What It's Like to Make TikToks for a Living | Career Crush

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0:37That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. I can spend hours on TikTok just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling, but I can kind of make myself feel better about it and just say it's like research for work, which it is. I do make TikToks for work. Every week I make one video for HBR SN's TikTok and it takes a lot more work than I thought it would. Still, I only make one TikTok a week. What would it be like to do that every day as my full-time job?

1:24I mean, really, every aspect is fun. Sometimes it's exhausting. I talked to the Washington Post TikTok guy about how he goes about making TikToks at work every day. His real name is Dave Jorgensen, and he's one of the first TikTokers that I ever even knew about. Once I started at HBR Ascend and began making TikToks for work, Dave was my icon. He is what you strive for. His videos are timely, informative, funny. They really have it all. Could you let TikTok know there's a debate tonight? Sure. Just do a little song. I don't know if that's my wheelhouse. Go! The debate is tonight. Get it right. I bet you didn't know It was tonight.

2:12It's on every major network, The Washington Post, Apple TV, Roku, and most streaming services on 9 p.m. Eastern time, which is 6 p.m. Pacific time.

2:22Yeah, that's my bad. I know how hard it can be to make TikToks. I only have to make one a week, but sometimes I wake up and I'm like, the last thing I want to do in the world is put myself on video, try and come up with a funny idea, and then rewatch it and listen to myself over and over and over again. So how does Dave do it twice a day? And what is his creative process like? I do feel like people on TikTok realize this but people not like maybe on Twitter don't always understand the amount of work that goes into making a TikTok I edit a lot all of them on my computer so like even that process where I shoot on my phone then I put on my computer and I edit it then I put it back on and then I add the text and I try to make it look authentic without being too polished and there's all these things that go into it but also just the shooting process in general is very difficult really fun but like it takes about four hours to make each TikTok So I think there is a lot of work that goes in that maybe you don't realize.

3:22And that's good. That means I'm doing my job because it looks effortless. Dave's TikToks always turn out great. So it makes sense that he puts so much time and thought into them. But I mean, he works at the Washington Post. There has to be some sort of approval process or review before they go out into the world, right? I think the main misconception is like, oh, this guy just posts whatever he wants. And the Washington Post just let him do that, which is like the furthest thing from the truth. There is a level of freedom and I don't want to like take away. I'm very lucky about that. But the freedom is that I get to sort of write, shoot and edit a TikTok.

3:57And then I present it for approval to my managers have to approve every single TikTok. And if they're not totally sure, then they go to the next person. If he's not sure, then they go to like the managing editor of the post. And that's always scary. Dave and his team clearly know what they're doing. And even though they're kind of this legacy media organization, they're still doing great on TikTok. They have 929 ,000 followers. They're so close to a million.

4:34But Dave didn't start as the TikTok guy. His original interest was in comedy. Did you kind of always know that you wanted to do comedy and video? Propel Fitness Water with Gatorade electrolytes, zero sugar, and vitamins. Propel hydrates better than water to help you get the most out of your workout and get back to your best self. What propels you? Propel with Gatorade electrolytes. When you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs. It gives your job post the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people with the right skills, certifications and more.

5:12Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Listeners of this show will get a$75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Do you always know you wanted to do those two things combined? I was really into the idea of being a TV writer. And so the internship I had in college was at Colbert Report. And it was actually there where I got much more interested in politics and the sort of even the journalism side of things.

5:45So I really got into that and how they were able to use comedy to inform people. With that in mind, where did he learn the production skills he needed to make that future a reality? One thing I really liked about my college, DePauw, which is in Indiana, it's a small liberal arts school, is that there was a lot of independence. You could literally do independent projects and you really had a lot of tools available to you to try something. We had nice cameras and we had some equipment, but the downside is at the time there wasn't very many professors there to teach you things. So my senior year, I kind of came to this point where I created this late night show at school.

6:24And so I started to kind of edit with that and start to shoot with cameras. But I liked that experience because it was kind of just jumping in the water the very cold water and seeing what we could make. Armed with the video production skills Dave had from college, he ended up moving to LA. Classic. After college, I went out to LA before I went to DC. So I was in LA for like nine months. And in that very short time where I was trying to like, I don't know, get a writing assistant job, I was told all these things you should do. Like go try to be a writer's assistant. Go like try to work your way up on a TV show in that way.

6:57Or, you know, go do this and this and that. and I was trying to do that and I wasn't like nothing was working or happening or whatever and I'm seeing a lot of other people do that exact same thing and I'm like well why is this the chosen route that I have to take I just want to make stuff that makes me laugh and I want to do it often and so I think that was a big that was really important for me is like realizing that I should just keep trying to make stuff and eventually someone's going to notice if I'm good my buddy from college when I was in LA who I'd made that late night show with in college was like, there's a job here in DC.

7:32And I was like, I'll take it. Dave ended up working at the Independent Journal Review, where he produced comedic video and interviews on a daily basis. That to me was much more interesting than working at Starbucks part time and bothering people with my, you know, spec scripts the rest of the time. He made his way to the Washington Post, but he wasn't originally hired as the TikTok guy. I was hired and my position is still when I was hired like officially in, you know, work documents as a producer for creative video. So creative video was a team that started basically when I got there. The whole idea behind it was like growing the post video department, but we were going to be the sort of, you know, weird kids in the back making like mini docs and like fun series and things like that.

8:21And so for two years, I was doing that. And then when I found out about TikTok, I was like, I have to do this. It took a little bit of convincing, but Dave eventually got the Washington Post to create its own TikTok account. That was just under two years ago. But since the pandemic started, TikTok has really become Dave's whole thing.

8:46so you you said something about like how you were the one that pitched the idea to get on tiktok can you talk a little bit about that and like what that process looked like internally for you because i've been doing all the satirical videos for two years when i pitched it i had a little bit of trust built in and then i got the right people in the right room to say yes uh Because I already knew who really had to say yes. And then on top of that, I knew the people up top who might have a sense of humor and might be kind of willing to play along. Now that you kind of shifted your role from, you know, making those YouTube videos to making TikToks every day, would you say that you like enjoy your job more?

9:25Do you like your job more now? Do you like it the same? How does that feel? I think overall I just... Propel Fitness Water with Gatorade electrolytes, zero sugar, and vitamins. Propel hydrates better than water to help you get the most out of your workout and get back to your best self. What propels you? Propel with Gatorade electrolytes. When you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs. It gives your job post the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people with the right skills, certifications, and more. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes.

10:03Listeners of this show will get a$75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Just enjoy TikTok more because the main reason is kind of, I don't know if selfish is the right word, but like in some ways pretty obvious, which is that like when I post something, I get a lot more feedback much more immediately. Whereas when I was making videos before, I was really proud of them. And I still like to go back and be like, oh, look, that was really cool. We spent like three weeks on that.

10:35But that was the thing is we would spend three weeks on something that would get maybe like 300 views on YouTube. I feel like with TikTok, I'm getting immediate feedback and most of the time very positive feedback. But also because it's immediate, I can adjust day to day where I can wake up the next day and go, okay, well, this worked and this didn't work. So I like that a lot about it where it's not this big guessing game. Like you really kind of immediately know if something's working or not. So pretty much Dave took this role that he was reasonably happy with and turned it into something that he absolutely loves.

11:07It got me thinking, is that something that anybody can do? Say you love your company and you love your coworkers, but maybe you don't love the day-to-day work that you do. How do you turn it into something that you truly, truly enjoy? way. I feel like it's become generic because I say this advice a lot, but I do I stand by because it's been consistent with me, which is something I learned back when I was interning for various places was just kind of saying yes to everything. Because I think when you know, maybe you're doing something you're not super excited about, but someone asked you and you say yes, and you're really and you really go for it.

11:42People do notice it over time, you don't have to be like over the top, you know, perfectionist or something where you're trying to like, beat other people out for job, like that kind of thing. But like being just being a yes man and trying to help no matter what your role is, people notice that and they appreciate it because you're helping them out with anything that they need help with. And then in turn, they help you out. And that kind of creates this culture where by the time for me, I was trying to pitch TikTok, there were a lot of people around me who were excited for me, because we had formed like a working relationship and people like that were my equals and above me and below me all those things.

12:16So that that always over time does pay off. If you find yourself in a position that doesn't quite fit your goals and your passions, there may be an opportunity for you to turn it into something that does work for you. Having that trust within your company can help you get buy-in. It might be intimidating for your boss to let you change your role, but it becomes a lot less daunting if they know they can trust you. So at this point, if they came up to me and they probably will soon and said, like, what's your do you want to change your title at the post? It would just be like Washington Post TikTok Creator, because that's essentially what I'm doing every day.

12:56Now, when I watch Dave's TikToks, I see them a little bit differently. You know, I see him dressed as a cicada or dancing. What is he doing? But I think about all of the different things that go into him making a TikTok. I think about how he brings his true self to this platform and how even though he's working at this huge organization that has years and years of history, he's been able to build a role for himself that he loves. And I love that for him, even though he's dressed as a creepy cicada.

13:36Where did he get that costume? Thanks for watching! Do you have a career crush? Tell us about them in the comments and we'll see if we can talk to them for you. Subscribe to our channel to see more interviews with people actually living the dream. Bye! Close your eyes, exhale, feel your body relax, and let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-CONTACTS. Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order.

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