The Never-Ending Application

I'm filling out the application for yet another industry training program.  Trouble is, I'm only about 1/3 finished, and I've already spent five hours on this thing!  There are a few quirks to this application process that I find interesting.

In general, really lengthy applications seem like a wonderful way to weed out those less-motivated applicants, you know, the ones who kind of half-heartedly want to apply because someone suggested it once.  For an intensive program like this one (basically on-the-job Assistant Director training), the half-hearted don't stand a chance.

But then, the application details are telling, too, and seem to be secretly structured to glean more information about the applicant than just the basic demographic stuff.

The forms, available online as a printable PDF, insist that the applicant fill them out by hand (in black ink, "IN YOUR OWN HANDWRITING".  My preference, of course, would have been to fill out the PDF on my computer (especially the "employment history" section, which I'll get to in a bit), but they're very clear.  The PDF is even locked in such a way that computer adjustments are basically impossible.

Assistant Directors (especially 2nd ADs and their assistants) have to fill out a lot of paperwork on set.  SAG Exhibit Gs, the standard time-sheets for actors, are especially ubiquitous: even on small productions where no other unions are involved, the Screen Actors Guild's rules usually apply.  These forms don't leave much space to write anything, but the information they contain is critical when it comes to properly paying and reporting the hours that actors have worked.  Similarly, the DGA/PGA training program application doesn't leave much room in some fields for comfortably spaced writing.  I think they're testing us applicants to make sure we can handle our penmanship around tight spaces.

A major time-sucking part of the application is the "employment history" section.  They ask for every piece of employment history for the last five years, including volunteer work, work on student projects, etc. etc. etc.  For every gig, even for those unpaid one-day helping-a-friend gigs, they want up-to-date contact information for whoever was in charge.  For indie filmmakers who are still basically freelancing from one project to another, this could mean dozens of jobs.  I'm lucky, in a way -- my employment history is "Starbucks" for a significant chunk of the last five years.  In total, I don't expect more than thirty employment history records in my application.

But really, I think this is yet another test.  Assistant Directors are front-line record-keepers.  They're not the folks doing the filing back at the office, but they're the ones who have to keep track of everyone and everything during the craziness of the set.  You have to be pretty well-organized for that.  I think that by asking for so much employment history detail, they're testing us to see how well-organized we are with information (especially with older information, or information that we may not have thought to keep long-term when we were in the midst of a job).  I've had to go back to old call sheets, and hunt around the web to dig up some contact info for some of my previous employers.  And that's just from this past year!  I haven't even started digging up the contact info for folks who hired me for stuff back in Baltimore!

And yes, this application asks for essays, too.  That's the obvious one, the test to make sure we know how to communicate.  Not sure how many more hours before I get to that part of the application, but I'm determined to get there.  At least they allow us to type the essays!

-Arnon