Thursday, June 7, 2012

Getting Jobs in Entertainment question 1185: What are those "techniques and etiquette" to get set or post house visits?

This is a follow up question from yesterday's blog. Let's start with the techniques:

1. Know the sets/post facilities you want to target

2. Ask your contacts if they can refer you to someone who works on the show/at the facility

3. If you can't get a referral, take a step back and focus on building you contact list/relationships first. It's important that you know enough people who "know, like, & trust" you and will therefore be willing to invite you to a set/facility or refer you to one.

4. When you do get a referral, call the referral within 48 hours to request the visit.

This leads nicely into setiquette or post house visit etiquette

1. Be clear on your objective for going; to "take the temperature" of the set/facility, in other words, know the atmosphere so should you be called to work, you are familiar with the way things work. OR in the case of a post house, you may literally want to know the room and be familiar with the equipment they use.

2. You are there to observe and when possible create new relationships. Use your judgement to decide how relaxed or how hectic the day is and either quietly stay out of the way, or politely introduce yourself to people when appropriate.

3. Remember, you are there to help them. When they need someone who does what you do, they want to call someone they know who knows their set/facility. By you giving them the opportunity to get to know you, you are making their job easier when they are stuck in a bind and all of their "regulars" are busy.

4. DO NOT politic for work. You're there to create relationships NOT steal the jobs of the people who are already working there, so don't go with the objective of getting work, go with the objective of building relationships, in order to be an asset to their team when they need someone.

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visit www.TheGreenlightCoachBlog.com
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