Selling You

Today was a full day at the Min with work straight through the day (my Starbucks card is getting a workout these days--go for the gold!) One thing that is slowly becoming clear is that in this business, even the strangest and most obscure talents may become useful and a potential selling point. Especially on the creative side, but also the business side, the entertainment industry is a whole lot of selling yourself. This doesn't mean being conceited (well maybe just a little), but it does mean knowing your strong points and highlighting them and then finding your weak points, acknowledging them and improving them. This can be tough for some people, especially because some of these strong points might have to do with personality traits or personal beliefs, or other things that are hard to change or you don't want to change. 


One of the best ways, though, to automatically make yourself more valuable, especially these days, is learning how to use professional software. I know, I know, we all came out here to avoid math and science, but computers have taken the place of an editing room and the cutting room. I know this may seem obvious but then think do you know how to use FinalCut Pro?  How about Photoshop? Avid? (I didn't even know what Avid was until last week)


Thanks to Liz, we're being exposed to all these different tools and learning how to use some of them. Today and probably a fair share of the next week and a half or so, I'll become well acquainted with Avid (film editing software) as I edit some things for Liz. It may seem tedious but compared to getting coffee for someone who doesn't know your name in some office building, it's paradise. 


The great thing about these tools, though, is that even if you aren't lucky enough to have a Liz to coach you through, the programs are actually quite intuitive and a lot easier than the old method involving a razor, a dark room, and negatives.


Some good programs to know include:


Avid Media Composer
Photoshop
Dreamweaver
FinalCut Pro
ProTools (sound software)
FinalDraft
Adobe Firework
Microsoft Excel (yep it matters here too)




And there are obviously more. The more you know the better off you are and the best thing to do is to find someone who has these programs and play around with them (because some of them can be pretty expensive) but by the time you're good at them you'll have access to them for free---at your job (hopeful thinking never hurt anyone right?) 


What's even better is that they aren't an all consuming task to learn, but they can turn into a well-paying job straight out of school if you play your cards right. It's all how you spin it, but having these tools are a surefire way to make a resumé look better and make you special (not that you aren't already, my mom would probably like to point out.)