There’s a saying that it’s all about who you know. While that is true, I think the more accurate statement is that it’s all about who knows you. Knowing someone is good, but someone else knowing you and thinking of you for a job is even better. My 2 main day jobs are both from friends knowing I needed work. My box office job is from a friend who worked for that company as an actor and knew I did box office work in the past. And my research job is from an old boss who is now my current boss at the new company she is at. And now I’ve got another job that I’ll be doing because of a friend thinking of me.
One of the actors I know through my SAG-AFTRA slate is a part of a new web series. They’ve completed their filming and are getting ready to promote it and release it. They are also looking at doing more seasons of the show. And since they are in the promotion phase of the project, they needed someone who is good with social media to do their posts. And my friend thought of me since I’m pretty good at social media and have taught others how to do some things on it.
My first worry was that I didn’t know enough to do the job. I have friends who have degrees in social media management and it’s not as easy of a job as it can seem. There are lots of things to do that are beyond just posting and monitoring the conversation. But I agreed to talk to the producers of the project to see what they needed and hopefully it would fit what I could do. And after chatting with them, it did seem like they only needed work that I knew how to do and they didn’t need the complicated things like analytics like some companies would require of a social media manager. So we worked out the terms of what the contract would be and I started working for them this week!
The job fits in perfectly with my other jobs and I’m so grateful for that. I’m aware of how lucky I am that I’ve managed to find jobs that work around the schedules of the others and that none of my jobs affect the performance I can do at the others. I’m in a really privileged position right now and I’m always shocked when I’m able to add another job that works with the others. I’m always worried if I find another job that I want to do that I would need to quit at least one of the others. But that hasn’t been the case yet.
And I do need to keep looking for more work. This new job will help me financially, but as of right now it’s only for a month. I think it will be extended beyond the month, but it’s not a guarantee yet. But financially things haven’t been as great as they were in the past. The hours with my research job were cut back by 2/3rds due to the contract that I’m under. It’s got a maximum they can pay out for it and my boss doesn’t control that so she can only offer me what they offer her. She is looking for any other contracts I can work under so I can get some more hours, but right now there aren’t any others I can take on.
And I recently had dinner with my boss from the research job and we were able to talk about work a bit. I asked if she knew if I’d be getting a new contract after the current one is done and she really didn’t know. She is still going to be looking for any other contracts I can work under, but the one that has been renewed each year since I started there isn’t necessarily going to renew again. That can always change and as soon as my boss knows she will be telling me. But I’m glad that I know now that it’s not a guarantee yet like it was in the past.
Maybe I can make this social media job into something more than what it is right now. Maybe the producers of this show will be really happy with my work and will bring me on for another project or refers me to others. I know the power of referrals and I’m always working hard so that hopefully I will get a referral in the future. I’m not totally sure what the next steps will be since there is still so much up in the air with my research job, but for now I’m just so grateful that another friend referred me for an awesome job!
You Might Also Like
Job Hunting (or You Never Know Unless You Ask)
Positive Thinking And Putting It Out There Worked (or Working For Another Old Boss)
A Little Job Update (or It Was Silly To Be Scared)
Time To Make A Game Plan (or Guess I’ll Be Doing Some Job Hunting)
Temp Job Time (or Feeling Like It’s An Old Job Again)
Job vs. Career (or Being Undercover At My Day Job)
