New careers for former dj's - where do we go from here?

[Eat2TheBeat]

Time to play career counselor......

With so many personalities & programmers out of work due to the shrinking radio industry, what other careers are available to us? How can we apply our skills in fields outside of radio? You would think wearing so many hats over the last several years would improve our resumes! Any thoughts?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Drive Through? Telemarketing?

Considering the wide variation in educational backgrounds, intellectual capabilities, writing skills, technical proficiency, etc., this would seem to be an unanswerable question. You could end up anywhere from the "Attention K-Mart Shoppers" announcer to a corporate communications executive position.

There is a woeful lack of jobs listing "smart-a$$" as a preferred job skill.

 

[Eat2TheBeat]

Yes, there is a wide scope, but I believe that there is life after radio.

These days, many radio professionals have to wear many hats, ie, on air/programming and promotions all rolled into one. That takes a lot of skill! Between good communication skills, the ability to manage staff, departmental budgeting, production skills and marketing & promotions of the stations "brand", I think former radio professionals have a better outlook than "attention K Mart shoppers"!

 

[radiopronouncer]

Time to play career counselor......

With so many personalities & programmers out of work due to the shrinking radio industry, what other careers are available to us? How can we apply our skills in fields outside of radio? You would think wearing so many hats over the last several years would improve our resumes! Any thoughts?

I've known of radio announcers who went into many different fields, including insurance sales, x-ray, law enforcement, retail, teaching and other fields. It just depends on the person's interests and aptitudes...and the opportunities that happen to be available at the time.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I asked the same question of myself 30 something years ago.... and looking back.... here are a few observations:

(I also worked in radio sales and had a first phone, so that should have opened up some fields in addition to what experience as a dj alone could lead to.)

Remember, there are already people do all the things for which you may think you would be a natural fit. Many of them have all the same anxieties about THEIR career path that you have about yours. Sometimes the grass in NOT any greener on the other side of the fence.

There are a number of employers and HR people who have negative feelings about people in radio. Not everyone will come running out in the lobby yelling: "Where is the radio guy. I want to interview him first!"

Get a mentor. Find someone who is at least as good as you are.... hopefully someone who is out in front of you a bit in career. Trying soar like an eagle can be lonely.

Learn to network. The more people you know and connect with, the more openings and opportunities you will hear about. Think of your networking group as mini-mentors.

Everybody you meet will assure you that they are in world's toughest business, and may advise you to try some other business where the grass is greener.

Decide whether you are willing to move, relocatable. That is the main thing that took me out of broadcasting. I decided the moving had to stop. I would do whatever just to stay still for awhile.

Got degree? Get one! The number of things you can hope to do with satisfaction and success without a degree gets smaller and smaller. Yeah, you can point to exceptions, but the list is short. I was a grandfather before I was a degree holder. Truth is, it didn't open up a whole lot of things for me at that age, but it did help.

Do what you have a passion for!!!!

 

[Jimme]

Given most DJ's don't work 40-hour weeks, do some hold part-time jobs in other fields? Those avocations could become the central vocation. Alternatively, I have heard of radio personalities doing typical things such as sales, real estate, personal appearances, television work, and using their savings to open franchises of national companies. Social work would be a natural - working with troubled teens, for example. Some use their contacts with bands to work as a concern promoter, band manager, or road crew member. Some go into fund raising for charities, lending their notoriety to a given cause. The best one I am aware of was Cleveland / New York veteran Bill Randle who, after working several years in radio in the 50's and 60's returned to Cleveland to teach at the college level and open a law practice. When he returned to the airwaves in the late 70's, he did commercials for his own law firm on his talk shows. An early low-budget Bill Handel!

 

[SirRoxalot]

40 Hour Week?

Given most DJ's don't work 40-hour weeks, do some hold part-time jobs in other fields?

I don't know where you work, but I've never worked a 40-hour week in radio because I've rarely had the luxury of working that few hours. Between airshifts, now with VT duties added, production, personal appearances, the inevitable "fill-in-the-blank" director (APD, MD, PSA, etc.), plus the dozens of "undefined" duties that get dumped on most jocks by management cutting corners, radio's almost always been 6 days a week, and 50+ hours - not including show prep or "volunteer" charity appearances.

Thank goodness that the personal appearance stuff pays extra.

 

[SweetTea]

From one of my other posts on a similiar subject a couple of weeks ago:

So you've been in radio your whole life, and you think you have no marketable skills, because all you've heard is management tell you how worthless you are? You are so wrong.

You have communication skills that no one else in the corporate world has. You are comfortable taking on situations without fully knowing all of the parameters and making the end result look completely professional. You are brimming with years of self-confidence. You know how to listen to other people. You can stand up in front of a room full of people without being nervous. You're expert at giving presentations. You have an finely honed sense of timing and organization. "Prep time" is not an unknown phrase to you. Neither are "producing results" or "hard work". You probably have writing skills. You understand how media works and can be utilized to strengthen a business. You have confidence in yourself.

You can take these skills anywhere you want. Do you want Sales? Go for it? Don't want Sales? Find something you like to do. The business world needs your skills. You're only limited by your imagination.

 

[Eat2TheBeat]

That's great! Thanks Sweet Pea

 

[amfmsw]

I've seen the happiest results both personally and professionally in the public relations fields.

Corporate representatives, community liasons, marketing managers, advertising, copywriting, production and internet. These former radio talents now shine in these areas, are paid well, and are respected by the companies for which they work.

Think about it, as a radio talent, how many countless times have you heard something and said "if they did this, it would have more impact"? Or "if they ran their spots at this time, it would be cheaper and more effective"? Or "that's the dumbest writing ever" when hearing a phone number for a car dealer...who ever test drove and bought a car over the phone?

And if you really have a good track record, there's a dire need for fresh ideas in consulting. Maybe you're the next Drake-Chenault or Mike Joseph.

 

[radioboy]

Here's another thread on this topic:
http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,87383.0/html


Just over three years ago, I was at a station when we were told an LMA was coming. I decided to retire from the daily radio rat race, but wanted to stay in radio at least part-time. But..there was nothing available in my market.

I ended up doing some free-lance writing, including an article for Radio World. I did some copywriting here and there..but I finally decided to resume a show I'd loved doing in the past, and I self-syndicated it. Thank goodness my wife is doing well in her career in education or we'd be starving, though!

Here's where some co-workers ended up:
--one is at a Radio Shack in Wisconsin
--one is retired but has a station on Live365 for something to do
--one is in the medical field in South Florida
--one started his own advertising agency and voices "on hold" services for businesses

There IS life after radio, but it's NOT the same!!

 

[radionut925]

Here's another thread on this topic:
http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,87383.0/html


Just over three years ago, I was at a station when we were told an LMA was coming. I decided to retire from the daily radio rat race, but wanted to stay in radio at least part-time. But..there was nothing available in my market.

I ended up doing some free-lance writing, including an article for Radio World. I did some copywriting here and there..but I finally decided to resume a show I'd loved doing in the past, and I self-syndicated it. Thank goodness my wife is doing well in her career in education or we'd be starving, though!

Here's where some co-workers ended up:
--one is at a Radio Shack in Wisconsin
--one is retired but has a station on Live365 for something to do
--one is in the medical field in South Florida
--one started his own advertising agency and voices "on hold" services for businesses

There IS life after radio, but it's NOT the same!!

How about another one

http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,93031.0.html

 

[radionut925]

Here's another thread on this topic:
http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,87383.0/html


Just over three years ago, I was at a station when we were told an LMA was coming. I decided to retire from the daily radio rat race, but wanted to stay in radio at least part-time. But..there was nothing available in my market.

I ended up doing some free-lance writing, including an article for Radio World. I did some copywriting here and there..but I finally decided to resume a show I'd loved doing in the past, and I self-syndicated it. Thank goodness my wife is doing well in her career in education or we'd be starving, though!

Here's where some co-workers ended up:
--one is at a Radio Shack in Wisconsin
--one is retired but has a station on Live365 for something to do
--one is in the medical field in South Florida
--one started his own advertising agency and voices "on hold" services for businesses

There IS life after radio, but it's NOT the same!!

You're right, it's not.

 

[rickradio]

There IS life after radio, but it's NOT the same!!

But is it better or worse? Personally, the quality of my life has gone way up. Don't have to go to a pressure cooker anymore, be told how worthless I am, put up with all the crap, no more being expected to do 6 people's jobs and getting mercilessly lambasted when the least little thing goes wrong because something slipped thru a crack (there's only so much a person can do...something's gotta give). No more having to deal with clueless, two-faced GMs and their minions who are nice to your face while secretly planning your demise and who have absolutely ZERO understanding of radio let alone appreciation for the job we all did of keeping their station street legal. I'm so glad to be out of the meat grinder finally.

Everyone I know has commented on how much happier I seem to be, how much sunnier my disposition has gotten, and how unstressed I am these days.

I didn't leave radio, it left me. And I gotta say, I don't really miss the malicious old witch it's become.