The Industry

     A MONTH?! A lot has happened in the month since this blog has started… all great… unfortunately none of them job offers, but that’s ok. I wanted to take a second and thank everyone who has checked the site out, contributed or just clicked through to raise the hit count. It’s so cool that with some persistence, some emails and some well strategized tweets the blog has taken off! I think that deserves a WOOT! Now that I got that out of the way… I was talking to one of my classmates from BCIT not to long ago about job searching and well he just got a job and even better… he wrote about it all for you to enjoy! WOOT! (last woot, I promise…) 

Like I said Trevor is a fellow radio grad from BCIT. He is a web god! He basically taught our class website building… just sayin’. This is Trevor’s story!

I was Evolution 107.9’s Web Director during my time at the BCIT training station. That meant I was a glorified computer-monkey who uploaded people’s ad banners whenever a sale or contra deal was made. I learned more in that position, however, than I did in any other class during my entire second year.

During the radio industry talent scout, when leaders in the field visit BCIT to get to know the up-and-comers, I realized something. Every station needed the web skills I had, and few candidates could provide it. I remember Virgin Radio’s Marketing Director, Crosby McWilliam, telling me that this unique knowledge was my “key into the industry.”

I saw my Web Director duties in a new light after this. Although the school year was fast drawing to a close, I now held my key to my first job.

In the 2 months before graduation, I spent time every day building up my portfolio. I put at least a dozen new sites online, some of them gems, some of them half-cooked ideas, awaiting another flash of inspiration. (RadioImagingDatabase.com, LiveMoreForLess.com, BuyEneloopBatteries.com, DFstories.com, DinerChick.com). Simultaneously, I worked these new sites into my resumes as I applied for jobs, choosing the most relevant for the position I was applying for. 

Radio industry job? “Well, I started RadioImagingDatabase.com, have you heard of it?”

Job with a company promoting environmental stewardship?” Oh, I started LiveMoreForLess.com, I blog a lot about that stuff.

Every resume I sent out was slightly better than the one before. Much like superviruses, they evolved over time.

After at least 8 of my evolving resumes, I got shortlisted for a web/communications position at UBC’s [University of British Columbia’s] Food and Land department (ON MY BIRTHDAY!). It’s a union job with great benefits, and it pays a tad more than I know what to do with. I held high hopes for getting called about this position, since the individual doing the hiring had graduated from BCIT’s Television program, albeit 15 years ago. 

The interview was the best I’d ever had. The people at this faculty were clearly very happy, relaxed and loving their jobs - and they were working toward everything I believe in. I knew I wanted to work there. 

I was given a take-home assignment after the interview, and as my grand finale, I handed the answers back in the form of a brand-new webpage. 

I anxiously waited for five days to hear back from them. Finally, I get the call from HR. They wanted me to start the following Monday.

I’m not qualified to give advice to anyone, except my younger brother, but there was one important thing I took away from this process. Every day I did something to improve my chances, weather it be to produce something new to put in my portfolio, improve my resume, or learn more about the organization I wanted to work for. With gradual daily improvements, I figured it was inevitable that I would eventually end up with a job I’d be happy with, and that’s exactly what happened.

Trevor Van Hemert

Trevor sent me that picture and I had to put it in haha. First of all CONGRATULATIONS Mr. Van Hemert! You’re going to do awesome at UBC! I think Trevor has some great points about using you’re time wisely. Karen K from 99.3 The Fox, said a similar thing and it’s my personal philosophy right now. I don’t have a job so my job should be getting a job (you still following me?). If you’re wanting a job, you should be putting all your efforts into developing a unique feature that you can put on a resume or something creative to make your resume stand out. Anything counts. Tweaking your resume, researching the company etc.

 
Photo courtesy of: Thinkbox National (Twitter Account)

This picture is the prime example of spending your time effectively. This is an application for a job at Thinkbox ,a marketing company in Vancouver… Hmm I wonder if this person will get a job over that boring resume?! 

One of my balloons tied to a chair is this blog. For Trevor it was his numerous targeted websites (genius, by the way). What is your balloon? (Wow that almost sounds like a deep metaphor or something haha). Figure it out, and exploit it (legally, of course) and you will get a job!

Thanks Trevor, good luck at UBC and remember to fill us in on how it goes!

On a side note, with all of this talk about balloons, I want to have a water balloon fight… who’s in!

See you tomorrow.

-Mitch

P.s. Check out today’s Extra: Another M. Night Failure!