Published on 12, July, 2020
I worked in the TV industry for a while a few years ago. I've not worked at all in two years, bar doing a little bit of paid writing work.
The TV industry appears to be on its knees. People who have 20 years experience are struggling to find work. I decided recently to look elsewhere. I've always had an interest in the arts/showbusiness and I wanted to explore that.
I had a brainwave one morning and fancied the idea of working in a theatre. I sent an email with my CV enquiring about some work experience/shadowing. They got back to me having looped in a few people who they feel could find some opportunities for me, but asked me to bear with them as they're in a busy period (understandably).
The people included someone who works in talent development and an access coordinator. I felt this could lead to an actual opportunity and it was the first sign of one I've had in a long time. I did however find myself reading the email over and over again to make sure I was understanding it properly.
It's difficult being in limbo but I feel bad about contacting other companies. This company has showed an interest in me and I hate the idea of having to pick; yes, it's a nice problem to have (being wanted by more than one person) but I don't want to burn any potential bridges or hurt feelings, even though these are businesses not individuals.
I guess it's a mix of being a rather obvious people pleaser and not wanting to lose what could be a good opportunity, because I've messed up so much in my life already.
TBH if you have something else lined up and you do choose it wouldn't be rude or burn bridges to politely say you already got a job with (insert company here), but if your circumstances change then you'd still like to work for them in the future, just don't say you are choosing the other company instead, just phrase it in terms of it's already lined up and you already said you'd start with the other company and can't really wriggle out of it. As long as it's not thrown in their face ungraciously I'm sure they would understand, lots of people apply to multiple jobs at once, people got bills to pay.
Fair points. I guess the difficult part for me is when they say "bear with us", whether that means that I don't follow up at all and wait, or follow up on occasion. It has been a week since I responded with "thank you for responding, I'm keen to have a chat with some of your team" and two weeks since their initial email.