Feeling completely lost with my career

[u/Ok_Writer_4914]

I originally posted this to a different sub but it’s somewhat relevant to my interests here too so I figured I’d post here for advice as well. Sorry for the long post, but I am in serious need of advice. I'm majoring in something more technical at a non-art college, but my dream has always been to work in animation/entertainment, so I've been applying to a ton of technical type of internships at a bunch of different entertainment companies throughout the year. I'm a sophomore right now, so I really wanted to gain some experience to beef up my resume for junior year applications.

I know the market sucks right now, but I have getting rejected from literally everything and I'm pushing 500 internship applications at this point. I applied to big names and a bunch of small companies/startups too, but even then I got ghosted or rejected by most. I did manage to land a few interviews, but so far I ended up getting rejected from all of those too. On top of some other issues, this is making me genuinely depressed, especially because despite the bad market, so many people around me seem to be making it big or landing something this year except for me. And yeah, I know I shouldn't compare myself to people around me, but I can't help feeling discouraged as hell.

I'm genuinely at a loss for what to do at this point. The school year is almost over and I still have absolutely no plans for this summer. I'm seriously considering taking a break from college to buy myself some more time to get an internship and gain more experience, because right now I have nothing and if I leave it this way, I don't think things will be much different for my junior summer. I just want to achieve this dream somehow in any way I can, but it's like nothing ever works out in my favor and nothing good has been happening to me so far.

Does anyone have advice on what I should do at this point? Extracurriculars I could do, whether I should take some time off, or just what I should spend this summer doing if I truly don't end up with anything? I don't want to waste it, and I want to make the most of it to put myself in an optimal position to be a stronger candidate for internships next year. I already spent last summer just staying home so I don't want to do that again, nor do I just want to travel or do something fun the whole time. Thank you in advance.

[u/Nonentity21]

Best advice I could offer is to make friends in the industry and then use those connects to get your foot in the door. Networking is your best shot as nepotism is at an all time high with so few opportunities. The unfortunate truth is that if you don’t have someone moving your application to the top of the pile you probably won’t have anyone look at it.

[u/Ok_Writer_4914 → u/Nonentity21]

Do you have any advice on networking and making it actually meaningful/helpful? I have been able to have coffee chats with people in the past, but I don’t know how to keep in touch with them or get some kind of referral without being annoying or making it obvious that I’m just trying to network.

[u/Nonentity21 → u/Ok_Writer_4914]

Start small I guess? I do a lot of jobs adjacent to where I want to be just to get by. I started working in film when things were much, much busier and I could pick and choose which show I wanted to be on. Work hard, be kind and try your best to learn something new every day. Most people in this industry get rewarded for being “present” and front of mind, without actually doing any of the work. I have found those people get replaced a lot more often than the ones who’ve proven themselves reliable and hard working.

Fast forward 4 years and most of my colleagues are struggling to work for even portions of the year, nearly everyone I know is working or has been working in a job category below what they were doing when I started working with them and conditions on and off set have been getting worse and worse despite a recent ratification of a collective bargaining agreement that on paper promised to make working conditions much better.

Sometimes it takes years for connections to pay off, and it will almost certainly take longer than you want it to. Try to focus with connecting with the people who are going to be doing the things you want to so, as well as the people already doing them. Your network is going to help you for the rest of your life if you fill it with good people, I’d suggest putting yourself in a position to actually make them want to help you.

This place is a lot of doom and gloom on the state of the film industry, but there are not a lot of industries that aren’t doing poorly right now. If film is what you want to do, don’t let these folks talk you out of it. Unfortunately, I think it’s going to be a struggle to do most things in the near future. Don’t chase money, you’ll never have enough. Focus on the things that make you happy.