Earlier this year I had the privilege of working with Chase and the team in Dubai and at the studio in Seattle as an assistant, which means I know exactly what he expects from his team and the hard work required to run one of the most successful photography businesses in the world.

Chase recently blogged about the kind of attributes that he looks for in people he hires as assistants. If you read his post you’ll see that he’s not looking for the guy or gal with the most qualifications from the best photo school in the country, far from it. His requirements are actually quite simple; if you want to work for him you must:

“(Have a) Great attitude,
(Have a) Great attitude,
(Be) Hard working,
(Have) Knowledge of technical/equipment,
(Have a) Great personality”

He says there’s actually a lot to be taken away from the seemingly rather limited amount of information he’s given – that seems like a weird thing to say right…he’s listed four character traits, how can you take anything more away from it than that?

Well actually, if you’re familiar with Chase and his brand by reading his blog or watching his videos, then you’ll know what he’s getting at, and if you know what he’s getting at, you’re one step closer to getting the job…

I met Chase last year at the Gulf Photo Plus workshops in Dubai when I took his class. Afterwards the students and photographers would all go to the hotel bar and socialise. At the end of the week I spoke to him about the possibility of a job assisting him and over the next twelve months we exchanged emails which finally lead to me landing some work at the studio.
I was excited at the prospect of working with Chase and the team for a whole month and I had preconceptions about what I would learn and plenty of questions to ask along the way.

The week before I went to Seattle I actually went back to Dubai to the GPP workshops, but this time I was part of Chase’s team on the Prep, Shoot, Wrap! course.

Kinda like you can’t stick a new fish straight in to your aquarium when you get it, spending the week with Chase and the team in a totally different environment gave us the chance to connect again but this time on a professional level as well as social. It also allowed them to get used to hanging around with the dude who sounded like he was from Mary Poppins and by the end of the week I think they were just about used to the Brit…sort of. Once the week was over I flew home for a few days to touch base with family and friends before I headed out to the States.

When I arrived in Seattle, Chase and I went out for pizza and a few beers and he put me straight on his expectations from me over the next few weeks.

“Dude, I want you to bring a shit ton of enthusiasm for everything you do and plenty of good ideas”

“No problem” I replied.

The following day was my first day working at the studio and my introduction to the rest of the team who weren’t in Dubai.

It very quickly dawned on me that these guys were all really cool people in really different ways. Like in the Transformers movie where Optimus Prime and his other robohomies all join together to make one huge-ass-uber-killer-monster Transformer, that’s what these guys had going on at the studio. As different as they were as individuals, they pulled together seamlessly as a team and everybody shared the same “get shit done” attitude – as Chase put it.

As an assistant my roles were varied and included everything from taking out the recycling, making a life sized dummy version of Chase for these videos, to deciding the layout of Chase’s book used in a pitch for a major deal. I learned that you have to be willing to take the fun jobs with the shitty jobs and do both of them with a smile on your face, especially as at the start of a photography career you’re usually a one man band and so it’s up to you to get the job done, cool or crappy.

I was able to sit in on the morning meetings, production meetings and brainstorming sessions where everyone put their heads together and saw how everybody was on the same page. Being around the studio was a real eye opener for me in how a business at the top level must operate, there are standard operating procedures for everything and this organisation allows jobs to be completed effectively. The morning meetings make sure everybody is singing from the same hymn sheet and ensures the bond between the group stays tight and everyone feels part of the team (even the dude from Mary Poppins). Milestones (jobs) are assigned to each team member and these are reviewed in these meetings to keep on top of them, crude gesticulations and rotten fruit are often hurled at anybody with late milestones – believe me on that one.

Assisting for Chase is an invaluable experience for anybody looking to progress in the field of high end commercial photography and because of this it’s also one of the hardest assisting jobs in the world to land. If you’re interested in assisting/interning for Chase here’s my tips on how to increase your chance of getting the job:

1) Email Chase or Scott and in no more than 3 sentences explain why you want to intern and include a link to any work you have online.
The key here is to be to the point and concise, if Chase or Scott are interested they’ll ask for more details. The worst thing you can do is write a rambling email that takes forever to read, these guys are busy.

2) Get some face time if you’re local.
If you live locally to Seattle then pop in to the studio to speak with Chase, but don’t drag your huge-ass portfolio along. You want a quick chat to show your interest and possibly arrange a more convenient time for a more formal meeting where you could show your work.

3) Know the Brand.
If you do land an interview or a follow up email conversation, make sure you’re reading the blog, following on twitter and a fan on Facebook. If you get asked about a current issue that Chase has been talking about online, you’d better have an informed opinion on it.

4) Don’t be a stalker.
Don’t be the weird guy / girl who keeps emailing to ask about the job, it’s good to be persistent but it’s bad to be a pain in the ass. To give you an idea I used to email Chase once every 6 weeks or so during our communication about the job.

5) Go that extra mile.
Or 16,390 in my case. I flew to Dubai (twice) using most of my savings to get some face time with Chase and then when I got the job I moved to another country for it. This commitment and dedication didn’t go un-noticed and while I’m not suggesting that everybody can fly half way around the world job hunting, make sure there’s something about your persona that sets you apart from the rest of the competition.

I’ll remember the experiences I had whilst working at CJ Inc. for the rest of my life. In the never ending quest of self improvement as a working photographer there could be no more valuable experiences than those that I have had by working with Chase and the team in learning how to run a successful business by actually being part of one.

I’ve scanned receipts until I nearly fell asleep, I’ve taken recycling down to the dumpsters in the parking garage, I’ve swept floors and I’ve made coffee for the team. But I’ve also sat in on meetings for $100,000 jobs, I’ve been on location for commercial photo shoots, I’ve gotten drunk on Chase’s speedboat after work (several times) in the glorious sunshine, I’ve skipped pebbles on the sea at his cabin and been given advice on my business, heck I’ve even had Chase take a photograph of me doing a sidekick at Bruce Lee’s grave. But most importantly of all I’ve made a bunch of amazing new friends.

What would I do differently?Absolutely nothing.

And I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

Thanks to Chase, Kate, Scott, Cody, Dartanyon and Mikal for such an amazing time – looking forward to seeing you all again soon.