Your Industry Implodes - Your Background Could and Probably Will Be Held Against You

 Hollywood is one of the sectors which had blown up and, like management consulting, teaching in liberal arts, old tech and content-creation, may never return to its original size. Employment in California's film, television and sound niches had contracted 30% and has not bounced back. 

So, some have decided to take on that very difficult rite of passage: finding work in a very different field. For O'Dwyer's Public Relations I explained how much of an ordeal - and not at all an adventure - that is. Gone poof are the network, confidence about what you can do and marketability of lots of what you had been rewarded for. 

Hollywood Reporter zeroes in on this struggle. One aspect is employer bias against or lack of knowledge about the entertainment industry:

" ...  job seekers are wondering whether having entertainment credits on their résumés helps or hurts their chances of finding other work." 

Laid-off junior lawyers whom I coached during The Great Recession were in the same pickle. Employers outside the legal sector, just like landlords, tend to hesitate in bringing in lawyers. They fear an evenual lawsuit for whatever. Paul Weiss was among the few law firms which didn't slash young talent. Latham cut over 400 lawyers and staff in one day. 

At that time there had been a stigma about job loss, no matter the source, and those tossed out were aware they probably would not make it back in. Many did not. When the recovery kicked in recruited were new blood and those who had managed to have held onto their jobs. 

Together we looked at the option to neutralize the legal parts of the resume - or leave them off entirely. The gaps, as everyone in career guidance knows, can be filled. 

Most had bet right - realizing they would not be able to return to practicing law - and started over in another field. Those who had the easiest time of it masked the legal education and experience. Lie? No. Not volunteer certain information? Yes.

In the 1970s, just like the current time of downsizing university teaching jobs in the liberal arts, the market imploded. Our Lost Generation of Humanities Scholars had to reinvent ourselves. 

Initially most of us blew it in that we hadn't masked what was perceived by those hiring outside academia as "overeducation" and "no-nothing jobs." America is about pragmatism. The Puritans created Harvard in 1636 to train ministers, not to develop thought leaders. Eventually - unfortunately too slowly - we got the hang of how to roll ourselves out there for non-academic good jobs. 

In coaching I continue to gently help clients accept that their backgrounds, in which they might have succeeded wonderfully, could become a liability. 

Step number one is to do a skills audit to determine what is marketable and then research where. Then do everything from a credentials to a personal brand makeover. Don't talk about the "old days."

Life is hard. Business is even more difficult these days. Get answers – and relief. Jane Genova is a results-driven confidential intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator related to careers. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)