By June 19, 2024

Show business baby. While it’s not all glitz and glamour, it’s certainly a lot of fun. If you’re dreaming of a life running around sets, getting creative and rubbing shoulders with celebrities, then join the club. Entertainment industry is famous for being hard to crack, but it’s not impossible.
If you’re studying an entertainment course and looking for a way in, check out these tips on how to stand out from the crowd.

NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK

There is a reason the saying ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is so popular. More often than not landing the dream job is a matter of being in the right place at the right time. But it’s not all down to luck, there are some tried and tested ways of upping your chances of being in the right place. Keep an eye on industry events, previews, premiers, wrap parties and extras screenings always full of well-connected insiders, so stay on the ball and do some physical ground work.

Be Your Own Show

With more social platforms than ever before, it’s never been so easy to create your own personalised channel and work on personal branding. Get creative, use your socials to deliver well thought out, original content that can get you noticed and give potential employers an idea of you and your style. Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube are all brilliant ways to showcase your skills. You don’t need to be thinking big buck productions here either, just a portfolio of clever short clips that show either your technical or storytelling abilities. Have fun, push the boundaries and harness the almighty power of socials to get seen by the right people.

Be Socially Present

While we’re on the power of social media it’s time to get serious about using your socials as a professional communication tool. Keep on top of industry news and join the twitter conversations, share articles or, better yet, write articles, comment on relevant Instagram posts, tag. It should go without saying, but being passionate about your job and industry is one of the key things an employer will look for. Sure, you can throw it in your cover letter or use it to beef up a bio, but when it comes down to it the proof is in the pudding. By joining in on industry commentary you can create a presence in the online community and will have some impressive search results when your potential employers embark on the inevitable Google search.

Work Experience

It may sound obvious but experience is key in landing your ideal TV job. The frustrating part can come in the catch 22 of ‘you need experience to get a job’ but ‘you need a job to get experience’. So, when it comes down to this chick and egg conundrum, the most tried and true way to get a foot in the door is to start from the ground up and work for free. Now don’t panic, it won’t be forever, and it doesn’t need to be a huge chunk of your time. Getting involved in community TV, or contacting film and TV sets to see if they need an extra pair of hands is a great way to kick off the experience cycle. ACIT’s Work Experience and Placement services are an excellent resource for finding well connected gigs to get you started.
Whatever route you choose to go down remember to be authentic and put yourself out there. You’ve done the study, you’ve got the drive, so show the TV crowd you mean business!