1
   

Dream Job: But How to Get There?

 
 
Reply Fri 28 Oct, 2005 12:08 pm
A brief bio: I'm 27 and, frankly, behind the eight-ball in life. While I've been able to convince myself I'm only behind to the extent I took a few "years off" after high school, it's still not very comforting when I realize chances are I'll be 30 before I receive my bachelors degree.

The single biggest reason for this predicament is, perhaps, the most common one: I just have had no idea what I want to do.

But recently I recognized there's something that interests me very much; more than just about anything this side of "rock star." The trouble is, and the reason I'm making this post, now that I've found the idea, I don't have a clue what degree to pursue or how to go about breaking into this business.

An example of the kind of job I want would be "the guy who decides what bands get a record deal." Another example, "the guy who decides which script gets made into a movie." Basically, the term I've identified as representing what kind of career I'd like is "assessor." Guy who assesses stuff and decides if it's good or not: books, commercials, articles, movies, music, tv pilots, etc.

Video games is another thing. Who's the guy who plays the games and reports bugs, inconsistency, and general problems?

Anyway, I realize there's no job where one person would be doing all those things. But they all represent the same "skill"; and moreover they all present the same problem: I have no idea how to get any of those jobs. And this question becomes all the more pressing now that I'm about to transfer to the University of Michigan: until now I've been a simple "Liberal Arts" major, and I'm under pressure to change that to something that will direct me toward one of these careers.

Any thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated.
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 883 • Replies: 4
No top replies

 
Merry Andrew
 
  1  
Reply Sat 29 Oct, 2005 07:56 am
I think you have to fine-tune your goals a little more, Nietzche. While there is some correlation between book publishing and the movies, the music business is a bit different and reviewing videa games before they go on the market is in an entirely different ball park. What it sounds like to me is that you want a "business" rather than "artistic" position in an art-oriented enterprise.

The person who decides what gets published and what doesn't is an editor. He may or may not be a good writer himself/herself, but certainly recognizes good writing and distinguishes between good and bad writing readily. H/she also knows what will sell and will frequently select manuscripts s/he personally thinks are garbage but that can be recognized as having potential attraction for a general audience. To get a job like that, you apply for any job at all at a book publisher's and work your way into a corner office and out of the cubicle.

If music is more your beat, you want to become an A&R person (A&R = Aartists and Repertoire). In this cutthroat business, it's best if you know someone.

As for what you should major in, you'll have to search your own heart for that. There is no one discipline that would prepare you for all of these careers adequately. The thing to remember is that a university is not a vocational school. It was never designed to teach a student a trade. Education is supposed to broaden your field of knowledge and understanding of the world. You might wish to major in English or even Philosophy to get a broader world-view. On the other hand, if your true interest is in the business end of publishing or movie making or recording, you might want to get away from the liberal arts and into business administration.

Good luck.
0 Replies
 
Nietzsche
 
  1  
Reply Sat 29 Oct, 2005 09:27 pm
Thanks. Frankly, that's exactly what I suspected and didn't want to hear. Nevertheless, you're most certainly correct in all you said.

Insofar as this thread has been featured, I suppose I'll set it up for the next person: Post questions relative to your long-term career goals here.
0 Replies
 
Jamesw84
 
  1  
Reply Tue 8 Nov, 2005 05:27 am
Re: Dream Job: But How to Get There?
Nietzsche wrote:
A brief bio: I'm 27 and, frankly, behind the eight-ball in life. While I've been able to convince myself I'm only behind to the extent I took a few "years off" after high school, it's still not very comforting when I realize chances are I'll be 30 before I receive my bachelors degree.

The single biggest reason for this predicament is, perhaps, the most common one: I just have had no idea what I want to do.

But recently I recognized there's something that interests me very much; more than just about anything this side of "rock star." The trouble is, and the reason I'm making this post, now that I've found the idea, I don't have a clue what degree to pursue or how to go about breaking into this business.

An example of the kind of job I want would be "the guy who decides what bands get a record deal." Another example, "the guy who decides which script gets made into a movie." Basically, the term I've identified as representing what kind of career I'd like is "assessor." Guy who assesses stuff and decides if it's good or not: books, commercials, articles, movies, music, tv pilots, etc.

Video games is another thing. Who's the guy who plays the games and reports bugs, inconsistency, and general problems?

Anyway, I realize there's no job where one person would be doing all those things. But they all represent the same "skill"; and moreover they all present the same problem: I have no idea how to get any of those jobs. And this question becomes all the more pressing now that I'm about to transfer to the University of Michigan: until now I've been a simple "Liberal Arts" major, and I'm under pressure to change that to something that will direct me toward one of these careers.

Any thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated.


Keep on dreaming
0 Replies
 
Management
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Dec, 2005 10:06 pm
Re: Dream Job: But How to Get There?
Nietzsche wrote:
An example of the kind of job I want would be "the guy who decides what bands get a record deal." Another example, "the guy who decides which script gets made into a movie." Basically, the term I've identified as representing what kind of career I'd like is "assessor." Guy who assesses stuff and decides if it's good or not: books, commercials, articles, movies, music, tv pilots, etc.

Video games is another thing. Who's the guy who plays the games and reports bugs, inconsistency, and general problems?

I wouldn't say exactly that those occupations involve the same skills. The work that you describe is unfortunately much more involved than you seem to think in all of these cases.

Deciding record deals and movies is I assume, a task that normally falls to an investor or executive, in other words, a person who holds the purse and is experienced in the industry. What artists to sign or what movies to produce are investment decisions - you want a return on investing in producing a movie or record. For a record company, I assume the decision is jointly made by a CIO, VP of Marketing, etc. For a movie, there are executive producers, preferably wealthy or with investor contacts.

For testing games and such, it's no longer a game, but the serious business of software quality control. You need to be experienced in making and executing test cases and problem reports, and know technical concepts about the technologies behind the game so that you can determine boundary conditions and so on.

So to answer your question about degrees, for records and movies, study communications and business. For testing games, study computer science.
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

Dispatches from the Startup Front - Discussion by jespah
Bullying Dominating Coworker - Question by blueskies
Co worker being caught looking at you - Question by lisa1471
Work Place Romance - Discussion by Dino12
Does your office do Christmas? - Discussion by tsarstepan
Question about this really rude girl at work? - Question by riverstyx0128
Does she like me? - Question by jct573
Does my coworker like me? - Question by riverstyx0128
Maintenance training - Question by apjones37643
Personal questions - Discussion by Angel23
Making friends/networking at work - Question by egrizzly
 
  1. Forums
  2. » Dream Job: But How to Get There?
Copyright © 2025 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 2.5 seconds on 07/07/2025 at 05:38:05