In our Recruitment process, we give careful, individual attention to each prospective member. We seek to identify members who will be the best educators and collaborators with one another-individuals who will inspire those around them during their college years and beyond.
Each term, DKA holds a Recruitment Week where each prospective member will submit a written application and attend a series of events (several public and then “by invitation only”) with current members of the organization. Recruitment Week is not facilitated as a means of disqualifying people, but rather it is a process of attracting and professionally evaluating candidates who would fit well in our organization. Recruitment Week concludes with an invitation to formally begin our membership education and orientation program.
The Purpose of in-person Recruitment Week events:
- Prevent good applicants from being improperly assessed.
- Clarify our organization’s identity and the membership experience.
- Accurately assess the prospective member’s alignment, character, and motivation in relation to our organization’s ideal member criteria.
- Demonstrate to the prospective member that the assessment standards are professional and ethical.
Our advice is to professionally and sincerely pursue what you love and tell us about that. This is a community built upon sincerity so please be your genuine self (do not try to tell us something just because you think that is what we want to hear). Spend quality time with as many members as you can, during and between each term’s Recruitment Week.
As we consider an application and interactions throughout Recruitment Week, many questions will be on our minds. Here are a few tips that we hope will help prospective members present themselves as the outstanding individuals that they no doubt are. We wish all prospective members all the best, look forward to reading everyone’s application, and can’t wait to meet you at Recruitment Week.
Some things we consider:
Ideal Prospective Member Criteria
DKA is looking for individuals pursuing any type of career related to the cinematic arts. We seek artists of action who are dependable collaborators, storytellers with initiative, and sincerely compassionate leaders who are committed to representing our purpose, values, and vision in a professional community of cinematic artists of character.
Contributions to the DKA Community
- “Who will most significantly contribute and engage with our professional environment and goals?”
- “How much of the mission and purpose of our organization is their reason for applying?”
- “Who is likely to actively participate, take on leadership roles, and make the most of our professional opportunities and resources?”
- “Who will honor our values and goals with maturity and professionalism?”
Purpose Statements of DKA
Our Mission:
- The purpose of DKA is to foster lifelong character and collaboration, mastery of creative storytelling, ethical and productive career practices, constant growth and learning, philanthropic action, and a value-based professional community by and between cinematic artists.
Our Vision:
- The vision of DKA is to be recognized as the premier institute of upstanding entertainment industry leaders.
The Values of DKA
The 10 Jewels (Core Values) of a DKA Member:
- Creative
- Curious
- Enthusiastic
- Generous
- Honest
- Humble
- Proactive
- Reliable
- Resourceful
- Respectful
The Farmer Tripod (Core Behaviors):
- Selflessness & Loyalty
- Constant Learning & Adaptability
- “Do-It-Yourself” Inventiveness & Problem-Solving
Our professional recruitment process strives to be deliberate, meticulous, and fair. It is also labor intensive for our members, but it permits extraordinary flexibility and the possibility of changing decisions virtually until the day each membership orientation invitation is sent out. This is especially important since we are always learning new information about prospective members.
Of course, no process is perfect. Due to the large pool of prospective members, inevitably some students who would be excellent members are not invited to associate on a given term because there is a maximum number of prospective members we can associate each term. We encourage committed prospective members to not take this personally and to strongly consider re-applying the following term. Many of our most contributing members have applied multiple times. However, we do everything possible to make the best decisions for each prospective member.
