iChat If You Want Work
People are getting jobs by leaving little advertisements for their availability on their iChat, writes Cyrus Farivar, on Wired:
Instead of displaying simple "away from my computer" messages, Hollywood buddy lists now overflow with come-ons, from "need work" to "wrapping up shoot." Producers hiring for a new production can tell at a glance who's available now, who's not and who might be free in the near future."Ninety percent of my work is given to me through a pop-up (chat window) on my desktop," said Simon Foster, 32, a freelance production coordinator living in Santa Monica, California.
So popular is this new form of recruiting, many say that they've seen an increase in the use of Apple Computer's IM client, iChat AV over the last several months -- at least in the production of television commercials. Hollywood is a Mac town, of course.
They add that many people in their corner of Hollywood are chatting away on a regular basis to hire temporary employees or to find work for themselves.
Foster said he uses these IM status messages two or three times a month to find new work.
"When you see that I put up there that I'm ending my job, that's when I'll get little windows popping up," he said. "Honestly, since iChat's been around, the workload for me has been greater."
Leave a comment