Scraping the bottom of the pile.

[clangham]

I started my day off with a good laugh. For the heck of it, I thought I would peruse the 937thezone.com and see what interesting things I could find. Interestingly enough, it seems as KDKA Radio is looking for a full time news anchor. Wonder who is out now?

Personally, I thought Rob Milford did a great job when he was on at 5PM, and then he was replaced with Rasmussen.

But on to the good part, under job listings, (the jobs link is at the bottom of the main page), they are looking for an "assistant cheif engineer",

CBS Radio - Pittsburgh Company jobs -
Postdate Title Job Category Location
04/17/2007 Radio News Anchor Creative Arts/Media Pittsburgh - PA - USA
04/17/2007 Promotions Assistant - PT Other Pittsburgh - PA - USA
04/17/2007 Entry Level Administrative Assistant Administrative Pittsburgh - PA - USA
04/17/2007 Assistant Cheif Engineer Engineering Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh - USA
04/17/2007 Board Operator Other Pittsburgh - PA - USA
04/17/2007 Account Executive Sales/Sales Mgmt USA


Now of course we all know this is not the correct way of spelling "cheif", it is chief. Everyone is entitled to a mistake, but what is really sad is the MAIN listing on eresource is spelled the same way.

Company: CBS Radio-
Pittsburgh

Contact Name: CBS Radio-
Pittsburgh

Job Title: Assistant Cheif Engineer

Job Category: Engineering

So this means the person/secretary actually thinks this the way it is spelled. I know they are trying to cut costs, but it is important to have someone who can spell and actually make the company look intelligent.

I emailed them, so lets see how long it take them to fix it.

No on to the rest of the morning. Enjoy your day.

 

[kenhawk1160]

I started my day off with a good laugh. For the heck of it, I thought I would peruse the 937thezone.com and see what interesting things I could find. Interestingly enough, it seems as KDKA Radio is looking for a full time news anchor. Wonder who is out now?

Personally, I thought Rob Milford did a great job when he was on at 5PM, and then he was replaced with Rasmussen.

But on to the good part, under job listings, (the jobs link is at the bottom of the main page), they are looking for an "assistant cheif engineer",

CBS Radio - Pittsburgh Company jobs -
Postdate Title Job Category Location
04/17/2007 Radio News Anchor Creative Arts/Media Pittsburgh - PA - USA
04/17/2007 Promotions Assistant - PT Other Pittsburgh - PA - USA
04/17/2007 Entry Level Administrative Assistant Administrative Pittsburgh - PA - USA
04/17/2007 Assistant Cheif Engineer Engineering Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh - USA
04/17/2007 Board Operator Other Pittsburgh - PA - USA
04/17/2007 Account Executive Sales/Sales Mgmt USA


Now of course we all know this is not the correct way of spelling "cheif", it is chief. Everyone is entitled to a mistake, but what is really sad is the MAIN listing on eresource is spelled the same way.

Company: CBS Radio-
Pittsburgh

Contact Name: CBS Radio-
Pittsburgh

Job Title: Assistant Cheif Engineer

Job Category: Engineering

So this means the person/secretary actually thinks this the way it is spelled. I know they are trying to cut costs, but it is important to have someone who can spell and actually make the company look intelligent.

I emailed them, so lets see how long it take them to fix it.

No on to the rest of the morning. Enjoy your day.

I had applied to KD for a position right after I got engaged, but didn't get the interview. Since then, I've been approached by their management twice to interview with them for consideration...the most recent time just this past week. I've turned down both opportunities.

It used to be that openings at KD were RARE. Someone had to die or retire before a slot would open. Now it seems like they have openings every other week. Though the thought of making more money is always more alluring, I enjoy being valued and appreciated by the people I'm working for now at my small market group stations (which would successfully rival anything in Pittsburgh), and knowing that I'm going to have a job tomorrow. That's not the case with KD anymore.

I hope its not Kelly Pidgeon who's out. I didn't see his name on their website anymore. He was an asset to that station.

 

[dtube1]

Rumor has it, Pigeon took a different job in the station.
-D

 

[Sahisko]

Hmm...these jobs as board operators / producers that are open on that site, when they say some radio experience would they take people with college radio experience or do they only want people with real radio station experience?

 

[Radio_Realist]

when they say some radio experience would they take people with college radio experience or do they only want people with real radio station experience?

Probably neither. Based on what others who actually work (or worked) at KDKA have posted in this forum, KDKA only advertises jobs after they have found someone for the job. The advertising is just to keep the EEOC people happy. I have no first-hand knowledge of KDKA to confirm or deny what others have posted, but I do have first-hand experience with other companies who did the exact same thing.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Hmm...these jobs as board operators / producers that are open on that site, when they say some radio experience would they take people with college radio experience or do they only want people with real radio station experience?

Good question...because I don't equate college radio experience (unless they went to Westminster) with commercial radio experience. The difference between the two is DISCIPLINE...college students don't have it.

 

[kenhawk1160]

I do have first-hand experience with other companies who did the exact same thing.

3WS under Shamrock ownership was shamelessly famous for it.

 

[pbf1]

Glass houses and stones!

Giving your credentials and your persona, this would be a good fit for you and may be a good profession.

It should be "given," not "giving." Better to leave one's mouth closed so as to not look like a fool, rather than open it and remove all doubt...

 

[SteelRocker]

Sahisko, a good place for you to start your radio career would be announcing what gas pumps are on at SHeetz. Giving your credentials and your persona, this would be a good fit for you and may be a good profession.

What is your problem ChancellorDukat? All I asked was a question from these people here who know radio in PGH. Excuse me if I am just a kid who loves radio and I don't have 40 years in radio under my belt like you may have, I am sure you had to start somewhere, right? Geesh.

Sahisco, what he said was in very poor taste, and I doubt he could even operate the MTO at Sheetz.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Sahisko, a good place for you to start your radio career would be announcing what gas pumps are on at SHeetz. Giving your credentials and your persona, this would be a good fit for you and may be a good profession.

Chancellor...uncalled for. Let's keep this civil.

 

[ChancellorDukat]

My apologizes to you Sahisko and everyone else in this board, I meant it as a sarcastic joke. And I too started at the bottom eons ago, just work hard and keep the passion and you will do well.

 

[Sahisko]

No worries Chancellor, its okay.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Now Sahisko, since you did bring up the question as to what kind of experience KDKA was looking for insofar as board ops, I'm assuming you have some experience at the college level, yes?

If you wish to pursue a board-op position there, that's up to you. I just want you to know that your chances of rising above board-op with no other commercial experience are very slim in an operation like that. You're better off getting a board-op job at a small station, then graduating to announcer, and more glamorous (for lack of a better word) duties that you can put on a resume and it will look more attractive to major market stations in the long run.

In other words, start at the bottom of the latter in the bottom of the market. The rate at which you climb is up to you. If you start at the top with no real experience, the fall to the bottom is going to hurt, and it's going to hurt hard. Because it WILL happen.

Good luck, friend.

 

[Sahisko]

Now Sahisko, since you did bring up the question as to what kind of experience KDKA was looking for insofar as board ops, I'm assuming you have some experience at the college level, yes?

If you wish to pursue a board-op position there, that's up to you. I just want you to know that your chances of rising above board-op with no other commercial experience are very slim in an operation like that. You're better off getting a board-op job at a small station, then graduating to announcer, and more glamorous (for lack of a better word) duties that you can put on a resume and it will look more attractive to major market stations in the long run.

In other words, start at the bottom of the latter in the bottom of the market. The rate at which you climb is up to you. If you start at the top with no real experience, the fall to the bottom is going to hurt, and it's going to hurt hard. Because it WILL happen.

Good luck, friend.

Thanks kenhawk, got a question for you too,

I would probably have NO chance of getting a job at a station that big like kdka anyways, but it was worth to ask, everyone says I should start at a small radio station first and work up. Hey, even if I am moping floors I am there, right? Its an awesome profession but I have quickly learned that its a profession that doesn't guarantee anything and its all about talent and 'entertaining' the audience. No unions there...haha. As a person in radio, Would you recommend to rookies like myself to start with a small independent station OR a small commercial station (and start like by doing the street team stuff) to get 'my feet wet' and build resume material? I have heard both but I don't know what really they all look at, I assume you can move up farther with a independent station and even be on air faster but I don't know if you would get laughed out of town if you applied for a job at a commercial radio station.

 

[Parttimer]

No clue what they are looking for now, but when I was at Pitt they hired a college radio friend of mine to produce Bogut's show, and she eventually became PD.

 

[Radio_Realist]

From what I've been told by head hunters and people who work in radio, college experience for a radio job is like college experience for any other job. Anyone who gives you a one-size-fits-all blanket answer is wrong.

Anyone hiring someone at any station will look at college experience and evaluate that experience in a variety of ways. For instance, which college was it? Was it a college with a highly respected campus radio station, or one that was run like a minor extra-curricular activity? What course did you major in? If you have college radio station experience while earning a Bachelor's degree in Broadcasting Arts, that college radio experience will be a lot more impressive than if you had DJ show for one half hour a week while getting a degree in animal husbandry.

If you have college radio experience at the same college that the guy doing the hiring worked at when he was in college, and you both belonged to the same fraternity, that might help you more than if you worked at, say, WVU and the guy doing the hiring went to Pitt.

And, a lot will depend on what you did at the college radio station. There's a world of difference between doing an hour DJ show once a week and actually working on the staff of the station.

But, I think you might have figured all that stuff out for yourself if you actually had a college degree.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Thanks kenhawk, got a question for you too,

I would probably have NO chance of getting a job at a station that big like kdka anyways, but it was worth to ask, everyone says I should start at a small radio station first and work up. Hey, even if I am moping floors I am there, right? Its an awesome profession but I have quickly learned that its a profession that doesn't guarantee anything and its all about talent and 'entertaining' the audience. No unions there...haha. As a person in radio, Would you recommend to rookies like myself to start with a small independent station OR a small commercial station (and start like by doing the street team stuff) to get 'my feet wet' and build resume material? I have heard both but I don't know what really they all look at, I assume you can move up farther with a independent station and even be on air faster but I don't know if you would get laughed out of town if you applied for a job at a commercial radio station.

What exactly do you mean by an 'independent' station? When I say commercial, that's any station that is NOT a college station or a non-profit religious one. In other words, almost all stations are commercial...including small markets. Clarify your definition of independent.

 

[kenhawk1160]

From what I've been told by head hunters and people who work in radio, college experience for a radio job is like college experience for any other job. Anyone who gives you a one-size-fits-all blanket answer is wrong.

Anyone hiring someone at any station will look at college experience and evaluate that experience in a variety of ways. For instance, which college was it? Was it a college with a highly respected campus radio station, or one that was run like a minor extra-curricular activity? What course did you major in? If you have college radio station experience while earning a Bachelor's degree in Broadcasting Arts, that college radio experience will be a lot more impressive than if you had DJ show for one half hour a week while getting a degree in animal husbandry.

If you have college radio experience at the same college that the guy doing the hiring worked at when he was in college, and you both belonged to the same fraternity, that might help you more than if you worked at, say, WVU and the guy doing the hiring went to Pitt.

And, a lot will depend on what you did at the college radio station. There's a world of difference between doing an hour DJ show once a week and actually working on the staff of the station.

But, I think you might have figured all that stuff out for yourself if you actually had a college degree.

This is why I mentioned Westminster College, Realist. This is the tightest-run ship of a radio station that I've ever heard. The jocks have to adhere to a tight playlist, they do real-time airshifts, and they sound just as good as anything that would come out of Pittsburgh.

In fact, listen for yourself. It's a Hot AC, and it's commercial free. It's the at-work station for lots of businesses in the local area...

http://www.westminster.edu/student/Orgs/radio/radio_news.cfm

The jocks of course, aren't pros, but they're getting their feet wet, and the raw material that's on the air sounds a lot more promising than most upstarts I hear nowadays.

IUP actually had a half-decent radio curriculum in the late 80's. However, Dr. Leidman, who had run the program for years very successfully, had been experiencing some health problems and was delegating much of her responsibilities to others who were nowhere near as competent as she was.

 

[Radio_Realist]

In fact, listen for yourself. It's a Hot AC, and it's commercial free.

I'll take your word for it. There's nothing that would get me to voluntarily listen to Hot AC for more than a few minutes, no matter how good it was done. Not that there's anything wrong with Hot AC. I'm sure the people that enjoy that genre of music are nice people. But I'm not one of them.

I recall that back in the late 60's and early 70's, WPPJ at Point Park College had a similar reputation. When 102.5 switched from wall-to-wall Brother John Rydgren on automation to real live DJ's, it seems like they almost hired WPPJ's entire staff. I can't remember if that was in conjunction with the switch from KQV-FM to WDVE, or if the call letters were changed earlier.

WPPJ's veterans include Kenny Karpinski (aka Kenny Lee and Kenny Long), Dawhite Douglas (that's how he spelled it back then), Rick Skrinjar, Ed Sherlock, Gregg Scott, Ron Chavis, and many, many others.

 

[Parttimer]

WPPJ's veterans include Kenny Karpinski (aka Kenny Lee and Kenny Long), Dawhite Douglas (that's how he spelled it back then), Rick Skrinjar, Ed Sherlock, Gregg Scott, Ron Chavis, and many, many others.

And a guy named Clarke Ingram, no?