General Timeline: March to August

We’ve rounded up some good tips and strategies to help you in your quest to find a job in the industries below. It’s good to keep in mind that each industry is slightly different with their own timelines and hiring practices.

Advertising/Marketing/PR

Advertising and Marketing agencies generally begin their hiring processes in March and go through August. They also hire on an as needed basis with rolling decisions. Once they find a candidate they love, they hire them and they start relatively early. Media Bistro can be a good resource for finding jobs, learning about the industry, and building skills.

Unlock the Vault: The Advertising and PR business guides under the Career Paths section of the website Vault.com, which you can access through the Career Center gadget in myBucknell, has great information on the industries themselves. There is also a wonderful guide, under the Guide tab, which can help you with your Advertising and Marketing job search.

• CDC Bonus Tip: Accenture, a huge company with many different business functions within it (like Advertising and PR), will be hosting an information session on October 17^th here on campus (details on the Bridge) and a  follow up case interviewing workshop with an employee of Accenture will be offered on October 25^th.

Arts

Theater companies hire on an as-needed basis. If you want an acting or theater related job post-graduation, you have to continually look for openings online. Positions generally fill quickly, so you have to look often and around the time that you could start working. It’s very rare that you could apply in October for a job that wouldn’t start until you graduate in June. Backstage.com is a great resource for jobs on and off-Broadway in New York City.

Unlock the Vault:  The Vault has guides to all kinds of Arts careers under their Media and Entertainment tab of the Guides section. Guides to Dance Jobs, Theater Jobs, Film Jobs, and Music Jobs – access through this site or the Resources section of the Career Center gadget on myBucknell.

• CDC Bonus Tip: On Monday, October 24 from 5:30 – 6:30 pm in Art 201 there will be a “Jobs and Internships in the Arts Alumni and Student Career Panel “- more information will be posted to the Involve network and promoted through our blog.
• CDC Bonus Tip: On November 20th, the CDC along with Bucknell Theatre and Dance Department and The Bucknell Professional Network are hosting a Theatre and Dance Networking Bruch for alumni and students in New York City on November 20^{th –} RSVP to attend on the Bridge.

Publishing

“Of all the things which man can do or make here below, by far the most momentous, wonderful, and worthy are the things we call books.” – Thomas Carlyle. If you agree with this quote by Thomas Carlyle then Publishing may be right up your alley! The good news for anyone looking to break into the publishing industry is that according to Forbes, the industry hired at a 51% increase over the last year. Part of this had to do with the fact that many small startup publishing houses are expanding, looking to add recent college graduates to their teams. If you’re looking for a job in publishing, it can go one of two ways. You can either look for a job in trade publishing, which publishes the fun books you read everyday, or you can go into academic publishing, which basically edits the journals and textbooks you read for class. In either case, hiring practices differ from company to company. In general, if you want to start work in the summer, hiring begins sometime in the early winter. If you want to start work in the fall of next year, looking for a job in late winter and early spring is your best bet. As with any arts industry, publishing houses also hire on an as-needed basis, particularly because promotion from within a company is very prevalent. If you want to work for a publishing company in editing, you often must begin your work as an assistant editor who can then work their way up. NYU also has the Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) which is an intense, six-week study of book, magazine, and digital publishing that several Bucknell alumni have attended and found success after the course.

• CDC Bonus Tip: The Stadler Center is a great resource on campus for you! West Branch, Bucknell’s professional, nationally distributed literary journal, offers a competitive, semester-length internship in the fall for students interested in the world of literary publishing with a deadline usually in mid-March – watch the Message Center for information on this. West Branch and the Stadler Center also host a myriad of events, workshops, and interviews that anyone looking to get more involved in publishing can benefit from.
  • Applications for the Spring 2017 West Branch Publishing Internship are due 10/14!
• CDC Bonus Tip: Be sure to check in with the English Department too – they keep great tabs on what the alumni in their major are up to.

Museums

Museums, cultural institutions, entertainment, media and publishing positions follow a late hiring pattern, although for some organizations within these industries applications don’t go live until December or January.

The Smithsonian is going through a hiring swing right now, but other museums, like MOMA, won’t be hiring until later in the year.

• CDC Bonus Tip: If you are thinking of working in a museum look into working for the Samek Gallery Engagement team and build up some great experience while you are on campus!
• CDC Bonus Tip: Christie’s Education will be hosting an information session on 10/6 at Noon in the ELC Gallery Theatre. Attend to learn more about their graduate programs in History of Art and Art Business.

Unlock the Vault: The Vault Career Paths section includes a section on Museums and Cultural Centers that contains many different websites with information on this particular job search. The Guide tab also includes a Guide to Museums and Cultural Center Jobs, which can be accessed by clicking on the Other Industries section of the Guide.

Entertainment

Entertainment jobs are diverse and hard to come by. Some companies are hiring for spring positions right now. Generally, you apply in the winter or early spring for summer and/or fall positions, particularly for the big companies like NBC, ABC, or ESPN. But they also hire on an as needed basis, in which case you have to be ready to start relatively soon if you get an interview.

Unlock the Vault: The Vault includes guides to Media and Entertainment, Television, and other subsets of the entertainment industry. Gain access  through this site.

• CDC Bonus Tip: Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing has their 2017 Internship listed on the Bridge – apply by 12/16!
• CDC Bonus Tip: Many people claim that getting into this industry is all about the people you know, so networking is a huge part of the industry. The NYC Communications and Arts Fair offered in the Spring semester has a lot of Bucknell alumni who work in this industry now and is a great opportunity to network with those who were in your position not too long ago. Watch the Bridge for more information on this fair soon!
• CDC Bonus Tip: LinkedIn can also be a great resource for networking, building connections, learning about the industry, and finding/researching companies.

If you are interested in any of these areas make sure you save the date for our  NYC Communications and Arts Fair usually held in early February with a chance for a great company site visit trip prior to the fair.