a teacher, parent, or manager looking over their shoulder.
Something that stuck with me in particular from this article was the advice given to not get stuck on feedback. Taking criticism is difficult especially as an artist, because you pour so much of your internal heart and soul into the work and it can feel as if the criticism is attacking you as a person. While sometimes it can be draining to receive this kind of feedback constantly, I agree with the article in that you need 24 hours to let it “soak” before you can truly grow as an artist and a person. I also really identified with the last tip, number 8-- which was to always remember gratitude and to give thanks among your busy career pursuits. I too feel that I remember people’s kindness and gratitude more than nearly anything-- similar to the saying, “people will remember how you made them feel above what you do.”
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