New Career Moves and Trying Not to Go All-In

Viewfinder

For the past six months, I have been working hard on making some new moves. I had to put the whole graphic design and web development work to the side for the past two weeks because I have been preparing for an oral panel interview exam with a department under the State of California. Nearly three months after I was notified that my application had been accepted, I finally received the notice that my interview has been scheduled. It's set for next week.

My first edit station

The interview is an attempt to gauge my level of skills related to the particulate class for which I am applying for. Although the work I do directly relates to this class, I have been studying hard to cover every aspect of my career, which I have worked in for the past 7+ years. My goal is to have an answer for every question or scenario they pose. Which makes me wonder, why do I need to study so hard for a position related to a career which I have been working in for so many years?

Betacam SP

The fact is my current position does not offer the kinds of creative opportunities and chances to apply different creative skills that would allow for developing greater experience. Despite the lack of opportunities in this company, I still sought out skill developing jobs both with this company and elsewhere. I worked on various productions locally and even created local spots, PSAs, and paid programming for clients that aired on stations within the network I currently work for. As soon as my website is published, I will have some examples of my work available to watch.

Waveform monitor

Another problem is the fact that my current employer has been surviving quarter-to-quarter ever since I got on-board. The company was bankrupt just two years after I started my current position. Really, the first real job I get after college and the company goes bankrupt! The bankruptcy was not so surprising given the current state of the media economy. What was surprising was that the judge in the bankruptcy case allowed the company to dismiss over 1 billion in debt.

Setting the backfocus

It’s real discouraging to know that companies can squander billions and pay nothing in return. After emerging from bankruptcy, the CEO began to describe the company with terms such as, “a brand new company.” In reality, the company was the same-old just with less debt. If the judge in the bankruptcy case were smart, this person would have dismissed the debt with the stipulation that the current heads of the company step down. They already ran the ship aground the first time, why give them a chance to do it again?

Currently, I am looking at being laid-off in a few weeks or months or so, no one really knows for sure. Ever since hearing the news about the layoffs this past September, I have found a significant amount of irony in the whole thing… So much so that it is too much to mention here in the blog but maybe later I can put together some examples.

A new venture

This leads me to why I am studying so hard. If I can ace my interview and I am offered a position, does that mean I go all-in and drop the graphic design and web development work? Not a chance. I still think that my best opportunity for expanding my career and creating a livelihood is doing it myself, or in a team of like-minding folks. So, I am hoping to get on-board with the state, if only to buy some more time to continue fusing together my new skills.