A Normal Job During Covid Times – The Same Skills Apply.

Like many of you out there, I found myself taking a “normal job” after it became glaringly obvious that we weren’t going to get backstage again any time soon. I had quite a few rejections at first because my skill set “wasn’t what they were looking for”. I thought to myself why wouldn’t they be? We have many skills that are applicable in many ways they just don’t seem that obvious to the untrained eye. Lets think about it for a second. What do we have to offer a non-entertainment employer?

We know to turn up, ready to work, ON TIME.

We’re not still clocking in or getting our uniforms on when our shift starts, we hit the ground running. Breaks are taken when they can be and, should we have to stay past the scheduled finishing time, we stay to get the job done. Can you imagine turning round during a teardown and saying “well, the schedule says midnight, so, I’m going home”? Yeah, right.

On tour, if we don’t get a truck packed and away on time that’s going to have a huge knock-on effect for everything else. This can apply to many situations in a normal job too. I’m not the only one (especially in the UK) who took on a position within a supermarket home delivery team. I know that I have to do a quick and efficient pick to get those deliveries ready to roll out on time without holding up the driver.

Talking about trucks, we know how to pack them.

This is very useful outside the industry. Truck Tetris logic can be applied to other areas. When I pack the deliveries into their corresponding tote box, I figure out the best way to fit everything in. once you get an idea of general items like a 24 pack of soda or a 12 pack of beer, you know how to make it fit, just like you know how to make a road case fit on a truck load.

Pushing around road cases on uneven surfaces for years really helped me with this new job too. I push a big cart with 8 tote boxes on it for about 6 hours a day. Being able to push, steer, and more importantly, stop that thing when it’s full of said 24 packs of cans or 12 packs of beer feels a lot like pushing a road case full of cables or chain hoists to be honest.

Some of us are adept at learning new systems or software. It’s like learning a new console.

Being able to learn how to navigate your way through these should come quite naturally to many of us, which, of course is to the benefit of any employer.

These are some brief points but they show that we do have much to offer. We just have to find the right spin on it. With that being said, I’ll gladly trade the cart of groceries for a heavy road case any time you like!

I hope you are all staying safe and sane. Hang in there folks!

Also by Shmem Geddes:

Cross Training: Bridging The Gaps

Creatures Of Habit: What Is Your Show Ritual?

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