🪄The Magic Recipe to Up Your Chances to Get Hired
A friend once said to me “Moments in life can be magical, but nothing happens by magic.” I was struck by the simplicity and truth of this statement. I believe in all kinds of positive thinking, visualization, manifestation, prayer, motivational quotes, miracles, and luck. I love everything that makes you feel great and gets your mind prepared for success. As a matter of fact, I’ve had lucky and magical things happen to me my entire life.
I remember driving down Fairfax Avenue several years ago when a thought popped into my head: “I wonder if I could get a job where they pay me to be social?” BOOM, I received a call shortly thereafter saying a big-time executive wanted to meet with me about a new company he’d started. He specifically needed someone social to get the word out about his company’s services. Sounded great to me, so I went in for a meeting. When they were explaining the job, I said, “Wait, you mean you’re actually going to pay me to be social?”
I went in for the second interview with a piece of paper noting everything I’d require in that job (salary, start date, title, responsibilities, etc.). Would you believe they offered me EVERYTHING on that list? Well, there was one exception: I wanted a VP title, but they were thinking SVP, so I ended up going with their much, much better idea. I remember how good it felt and that it all started with a simple thought.
I’m not making this up.
Was this 🪄Magic?
We can speculate all day as to what and why this actually happened, but what I know for sure is: this did not happen by magic, yet the experience was truly magical. Had I not spent eight years working at WME, then I wouldn’t have been called. That is a fact. I never would have met the executive hiring; I never would have been exposed to the level of relationships required for the job; I never would have understood the complexities of the new business. This opportunity would absolutely, positively have never happened without years of prior work.
Sometimes I chose a theme-word for the year, and this year has been “action.” All my life I’ve taken action. I’ve picked up the phone, followed my intuition, raised my hand, responded to emails, helped others, and shown up. That is ACTION.
We have a few months before the year is over and if you want your dreams to become realities, it’s time for action. Here, then, is a 4-Step Action Plan for upping your chances of making magical things happen.
1. Read Up
Read uplifting and positive books, trade magazines, blogs, social media, or anything else that lifts your spirits and helps form ideas about what you’d like to do, who you want to be and how you want to live. What books are you reading? What movies are you watching? What content are you consuming? What podcast and newsletter do you subscribe to? By paying attention to what you actually enjoy doing (as opposed to what you think you should be doing), you’ll get on the road to your dream job.
2. Listen Up
Listen to yourself without judgement. I’ll never forget a client who hesitated when telling me her favorite show was Dance Moms. She seemed embarrassed by it, yet it just so happened that I loved reality television, too! We bonded over The Bachelor, Real Housewives, and more. Had she played it cool and said she loved arthouse documentaries like her fellow USC Trojans, she wouldn’t have landed a job working as an assistant ICM in Reality TV. Not only was it a fabulous job, it’s where she met her husband.
Take the pressure off yourself. You don’t have to be super passionate. Just look for what’s interesting. It may be a book, someone you found on IG, your favorite professor, or your internship supervisor. Surround yourself with successful people, and target the opportunities that you think you want. Ask people who already have jobs you’re interested in if they’ll have an informational meeting with you. Ask what they do, and listen carefully as to how they did it. It’s a possible roadmap to how you can do it too.
3. Speak Up
Your career dreams should not be a secret. Tell people what you want to do, and be ready for when the right person in the right position needs you. Think of people like browsers: they can only pull up what you type in. So tell your classmates, colleagues, friends, parents, or anyone else, that you want to work in visual effects, costumes, sport, TV or whatever it happens to be. The more specific you are, the stickier the idea is.
4. Show Up
If you’ve ever heard me speak, you’ll know that I’m an introvert who presents like an extrovert. People think I’m super gregarious and social (which is true in business), but sometimes it takes great courage for me to show up at a purely social event. It sounds crazy, I know, but I battle my own insecurities, and I’ve had to really exercise my bravery muscle to just show up at parties and other events. But I show up because I want to put myself in a position to meet people, be inspired and just feel good.
I try to remember the mantra: If there’s no compelling reason to say no, your answer must be yes!