13192: How NOT To Track Your Artistic Job Search
Hey there, hero!
How we go about finding work is a fair bit different from the average Indeed.com job applicant.
They will track their progress through the job search process in one way…
…and we are completely different.
And for once, we have less work to do than they do.
You might think you need to track your auditions and clip submissions…and you would be making work for yourself that’s unnecessary.
Do you “track” your submissions? Are you able to let them go? Let me know in the comments below.
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Raw transcript:
Raw transcript:
if we were anything but
artists our uh job seeking process would
be very straightforward and very
traditional uh but we we are artists so
we kind of have to provide samples and
how we track those samples is really
interesting it’s not the way normal
people track their job opportunity
search I want to talk to you about ways
to do it and ways not to do it in this
episode of the vo Heroes podcast
[Music]
so when normal people go after a job and
by normal people I’m talking about
anybody who isn’t an artist uh you know
an office worker or a customer service
rep or a tech support person or a blue
collar worker or a white collar worker
somebody who doesn’t have to audition
for something or provide uh a sample
chapter for a book or an article uh some
sort of portfolio work they don’t have
to do that
they go and they you know they hook up
with indeed.com or or Monster or who
knows what um what job seeking sites
they’re on and when they put their uh
resumés and their applications in it’s
it’s kind of expected that they will
track those things and see if they get
responses and so on with us it’s
different it has to be different and if
you’re treating it like that traditional
way of going after a job you could be
giving yourself a whole bunch of work
that you don’t need what brought this
all up
was I saw a post in one of the audiobook
narration Facebook groups that I’m a
member of where somebody says so how do
you guys track your auditions I have a
whole bunch of auditions out and uh I’m
trying to stay on top of it all and it’s
really hard to do yeah don’t don’t worry
about
it if somebody wants you and you youve
auditioned for something that they have
a role that they’re trying to fill and
you’re the right person for IT believe
me they will find you you’re the
solution to their problem you don’t need
to follow up you don’t need to stay in
touch you don’t need to Circle back you
don’t need to do any of those things and
you certainly don’t need to have some
sort of spreadsheet type maneuver where
you’re watching all of your auditions
and you’re seeing if they’ve been
responded to and you have some sort of
notion as to where they are in their
process no you could be spending that
time and should be spending that time
doing more auditions or maybe working
but not hovering like a helicopter
parent over the the offers that you’ve
put out into the universe to help
somebody solve their casting problem you
don’t need to do that in fact you
shouldn’t do that it is a recipe for
heartbreak because because now you start
looking at those numbers and you see
just how many jobs you’re not getting
and it can weigh on your head it can
weigh on your your mindset so don’t do
that that’s my admonition it’s not even
a maybe you don’t want to do that I’m
telling you please don’t do that once
you do an
audition let it go submit it move on to
something else go get a latte talk with
a friend do another
audition um work on your office hours
work on your website work on your Tech
layout whatever it is that you’re doing
other than worrying about what comes
next with that audition it’s going to be
a very easy thing for you to reacquaint
yourself with whatever was that that
caused you to audition for that project
in the first place should they get in
touch if they want a a you know a call
back or a pin or a an on hold or they
want to book you believe me you’ll
figure it out and you don’t need to stay
on top of all these things so when you
think to yourself oh I have a whole
bunch of auditions out what do I need to
do about this how do I need to manage
this the answer is you
don’t now how many of you are if you’re
watching this and you’re doing some
version of following up or tracking the
auditions that you
have uh tell me about that in the
comments below and tell me if that’s
been satisfying at all I’d love to know
the other side to this I just know that
this what I’m what I’m trying to ask you
to consider and do
works and it gives you so much more
power it gives you more options it gives
you more opportunities let’s see what
happens here give me a note in the
comment below let me know what happens
hit the like button if you like what
you’re hearing the Subscribe uh button
if you want to subscribe to the channel
the notification Bell if you want to be
told when new episodes come out I’d love
to have you forward this to an actor who
you see is really grinding on track
the auditions they have out you know
share this with them just copy the link
above and and send it off to them I’m
David H Lawrence 17th I thank you so
much for watching and for listening and
I will see you in the next episode of
the vo Heroes podcast
[Music]
(from YouTube)
Amen! I’ve heard it summed up this way:
“Have high intentions [to book the job], but low attachment [to the outcome].”
Why indulge the agony of most likely not getting the effin’ job?! (Hat tip to the inimitable Michael Kostroff!)
I’d add one thing:
While tracking individual auditions can be a recipe for misery, it can be very useful to track which offices, studios, producers, casting directors, publishers, authors, etc we ARE auditioning for (or being invited to audition for).
When we track the offices and the names, positions, and projects of our future clients, we can:
* more clearly see what’s working on our end (or not)
* types of jobs they’re frequently working on
* when we’re on someone’s short list (when we’re getting repeat invitations—a glorious thing!), and
* if there are any specific folks with whom it might be useful to further nurture a relationship (for example, on LinkedIn, or at an event, workshop, panel, etc)
David and Trevor,
Great information here. I have never tried to track my auditions. And because I’ve been a
performer for most of my life I didn’t lose too much sleep over “regular” interviews. I might get depressed for a bit when nothing is happening, however, I learned awhile ago that I’m not everybody’s cup of tea. Kind of an acquired taste…:-)
Thank you both for your insights.
I haven’t ever tracked my submissions, but rather, I’ll pay attention to the bookings.
Seeing the correlation between the items I’m booking by genre or niche – and seeing what I’m being hired to do most often, I find that information/data is helpful.
Do more of what works, less of what doesn’t!
I truly believe being like Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen” is the best course of action… Let it goooo! Let it gooooooooooo!
Excellent. I love this episode.
And I would add that since learning to audition as a VO artist, I began to think of my on camera self tapes the way I looked at my VO submissions. I feel like they’re little finished movies that I’ve made and I’m sending out into the world. There’s a feeling of completion, and I love letting them go – and do their work without me. Getting the job is just an additional delightful perk!
This is Deborah Geffner, btw. I’m not sure why I’m showing up as “12!”
I feel the same way, Deborah! Super fun to make little movies and send them off 🙂
Thank you David,
I may have followed up in the past, ie let me know if you need anything, but, yes, I wait to be notified. I never imagined someone using a spreadsheet?
However, if someone keeps calling me back, I usually check out what they have called me for in the past, ie to see what maybe I can do better.
Thank you,
Susan
Yeah, tracking submitted projects seems like time that could be spent doing more productive things.