I Want A New Gig ...

I’ve been thinking a lot about the ambitious person who contacted me out of the blue – asking for career advice despite the fact we are competitors. You’ve got to understand, this is a business as competitive as the cola companies. We don’t fraternaize with ‘the enemy.’

I’ve been in the business world for 20 years and I don’t remember a time when more people were asking for some mentoring. I am thrilled that they are bold enough to do so, and yet I feel a lot of pressure giving career advice. I have made my share of mistakes – and will surely in the future. Who am I to be pontificating anything? But I guess so few are willing to offer any insight so I should step up to the plate.

Yesterday I talked about getting promoted. Today I’ll talk about getting a better gig.

Just like yesterday, you have to begin with some self awareness. If you’ve never done radio, you are most likely not going to start at KTI. I’m sorry if that sounds arrogant. But we operate at a speed and level where we don’t have time to teach the basics. This station has a lot of moving parts, and we rarely can afford to staff those parts with beginners. But I love to take people who have ‘cut their teeth’ in a smaller market and give them the opportunity to take their game to the next level.

The 2nd part of the awareness factor is to know your skill level. Everyone in the world may tell you that you are funny and you aught to host a talk show. That means nothing unless you have done it. And today – there is no excuse not to do it. There are internet sites that will allow you to record your own talk-show and you can practice and get better. Believe me – going through the learning curve in a smaller market or on the internet is much easier than in a situation where you are expected to perform at a high-level out of the box.

Once you have been doing it for a while (year?), ask for feedback. While we are busy, I try my hardest to offer honest feedback to those who ask. Be ready to hear the truth – believe me: it’s good practice for the future. If you are getting positive feedback from someone in the biz that you trust – now you are ready to begin applying for jobs.

Be sure to give the perspective employer everything then ask for – exactly as they ask for it. If they say no mp3’s – don’t send mp3’s. This should be obvious, but many times is ignored. Even if you send them a demo on CD or mp3 or whatever they want, you should have a web site designed to showcase you as a talent. Make sure it has lots of audio, press clippings, a bio, anything else that might make you shine. If a perspective programmer wants more information, they will go to the web-site. If you are not web savvy this may sound like a luxury – but it is not anymore.

We get hundreds of applicants for any on-air opening. How do we narrow them down?

1. What we hear on the CD/mp3. If the sound is not what we are looking for – it’s over. You can’t fake this – so don’t try.

2. What have you done to promote yourself? Are you a voice on the radio – or a budding star?

3. How ‘battle-tested’ are you? In other words: have you worked under pressure?

4. Results. If you have been working somewhere else – have you been successful? What are you current ratings?

If you pass all of those criteria, we will surely spend some time with you in an interview situation. After that, it is more of a question of whether or not you are a match for our employee-owned company culture. Believe it or not, some people cannot handle being accountable. I think that is paramount to success.

If all of this sounds like too much work – save yourself some time and $$ and do something else. This is a competitive business and we cannot afford to hire anyone who would move into our station and sit on their laurels. We aim to hire the ‘cream of the crop.’ Is that you?