Timothy J. allen
Forum Replies Created
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Well said, Scott. (and Jim and Cory)
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Oh, but I do have to agree with where you said “It may (most likely IMHO) keep out those that are actually good editors, and let in those that are good at taking tests, or see the world through the IT departments eyes.”
That is a possibility and it is troubling. But it’s something that Editors applying for jobs with large corporate organizations where HR departments track resumes should keep in mind.
And I do also want to point out that some of the most talented people I’ve worked with don’t have a degree or any certification (or didn’t have any certifications until after they worked with me.)
My point is that a technical certification shouldn’t hurt. I think we may all agree that it’s not the certification that’s going to get you the job – I just want to point out that it may get you past a gatekeeper at larger organizations.
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Scott,
I’m afraid you’ve missed my point.The question asked was is there any value in getting certain certifications?
The answer is “yes” – in some places. It’s especially helpful if you are trying to land a job at a place that has a culture where continuing education is highly valued.
With two resumes that have equivalent experience and demo reels, I’ll rank the candidate that continually tries to improve over the one that thinks he’s already got all the skills he needs. Because when I hire, talent and experience are important, but not more important than how the new person will fit in with our team’s culture.
The culture of the hiring organization is often a big key to the answer to the question of the value of certificates. Take high-end corporate video staff positions for instance. Often the first round of resume screening is done by Human Resources. At the initial screening stage all those HR folks generally have to go on is what they see in the resume. (They don’t have the equipment, the time, the expertise, or the direction to evaluate demo reels.) Only after you pass that first round of screening, do you get through the gates to the set of evaluators that actually have an opinion on color balance, story structure, or jump cuts.
There’s also a fallacy in thinking that just because someone learns something in the classroom means they don’t also learn in the editing suite. It’s not a substitute, but it is a bonus. When we post for a job, it’s not unusual to get hundreds of resumes. And all other things being equal, a little edge could make the difference between being considered for a job or not. If I see that someone took the time “between jobs” as an opportunity to sharpen their skills, it means more than just an employment gap would.
You asked “Does a four year Art History Major make you Picasso?” Of course not… not anymore than owning the same set of paintbrushes would. BUT, if you are looking at entering the Fortune 500 Corporate or Government markets, and they are deciding between hiring two people who can both paint like Picasso… two people who have equal experience and who both interview equally well, I’d put my money on the one who invested the time and money in a well-rounded education.
All that said, would a brilliant and personable artistic genius who has proven experience working under deadlines with tough clients win a job over a recent college graduate with no experience outside of the classroom? No, but who really ever thought they would?
No one is saying that a certification is a substitute for experience and talent, but I still see it as a positive thing and I know that it has helped people we’ve hired get a second look in the application process compared to those who don’t have any certifications listed.
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I’m going to weigh in on the other side.
We typically get hundreds of resumes when we post for a new position at NASA. While the demo reel and the interview are the real key to landing a position, having a certification can certainly help push your resume in the “second look” pile.
I’ve taken some of the courses in Tewksbury and have certifications in a variety of software so I know first hand they may or may not mean anything as far as judging an applicant’s creativity, expertise, or even basic ability. However, a recent certification from Avid or Adobe hints that the applicant is probably up for learning new things – which is a vital characteristic in my book.
If they do list recent training and have good references and a good reel, I will ask them what they learned in the training during our interview. The secret is that I’m not so much looking for them to tell me that they learned that pushing “button X” will result in “Y.” What I look for is the attitude they show toward that training; what really motivated them to take it? Was it because they “had to”, or were they generally motivated to get better at their craft?
Their impressions and recounts of their training tells me quite a bit about whether they would fit into an environment where advanced continual training is both expected and considered an important thing.
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That’s an excellent article, Mike. Even though it’s been years since I shot a surgery, some of those same tips can be applied when working in research labs. Thanks for sharing it again!
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I don’t see a problem with listing satisfied clients as references. If I’m hiring, I like to know a little about the type of clients since that gives me an idea of the level of production. (National/Regional/Local and Broadcast vs. Non-broadcast) Of course, this usually comes out in the interview.
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Mads,
This particular video was “compiled” from images taken by one of our staff photographers, so there were no rights issues. That said, Getty Images, Artbeats and iStockphotos also get plenty of business from me and I recommend those resources to anyone.The website (which I was calling the “robot”) is https://animoto.com/
Once you pick your “theme”, and music, you don’t really get any other editorial choices, (unless you hit the button for another “mix”), but for what we were wanting, it worked out well.
Oh, and I’m not worried about the client finding out. I’m always transparent about such things and even pointed the site out to the client so they could see the route I took to ensure they got what they needed when they needed it.
I’m not worried about cutting myself out of the process. On one hand, it seems more ethical to do this than count a half a day credit against their institutional overhead for a product of this type. 10 years ago this would have take several hours to keyframe, but technology moves forward and if they are willing to take the tradeoff for the simplicity and speed, I want to give them that option.
To mangle an analogy… If they want some crawdads from the backyard creek, I can show them how to catch them with their own hands and bucket. If they need a season’s worth of Alaskan King Crab, they still need to come to us professionals.
My hope is that the clients they will see that I’m not there to charge hours to their budget, I’m there to solve their problems. When they need something that really requires a Producer, Scriptwriter, Graphic Artist or Editor, they know where to find me and the video team. 🙂
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Craig, I do want the 1920×1080 support – and I want it to be displayed through a built in projector with at least 2200 lumens. 😉
I did have a senior moment about video size and screen size. Man, wouldn’t that be a tough world to edit in? I can hear it now… “I need a new file since this guy wants to watch it on his 27″ monitor and we only produced the show for 32″ monitors.” 😉
Moving on, since video for the new iPhone will scale to fit within the 640×960 display, might it finally be worth producing video intended for the iPhone at 1280×720 resolution instead of standard def? Until now, I could suppose that no matter the source, the video would eventually be displayed on a 640×480 (or earlier, a 480×320) screen to the end user? If my math is right, with four times the pixels, for the first time on an iPhone, standard def videos will actually be up-scaling to fit on the display rather than scaling down as it still had to do to fit on the 3Gs. And 720p video, while still downscaling, won’t be downscaling that much.
I think I might upgrade just to test this theory out.
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I like the way you think, Bill. I’m calling that a “boogie cut” from now on. 🙂
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If he doesn’t accept a fair price, you don’t want to work for him anyway.
You aren’t losing anything unless you do it for free. In that case you lose both your time, your future value (since you establish that you aren’t worth more than “credit”) and your dignity (see previous parenthetical statement.) YouTube credit? Give me a break!