What I learned writing my own job ad

How often do you really ask yourself, what is it I do?

Writing my own job ad

Whilst writing my own job ad, I recently had the chance to help shape what the job description for my replacement looks like. And naturally, who knows my job better than myself?

But asking me what it is I actually do is a difficult question. I know what my job title is and general responsibilities are, throw in some corporate jargon and that’s what I tell friends and family.

I know that when I talk to friends they skate over the details and justify the lack of detail by saying “and some other boring stuff”.

Sit Back, Orientate Yourself

Our working lives are naturally ordered by hours, days, weeks and months. That makes it difficult to sit back and really think about what it is you do day-to-day vs month-to-month.

I began writing my own job ad description by placing myself within the context of the team and how I help them get things done.

But it hit me when I started listing off the skills I bring to the table. Once I broke down all the work I’d had a hand in or had led on, it was startling to realise the number of skills I actually had.

My advice is to sit back and look at the body of work you’ve been involved in, even over the last six months and then attribute the skills you’ve used on each project.

**Embrace that immediate moment of pride**

Thinking Space

As a Digital Creator, thinking space is an undervalued asset as it should be for any professional.

Finding the time is your first challenge. At first it won’t seem natural, but you’ll begin to put the pieces together correctly as opposed to bashing them into place to meet your deadlines.

I’ve seen high-flying professionals tackle this in their own way. Thinking space can manifest in many different ways:

Reclining in your chair, staring out the window, taking a walk around the park, talking it through with a colleague…

Whatever it is, use it to your advantage.

Writing my own job ad needed thinking space. I wasn’t recruiting for myself, I had the team in mind and how that person needs to integrate and stand out to deliver their role.

An important part of that process is understanding where that job will likely go. You can’t predict the future but you can have a good stab at it.

Thinking space will give you the perspective needed to keep asking “what is it I do?” and what will the next person in my shoes be likely to do.

Innovate

If you want the opportunity to create within a large financial services firm and continue to innovate in that space, this could be it.

Ageas Direct are seeking their next Digital Creator to work as part of their Innovation Team. This is a team not like any other. They’ve been building their in-house capability for the past 18 months, to deliver products customers actually want, redefining processes, and improving our workspace for our employees.

You’ll be fuelling that process, by bringing their ideas to life. How often can you say you get to create startups to put in front of consumers for direct feedback, develop content plans that showcases the great work you’re doing and work in a truly innovative business?

Digital Creator

And of course, here’s how I expressed what it is I do everyday:

Alternately, check out my Linkedin here.

writing-my-own-job-ad

Writing my own job ad

Collaboration Success

Want collaboration success on your next project? Of course you do.
But, how can you work with the right people and succeed?

Collaboration has a huge impact on social media platforms and on digital content as a whole. A collaboration has the ability to reach a wider audience and you can share the workload with other driven individuals, making it a cliché filled win-win scenario.

Lets be realistic for a second. Why do you need to collaborate when traditional teams are supposed to be well crafted groups of individuals, each providing a different personality and set of skills.

Reaching that team-nirvana is no mean feat when attempting to achieve the correct balance, it takes time. It can work, but mostly for large businesses who operate in a corporate manner, which doesn’t lend itself to the type of collaboration I’m talking about.

On a collaborative project, you don’t have the luxury of time or a wide pool of people to pick from, and your goals are very different.

COLLAB

So, why should this be any different than any other team project?

For one, everyone involved in a collaboration stands to gain. Whether they’re able to build their reputation with a wider audience, work on a specific portfolio item that makes them stand out, or just do cool S#!T.

You just can’t buy that kind of drive.

Collab is all about the scale of your ambition

In the world of collaboration, the end goal – that drive to publish your vision and content – is your boss.

Now’s a good time to discuss goals. Step 1, have some. Your team need to be clear on what you’re going to achieve, even if you’ve just one day to deliver it.

Now’s the time to speak up, outline your vision and throw it in the mix, this is a collaboration after all. You’ll be sharing that success with people just like you.

WORK WITH PEOPLE LIKE YOU

Yes, I would hate to work with someone exactly like me. But to work with people like you is one of the best moves you can make.

Collab is all about the scale of your ambition. If you’ve got it by the bucket-load, so should your team. You don’t have time to be second guessing yourself and neither do they.

It’s all about pressing forward, making mistakes early and changing your direction, but keep going. That’s your ambition talking.

Call it ambition or arrogance, it’s your fuel to deliver that new piece of content for your YouTube channel, or eBook published on Amazon. Either way you got there.

Working with people like you helps to keep you in check. Expect them to have big ideas, ambitions aligned to your own and the courage to change your direction when needed.

That last one is super important, the people around you were integral to that success, be glad they’re the right people.

COLLABORATION SUCCESS

To put it simply then, collaboration requires that hunger only someone completely vested in the project will have. They need skin in the game, if they stand to lose, suddenly their output is directly tied to the scale of their ambitions.

That’s why they should be someone like you. If the size of their ambition is anything like yours, that collaboration is going to be a winner.

COLLABORATION with SASH & BRONZE

When you can plan, script, shoot and edit a film like this with Sash & Bronze, that’s when you know you’re working with the right people for collaboration success.

Check out more of their work here. FACEBOOK // TWITTER // INSTAGRAM

Rimmel London Look – Sash and Bronze Style

Working with the Sash and Bronze team again for their Rimmel London Look.

Jump straight to the full entry here.

Bringing the Experience

The Sash and Bronze team are no amateurs when it comes to hair and make-up. Their wealth of talent and experience places them well to deliver a well researched and executed look.

[Refer to epic example from their Instagram below]

But how would they bring their unique style and experience to a video tutorial vlog?

https://www.instagram.com/p/6vpCazS5Ke/?taken-by=sashandbronze

The Challenge

What were the team up against? Rimmel had thrown down the gauntlet for their Rimmel London Look UK challenge.

If you’re a makeup addict with a killer #LONDONLOOKUK to share with the world, then Rita Ora wants to hear from you! You could be in with a once in a lifetime chance to meet Rita and work with Rimmel London make-up artists at Rimmel London’s YouTube Space in London. It really is that simple, just send us a video or image showing your best #LONDONLOOKUK and you could be travelling to London.

Challenge accepted. The team were keen to share their ideas and land a Rita Ora inspired look.

Research Phase

As one of the judges and style icon, the Sash and Bronze team took inspiration from Rita Ora’s music video Poison.

Landing the Rimmel London Look

As the eternal professionals, the Sash and Bronze team had lined up their plan for the shoot and delivered an incredible performance for their finished piece.

 

Follow Sash and Bronze

Facebook // Instagram // Twitter //

That Sash and Bronze Look

Sash and Bronze specialises in high end make up and hair styling for events and fashion shoots. Founded by Sukh Bhandal and Manni Sanghera, the sister team design and create their look and photoshoots to represent their smouldering and elegant brand.

360º Video is Now

Yep, 360º video is now… Doesn’t seem like anything new, and you’d be right, it’s not.

I remember all those rubbish ‘experiences’ at Science museums when I was younger, trying to give you the 360/ 3D experience. And then we have VR headsets, but this is something else.

Go Mobile

What has truly made 360º videos pop has been two things.

Facebook and YouTube have invested in the format. Almost overnight these two companies have ensured their platforms are relatively easy to upload 360º videos to.

But where they really shine is on mobile devices.

For a while, we’ve seen the growing trend that people are interacting with Facebook and YouTube via mobile. This is the right place to roll out new features to keep them hooked.

360º on mobile takes full advantage of the devices sensors to allow you to move around the video with out clunky mouse movements. If you tilt the device, the video tilts.

…where they really shine is on mobile

Commercial

Suddenly 360º recording devices are affordable. Yeah, I know they are in reach of us mere mortals.

The Ricoh Theta S is around $350. This makes it cheap enough to become one of the gadgets in your toolkit.

Added bonus is it is a realistic size. No bigger than your mobile device and easier to use.

Why 360º Video is Now

Four buttons…that’s it. On/Off, Wifi, Photo/Video and Shoot. No instructions needed.

You are able to upload your 360º videos straight into Facebook and YouTube without any complicated editing methods. The metadata is recorded straight into the video file, so the platforms recognise it is 360º, and you’re done.

Without the adoption by FB and YT, and the availability of affordable technology, 360º video would be the mainstay of highly skilled production companies and sure to die a death in tacky ‘educational’ science demos.

MEDIUM // FACEBOOK //

Choose the Middle

I was asked to come up with a short of my own choosing, and this one phrase had been running through my head.

Choose the Middle

Our generation has many freedoms our parents did not. We live in relative comfort and have more options available to us, hence ‘Choose the Middle’.We are afforded those choices many are not, at home and abroad.

We Choose the Middle not because it is easy, but because we can.
(Adaptation of JFK’s infamous ‘Moon’ speech from 1962)

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