First Radio Gig

[BarneyPip]

Phus,

Congratulations. Lots of voices here. A couple of thoughts -

1. You've chosen a career in entertainment. Just like with actors and singers, some make it, some don't. There are no (or precious few) overnight sensations. That means that, yes, there could well be a period of sacrifice, hard work and very little financial reward. That's nothing to be bitter about, though. It's just a dose of reality.

2. Hard work, a growing amount of maturity, perseverance and focus will get you pretty far. Talent is the variable that will dictate whether you get sort of far or really far.

3. Three great tools: www.mp3airchecks.com, www.ozmonmedia.com, and live streaming radio. Listen to lots of airchecks (like at mp3airchecks.com) and to as much streaming of great radio talent as you can. Try to figure out what they're doing that makes them successful. Lorna Ozmon (at ozmonmedia.com) is a great talent coach and her articles (available for free) will help you analyze what you're hearing and what you might want to attempt yourself.

4. While listening to and sometimes emulating great talent, cultivate and develop your own unique sound.

5. If you're first job doesn't provide you many opportunities to stretch, hop into a production room two or three times a week and do the kind of stuff you dream of doing. Improve on it. Bank it. When you think you have enough good stuff, send it out.

6. Our parents and grandparents defined loyalty as longevity. Forget that. Loyalty in radio is doing your absolute best and having personal integrity every minute that you work for your current employer, whether you work for them for 5 months or 5 years. The best way to advance your career is to send stuff out every month to radio stations and markets and programmers for whom you dream of working. When a strong offer comes that will help you grow, advance your career, and economically reward you, take it.

7. Live and breathe radio...and...take time to have a real life, be with real people, renew. You'll be a better talent with better material for having done that.

8. Radio's like everything else. You'll work with some great people, and with some terrible people. You'll have fun and you'll rue the day you ever got in this business. There will be great leaders and the worst managers...straight ahead jobs to do and crazy politics. If that stuff daunts you, you won't enjoy the ride. Worry about you can change, and don't worry about the rest.

Good luck getting started. By seeking advice in a place like this, you took a great and smart first step.

 

[k105mark]

Congrats! I, too, got my first gig right out of college, in Bloomington at (then) 97WB. I learned more there in the first 6 months than I had in my 4 years at IU. But...as responsibilities expanded past the studio and prod room, I eventually got to the point where I was using my degree every single day, without fail. Even those stupid classes that I took only to fulfill a requirement came in handy on occasion. Really. I was in radio for for 5 years, out for 9, back in for 8, freshly out again. I've been on both sides of the management fence and I've seen a lot of people come and go, both in and out of radio. But the advice is the same: work hard, be loyal, keep the complaining to a minimum, respect the chain of command, pay your dues, don't be afraid to do one ounce more than someone else, be a sponge--learn as much as you can about your position and the other positions in the building, make yourself as indispensable as possible, share your knowledge with others, admit when you screwed up and don't repeat the mistake. Most importanly, keep your ego in check, and always be honest, ethical, responsible and professional. Always. Because dang if it ain't true...at the end of the day all you've got is your reputation. One thing I didn't mention is to not be afraid to ask for advice. You've already done that, good for you! Best of luck to you! mw

Mike gives the best advice here. All of it.

Listen to that and you'll be successful.

 

[Radio-X]

Kinda out of my home turf here (I've only stayed in Indiana one night)

but the question warrants another answer from a talking head

This works, not just for radio biz, but for anywhere you go:

1) Always impress your boss, but never kiss his/her tail unless it cannot be avoided

2) Keep a sense of neutrality in the workplace. So what if you don't like so-and-so who works nights on your station? Keep it to yourself and your co-workers will be impressed and respect you for your impartialness

3) Hang out with the co-workers, and invite everybody. If you don't like them, chances are they don't like you and won't attend.

4) Enjoy your job! I've worked really cool jobs with cool people, and made farthings for a paycheck...and they're the best days of my life! Lots of good friends, lots of good memories, and lots of cheap beer consumed

Good luck!

Radio-X

 

[Phus]

Thanks, guys, for the advice.

I've already had a run-in with an ego or two not just in radio... but in life itself.

I just laugh it off and pay attention to those who deserve to have some sort of ego.

Meh well... take care, guys... see you around!

 

[Marco53]

I learned early on that radio people are very creative and have very active senses of humor. Early on, plan on being subjected to some kind of a practical joke while you're on the air.

If a coworker comes into the studio while you're on the air live and is carrying a razor, a bucket, or worse, both...get ready for something funny to happen.

Also is you read live PSAs, preread them before going on live with them. One of my favorites was to slip "gotchas!" in the PSA pile. It was some off-the-wall organization or event that didn't exist and the first paragraph sounded believeable...until you got to the second paragraph and you realized you had to talk your way out of it because if you kept reading live, you'd be in big trouble!

 

[titoisradio]

What they didn't tell you in college is that they ripped your ass off for tuition. What do you get? Low wages, no job security, used & abused. Yes you will make sacrifices! I've seen many, many, many jocks work two jobs to sit in the "kewl" chair. Pizza boys, chefs, bus boys, retail clerks to supplement their income to survive. Bet they didn't tell you, it is a dog eat dog world. You can consider yourself lucky since most of your fellow ex-classmates will not even see the inside of a radio station after paying such an exorbitant tuition. So sorry school was so damn high for a job that brings such low wages. Welcome to the big city!
Now, unlearn everything you've just learned in school, so you please your PD. Have the time of your life!!!

That may or may not be the case. If its a broadcast school then maybe, if its an accredited 4 year university then the degree he has will pay off in the future whether its in or out of radio. I have a B.A. from Kentucky Wesleyan College in Mass Communications, helped me get my first radio gig through an internship. I took what I learned in college and added that knowledge with what was taught to me by my PD's. I later moved out of radio, continued my education, and now have my MBA. That said I take what I learned in my MBA,apply it to my current job, and learn as much as I can from my CEO about the business and industry I"m in now. Education is never a waste, even if you don't reach your initial job goals or if you change career paths.