• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

What did you do for work as an unemployed DJ? We've all been there...

I'm not trying to start anything but if some of the jobs mentioned here pay you more than radio, then your radio career was fairly low key.

I've not gotten wealthy from radio but nothing I've tried in between gigs comes close to paying as much or having a biger "fun" quotient. Even at stations where I worked for jerks, my worst day there was preferable to my best day at non-radio jobs.

One of the worst between gigs jobs I had was years ago. I "managed" a resume writing office. Of course, I was the only employee. It was one of a dozen offices this co. ran in the city. I was hired as an "independent contractor" to avoid benefits but I was really constantly pushed to get more $$ out of folks who stopped in. I'd get a 20 yr old young lady who was looking for a receptionist job and the idea was to push a $300 resume package on her. I couldn't do it - too much conscience. The job only lasted a few months. I was miserable.

As for radio ... I think the adage "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" is apt.
 
If you want to stay in "radio" for slightly more pay, longer hours, less respect, go into engineering!
What with most of the engineers I know being over 50, there'll be lots of openings soon.
They even get to open the mic occasionally to say "KXXX now leaves the air for technical maintenance...".
 
boiseengineer said:
If you want to stay in "radio" for slightly more pay, longer hours, less respect, go into engineering!
What with most of the engineers I know being over 50, there'll be lots of openings soon.
They even get to open the mic occasionally to say "KXXX now leaves the air for technical maintenance...".
Click to expand...

You get to see some amazing things as an engineer. Rather than being in a studio all day, you can be out and about, various events, mountainsides, rooftops, big events, back stage etc... I'm sitting at an event right now diggin it! Engineering is a whole other world, aside from the "glam" job of being on the air. And if you wanted to, you can talk your way into doing some commercial spots or some on air "appearances" when time permits.

Or you can clip fish fins at a hatchery.

Good luck!

-T
 
Dog trainer for Petco.

High fun quotient, low pay, lots of doggie kisses ;D
 
Re: Engineering training

create said:
What sort of training/degree/certification/etc does a person need to work in Engineering?
Click to expand...

You should have a good understanding of basic electronics and be reasonably well versed in computers. If you're strong in one area most employers will help you get better in the other.

Take a look at this site's Engineering board for starters, then maybe check out SBE's website or other engineering forums.
 
This entire thread is why I love smaller market radio. Someone in a small little burg always needs a PD who gets it. The pay is liveable, benefits are fine and I don't have to worry about someone stealing my Jeep.

(happened when I lived in Burien. )

Now I am a small market ops mahager maknig a (very) liveable wage.. The only thing I dont like here is the weather.. I miss the rain in the NW but ya get used to the heat. and the extreme cold..
 
Hi Raizin!
Alan here... former webspinner for D in my last paying stint. As a radio prostitue myself I had to sling any format, or other station tasks, that tossed cash at me from time to time... no matter how ugly. So perhaps just getting your foot back in the door would a good first move even if it is not for an airshift that you prefer. With the only constant in radio being 'change', you never know when you'll be in the position to just plain be there at the right time. Another option- club DJ's can make FREAKIN GREAT MONEY if you play it right and never forget that you are the star- not the club owner/operator.

I am looking for work right now as well though not in corp radio. The web is where the money is at for producers etc right now... if you got the tech for that stuff the offers are many and pretty big. With more and more multimedia applications, sound and production work of all kinds is in demand. Again though I must state that this is for anything web related outside of the radio business right now... they just don't get that getting into the web business means hiring people with the skills and paying fairly for it- Just like they have killed off ANY thrill I ever had to work as an air talent. I had the ratings too- You had some GREAT books at the 'Primate' too as I remember, especially with the station being at the fringe of the market geographically. I will always remember walking down the hall at Clearchannel and being surprised by what you and Kennedy were up to- whether there was fire and smoke... or some hot porno star in your studio, you guys made the office fun!

Hope you stick to your guns and get the gig you deserve Raizin! YOU ROCK!!!
-DJ Alan
 
Bob_Hudson said:
garnet said:
I did nights on CHR's all accross the country for abour 12 years, then got my shot at mornings in a top 20 market, stayed there for 8 years(great run). They blew up the station and put me on afternoons on the new station, stayed for 3 years, then they blew that station up and said good-bye to me after 11 years with the company and a wonderful paycheck. Now, after unemployment, a stint at a "broadcasting school"(faking it all the way), and a two week span of delivering phone books...I now drive a big box truck delivering food to nursing homes and factorys...and I went to college for this? And tonight, I audition for a DJ postition at a "gentlemens club"...something I never wanted to do, but the pay is double what driving a truck pays. I have a wife and kids and a mortage...still wanna be in radio recent college grads?
Click to expand...

Rather like the guy who had the job shoveling up the elephant poo at the circus. His friends saw the flies, the smell and the general nastiness of the job and asked why he didn't quit?

"What," he replied, "and give up show business?"

Radio does not prepare you do anything else in the world which is why I advise people who want to be in radio to do only mornings or evenings so you can spend the day doing something that has some chance of carrying you through life.

Either that or marry for money.
Click to expand...

That's what makes life worth living for when you're almost 40. You're still (semi) young, life can change and there is still so much yet to learn about in life.

Sometimes, the older we get, the more we all just want to scream "JUST STOP!" But it doesn't. You just used to it and find other ways around it. If not, then we find others like ourselves and form our own, more genuine clique.

LPFM was started for a reason.

Life today is much different now than it was in 1988 (which I can remember almost as clearly as yesterday.) In 1988, things were NOT perfect (ANYTHING but.) But opportunities STILL abounded in the radio industry yet. An enterprising radio jock did not necessarily have to give up his/her personal life, his/her significant other (or the potential thereof) to actually ENJOY life BEYOND the studio and make ends meet. Experiences we can value a lot later in life, experiences that can teach listeners as well as upstart broadcasters how it REALLY is.

Radio 101 doesn't teach that (or glosses over it.) Fact is, it's NEVER as pretty as it LOOKS (or SOUNDS, actually.)
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom