Getting a great creative job

FuturLab gets a fair few CV's and demo reels through the post these days, and I have to say, very few of them catch my attention.

So I thought it was about time I shared a principle of mine. It's really simple.

If you want a job that's extraordinarily good, do something extraordinary to get attention.

Every job I've won in my life has been the result of doing something out of the ordinary.

If you want to work for a creative company, do something creative. If you want to win respect with a first impression, then do something original.

The number of CV's I take one look at and bin is pretty high, and it's because it says the same old stuff: I'm this, that the other.

Where's the proof that you're a very creative person? It's not in the delivery/presentation of your CV or your initial contact. Actions speak much louder than words.

Pick the top five companies you want to work with, make your CV to the point, and then deliver it with some creative imagination and personality. If you use your sense of humour, you're likely to be noticed by people with a similar sense of humour, and then you'll be working with people you get on with!

You're much more likely to succeed in capturing the imagination of the company you look up to if you stop serving up the same old grey robotic nonsense that is drummed into us at school.

Creative Direction & Leadership

A new year, and compared to my state of mind in Jan 2007, I feel like a different person. Last year was packed full of learning curves, mostly in the form of perspective shifts in the achievability of my goals for FuturLab.

I'm an artist at heart, so running a business and thinking in a way that puts business decisions first doesn't come easily to me. Around this time last year I was in a right old state, and realised I needed some training and guidance.

1) Get a business coach

I was introduced to a great chap named Bob Kessler based in Brighton, and we had an hour's session each week to bash out the issues I was having with the company.

In my case, most of the problems came down to self perception, ie. I am not a business man, I never wanted to be the Director of a business, I just wanted to make cool stuff... etc.

Getting that mindset out of the way was the biggest hurdle - coming to terms with the fact that, whether I like it or not, I'm responsible for what we're doing here - it's my vision, my drive and creativity that's put me here.

So, why not enjoy it and make the most of it?

What started with those meetings turned into a radical burst of energy and determination, to put our ideas in front of the people we really wanted to work with. I can't talk about any of this in detail yet, but I can say I realised one of my dreams in 2007, and the world will see the results in good time ;)

I can't stress how important it was to have Bob on my side for one hour a week, coaching me and helping me focus on what was important. Big ups to Bob yo.

2) Get some training

I was fortunate enough to join a course in 2007 that blew my face off it was so illuminating. The course was called Creative Leadership and Management, run through UCCA by a couple of very cool people; Donna Willis and Mandy Irons.

Donna and Mandy are occupational psychologists and development specialists who believe that creative leadership is about understanding and maximising the potential of people, and the best way to understand that is to start with yourself.

Their programme Creative Leaders is designed to create new understanding and inspired action in business owners and leaders - it gives individuals who are crucial to the success of their business some much needed space to reflect and develop new ideas.

To be honest I was dreading the typical corporate training days that we're all aware of. Not so. Donna and Mandy created an imaginative, fun and supportive environment for the group, using brief theoretical sessions followed by simple games that really illustrated the concepts. Over the course of 6 days (and a period of three months), I had a completely new understanding of my team, the relationships that had evolved between us, and how best to deal with difficult situations.

As my experience was so positive, and the skills I'd learnt so valuable, I thought it was essential we arrange for Donna and Mandy to take the rest of the team through the same training. We arranged a day trip to Brighton, and as expected a few of the guys were pretty wary of a 'team training day', but by 10am they were sold, and by the end of the day quite invigorated by the experience.

Our great year of business development has been in large part due to these people I've mentioned, and I recommend that anyone that's a bit confused about their business direction seek out similar opportunities when possible.

If you're based in the UK, check our Donna and Mandy's company Creative Interventions, and if you're based in the South East, give Bob Kessler a nudge.

Seeing Potential

Given the subject of the last two posts, I thought this was Apt.

Choice

Having published the last post about belief in achieving goals, I realised that getting focused and determined isn't the thing people find most difficult, it's deciding what they want in the first place.

"If only I knew what I actually wanted, I'd be able to go for it!"

Personally I think this is a bunch of crap.

When I ask people if they could have any job or lifestyle they wanted tomorrow, with instantaneous experience and a good salary/wage, they can think of 5 or so jobs they'd like to do within a minute.

So what's the deal there? These people are usually very talented and capable people, who see potential for themselves in many areas. It's these kinds of people who have a sharp eye for quality. They understand their own talent, and it's exactly these kinds of people who have the most strict self-critique going on.

Indeed, it's the really gifted individuals that are most lacking in confidence, because they see flaws everywhere around them, and can't for the life of them assume they'd do any better. Scared of failure. The fact is that these kinds of people will always be the best at the things they're most scared of, because they're so critical. If only they could lift the pressure of self-criticism to see this blinding truth.

Of course, nobody is able to stroll into a well paid job doing exactly what they want tomorrow, and if someone has many options, all rigorously policed in the mind by their inner-critic, then it's understandable they take jobs they don't care about and nobody can understand wtf is going on.

Alas, there is an easy way through this, and it's just arranging all the possibilities as you see them at this point in time, and trying to order them in terms of the difficulty involved in getting started.

For example, let's say you wanted to do the following in your lifetime:

- Work with animals
- Be a vet
- Run a safari
- Launch a world-respected animal sanctuary

Invariably goals like the last one are perfectly achievable, but need a very long term dedication to getting there - or lots of money.

So, the first thing to ask yourself is whether this list of goals can be drawn on a timeline in terms of difficulty/dependency. ie. In order to be a vet, I need a qualification. In order to run a safari, I need to have experience working on one etc.

If they are easily plotted, then you're in luck, because you just choose the first one on the list, and get cracking!

If they aren't easily plotted, then you've got a bit of work to do in determining how you bounce between them during your life. Perhaps you need to choose the most profitable career path first, so that you can afford to do the other things you want to do.

Don't be fooled into thinking you need to do a job you don't enjoy just so you can get money - that's the first nail in your coffin. You must choose a job/career that is on your list.

This is life planning, but it doesn't have to be clear. It can be fuzzy and unqualified, but as long as this list is in your gut and in your heart, and you don't give up on yourself, you'll get exactly what you want*.

In other words planning your life like this doesn't mean you have to decide from an early age exactly what your life will entail, just the things you would like to achieve, and believe that you can achieve them.

Sacrifice isn't necessarily required if you think carefully and confidently about your choices.

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* Note that "exactly what you want" might change significantly as you develop - see the previous post.