Producers and Directors

People in this career often have these skills:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
• Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

People in this career often know a lot about:

• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

People in this career often have talent in:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Far Vision - The ability to see details at a distance.

People in this career often do these activities:

• Edit written materials.
• Write informational material.
• Determine technical requirements of productions or projects.
• Coordinate artistic activities.
• Direct fundraising or financing activities.

• Direct productions or performances.
• Coordinate activities of production personnel.
• Study scripts to determine project requirements.
• Collaborate with others to determine technical details of productions.
• Manage operations of artistic or entertainment departments or organizations.
• Conduct research to inform art, designs, or other work.
• Manage content of broadcasts or presentations.
• Write material for artistic or entertainment purposes.
• Collaborate with others to prepare or perform artistic productions.
• Select materials or props.
• Discuss production content and progress with others.
• Negotiate for services.
• Edit audio or video recordings.
• Compile technical information or documentation.
• Determine presentation subjects or content.
• Obtain copyrights or other legal permissions.
• Develop proposals for current or prospective customers.
• Coordinate logistics for productions or events.
• Develop promotional strategies or plans.

• Advertising and Promotions Managers

• Marketing Managers

• Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

• Art Directors

• Media Programming Directors

• Talent Directors

• Media Technical Directors/Managers

• Public Relations Specialists

• Editors

• Film and Video Editors