Repost, since my original title was potentially too misleading and broke the forum rules :( my bad!

Original heading: Giant Bomb is Hiring (sorry it was clickbaity...)

Well, Giant Bomb was hiring.

I'm not really an active member of this site, but I am a fan. I am also struggling with a career in the film and television business. As you might expect, struggling to find work isn't particularly enjoyable. I've worked couple things I'm proud of, and a reel that I believe actually shows my talents as in both production and post production, but not much else to my name. My resume was a mess and I had no confidence in my ability to write cover letters. I've never been a particularly strong writer. I wasn't in high school, and I failed college writing courses so miserably that my confidence in writing was completely shot.

"I don't need to write essays to be a video editor!" I often exclaimed in frustration, as I struggled to string together three paragraphs of why I was someone a company should hire. Unsurprisingly, I never heard back from these companies. It wasn't just enough that I couldn't write cover letters with any confidence, but I also couldn't write them quickly. It took applying for any position take a full day of anxiety and stress to put together something that I might be willing to send to an anonymous potential employer.

"Hey, we're hiring and stuff!" The headline of a forum post by @rorie.

I knew I was qualified for the Associate Producer position; I had to apply. I looked at my resume and sighed with frustration. It was in a bad way, poorly formatted, focusing on the wrong information and failing to highlight what I am actually good at doing. I started fresh. I rebuilt my resume from scratch and when I finished I looked at it and felt confident in its presentation in a way I'd never felt before.

Time for a cover letter. This was something I was dreading. I opened up a blank document and stared at the blinking cursor. I once wrote an essay about the blinking cursor, not because I wanted to, but because it was the only thing my brain could focus on to the point where I decided that it was better to write about that than turn in nothing for that assignment. I failed that class. Words started to flow from my fingers, a cover letter was growing before my eyes. It was glorious. It was the greatest cover letter I'd ever written. I had no idea I was capable of speaking about myself and my work in such a way.

The application I sent to Giant Bomb was the best package I'd ever put together for a company. I was not hired.

I often will buy lotto tickets if the jackpot gets over 250 million with megamillions or powerball. Not because I believe I am going to win, but it's fun to participate in the zeitgeist of the moment. But you cannot win if you don't play, and the minute chance of winning is what makes it fun. I did not expect to hear from CBSi, but I always would have regretted not sending in an application.

What the experience gave me however, was a resume I was proud of sending to potential employers, and the confidence I needed to write cover letters. I shit you not, the first job I applied for after Giant Bomb landed me an interview. I actually nearly got that job, and was down to the final 2 before they picked the other guy. It's been around 2 months since that all happened, and while I am still unemployed, I have 2 more interviews today. The opportunity to work at Giant Bomb would have been amazing, but the confidence it gave me to find work elsewhere is what I'm truly thankful for.

Keep up the great work Duders!

All the best,

Stephen