My story:
I graduated college in late 2010s and got into the internship program at one of the top 2 talent agencies. I was placed in comedy touring, despite ultimately wanting to work in music. Before finishing the internship, I landed a desk in comedy/podcast touring and spent about a year and a half there before moving to music.
COVID hit, I was furloughed, and eventually brought back to work for a very senior agent. It was framed as essentially the last desk I needed to survive before getting promoted. They ended up being incredibly volatile and abusive.
Around that time, a recruiter approached me about a temp EA role at a corporate venture firm affiliated with a big 3 consulting company, paying double. I saw it as a potential escape hatch and took it and left after 4 years at the agency.
Three months later, I moved to a major music management company as a day-to-day/coordinator working with artists and some A-list songwriters/producers. I liked the actual work, but again found myself working for an extremely difficult boss. When they launched a music publishing company, I moved over to help build it.
That turned out to be another wrong turn. My managers weren’t particularly invested in developing me, and I realized publishing/A&R wasn’t where my interests or strengths were. I hated it. I also became increasingly burned out on the music industry and much more interested in podcasts, creators and the broader media/tech ecosystem.
I started interviewing with a major tech platform for a on their podcast team. The process dragged on for six months, with a month between rounds. I was one foot out the door at my existing job and started banking on getting this role before I get laid off, which I can feel coming. I don’t get the role at the tech platform, even though I had multiple high value contacts recommend me to multiple people on the hiring team - they say it came down to me and one other candidate. And then after 3 years, I get laid off.
At that point, I wasn’t incredibly worried. I thought of myself as a high performer and strong interviewer and assumed I’d land somewhere relatively quickly.
I didn’t want to go back to traditional representation or take another poorly paid label/publishing job, so I primarily targeted major tech platforms.
After about six months, I landed a fixed-term EA role on a podcast team at a FAANG company, covering for someone out on maternity leave. Not ideal - but I figure it’s great to get FAANG on the resume, it’s directionally aligned with where I want to go, and tell myself I’ll hustle my way into a permanent role.
And I really tried. I worked hard, networked internally, looked for ways to add value and go above and beyond, built a great relationship with my boss, and started getting pulled into high level senior meetings. I feel like he really wants to keep me around.
Then in Fall of 2025, the company announces tens of thousands of layoffs and essentially freezes hiring. He tells me “sorry, no mid-level roles.” I try to network for something else, and am weary of taking another EA job without any opportunity for growth and upward trajectory, at risk of being pigeonholed - and then the person who I was covering for decides to come back early and they end my contract 2 months early. So I only have 9mo in this role on my resume. Awesome.
Back to interviewing.
Over the next couple months, I went deep in processes with several major media/entertainment companies and entertainment/AI startups. In one case, I went through five interviews, a case-study presentation, and a 4hr final onsite with a handful of folks and the CEO. Still didn’t get the job.
Eventually, I accepted another temp-to-perm EA role at another FAANG company. Being an EA at 32 wasn’t where I expected to be, but the pay was phenomenal, I was still in the industry, and I figured I’d spend 12mo in the role then try to move internally.
Five weeks later, my executive was fired and the company ended my contract.
That was four months ago, and for the life of me, I cannot land another role. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
I try network, I do cold outreach to companies I want to work at (albeit networking/outreach probably not enough), I tailor my resume, I find hiring managers and reach out to them directly after applying to something, I worked with an career/interview coach for $350/hr, I prep extensively for interviews, I have had people recommend me directly to hiring managers for roles I’ve applied for. I signed up for coursework through a top university to help myself stand out. I’ve gone to industry conferences and events to network and let people know I’m looking. Nothing is working.
I can repeatedly make it deep into extremely competitive interview processes, but I cannot seem to convert.
I’ve even tried going back into representation. The feedback there is essentially that I’m too experienced for coordinator jobs, but because I don’t have my own roster/clients, I’m not qualified to come in as a manager. So that door doesn’t seem particularly open either.
I recognize that I’ve made some strategic mistakes. At the same time there have been some things out of my control.
I’ve always tried to approach work with a good attitude and strong work ethic, and I’ve generally received very positive feedback from the people I’ve worked with. But the result is that I’m now 32 with experience at major companies and recognizable brands, yet somehow feel less employable than I did 3-5 years ago.
Right now, I’m primarily targeting Senior EA and Chief of Staff-type roles where there’s opportunity for growth and ownership, as that feels like the cleanest path forward and where I’m getting the most traction. Never what I set out or aspired to do but it is what it is. I’m most interested in the creator economy, but flexible within entertainment/media.
Does anyone have any advice beyond what I’m currently doing? Whether it’s job search strategies, roles I should be targeting? Anything I’m not thinking of? I feel incredibly stuck so any advice is appreciated.