5/22/2010 Weekly Update

Personal Progress: This week I had the opportunity to research what it takes to get a job in a magazine of the entertainment industry. What I did was research and contact a couple human resources departments of some well known magazine companies and asked them their opinion about what it takes to work at a specific magazine. After I spoke to the HR departments I dove into researching online what I should do to prepare myself for a job in the magazine industry if I so desired.
These are some of the things I found to be most important: Getting a job at any magazine is really hard. There are hundreds of thousands of applications and resumes sent to any one magazine a year, and it is very difficult to get an internship with any company.
I was told that researching and planning is the most important thing to do when looking for a job with any magazine. Know who you are dealing with. Magazine companies are looking for people with a strong character, who are hard-working, dedicated, passionate about the magazines services, self-motivated, experience, knowledge or a desire to learn.
I was also able to learn some of the basic important skills or course to take while in college. Some they recommend: programming, designing, creative writing, literature, journalism, humanities, history, politics and business. It is almost a must to have a personal blog and web site outside from the social networking sites.
If you find out that you want to work for a magazine the next step is to get work experience that will benefit you in the long-run. Get a low-end, starting job with a magazine of newspaper, this will help to know who the important key players are in the industry. Start networking and getting to know people, because it is about who you know.

Team Update: This week I was able to do a little more research into what it takes for a small toy company to break into the business. I was able to find a great source detailing some of the important facts about the toy industry, and what  makes some companies more successful than others. I learned that marketing is considered the most important step in the business, because you have to know to whom you are trying to appeal to. So I was able to write-up about 2 pages of notes on what Schneider Toys needs to do at this point to try and break into the business. Next week I will hopefully be able to research the pros and cons into the manufacturing of toys; locally and abroad.