Lately I've been getting a lot of questions about general career advice and about interning at Rudius Media. I'm a bad person to ask for career advice because until recently I didn't really know how I've gotten the jobs I held. I'm lucky, I fall into jobs, I have a friend who recommends me or I know someone who knows someone.

But with more and more people asking, I started to think about this in a systematic way. It turns out that while I thought I was just lucky, I'm really not that lucky at all. I simply do certain things that enhance my chances of falling into a great job. I just never realized that I did them.

• Get involved Whatever field you're interested in, get involved in that field in some way. I didn't really plan to be a writer after I finished my undergraduate degree (I was headed to law school) but getting involved in a field that I enjoy opened up an opportunity that I couldn't have foreseen at the time (Rudius didn't yet exist).

  So how do you get involved? I spent time on the Submitted Stories Board writing fiction and giving other writers feedback. That ultimately led to this job, but I'm also involved in the field in other ways. I hangout with my creative writing section outside of class, I've posted my work on several creative writing sites, I've written for the comedy paper here at UCLA, and I've participated in NaNoWriMo. You never know where an opportunity is going to come from, but if you're not involved in some way, I can guarantee that it's not going to come. This is why you have to love what you do, the time commitment alone will burn you out if you don't love it.

• Network I hate that word, it brings to mind assholes in suits shaking hands. Good networking is nothing more than forming friendships. Make friends with people who are either in the field or who want to be in the field.
• Show Value Once you've made those friendships, show value. Help people with their work and ask people to help you with yours. When I have a something due for my creative writing sections, there are a few people that I usually run it by before it goes to class. And those people know that I'm always available to read their work. You can't be selfish, people know when you're using them and they won't want to work with you.

  This goes for when you're getting involved in a community. When we are looking for new employees at Rudius, the first thing we do is look at who is active on the messageboard. It's the people who show us that they can be great who we approach. Not the person on the sideline who is telling us they can be great but never shows it.

That's it. That's how to get lucky. If you put your self out there with good intentions, you network with people and you get involved, you don't have to be the best in your field. People will know you, trust you and respect you and in turn, they'll want to work with you.

Posted by Ben Corman at 7:29 PM

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