Hello there! I modestly introduce myself, Katie Toomey, as a video editor in the little land known as Indianapolis, IN. Please see my About Me page to get acquainted. You are welcome to add me via social network sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. and don’t forget to check out my Portfolio!
I’m going to be writing about video related interests, experiences, news in the video world, or tutorials I try out. I hope you will find it interesting and offer any advice or comments as you come across my posts.
To start today off, I’ve really been wondering about the job market for video editors (or video professionals) in general. I even went so far as to lay out a list of things I’ve done (along via my video cohort & best friend Kylee Wall) in order to see what else I could be doing for myself in my job hunt.
Things I have done in regards to Networking:
- Available through Google Search with hits on my website, www.katietoomey.com (which shows up instantly on Google) & YouTube channel with some videos reaching thousands of hits, as well as Social Media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
- Interview with Video Editor
- Through a connection, I went to visit a video editor, picked their brain for a few hours, made some contacts and asked for advice on the current job market and freelance advice
- Though I have yet to inquire some companies about job shadowing (which if you recall, I did in that class already for , I’m greatly considering it if it might help me. I’m researching some companies and making out a plan for that…but that is really quite minor.
- Local Film Connection, “Leah Not Leia”
- Unpaid Production Assistant position I took with several local production companies here collaborating this short film in Indy, such as Karmic Courage and Inverted Staircase production. Met various contacts, actors/actresses, etc. Many of which are added on my social media. It will show up in conventions this Fall 2011.
- Film Contests & Festivals & Networking Groups
- 48 Hour Film Festival for Indy where we won best musical score, Award-Winning Local Short Films event in Broad Ripple, Indiana Filmmakers Network, Indiana Final Cut Users Group, etc…
- Also, participated in Social Media contest hosted by Ben Stein “YouTube Video Volunteers: Animal Spotlight” contest of which we were in the top ten voted videos!
- This is just to illustrate how I’ve gone to meetings, groups, or contests to get my video work out there. I think half the issue again, is that a lot of people are only willing to offer free work for “experience”, or they just have nothing going on right now.
- Applying to Jobs Daily/Weekly
- This is a daily occurrence of which I scour the internet for any opportunities. I use many websites to search, like Mandy.com, Craigslist, Linkedin, Career Builder, Monster.com (though opportunities here are very scarce), etc.
- I have terrible luck on Craigslist. Yes, I can get freelance and side jobs here, but people are notoriously bad about responding, even if the job was given away already. I spend much effort and time on cover letters that go unanswered. I can send you an example cover letter if you’d like to see what I’m saying in them.
- Volunteer/Free Work
- Great example is through my internship at Nuvo, as well as editing Oranje Art event’s promotional video from 2009 last year, and strictly volunteer work shooting & editing videos for local no-kill cat shelter called Cat’s Haven on my own time.
Well, there you have it! Next post in regards to Phillip Bloom-esque videos, who I think we’ll be giving a try at doing ourselves in the future!