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What University programs can I assist to if my dream job is in the entertainment industry?

Specifically the screenwriting/story-boarding aspect of the movie industry.#career #entertainment #programs

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Ken’s Answer

The best thing that you can do to answer this question is to get to know yourself better to determine how your personality traits best fit with people who are successful in the entertainment industry, as the opportunities in that area are very broad.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
• It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
Here are some tips on reducing college costs, as too many people spend way too much money on an education and end up with unnecessarily high debt: ## http://www.educationplanner.org/students/paying-for-school/ways-to-pay/reduce-college-costs.shtml ##
Thank you comment icon • It really does not matter what school you attend, as the most important factors are how well you do with the school work, which is an indication to an employer about what kind of employee you will be, and the effort that you put forth in your networking to set up networking connections that will help you throughout your education/career journey. Here is an important video for you to watch: ## http://www.ted.com/talks/julie_lythcott_haims_how_to_raise_successful_kids_without_over_parenting?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=talk&utm_term=education ## Ken Simmons
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Amer’s Answer

Joining a writing group is a great starting point. It gives you exposure to other writers and allows them to critique your work. While it can be tough to put yourself and your creative work out there, the multiple perspectives are really helpful as you hone your writing skill set. Similarly, while it sounds silly, joining a book club can be motivating as you'll (hopefully) be exposed to some great writing and, more importantly, analysis of that writing.

If your school has a theater or film program then volunteering or joining productions is a great way to learn. Student films, especially, give you wonderful experience with the end to end process, which is helpful and important to giving you a strong creative foundation. This means you see:
* How a film or play is developed and created
* The impact of a screenplay (or storyboards) during production/filming, on the actors, on the director, etc.
* Adjustment to a screenplay - either the writer is asked to change dialogue or rewrite scenes for various reasons or it's done on the fly
* If you're lucky - you may see the editing process, although that may not happen if you're not the director or producer
* The end result - what was the screenplay when the project started and how did it change during the process?

If you can get an internship at a production company or at a theater or any place creating art it's sometimes wonderful to see working professionals do what they do.
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