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How To Go From Nothing To Your Dream Job

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How To Go From Nothing To Your Dream Job featuring Diana Snyder, writer of Young & Hungry on Freeform - The Confused Millennial, millennial blog

*Guest Post*

I am honored to have Diana Snyder write today's post. She is a writer for Freeform's “Young & Hungry” (seriously, my husband and I can't get enough of it!) and she is sharing her journey and tips for creating her own destiny and landing her dream job!

When I drive through the CBS Lot to get to the “Young & Hungry” writer’s room I pinch myself. Seriously, my legs have lots of bruises. I still can’t believe I have a job where I get to pitch ideas, write jokes and meet famous people (like Heather Dubrow from the Real Housewives of Orange County. We email. NBD). How did a short awkward girl with no connections get this amazing job you ask? It wasn’t easy.

It all started in high school, when I used my babysitting money to buy the best used video camera I could find on Craigslist to shoot a show I called “Dateline with Diana,” (yup, I was not cool). I used my show as a way to talk to all the popular guys who never gave me the time of day and it worked. From that moment on, I knew somehow I had to work in television.
In college, I majored in Film & TV, despite my parents’ advice to major in something practical. I thought upon graduation, I’d instantly get a job writing for television and hang out with Tina Fey. As it turns out, no one wants to hire a twenty year-old writer. So I took the first job in entertainment I could get… a personal assistant to an NY based actor.

Tip #1: Take whatever job you can find! 

If it will get your foot in the door take it. Even if it's washing dishes, scrubbing floors, or picking up laundry. Get as close as you can to rubbing elbows with the right people. As a personal assistant, I answered my email at all hours, picked up dry cleaning, paid bills, secured courtside Knicks tickets on a moment’s notice, and became very good at juggling a large coffee order in heels… but still I felt unfulfilled. After two and a half years as an assistant, I wanted to do something more creative. So, on the weekends I wrote a web series.

Tip #2: A full time job doesn’t have to stop you from working on side projects. 

Once you've figured out your passion in life, do everything you can to bring it into your full time reality. Whether thats working late nights or weekends. You have to put in the time.
After a crowd funding campaign and using some of my hard earned assistant money on my web series (which turned out pretty cute for something I shot in my friends’ dad’s office with kids from college), I was able to get a manager who set up some meetings in Los Angeles. I was so excited! Only one problem- My job! So I quit with only a crazy plan to fall back on: fly to LA for a week, pitch a TV idea, sell my show and live happily ever after! I flew with my mom (who insisted on coming with me and acted as my Uber driver) and together we went from meeting to meeting. But at the end of the week, no one bought my show idea. I was devastated.

I came back to New York defeated. I had no job, no prospects, except moving back home with my mom. She was thrilled. Just as I was packing to move back home, I got a Google alert on my phone.

Tip #3 Set Up Google Alerts for potential dream companies!

The Tannenbaum Company, which was one of the companies I met with in LA, was producing a new show called “Young & Hungry” which had a ten-episode order. I immediately thought maybe they’d need a writer. They didn’t, but they did need a second writer’s assistant. What the heck is a writer’s assistant? Turns out it’s a job where you work 12 plus hours a day, take a ton of notes based on what the writers say, and then organize the notes for the group to create the episode. Needless to say, you get paid very little and work a whole lot.

Tip #4: Always bet on Yourself.

Although I had no experience doing this… I had the confidence to think I could. David (the show’s creator) agreed to interview me over the phone for the assistant job. I was so excited until I got this piece of advice… “Don’t tell David you live in New York or he’ll be too scared to hire you. No one wants to hire someone who’s uprooted their life for a job because it’s too much pressure. Lie and say you live in LA.”

I had a great phone interview and David’s last question was “So, where in LA do you live?” Immediately I thought of the street my mom and I got into an accident on when we visited LA. “Franklin,” I told him weakly. And that’s when David said “Okay. You have the job. Can you start on Monday?” It was Friday at five o’clock and without missing a beat, I said, “absolutely.” Without an apartment, a car, or a single friend, I took the job because sometimes you have to take a leap of faith in yourself.

Tip #5: Have faith.

I moved to Los Angeles and devoted myself to being the best writer’s assistant this town has ever known (or at least I made sure to not get fired). Even though it was not my job to pitch story ideas, the first month I was on the show I pitched an idea about Elliot and Yolanda going on a juice cleanse and the idea made it into the show! Another one of the producers, Andrea Abbate, even started to let me write scenes! Some nights, we had long hours but I was always positive, went above and beyond, and never, ever complained!

Tip #6: Go the extra mile with a smile.

My positive attitude made a huge difference. By the end of season two, I was promoted to staff writer. By season four, I was promoted to Story Editor and at the end of the year I was asked by David to co-write the show’s new book, “Young & Hungry: Your Complete Guide to a Delicious Life” (which shameless plug comes out April 11th). So as you start YOUR “next chapter” (pun intended), my words of wisdom would be go for it, push yourself, and as Gabi Diamond on “Young & Hungry” would say… “You got this!”

Diana Snyder Young & Hungry

53 thoughts on “How To Go From Nothing To Your Dream Job”

  2. Katie Arnold

    Such great points and definitely relatable for EVERYONE. It’s so easy to get caught up in the feelings of “I can’t do this” or “I’m not good enough” but having the confidence and BELIEF in yourself is a complete game changer!

  3. Sarah Jean

    Very cool! I love how sometimes getting where you want involves taking a big scary leap of faith!

  4. Claire Chambers

    This is awesome, well done on getting your dream job and thanks for sharing. It shows that getting your dream job takes confidence and self- belief.

  6. Elizabeth Johnson

    I love this! I seriously feel like I can go snatch my dream job right now. Such a great article! I feel so encouraged! So often I hear people complaining about hard work and I love that she didn’t let the long days get her down. So inspiring!

  7. Taylor Mead

    First off, that is an INCREDIBLE opportunity! What a wonderful job, congrats! Secondly, these tips are fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing, I loved reading!

    xo Taylor (thesprinkle.tayloramead.com)

  15. Marty McConnell

    Good sticking points Diana. I especially liked #2. Too many people forget that it isn’t the 8 hour job that zaps your time to pursue your dreams, it’s the 2 hours in front of the TV or the 2 hours surfing YouTube, or other ways to “wind down” instead of “reving up.” I talked about this in my new book that’s releasing this month, and have blogged about it from time to time. If you really want to do something, you’ll find the time.
    It’s also important to stay good at your job so you can keep it as long as you need it, while working on other projects. Glad to see someone telling it the way it should be told. Great post.

    2. Marty McConnell

      It’s called “Finish the Damn Book!” Started as an answer on Quora, and grew into a short, inspirational guide on writing a novel. I figured that there were too many soft books in this area and decided to give the genre a jolt. Some of the early readers have applied it to other things like music and art, and one even compared my process with real estate (still haven’t figured out where they are coming from). If you are really interested, shoot me an email. I have a trimmed down version with the inspirational stuff in it. Would love to hear your thoughts, as you seem to have a very motivated mindset. Maybe I could even hook you up with a freebie giveaway for your readers.

    3. Rachel Ritlop

      For sure! Full disclosure: I have like 3 books from press samples I am currently working through, so my timeline may be a little g – but with that said, I am really interested since I have literally been on-and-off writing a book for the last 10 years… and really need to (pun intended) “finish the damn book!” – if you’re okay with my slow pace moving pace, what’s your best email? or you can reach me at rachel@theconfusedmillennial.com – thanks!

  16. Shani Ogden

    Oh my gosh, I love Young & Hungry! I love the points that Diana makes. If you have a passion for something, you have to go for it and work hard.

  20. Carolyn

    All the yes to tip #5! Absolutely love this post and the insight to women in the workforce! Would love to see more guest posts like this 🙂

    1. Rachel Ritlop

      Glad you liked it!! I would love for more people to submit guest posts like this too!! If you have anyone with awesome career advice send them my way!

  21. Sydney Power

    These are awesome! I always have alerts on for my team job with companies, it is awesome!

  22. Liz G

    Very cool! It sounds crazy to pack up and move cross country on a day’s notice, but that sort of faith, confidence, and willingness to take a risk can make a world of difference!

  24. Cameron

    Such a great post! Love the point about taking whatever you can just to get your foot in the door – so important. It can be tough getting a job, but we all have to start somewhere. Even if you’re just the assistant, if you do amazing work, you’ll get noticed eventually!

    1. Rachel Ritlop

      Agreed! I needed a waitressing job in the dead of off-season and i begged the manager, offering to wash dishes, bus tables, whatever (even though I had waitressed for 4 years), and even though he didn’t need any more staff for off season he gave me the job – within 2 weeks of doing odd jobs i was waitressing!

  26. Rachel Ritlop

    Agreed! I needed a waitressing job in the dead of off-season and i begged the manager, offering to wash dishes, bus tables, whatever (even though I had waitressed for 4 years), and even though he didn’t need any more staff for off season he gave me the job – within 2 weeks of doing odd jobs i was waitressing!

  27. Jordyn Upchurch

    This is crazy inspirational! I love watching someone’s dreams come to fruition!

    xoxo, SS

  28. Katrina Torrijos

    Omg! This story is amazing! I can’t believe you were the creative force behind the juice clense! Haha.

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