Advanced Interactive Media/Emerging Technologies: Preparing For The Next Job Market

According to some books now on the best seller list (The World is Flat, A New Kind of Thinking, The Tipping Point, Freakanomics), the rules for career success have changed. Jobs that require systematic, repetitious, detailed instruction sets or, that is to say, skills largely dictated by the analytical side of the human brain, have been, or soon will be, outsourced to another country or a computer.

If these authors are forecasting trends to be reckoned with in the immediate future, then it seems that well established and accepted rules for success have changed. The information age, as we knew it, rewarded systematic thinkers who could program computer code, analyze business trends or understand complex processes. According to these authors, the future belongs to those who have developed social skills and a creative approach to problem solving.



People entering the job market or new to the job market need to be aware of the current trends. It is very important to develop social skills and make connections with people that you meet in the market. Connections are key to your future success. If you lose your job in the future, the connections you made in the past could bring about your new job. You never know who you're sitting next to in a meeting, in a seminar, or even at a bookstore. So, develop the social skills early and be friendly with people; it could set up your future.

Another key to success in the job market is being flexible and wanting to learn new technologies. Because the market is changing so rapidly, you may be asked to make something with a program you have never used before. So, be open to teaching yourself new programs with online tutorials or books. If an employer asks you to make a flash website and you never have before, say yes, and try as hard as you can to teach yourself the program and create an excellent website. Even if you are not in the job market right now, it is wise to start learning different technologies other than just the one that you specialize in. Be open, be flexible, and most of all be dependable.

Change in Motion

Film is on its way out the door and video will soon take its place. Film style shooting will never change, the rules will still apply to the film medium, the technology of shooting will change. With advances in video like the RED camera, studios should be changing gears and adopting high-end video equipment over film. The RED camera is not as good as film, but the differences are so small that the average person will not know the difference. The beauty of video equipment in the film business is the cost. The RED camera is a fraction of the cost of a film camera, plus the RED does not require any type of film stock. With hard drive and VTR decks, studios can shoot straight from their camera to a deck or hard drive and then edit from the deck or drive, no more waiting to process the film. This will make productions take less time to finalize and less money will be spent to pay crews. The best of the film and video worlds will collide in the future. When that date is, no one really knows but it is coming. George Lucas ordered some RED cameras for his next production, and with more and more high-end video cameras and equipment coming online, the faster and less expensive movies will cost.