ASK A CAREER COUNSELOR

Hello, I am trying to decide whether I should change colleges. Will it look bad to any future employers if I transfer to a different college during my junior year? Also, is it smart to move to a city (Karachi) where you feel that you will have better networking opportunities and potentially more job prospects?

I doubt that it will look bad to future employers if you change colleges, especially if you are doing so because of a plan where you have carefully considered your interests, strengths, goals, etc. and the new college is a better fit for what you want to study and for attaining your career objectives. As for moving to Karachi, there are wonderful internship opportunities here, but also a lot of competition because so many college students want to do internships in Pakistan’s largest city. On the plus side, Karachi is one of the most dynamic places in Pakistan. On the negative side, it is a very expensive place to live so you will need to factor the costs into your decision. Good luck with your decision and I hope this helps!

I have been in analytical jobs like financial analysis for the past 20 years, but I have always wanted to go into filmmaking. How can I approach getting a job in a field where I have no experience, other than a college degree in Mass Communications?

You probably already know that the film industry is super competitive and that you will likely have to work very, very hard to achieve your career dreams of making a living as a filmmaker. Unless you have a significant amount of savings in the bank, the first thing you will probably need to do is find a niche in the finance field that is sufficiently flexible that you have time to work on facilitating a career change into filmmaking. Once you have arranged that, you can continue to use your finance skills to pay your bills as you change careers. However, many successful filmmakers do not have an academic degree in film or communications, so it isn’t a deal breaker if you don’t go back to school. You do need to acquire skills, though, and one training option to explore your local film society. Industry experts in film say that 99 per cent of the things that get done in the film industry are done via connections, so the most important thing you can do is start meeting people in the film industry. Many people have gotten their start in film by apprenticing for other filmmakers. This can involve thankless grunt work but the learning can be invaluable. Exploring this career advice is just a first step. As you meet successful filmmakers, you will be in a position to get tips and strategies from the people best equipped to guide you. But hopefully these ideas will give you a starting point.

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