Making your own luck...

Getting a job can be a nightmare, especially if you get stuck in a loop. This happened to me way back before I even discovered screenwriting and script reading/editing. All I wanted was an office job - me, sitting at a wee desk tip tapping away on a computer and answering the phone (perhaps even in French)... But no. "Office experience required." Well how the flippity flop am I meant to get office experience if I can't even get an office "experience" (ergo:job) in the first place?! Grrr and harrummph. What to do?

Well, for a start, there's no point in dwelling on it. Secondly, you can make your own luck. I worked in a warehouse which had a desk area. And there was no manager at the time, and a lot of paperwork and officey things that needed doing. So I stepped up and volunteered to do all of the "officey" stuff. I had a desk, I was doing officey things... hey presto! Office experience!

Needless to say my desire to get an office job didn't last long. Before I knew it I'd discovered screenwriting and editing and had fallen head over heels in love with the industry. But then I faced another barrier: no experience or qualifications! Doh! Luckily, you don't really need any experience to write; you just do it! But to get yourself noticed and, indeed, to get script reading and editing jobs within the script and publishing industry you will most definitely need to build a good reputation and gain a few skills along the way.

The Anonymous Production Assistant had a query from a reader recently about no-experience CVs. Not absolutely no experience, but the wrong experience for their desired position. We're talking career changes. This is a problem I also had, having got a degree in French and Fine Art and having worked for a warehouse/online store. I had nothing to put on my CV that would relate to the industry.

Over time I've been making my own luck: entering competitions in the hope of recognition; networking (never underestimate how powerful this can be - after all, it's often who you know that can help with all important opportunities); blogging; writing articles; going on courses; submitting scripts and stories; script reading; proofreading; editing.  Investing time in doing these things really does pay off as gradually you will build up your skills, not to mention gaining a good reputation. Before you know it, you'll have plenty to put on your CV.

You WILL feel like you're getting nowhere sometimes. It'll feel like you'll be stuck in the day job forever and you'll never get to where Joe Bloggs is on his career ladder. It can be a depressing and lonely journey, but it can also be a thoroughly exciting and fulfilling journey too - if you let it. Keep going, keep pushing and...

KEEP MAKING YOUR OWN LUCK!