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As an experienced hiring manager, I can tell you that there are three ways someone could quickly ruin their chance to work with an organization. Someone could even ruin their chances before the event starts. If you are looking to do some freelancing opportunities, get a new gig, or join a new crew, I advise not making these three mistakes.
If you no call, no show – it is a clear sign to a hiring manager that you cannot balance your schedule. You have proven to be unreliable and you won’t be hired back. Plus now you’ve just left the team in the lurch, one person down.
If you can’t fulfill your commitment, let your contact know immediately. Make sure that you communicate in advance if you know early enough. Even consider providing contact names of others who might be able to fill your spot.
Most of all, if it is a short notice when you’re unable to get to the shift, make sure to have a strong reason as to why. The hiring manager could consider you again in the future if you have a valid reason and are apologetic regarding the situation. If they never hear from you, you’ll never hear from them again.
If you arrive at a first gig with a company and immediately demonstrate negativity, you are stepping out on the wrong foot right away. It takes a lot of energy to create a crew and negative energy even from one person can bring everyone down.
Being negative is a way to not get invited back. We all know events and production is tough work, and the schedule rarely allows for enough time to get it done reasonably. Adding a negative air to the situation does not help.
Approach a new environment with a positive go-getter attitude.
Take a minute to analyze how the crew works together and see how you fit into the program. This will help you connect with the crew and be remembered as a positive force. Be someone the crew would love to work with again.
Acting like a know-it-all can also ruin the call. Face it – no one likes a know-it-all, so don’t be that person. If you can offer advice or experience to help with problem-solving a situation, do it. Contribute your ideas. Importantly, as a new person to the crew, you are not going to know it all, and these actions can be off-putting to the existing crew.
Offer advice where you can and make sure to ask questions along the way. Each crew will do things slightly differently, if you aren’t sure, there is no harm in asking.
If it is going to save you and the crew time in redoing something later then it’s good for you to speak up. Most importantly, you will develop relationships with the crew faster by communicating and working with them. Don’t try to prove you know everything.
Each person has earned their spot on the crew, work with them to earn yours as well. Make sure to show up on time, be ready for what the day will give you, and ask questions along the way.
Article by SoundGirl: Heather Holm
Another great article by Sound Girls: Watching My Daughter Go On Tour
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The mission of SoundGirls.org is to inspire and empower the next generation of women in audio. Our mission is to create a supportive community for women in audio and music production, providing the tools, knowledge, and support to further their careers. SoundGirls.Org was formed in 2013 by veteran live sound engineers Karrie Keyes and Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato and operates under the Fiscal Sponsorship of The California Women’s Music Festival, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. In 2012, Karrie and Michelle participated in the “Women of Professional Concert Sound” panel at the AES Conference in San Francisco. The panel was hosted by the Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) and moderated by WAM founder Terri Winston. Terri brought together five women working in live and broadcast audio. The groundbreaking panel (which also included Jeri Palumbo, Claudia Engelhart and Deanne Franklin), provided young women and men a glimpse into life on the road, tips and advice, and a Q & A with the panelists. More importantly though, was how incredibly powerful the experience was for the panelists. We had all been in the business for 20 years or more, yet most of us had never met before that day and within minutes we bonded like long-lost sisters. We were struck by how similar our experiences, work ethics, and passions were and wondered why our paths had never crossed and how our careers would have been different had we been there to support each other through the years. Each of us are strong on our own, but together we were even stronger and a powerful force. We were empowered. Each of us had been asked hundreds of times in our careers: Are there other women doing sound? How did you get into sound? How would a young woman go about getting into sound? Through creating SoundGirls.Org, we hope to establish a place for women working in professional audio to come for support and advice, to share our success and failures, our joys and frustrations, and for empowerment and inspiration.
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