What will it take for me to become a radio personality?

[Richard Stefan]

Good suggestion but back in the old days yes working overnights as a board op was a foot in the door......those jobs are few and far between today....My suggestion if you want to get a job in radio have everything in one place to show people.

Your own website......its amazing how few people actually register their own name. you think actors actresses would but nope most dont.

So why not have a bunch of professional podcasts available (NOT blogtalkradio) to stream or download couldn't hurt? plus your demos all there easy to find so when you talk to a PD its all on your own website......It will give the impression you are a pro and UP TO DATE....

And PS very few if any Broadcasting schools even have a 10 watt OTA station.....its all internet. And partly we are aiming for business people who already have it in their minds to spend the money anyway on advertising, who knows maybe a radio show will be a great ROI instead of newspaper ads or valpak coupons

 

[Small Market Guy]

Good suggestion but back in the old days yes working overnights as a board op was a foot in the door......those jobs are few and far between today....My suggestion if you want to get a job in radio have everything in one place to show people.

Your own website......its amazing how few people actually register their own name. you think actors actresses would but nope most dont.

So why not have a bunch of professional podcasts available (NOT blogtalkradio) to stream or download couldn't hurt? plus your demos all there easy to find so when you talk to a PD its all on your own website......It will give the impression you are a pro and UP TO DATE....

And PS very few if any Broadcasting schools even have a 10 watt OTA station.....its all internet. And partly we are aiming for business people who already have it in their minds to spend the money anyway on advertising, who knows maybe a radio show will be a great ROI instead of newspaper ads or valpak coupons

All of that sounds fine, but how many people have you actually placed in real radio jobs? Every PD I've ever worked with tossed any resumes with "Internet radio" listed into the proverbial circular bin.

I do agree that the website thing is very important. Even though I share a name with a much more successful radio guy and a successful author. Of course my name's .com address is taken by a real estate agent, but I did keep a website going for my show for a while. Now I just use my station's site. For music jocks, a social media presence is almost a must.

 

[Richard Stefan]

Every PD I've ever worked with tossed any resumes with "Internet radio" Thats disgraceful....shows lack of talent, do you really want to work with such close minded people?

At least they have shows to maybe prove they can handle the job. I'll agree if it super poor quality like 32KBs and mono like blogtalk radio.....but if someone is willing to spend their money and have it professional sounding, then to just outright dismiss it.....that PD should be outed and Fired!

 

[Small Market Guy]

At least they have shows to maybe prove they can handle the job. I'll agree if it super poor quality like 32KBs and mono like blogtalk radio.....but if someone is willing to spend their money and have it professional sounding, then to just outright dismiss it.....that PD should be outed and Fired!

Why should they be fired? A good demo isn't about high bitrates and stereo quality. It's about a good host, and the only way to get good at doing radio is to do radio. The sheer numbers of people who apply for each job require screening, and screening out people who haven't done the job seems reasonable to me. The guys I've worked with are very well respected.

 

[fordranger797]

Why should they be fired? A good demo isn't about high bitrates and stereo quality. It's about a good host, and the only way to get good at doing radio is to do radio. The sheer numbers of people who apply for each job require screening, and screening out people who haven't done the job seems reasonable to me. The guys I've worked with are very well respected.

I think Mr. Stefan's plan could be very effective if someone is unwilling to take time, and work their way up. I too have this problem. I want to learn everything as quickly as possible and have a chance to do a fill in, but of course that is unlikely to happen. To have that opportunity takes a great deal of time, I can only hope that I will eventually have the chance. I tend to think that once you get some sort of gig on the radio, you are are likely to have another job in radio. It seems to me that the first opportunity to get behind the mic is the hardest.

 

[FredLeonard]

I think Mr. Stefan's plan could be very effective if someone is unwilling to take time, and work their way up. I too have this problem. I want to learn everything as quickly as possible and have a chance to do a fill in, but of course that is unlikely to happen. To have that opportunity takes a great deal of time, I can only hope that I will eventually have the chance. I tend to think that once you get some sort of gig on the radio, you are are likely to have another job in radio. It seems to me that the first opportunity to get behind the mic is the hardest.

Time is not your friend; time is your enemy. Radio jobs keep disappearing. On the plus side, fewer people are interested in filling them. The industry is dying. You should have been born 50 years sooner; even 10 years sooner you'd have had a chance.

One of these days, SMG will find himself unemployed and Gillette will be listening to Imus In The Morning.

 

[davideduardo]

Time is not your friend; time is your enemy. Radio jobs keep disappearing. On the plus side, fewer people are interested in filling them. The industry is dying. You should have been born 50 years sooner; even 10 years sooner you'd have had a chance.

One of these days, SMG will find himself unemployed and Gillette will be listening to Imus In The Morning.

SMG will probably have retired before Gillette no longer needs a local voice.

You are confusing the decline of AM and FM with the decline of radio, which includes new media.

 

[davideduardo]

Every PD I've ever worked with tossed any resumes with "Internet radio" Thats disgraceful....shows lack of talent, do you really want to work with such close minded people?

That is not my experience. The first test is the content on the demo, not the location of the broadcast.

Many PDs, in fact, are looking for people with new media understanding so if the talent is there and the new media expertise is there, that person has one up on the old-liner who things a face book is one of those albums of mug shots the cops show you when you have been robbed.

 

[fordranger797]

Time is not your friend; time is your enemy. Radio jobs keep disappearing. On the plus side, fewer people are interested in filling them. The industry is dying. You should have been born 50 years sooner; even 10 years sooner you'd have had a chance.

One of these days, SMG will find himself unemployed and Gillette will be listening to Imus In The Morning.

No offense, but do you actually have anything positive to say on this matter? Is your goal just to ensure that any young individuals who want to get into the radio business are kept out?

 

[FredLeonard]

SMG will probably have retired before Gillette no longer needs a local voice.

You are confusing the decline of AM and FM with the decline of radio, which includes new media.

I'm aware of a slight difference of opinion here on the question of whether anything other than "rusty towers" broadcasting is radio. From what I read in this thread, new media experience does not help one's resume (may even hurt it).

But getting beyond semantics, audio is audio - however distributed.

What constitutes local service? For those hurricane warnings and overturned rail tankers, text alerts are much better than audio (however disseminated). Text is better for any kind of local information than having somebody read to you.

Audio also has a limited shelf life. Audio - like silent movies - is an incomplete medium. Audio survived because of portability and because somebody driving a car had to (hopefully) watch the road. Now smartphones have on-demand video capability. And Google is doing on-road testing of cars that drive themselves. So what need will there be for limited, audio-only content? Human beings evolved to operate using sight and sound, which is why radio and silent movies are stop-gap solutions.

 

[Small Market Guy]

No offense, but do you actually have anything positive to say on this matter? Is your goal just to ensure that any young individuals who want to get into the radio business are kept out?

No he just wanted to personally insult me.

 

[Small Market Guy]

SMG will probably have retired before Gillette no longer needs a local voice.

I think it's safe to say I'll at least outlast Imus. He's ancient.

 

[FredLeonard]

No offense, but do you actually have anything positive to say on this matter? Is your goal just to ensure that any young individuals who want to get into the radio business are kept out?

It's your life, kid. Don't say nobody tried to warn you.

If you really have the talent and ability that makes a successful radio personality, apply it in some field where you are getting in at the beginning - not the end.

 

[davideduardo]

IFrom what I read in this thread, new media experience does not help one's resume (may even hurt it).

Mr Stefan said that because it is apparently in his own self-interest to say so. The fact is that new media knowledge and experience is becoming more and more important today. I don't think most stations with a target under 45 would hire an on-air person who does not know how to work FB, Twitter and Instagram, at a minimum.

 

[Small Market Guy]

Mr Stefan said that because it is apparently in his own self-interest to say so. The fact is that new media knowledge and experience is becoming more and more important today. I don't think most stations with a target under 45 would hire an on-air person who does not know how to work FB, Twitter and Instagram, at a minimum.

Knowing how to use new media is EXTREMELY important, even in older demos.

Having at least some experience with old media is even more important. Hiring bloggers and podcasters to do radio never works out.

 

[fordranger797]

If you really have the talent and ability that makes a successful radio personality, apply it in some field where you are getting in at the beginning - not the end.

Radio really isn't about making money from my point of view. I'm enrolled in college to obtain the knowledge I need for a job that is not risky like radio tends to be. If a company wants to pay me minimum wage to host a show on a plunging station, i'd be thrilled. Are you passionate about the business of radio, or is it something that you really have no interest in?

 

[Small Market Guy]

Radio really isn't about making money from my point of view.

Then you are already ahead of the game.

You seem to have the right attitude. The best thing you can do is just start calling PDs. Ditch any semblance of shyness and get out there.

 

[fordranger797]

Then you are already ahead of the game.

You seem to have the right attitude. The best thing you can do is just start calling PDs. Ditch any semblance of shyness and get out there.

Thanks for the advice. I am in kind of a tough position right now because I currently intern under a PD who has a very strict way of running his station. I'd love to have the chance to get behind the mic, but i'm almost certain that he would rather put the station under complete automation instead of putting me in the chair. That is understandable, considering most 19 year old kids fail to have the maturity and skills to justify occupying the chair.

Its a hard business to break into. I just want to gain as many skills as I can and find a place that will have me. The people I have been learning from are truly amazing, and have already given me an enormous wealth of knowledge of how to run the airwaves. Now to wait for the chance to show what I can do.

 

[Small Market Guy]

Trust me, I know what it's like.

I've gone from sitting in with a show (for free, but treating it like a real gig) to doing weekends, to not getting the evening slot I wanted several times (and having to train the non-radio people who did get the jobs) to losing my weekend slot because I didn't fit what the owner wanted. I stuck with it until something else came up, and here I am. Doing mornings on a MUCH better station.

It's not easy. And there is no short cut. But if I can do it, anyone can.

 

[FredLeonard]

Radio really isn't about making money from my point of view. I'm enrolled in college to obtain the knowledge I need for a job that is not risky like radio tends to be. If a company wants to pay me minimum wage to host a show on a plunging station, i'd be thrilled. Are you passionate about the business of radio, or is it something that you really have no interest in?

I have been where you are. I also am in the unfortunate position of seeing what radio has been and what it is now. But if you see radio as a hobby and aren't planning to use a radio paycheck to buy groceries, pay rent, pay off student loans, take out women and eventually raise kids then do what SMG and others are telling you, what you're already doing. Show up, be useful and sooner or later you will get a chance to fill in or do a weekend spot. Although, I'd go back to what I said before: If your university has a student radio station, that's where you should be. Get as much time on the air as you can. Record everything you do and listen to it. Practice, practice, practice. Be ready when you get that chance to fill in.