University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts has long been churning out alumni who go on to massive success in the entertainment industry—and that’s by design, of course. In addition to its renowned curriculum, SCA launched a first-of-its-kind program in 2017, First Jobs, which scrupulously matches alumni with entry-level gigs in every facet of the media landscape. Here, media talent development manager Lisa Fox explains the program’s specialized approach to set SCA alumni up for not just their first jobs but lasting careers in entertainment.
What is the USC First Jobs program?
The USC First Jobs program is a resource that helps USC School of Cinematic Arts graduates up to five years after graduation land their “first job” in the entertainment industry. The program connects alumni to a wide variety of employers within our industry. First Jobs provides many different employment opportunities that alumni can apply for. When a candidate applies for a position, their résumé is sent directly to the hiring manager with a personalized recommendation.
30 Film Schools You Should Know How did the program begin?
We launched the program at the end of 2017 with Aaron Kaplan, a leading television producer and USC alum. He’d originally reached out to a few SCA alumni for the initial launch: Nahnatchka Khan, Josh Schwartz, the late John Singleton, and Tim Story. Then, the program continued to expand as more of the alumni network became involved. We wanted to create a program that supported alumni while providing an accessible network. Now, the program continues to grow daily with over 700 alumni enrolled; we’ve had over 600 staffing hires and have over 500 employers on our roster.
“It’s important to us that we connect with each of them personally to help them find opportunities that speak to their unique strengths and passion.”
Can you describe the ideal First Jobs participant? How does one qualify?
Anyone who has graduated with a major or minor from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts can join the First Jobs program. Our alumni must fill out an application to join the program and submit their résumé with two letters of recommendation from a professor or an internship coordinator/employer. Then the applicant meets with me and/or attends one of my professional development webinars. As for the ideal participant, we know that SCA alumni are graduating with a wide array of skills and expertise, so it’s important to us that we connect with each of them personally to help them find opportunities that speak to their unique strengths and passion.
What can participating alumni expect to get out of the program?
Participating alumni will receive new job opportunities each week, sometimes up to a dozen or more. First Job alumni also receive exclusive access to webinars with successful SCA alums who provide networking advice. Alumni can also meet with me to discuss their specific career needs and goals.
What are the ways you match each unique alumnus with the best company or gig for them?
There are various paid employment opportunities sent out through the program that service all the majors within the School of Cinematic Arts. We work with employers ranging from production companies to game design companies and everything in between. I get to know each alumnus in the program by meeting with them prior to joining First Jobs. I learn about their skill set and goals. As new employers join the program, I learn all about them and their company’s needs. Each time an employer has a staffing need, they contact me directly. I learn about the specific qualifications they are looking for and then help them find the SCA candidates for their available positions. We blast out the job opportunities with all the specifics to our alumni. Next, we submit the interested, qualified, and available candidates to the employer within 24 hours. Finally, the employer contacts the potential candidates directly to set up an interview in order to start the hiring process. Applicants’ résumés are never lost in a stack of résumés; they are sent directly to the hiring manager with a personalized recommendation from our office.
“We work with employers ranging from production companies to game-design companies and everything in between.”
How does the program find companies and prospective employers to participate?
When the program started, our employers were mainly our successful SCA alumni. At USC, we have so many caring, supportive alumni who want to give back and hire recent alumni to help them break into the entertainment industry. As the program grew, we started reaching out to find potential employers on Variety Insight and LinkedIn Premium. There were also wonderful articles written about the program by Deadline Hollywood and the Los Angeles Times. After those articles were published, we were so grateful that literally hundreds of employers started contacting us and signing up. One of the great appeals of our program is that there is no obligation to the employer. All we ask is that they send us staffing needs, and then the company will receive a select handful of qualified candidates for that specific employment opportunity.
What are some of the jobs that alumni have landed through the First Jobs program?
What makes our program unique is that we have helped staff every type of entry-level job within the entertainment industry. We have staffed full-time positions like executive assistants, development assistants, agency assistants, manager’s assistants, staff writers, office production assistants, in-house editors, content producers, and media coordinators, to name a few. We have also staffed freelance positions like directors, producers, cinematographers, writers, animators, motion graphic artists, editors, writing and directing assistants, and more. We are incredibly grateful that many major television and movie studios, networks, production companies, agencies, and management companies are part of our First Jobs program. We welcome all relevant companies to join.
How does First Jobs position participants for not just their first job, but careers in entertainment?
SCA alumni will always have access to our networking and webinar events. While in the First Jobs program, we don’t just help them get their “first job” but many additional employment opportunities after that. The Office of Industry Relations and I continue to help staff alumni throughout their entire career, even after our alumni hit their five-year mark and graduate from the First Jobs Program.
This program is the only one of its kind at a film school in the country; do you think more like it should exist?
Yes, I do believe more programs like this should exist at every film school. A university’s support should not end when the student graduates. Many different schools have incredible alumni networks and could find excellent ways to provide additional resources to their newly graduated students.
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