Warning: this is a long article. If you want to make your life easier, skip right to the conclusion!

When I applied to Melbourne Business School (MBS) to pursue an MBA degree I explained my overall career objectives in the essays that I wrote as part of my application. In my first essay I explained that my short-term career objective was to, basically, become a strategy-level IT consultant. While in my second essay I explained how an MBA was the best and fastest way for me to get there.

Interestingly, now that I have started my MBA, my professional choices have become as diversified as they have refined. While I still do want work in IT management and/or consulting (in either the for-profit or not-for-profit sectors), I have realized that I can (and have been told that I should) seriously explore the possibility of working in other areas that I might be passionate about.

(New) Media?!

That other area for me is either the media and entertainment sector (record companies, television stations, media conglomerates, etc.) or the new media sector (basically, media that is connected, in any way, to the Internet). My first-hand exposure to "old" media is somewhat limited: the band I was in (Corduroy) released an independent record in Pakistan (as explained in my third application essay) so I have just an overview of record companies and the music sector work.

On the other hand , I have worked on the tech side of radio station/production house; I have worked on a number of Internet portals; and I am an active user of the Web and of media on the web (including what some marketing people call "Web 2.0") so I do know quite a lot about, and am somewhat passionate about, "new" media. I also helps that, for the longest time, my dream job has been to work for a large Internet portal. In fact, when I did my undergrad, I was seriously considering applying to CNN, BBC, or Reuters for a chance to work on their news portals.

Options, Options, Options

So what does that mean for me now? Well, for starters, I spent part of my summer holidays researching the Australian versions of these three sectors (i.e. IT, media, new media) in order to learn more about them and about where and how I could figure in them. Here's what I've learnt so far.

The IT Management Option
The Australian tech sector is doing pretty well. And while there isn't an acute a shortage of qualified IT people as there was a couple of years ago, there are still lots of IT management positions that need to be filled. However, your chances of getting those are greatly improved if you know, and are certified in, the COBIT, ITIL, and/or Prince2 technology management frameworks. There are also two ways of entering this sector. You can either get a middle/senior management job in a (preferably!) large corporation that will, eventually, land you in the CIO or CTO position. Or, you can work in a consulting firm (a general, strategy, or specifically technology-based consulting one) in which you get the chance to work on lots of different projects with lots of different companies. And if you ever get sick of consulting (or the consulting lifestyle), thanks to your now-enhanced CV, you can always go work in a regular firm after that (though you'd start little higher up the corporate ladder in that case).

The non-profit sector is also in need of qualified IT people, though most non-profits seem to hire external tech firms to handle their IT jobs. As a result, should I want to go the non-profit way, I would either need to look to large non-profits for a job or I should be looking to work in an IT services/consulting company that works in that sector (of which there are quite a few, by the way). And for the latter, I would probably need to put my entrepreneurial hat on again.

Basically, my choices boil down to: (1) strategic consulting, technology-based or otherwise; (2) regular IT management; or (3) entrepreneurial IT management in the not-for-profit sector. The overall plus point of working in IT is that, on average, IT jobs pay better than others (except, maybe if they're in the non-profit sector), while consulting jobs tend to pay even more than that. However, consulting and entrepreneurial jobs tend to work you the hardest, while regular IT management jobs can get boring if you keep doing the same thing over and over again (depending on what you're doing and who you're working for, of course) even if the technology itself keeps changing.

The Media & Entertainment Option
The Australian media and entertainment sector is quite large: four national free-to-air television channels, two large pay-TV networks, lots of radio stations, a number of record labels, a few film studios and film distribution companies, lots of print and Internet-based newspapers & magazines...and everything in between. However, depending on what you want to do in this sector, getting in is not easy. To get a job there, you either have to already be in it (as a student, a professional, or even a casual worker) or you have to know someone who is in it. That said, it is possible to build the network required to get in. And if that doesn't work, and if you're passionate enough about it, you can always take a pay and lifestyle cut and get in through a more entry-level position than you would not normally have liked to get in through. Or, you can get entrepreneurial and start your own thing. I know some MBS MBA grads have done just that. Finally, again depending on what you want to do in that sector, you can get in to it from a different side, like working as an IT manager except that, in this case, you work in a media company.

The first thing I did, therefore, when thinking about working in media and entertainment was to figure out exactly what I wanted to do in that sector. And I did that by asking myself where I wanted to be five years from now: Did I want to be running a recording studio or record label? Did I want to be working as a newspaper editor? Did I want to be working in film or television production? Did I want to be organizing sports tournaments? Or did I want to be working as the strategic manager for a movie theatre chain? And when I thought this through, things got interesting because I couldn't come up with a definitive answer. And therein lies the problem.

To remedy this situation, I regularly visited job sites over the summer holidays to look at media and entertainment job postings. I was hoping to get an idea of the kinds of jobs that exist in that sector and was further hoping that it would help me figure out my specific interests. Doing that did help somewhat and I do now have a better idea of what I do and do not want to do. However, what I really need to be doing at this point is talking to people who work in this sector and asking them about the kinds of opportunities that exist there. That is, indeed, going to be my next step and I will add more to this article once I have researched where I could fit into this sector in more detail.

Generally, though, my three areas of interest in the media and entertainment sector are (1) music and music production: I really would like to be running my own record studio and label; (2) technical or strategic event management: I would love to organize events, concerts, sporting competitions, etc.; and (3) technology management: I would love to be working on or running the technology behind media and entertainment. I just hope that such opportunities are indeed available and that I am able to find them.

The New Media Option
After going through the long thought process explained in the last two paragraphs, I realized that I was most excited about working in the new media sector. This was partly because I'd already worked in the tech sector and knew what that was about and partly because new media is something that I really am passionate about. I love the Internet and am excited by the idea of media, communication, computer, and Internet conversion. And I really do believe that, some day, we'll live in the world as described by Vernor Vinge in his short story "Fast Times at Fairmont High" (basically: ubiquitous computing, with networking, communication, media, and computing power everywhere). Either that or a Star Trek or Babylon 5-type world; though I'm guessing that's not going to happen in my lifetime!

I went on to that tangent because, in some ways, the world of new media is the least defined and because most of it is creating things that will exist in the future anyway. A lot of it has to do with the Internet and a lot of it has to do with how society has changed and will continue to change because of technology. New media jobs are everywhere and most of them are Internet-based. They range from working on Internet portals to community sites to large Intranets. In fact, new and old media jobs often overlap. For example, if I got the chance, I would love to run the Australian Open website.

Finding jobs in this sector is, in one way, pretty darned difficult. Some new-media jobs are listed as Internet-jobs though they may also be listed as regular old-media-jobs. For example, if you wanted someone to work on Channel 7's Yahoo! page, Channel Nine's MSN page, or even the Australian Open website, where would you advertise that opening? You might put it in the regular media category, you might put it in the IT category, or you might put it in the Internet-subset-of-IT category. Heck, you might not put it there at all. You might advertise it as a journalism job or you might get an external IT consulting firm to fill that spot and so not advertise it at all. You see the problem?

On the other hand, some new media jobs are pretty easy to find; especially if you are an active participant in new media already. For example, you might visit Channel Ten's Video Hits site regularly and, as a result, you might find a job posting on their site itself. On the other hand, you might be a member of a message board where new media jobs are posted and discussed. That is, as it was in regular media, getting a job in new media is somewhat easier if you're already in the sector. It does take a fair bit of networking, researching, active participating, and generally looking around though.

Conclusion

So what have I concluded after having so egotistically written such a long an article on my life, worries, issues, and choices? Well, first let me say that it's my website, of course I'm going to be egotistical about it! And second...well, to sum up, there are three not-mutually-independent sectors that I am professionally interested in:

1. The IT sector in which I want to be doing either a regular IT management job (hopefully in a pre-CIO or CTO position) or be working in strategic consulting role.
2. The media and entertainment sector in which I want to work in media itself (e.g. run a record label); or in event management (running music or sports-related events), or in good old IT management but in a media company.
3. The new media sector (which can either be an extension of the media and entertainment sector or something completely different) in which I want to be doing, well, everything! I definitely want to work on the strategic side of new media ventures, but also on the operations, management, marketing, and technical sides as well.

And, thankfully, there is no compelling reason for me to be narrowing my job search down to any one of these sectors. I know it's nice to have some focus -- heck, it would make my life a lot easier and I would have to network in only one sector instead of three -- but, thanks to my already varied work experience (check out my CV to see what I mean), I know I can work in all three of these sectors without too much of a problem. At this point in my life, though, the new media sector seems to be the most interesting; mainly because it is an amalgam of the other two sectors anyway. So, while I will continue to look for jobs in all three sectors, I will work a little harder to find and apply for jobs that involve both media & entertainment and technology. And if they have anything to do with the Internet, then that'll just be the cherry on top :)

Here's hoping...

[Last updated: 12 May, 2007]