10-31-18
Good morning City College!
GKN Aerospace will be doing onsite interviews in the Transfer Career Center today until 2pm, and we are also hosting a Halloween social on the importance of Networking at 12:45pm.
Plenty of room for both events, don't miss out!!!
Next on-site interview dates:
Dec. 12
Contact (619) 388-3722 for more info.
7-9-18
Write for the
Entertainment Industry
My dream is to write for TV, so in 2017, I attended Comic-Con International, the annual
popular arts extravaganza held every summer at the San Diego Convention Center. I wanted to
share what I learned at a panel called “The
Writer’s Journey: Breaking In and Managing a Career In Hollywood,”
featuring advice from four industry professionals: Brandon Easton, Geoffrey
Thorne, Ubah Mohamed, and Tony Puryear.
The Experts
Brandon
Easton was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2014 for Watson and Holmes by New Paradigm Studios. His writing credits
include Marvel’s Agent Carter and
IDW’s M.A.S.K.
Geoffrey Thorne
is a TV producer and has worked on TNT’s The
Librarians and Marvel Comic’s Mosaic
as well as USA Network’s Law & Order:
Criminal Intent.
Ubah Mohamed
has written for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
and ABC’s The Whispers.
Tony Puryear
is an artist and writer and he worked on the Schwarzenegger film, Eraser and Dark Horse’s graphic novel, Concrete Park
Find Your Muse
Tony Puryear encouraged the audience to find their muse: “Being
a writer is a holy calling. You must get in a quiet place and listen. It’s like
joining a cult of one.”
Other panelists added: Never chase a trend because it leads
to a brick wall. Instead, go after what you feel passionate about.
Decide what kind of writer you want to be: TV, motion
picture, comics and graphic novels, or novels because they are different. Then
research the business thoroughly. Find out everything you can about that
industry—the roles, the terminology, the people, the ins and outs.
Be Professional
To go from “aspiring” to a “professional,” a writer needs to
make time to create under any circumstances. You can’t write only when
inspired.
Finish projects and make sure you have a good product before
attempting to network. When you are ready to network, have business cards
ready.
Ubah Mohamed gave advice to those who bemoan the lack of
diversity in the entertainment industry: “You must act like a professional. Don’t
make waves. Don’t knock the developer of the show. (If something bothers you), play
corporate America
Research
Brandon Easton emphasized the importance of study: “Don’t
just watch TV, watch it critically. Look at successful work and ask yourself
why the show is successful, why it appeals to people even if it doesn’t appeal to
you. What are they doing right? Watch a lot of shows. Read books and see what’s
working.”
He cited The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl
by Issa Rae and The Martian
by Andy Weir as examples of success.
He recommended the following books: Stephen King’s On Writing,
one of the best books on the craft. Other book suggestions: Writing
the TV Drama Series by Pamela Douglas and Writers
on Comics Scriptwriting by Mark Salisbury, which featured industry
legends such as Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Todd McFarlane, and Grant
Morrison.
For film and TV research, take a look at Variety
and Deadline
Hollywood.
For literature and books, check out Publisher’s Weekly.
For scriptwriting: Black List.
Writing Organizations: Writers Guild of America and Writers
Guild Foundation.
Marketing
Panelists: Find your unique niche. What do you gravitate to?
What sparks your interest? Once you discover this, identify a way to capitalize
on it, make it your brand, build it, then market it. You are at the CEO of your
company. You need to establish yourself as a character and/or someone with a
unique point of view so people are invested in your product. Example: The
Martian by Andy Weir is basically Robinson Crusoe on Mars.
To work in TV, move to LA and start by volunteering or
interning. Be a production
assistant on a project because you will learn by doing. Become a writer’s
room assistant. Enter contests. Do a web series.
When marketing, use the internet: Facebook, Twitter,
Tumbler, Instagram, Blogspot/Wordpress/Personal Website. Do Podcasts because Hollywood
In the closing segment, the panelists took questions from
the audience. Geoffrey Thorne gave a clear response to an attendee’s question
about whether to prioritize marketing or writing: “Don’t worry about the
marketing. That will come soon enough. Focus on the writing.”
If job security is important to you, here are the jobs with the most job security. The 30 Jobs with the Best (and Worst) Job Security also shows the job's unemployment rate, how many are in the labor force, median annual wage, projected job growth, and entry level education needed.
1-27-18
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Want to make some bucks? How about being a cruise ship performer, an ethical hacker, or embalmer? 15 Odd Jobs That Pay Insanely Well appeared on MSN Money.
11-19-17
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You're looking to earn some extra cash (pay off a debt, save for a car, travel to Spain), but you don't have the time to devote to a regular job. What do you do? These Are the 25 Highest Paying Side Hustles appeared on MSN Money.
10-8-17
A student asked me this past week if being a counselor is my dream job. Now how do you answer a question like that? Normally, I don’t spend much time talking about me when I’m working with students because the focus should be on them. In this case, the student was struggling over whether to pursue her dream of being a lawyer and balancing that with the need to put food on the table as soon as possible.
I decided to share my dream (and its challenges) with her because it illuminates the struggle many of us have when it comes to picking a career. My dream job is to be a writer on a TV show, to help create a world such as M*A*S*H, where the people are trying to save lives in the middle of the death and destruction of war. To work as part of the creative team with the writers, producers, and actors who have a vision of touching people’s lives with stories.
At the same time, I have a family to take care of so I can’t just quit my job and move us to Hollywood with the intention of pitching the studios an idea for the next M*A*S*H. Well I could but it wouldn’t sit well with my wife (who has an extended family in San Diego) or kids (Kevin and Kristie who are both comfortable in their respective schools). To uproot them with no idea whether I could support them in LA would be the height of folly and selfishness.
I make a good living as a counselor at City College and my job provides health insurance, something vital to our family. So do I let go of my dream to be a writer?
No. I work as a counselor and help students (which I enjoy) and I write on the side. I get up at 4:30am (I admit I don’t do this every day, but I try!) and attempt to write for an hour or so before I start my other routine of preparing to go to the office. If and when I am able to support my family with writing, then I have the freedom to decide whether I want to write full-time or keep my hands in the mix at the college because I want to make a difference in students’ lives.
Now if you are younger and don’t have a family to support, you would have more flexibility to pursue your passion. You could very well pick up and move to LA and pitch the studios your idea for the next great comedy. Or if you’re like my son, you could study the world of virtual reality and not have to worry so much whether the job has health insurance for the whole family. It doesn’t mean you choose this career over something more stable, say like accounting, but you’re in the driver’s seat. Then all you have to deal with is the fear of going after what you want!
10-1-17
How do you find the ideal career? As a counselor, one of the analogies I use with students is if you could be a kid in a candy store, what kind of candy would you pick? If you could choose any career and you already had the skills, knowledge, education, and experience to do it, what would you choose and why? It’s important to block out any doubts, fears, or limiting voices in this process, the subversive inner critic who screeches, “Oh, you can’t do that because you don’t have . . .” At this stage, we’re not trying to look at how realistic a career is or how long it takes to get into it. There will be time for that later. For now, we are only trying to find something that tastes great. There may be all kinds of candy in the store, but we want the one your taste buds are salivating for. Your critic might be saying, “But how much will that candy cost?” Pretend it’s your birthday, and your mommy has decided to buy you whatever kind of candy you choose.
As an example, I am a counselor. I’m also a writer. If I could be a kid in a candy store of careers, I would go back to the 1970s and 80s when a TV show called M*A*S*H was running. This comedy/drama took place during the Korean War and it depicted the people serving in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. These people tried heroically and tragically to save lives in the midst of war. Hawkeye was a skilled surgeon with a piercing wit and a heart as big as his ego. Trapper John and then BJ were Hawkeye’s sidekicks in crime, doing anything and everything to antagonize the bumbling Frank Burns, then the more cultured Charles Emerson Winchester III. “Hot Lips” started as Frank’s illicit soiree away from his wife, but over the course of the show, she evolved to become a strong, yet compassionate head nurse. Radar was a naïve corporal who kept the whole operation running. Klinger dressed as a woman to try (unsuccessfully) to get booted out of the military. Colonel Blake was a fisherman in disguise as a leader. And Colonel Potter was an old-school military man who kept his camp loose and efficient at the same time.
Over the course of watching this show, these characters, fictional people, became real to me. The actors brought these characters to life but what amazes me is how the writers created these characters. They took a concept with outlines and scripts and fashioned a world that was as real to me as the friends I went to school with. I came to care about the people in this show and I watched because I cared. That’s the power of good writing.
To be in a team of people working together to create something they believe in: a TV show such as M*A*S*H, The Wonder Years, or Smallville, a motion picture such as Kramer Vs Kramer, Dead Poet’s Society, or Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, a book such as Clan of the Cave Bear, Catcher in the Rye or The Glass Castle. To tell a heroic or worthwhile story. To entertain and shine a light on the problems that plague us. To give us hope that the struggle is worth it. That’s what writers do. That’s the candy I would choose.
The 33 Lowest Paying Jobs for College Grads appeared on MSN Money. This list doesn't bode well for counselors, social workers, teachers, and others who want to help people, but most of the students going into these fields aren't doing it for the money, right?
If you like the idea of teaching, consider a country that has a lot of students who want to learn English by live streaming. Why Chinese Education Companies Are Chasing US Teachers appeared on MSN Money.
The 3 Biggest Job Interview Mistakes appeared on MSN Money.
"The adage that you can't get what you want till you know what you want is especially true when it comes to employment."
5 Common Mistakes That Can Cost Even Smart People the Job appeared on MSN Money.
"Your job is meant to pay your bills, but your side hustle pays you in self-respect." -- Ann Shoket, Former Editor-In-Chief of Seventeen.
Millennials Are Changing the Workplace—and Everyone Is Better Off for It appeared on MSN Lifestyle.
Want to write a good resume? Here are 7 tips including one which is absolutely essential: "Back up your skills," which means, don't just list your skills, show the effect of what you did. Also in this post, watch the video of Emily Heyward, Co-Founder of "Red Antler," on what she looks for in an ideal job candidate.
Make Your Resume Stand Out With These Seven Simple Steps appeared on MSN Money.
Need to develop some useful job skills in a hurry? 101 Money-Making Skills You Can Learn In Less Than A Year appeared on MSN Money.
Some jobs come with added risks. The 10 Deadliest Jobs In America appeared on MSN Money.
You don't have to sacrifice your soul to make good money. Here's proof; these careers pay over $100K a year and the people working in them are happy in their jobs. The Ten Happiest Six Figure Jobs 2017 appeared on MSN Money.
"Once you're the person in the room talking to the patients, seeing the ramifications of the choices you make, I don't see how anyone can not be pulled into it." -- Chauncey Incarnato, on becoming a registered nurse.
Health Sector Drawing More Men appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune on June 15, 2017.
Where can you do an internship and get paid over $50K a year? This photo gallery includes companies like Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, Yelp, and Qualcomm, where an internship can pay anywhere from $5000.00 to $8000.00 a month.
Want to Make $8000 Per Month? Get an Internship at . . . was published in the San Diego Union Tribune on May 2, 2017.
Once you complete your internship, you might consider applying for a job with grocery e-tailer "Boxed." The company head, Chieh Huang, has been known to spring for his employees' weddings. This Dream Boss Pays for Workers' Weddings, Their Kids' College appeared on MSN Money.
What are companies looking for? According to these LinkedIn articles: technology skills. But all isn't lost if you're not a techie. If you're not a software engineer or don't have "Search Engine Optimization" in your resume, learn to be a good Project Manager, which combines leadership, creativity, and people skills to get a job done.
“What’s most in demand and the hardest to get is the combination (tech skills and 'soft' skills),” said Comcast Cable’s EVP of HR Bill Strahan. “It’s getting, for example, someone who is highly technical, but then has that and the leadership skills or to have that and the business strategy skills.”
Here Are the Skills That Hiring Managers at the 50 LinkedIn Top Companies Want by Maya Pope-Chappell, Senior News Editor at LinkedIn.
"Project management is more than just a nice-to-have skill or even a profession. It is a way of thinking. Or, better yet, a structured approach to preventing and solving problems." -- Oliver Yarbrough, LinkedIn Learning Author.
Growing Companies Crave Techies. But They Need Good Project Managers, Too by Oliver Yarbrough, LinkedIn Learning Author.
“I wanted to break away. I was always pretty driven and passionate. I had a motto I still live by today: ‘Don’t die wondering. Die trying.’ ” -- Photographer Travis Burke.
Three Years By Van: Photographer Chasing His Dream was published in the San Diego Union Tribune on May 20, 2017.
If you are graduating soon, you will probably be looking for that first job after earning your degree. Here are some ways to help yourself land that important job: 50 Things Recent Grads Can Do to Score Their First Job appeared on MSN Money. 
Want to work for a company that donates money to charities? The corporate culture of these companies suggest they are about much more than the bottom line; they are making a difference in their communities. America's 12 Most Charitable Companies appeared on MSN Money. Some of the names on this list will surprise you.
Okay, so you're not a "people person" and you want a job where you don't have to communicate a lot. The 7 Best Jobs for Anyone Who Hates Talking to People appeared on MSN Lifestyle.
Note that the article references O*Net and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, two useful job/career research sites.
Ever wanted to own a business? The cost can be prohibitive but here are some possibilities that won't empty your bank account to start up. 75 Ideas for Businesses You Can Launch For Cheap or Free appeared on MSN Money.
I know money isn't everything, but for many students, it's an important factor in a career decision. Here are the 25 careers with the highest pay. You will see a lot of engineers on this list, but the medical field is also well represented with Nurse Practitioner, Physician's Assistant, Pharmacist, Dentist, and Doctor on the list from MSN Money. 
8 Jobs That Still Come With a Pension appeared on MSN Money.
If you have to work a job to help pay for school, why not pick a company that offers more than a paycheck? Insiders Reveal On-The-Job Perks from Starbucks and More appeared on MSN Money.
Career Opportunities with UCLA Operation Mend, a program that provides free medical and psychological treatment to veterans injured during combat. 
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