Saga Communications, Cayuga Radio Group Ithaca New York needs a Cheif Engineer yesterday! 607-257-6400
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Need a Cheif Engineer...
- Thread starter ROCKTHEMIC
- Start date
Good luck. Good chiefs are few and far between. Most good ones stick around a station for years. Young people are needed but not being trained to replace the older guys that will retire out at some point soon. The industry is headed for a real shortage in the next five or so years....
Who was the last Chief, and why did s/he leave? I suspect they can purchase someone for a hell of a lot less money than it would take to move me to upstate New York. Lotsa luck.
Bill Gates probably doesn't have enough in his checking account to get me to move to nyc.... I can't say I have an particular affliction to upstate ny other than it being on thw east coast and with nasty precip several times a yr.
I'm looking on their Web site, and don't see anything about the job being listed. It does list Jason Gorodetzer as the Chief Engineer, however.
This is a station cluster, two AM's and three FM's. I could be convinced if the offer was over $80K plus benefits. But nothing less at this point in my life. And I'm not unhappy where I am, after all.
This is a station cluster, two AM's and three FM's. I could be convinced if the offer was over $80K plus benefits. But nothing less at this point in my life. And I'm not unhappy where I am, after all.
OKCRadioGuy said:The industry is headed for a real shortage in the next five or so years....
I think good engineers are already in shortage... What I'm curios about is where have they gone? IT?
OTOH, the shortage might be good for those still in business - the demand for good engineers should drive the salaries up!
Regards,
Goran Tomas
Perhaps radio is not that appealing as it used to be. They rather go for IT as that is the future, and radio engineering is becoming more and more IT anyway. Finding engineers for the "old" stuff will become hard. Interesting point about salaries, it may be more efficient to replace old stuff that no one can maintain with newer equipment at some point.
I think a lot of great radio engineers came out of the DJ ranks over the years. A station with a crew of live DJ's would almost certainly have a couple young kids working weekends or overnights who, by chance or by desire, would start working with the existing chief during off-hours to help out. That would usually lead to a mentoring-type relationship and eventually, a CE position. Hell, I got my start by fixing a Tapecaster X700 and a sweeper, which attracted the attention of the GM and CE at my first station. I worked with that CE, learning the ropes while I DJ'd and worked production. Nowadays, there's far fewer DJ's and hence, far fewer Ass't CE candidates. If a station gets lucky, they will have a youngster around who helps out with IT who might also take some interest in shadowing the CE. Of course, no station is going to pay that poor kid to shadow the CE. SO, we get no young blood in. Radio doesn't pull from the EE ranks because the pay is low (and the SPE looks down on the SBE IMO).
A smaller consideration here is that I also think that a lot of High School science programs are missing an opportunity by not including electronics in their curriculm. Anyone here get the electronics bug by putting together one of those wonderful "101 Electronics Project" kits they got for Christmas? I had a science teacher who loved pulling out his oscilliscope and a wafeform generator when he had time to kill. That, along with meeting the legendary "Jimmy and Steve" from WDVE in Pittsburgh at a young age really cemented it for me.
Ok, disjointed rant mode off... ;D
-D
A smaller consideration here is that I also think that a lot of High School science programs are missing an opportunity by not including electronics in their curriculm. Anyone here get the electronics bug by putting together one of those wonderful "101 Electronics Project" kits they got for Christmas? I had a science teacher who loved pulling out his oscilliscope and a wafeform generator when he had time to kill. That, along with meeting the legendary "Jimmy and Steve" from WDVE in Pittsburgh at a young age really cemented it for me.
Ok, disjointed rant mode off... ;D
-D
Radio is not interesting or fascinating technology to younger folk. I see 7 and 8 year olds with Iphones and using wireless laptops. My six year old can download and burn MP3's and troubleshoot the Wii. I admit, I have trouble using the Wii and other gadgets. Getting used to Vista was also a challenge. Let's face it, we're getting old people. With less than 10% of teenagers listening to FM radio on a regular basis, our beloved technology is on notice. Surface mount technology is everywhere. Many university EE programs have dropped solder/component requirements for the 200-300 levels. EE has become computer engineering. So many of you are right; CE's are not coming out of college. Many are DJ's with an interest in tweaking. The problem is there are still too many high-voltage rigs out there for the inexperienced to mess with. An old power rock will kill you quicker than you can say Ipod. The SBE is trying to bolster up some interest by having the lower level certs. It's a good start!
fm-engineer said:Radio is not interesting or fascinating technology to younger folk. I see 7 and 8 year olds with Iphones and using wireless laptops. My six year old can download and burn MP3's and troubleshoot the Wii. I admit, I have trouble using the Wii and other gadgets. Getting used to Vista was also a challenge. Let's face it, we're getting old people. With less than 10% of teenagers listening to FM radio on a regular basis, our beloved technology is on notice. Surface mount technology is everywhere. Many university EE programs have dropped solder/component requirements for the 200-300 levels. EE has become computer engineering. So many of you are right; CE's are not coming out of college. Many are DJ's with an interest in tweaking. The problem is there are still too many high-voltage rigs out there for the inexperienced to mess with. An old power rock will kill you quicker than you can say Ipod. The SBE is trying to bolster up some interest by having the lower level certs. It's a good start!
I'll take it a step further, how many here found radio engineering through amateur radio? There is no motivation like there was fifteen years ago and beyond to seek a ham license. Today, if you want instantaneous communications with someone in Europe, you exchange email, IM or skype.
While we are on the subject, what about the future of those who know the black magic voodoo that is AM directional arrays. Now there is an engineering art form that has the potential for extinction.
Don Mussell said:I'm looking on their Web site, and don't see anything about the job being listed. It does list Jason Gorodetzer as the Chief Engineer, however.
This is a station cluster, two AM's and three FM's. I could be convinced if the offer was over $80K plus benefits. But nothing less at this point in my life. And I'm not unhappy where I am, after all.
It's Saga, which means you'd be lucky to get $50K....
LA_Guy said:Don Mussell said:I'm looking on their Web site, and don't see anything about the job being listed. It does list Jason Gorodetzer as the Chief Engineer, however.
This is a station cluster, two AM's and three FM's. I could be convinced if the offer was over $80K plus benefits. But nothing less at this point in my life. And I'm not unhappy where I am, after all.
It's Saga, which means you'd be lucky to get $50K....
That's sad!
fm-engineer said:LA_Guy said:Don Mussell said:I'm looking on their Web site, and don't see anything about the job being listed. It does list Jason Gorodetzer as the Chief Engineer, however.
This is a station cluster, two AM's and three FM's. I could be convinced if the offer was over $80K plus benefits. But nothing less at this point in my life. And I'm not unhappy where I am, after all.
It's Saga, which means you'd be lucky to get $50K....
That's sad!
I enjoy broadcasting tech, and still tinker for an LPFM, but apparently my guess that I would do better financially by taking my EE degree elsewhere was correct.
Jason is heading south to Baltimore. The pay, I can't say, but Saga is one of the few companies left that is actually doing ok. At least that cluster is! If anyone knows of interested parties please send them that way. Thanks...
fm-engineer said:LA_Guy said:Don Mussell said:I'm looking on their Web site, and don't see anything about the job being listed. It does list Jason Gorodetzer as the Chief Engineer, however.
This is a station cluster, two AM's and three FM's. I could be convinced if the offer was over $80K plus benefits. But nothing less at this point in my life. And I'm not unhappy where I am, after all.
It's Saga, which means you'd be lucky to get $50K....
That's sad!
And I know companies in way higher markets then this who refuse to pay above 40K. Not much incentive for anyone to work in this field anymore...
1
136kgb
Guest
At some point in the next 10 years I suspect the need for AM directional engineers, and transmitter engineers will be just about completely gone. When the auto manufacturers start putting internet in the cars, broadcasting is dead. There will still be a need for studio engineers, but not for transmitters. I recently got an Iphone, I listen to music, to internet radio and I don't loose the signal unless I am driving between dead zones. Once the holes are filled in with cell towers, and the car makers put the internet in the cars, it is done!
Don Mussell said:I could be convinced if the offer was over $80K plus benefits.
You're kidding, right? If not, I am once again glad I left the business over a decade ago.
You usually get what you pay for. Taking care of a small to mid cluster deserves decent pay. The guys making 20-30k and running between 10 stations is horrible. It usually shows in their work too. I turned in my IBEW card several years ago, but I do still believe good work equals a decent wage. The going rate for upper level consulting is around $1200 per day not including travel and expenses. Look to pay about 600 or 800 per day for decent contract engineer. I know many mid-level cluster guys making 60k to 80k.radiosaur said:Don Mussell said:I could be convinced if the offer was over $80K plus benefits.
You're kidding, right? If not, I am once again glad I left the business over a decade ago.
136kgb said:At some point in the next 10 years I suspect the need for AM directional engineers, and transmitter engineers will be just about completely gone. When the auto manufacturers start putting internet in the cars, broadcasting is dead. There will still be a need for studio engineers, but not for transmitters. I recently got an Iphone, I listen to music, to internet radio and I don't loose the signal unless I am driving between dead zones. Once the holes are filled in with cell towers, and the car makers put the internet in the cars, it is done!
I'm afraid you may be right. Internet capable radios will be standard option before HD radio ever makes a complete roll-out. The NAB is hoping the content licensing people are in their hip pockets.
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Look to pay about 600 or 800 per day for decent contract engineer.
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I know of stations in my neck of the woods paying more than that for contract guys who don't know what they're doing. Some of these 'contractors' are flat out thieves who make it harder for us honest guys looking to make some extra cash.
Look to pay about 600 or 800 per day for decent contract engineer.
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I know of stations in my neck of the woods paying more than that for contract guys who don't know what they're doing. Some of these 'contractors' are flat out thieves who make it harder for us honest guys looking to make some extra cash.
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