Faculty of Art
by Letitia Henville, PhD — Project Lead, Arts Amplifier
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We all know how applying for a job works: you come across a job description online, you submit a resume and cover letter, and maybe you get an interview. This is the normal way of doing things. But is it a good way?
There’s an oft-told but rarely verified piece of anecdata that says that men will apply for jobs if they meet 60% of the eligibility criteria, but women won’t apply unless they meet 100%. I’ve never been able to find the source for this claim, which neatly omits any consideration of intersectionality or gender diversity, but as a coordinator in the UBC Arts Co-op program, I’ve regularly seen graduate students rule themselves out of applying for roles I know they could do. And, honestly, I’m tired of it.
So when I started up the Arts Amplifier last year, I knew I didn’t want to keep reproducing processes that—despite being normal—I’m not persuaded are good.
For many of the paid work experiences we offer in the Arts Amplifier—notably our paid internships and collaborative cohort projects—we don’t circulate a written job description. Instead, we invite employers to join us for an online question-and-answer session, which you’ll have seen advertised in our newsletter as a Q&A.
While hosting Q&As, I’ve had students ask me, “can you please post the link to the job description?” That question is based on the flawed assumption that there is a job description already in writing, somewhere. We invite employers to speak to you before they write a job description because we want you to shape the scope of the role.
Employer Q&As in the Arts Amplifier
In Arts Amplifier Q&As, we ask our employers to take 5-10 minutes to tell you a bit more about their organization and the role they have in mind, focusing on the goals they’d like to achieve. The rest of the 45- to 60-minute Q&A is taken up with interactive chit-chat between the employer, the Arts Amplifier staff, and student attendees.
We invite employers to come in and chat with you before they have a written job description because we want you to have the chance to advocate for yourself, begin to build a relationship with the employer, and see how open they are to the ways in which you might frame your expertise.
By interviewing the employer, you can find out how flexible or inflexible they are in their thinking about a particular job. You can ask for yourself whether knowing how to use a particular piece of software is something that can be picked up in the early days of a job, or whether it’s something you have to be comfortable using from Day 1. By asking good questions, you can determine if you’d be a competitive applicant for the role, and write a better job application for it.
We know that this is an unconventional process—that you’re used to looking at job applications, determining if you’re qualified, and then thinking through whether it’ll be worth your time to apply. We’re doing things differently because we think that traditional job application processes don’t serve our student population well—that too many of you would mistakenly exclude yourself from applying for a job that you may actually be great at.
How to Make the Most of an Employer Q&A
- Join the event from a place where you can unmute yourself. This is a question-and-answer session, not a lecture, and being able to ask questions with your own voice will help you to stand out to the employer. They want to hear your thoughts about their proposed project.
- Turn your camera on, if you are able to. If you’re planning on applying for the job, it’s a good idea to show your engagement to the employer. It can be hard for some people to speak to a wall of white names on black backgrounds, and so turning your camera on will be a favour to the employer.
- Use the chat feature, especially if you aren’t able to turn your camera on or unmute yourself. Even if you’re not asking questions, showing your engagement in the chat is a way to demonstrate your interest to the employer.
- Interview them. Look up the speaker and their organization ahead of time, and think about what you’d like to know about their work. Don’t be afraid to ask critical, analytical questions. Many of our employers have advanced degrees, and will appreciate questions that show you’re thinking deeply about their work.
Learn about upcoming Q&As on the Arts Amplifier Events page, and view past Q&As on our Past Events page.