You're hired! Without an interview?

[PeeWee]

allen...maybe you can help me with this..many years ago wrns used the slogan..wrns the station everybody is talking about..at the same time they had some jock go crazy...i think he climbed the tower or try to take over the station..do you remember that?

 

[XTalker]

lol. I wrote my name, address, phone number and birthdate. I didn't know my SSN....I mean, hell, I was 15 and a half...I didn't memorize my SSN until I went to college. I remember wondering if I filled it out right. A blank sheet of paper...geez.

It would be an interesting way to interview someone, wouldn't it. Give them a blank sheet of paper and 20 minutes to fill out the "application". Could certainly give some insight into one's thoughts about radio.

Heck, Scott, if you had written something creative you might have gotten the GM's job! :~)

I remember taking my wife on a job interview once. Took her into the GM's office with me. She sat quietly while I was quizzed. I got the job and he later told me that my concern for my family's interest in my career made the difference.

 

[Ssummers]

lol. I wrote my name, address, phone number and birthdate. I didn't know my SSN....I mean, hell, I was 15 and a half...I didn't memorize my SSN until I went to college. I remember wondering if I filled it out right. A blank sheet of paper...geez.

It would be an interesting way to interview someone, wouldn't it. Give them a blank sheet of paper and 20 minutes to fill out the "application". Could certainly give some insight into one's thoughts about radio.

Heck, Scott, if you had written something creative you might have gotten the GM's job! :~)

I remember taking my wife on a job interview once. Took her into the GM's office with me. She sat quietly while I was quizzed. I got the job and he later told me that my concern for my family's interest in my career made the difference.

Yeah, it sure would be. Later on, when I went to college at the University of South Carolina, I heard of a philosophy professor who, for the final exam, came into class the day of the exam and wrote the word "WHY?" on the board. The only "A" awarded for the class was supposedly a doofus student who wrote, "WHY NOT?!" in his bluebook. Probably just an urban legend, but it always reminded me of that day I filled out a blank freaking sheet of paper for a job app.

It would also be a good "Candid Camera" prank.

 

[fortmill]

Apropos of nothing whatsoever, it still seemed like the proper thread to share this with my radio peers: I started when I was 14 at a local AM daytimer(1kw/250w) in SC. When I got canned a year and a half later, I went to the competition in town...another AM daytimer(250w). They were located in a trailer in the bad side of town. They knew who I was, for sure, and yes, they were keenly interested in swooping in and hiring someone from the "other" guys across town. So what did they do? They gave me an application...a blank sheet of paper, and said, "Ok, um, how about you fill this out for us." Never got a blank sheet of paper for a job app ever again....but I did get hired.

Well, I'm sure you enjoyed your time at WSDC, "The Projects Station," in beautiful Hartsville SC, though I guess it was somewhat of a comedown from slick and professional WHSC...

 

[drpickle]

If any of these stations are hiring today and will pay me at least $350-$400 a week I will be down there within 2 weeks. I'll pay for my own moving expenses.

 

[Ssummers]

Well, I'm sure you enjoyed your time at WSDC, "The Projects Station," in beautiful Hartsville SC, though I guess it was somewhat of a comedown from slick and professional WHSC...

Yep...Lincoln Village been berry, berry good to me. And FYI, I've been in the Atl, Charlotte, Myrtle Beach at Sun Fun, Tampa at Gasparilla and tons of other places, but nothing beats working at WHSC and dropping by Big WAGS during the Cotton Festival. Felt like a freaking ROCK STAR!!!!!!

 

[firecop947]

allen...maybe you can help me with this..many years ago wrns used the slogan..wrns the station everybody is talking about..at the same time they had some jock go crazy...i think he climbed the tower or try to take over the station..do you remember that?

It happened at WRNS in 1983/84 I think. The guys name was Bo Wiley. He was fired and went back on the air with a shotgun and took over the control room. Wayne Carlyle was there and locked himself in the bathroom. I was working at WFMA in RockyMount when the news story came over NCNN and then CBS. Since then I have never seen a control room door that locked! ;D

Take Care.

 

[allenv]

That happened I believe in March 1985 at WRNS.I think Kevin O'Neal had fired Bo and Bo did what we all have thought about doing at least for a second.The gun was not loaded.I think Cynthia was on the air.What Bo did was wrong but part of me understands.I was in high school computer science when I heard about it.I wish I had the audio..

Allen

 

[The Beave]

It happened at WRNS in 1983/84 I think. The guys name was Bo Wiley. He was fired and went back on the air with a shotgun and took over the control room. Wayne Carlyle was there and locked himself in the bathroom. I was working at WFMA in RockyMount when the news story came over NCNN and then CBS. Since then I have never seen a control room door that locked! ;D

The NEW 1100am WZFG in Fargo.. A totally brand new station - the on air section of the building has a security system on the double doors going to the studios - although they don't lock from the inside, and the control rooms/studios are very visible to the public. WZFG-Am also signs on Monday for the first time at 8am central.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

They gave me an application...a blank sheet of paper, and said, "Ok, um, how about you fill this out for us." Never got a blank sheet of paper for a job app ever again....but I did get hired.

Variation of the blank paper.

This goes back to the era when radio stations still used turntables and gas stations had service bays and mechanics.

My radio career had me dragging family there and there and with three children in tow, that was getting to be a bad scene. Then, I got my own station. Up where the call letters should have been, it said: S U N O C O.

Then I got my second station and I was going nuts. 27 employees. A friend of mine taught auto mechanics courses in the local high school and agreed to help me for the summer. A young man came in to apply for work and my teacher friend said: "I'll handle this." He took a sheet of paper and drew a line across the top about 3/4" from the top. Then a line right down the middle creating two columns. Then he printed across the top of the two columns: "Things I can do" and the other was "Things I can't do"

Fill this out was the command to the young applicant standing there.

What the applicant put on the list told us whether he understood the business. Things he put on the list told us whether he knew enough to know what level of work we should be doing and when we should tell the customer: "You need to take that to a car dealership." It was as much a psychological test as it was a skills resume.

I've tried to imagine what might end up on that almost blank sheet of paper if it were used at a radio station.

 

[bub]

In answer to the original question on this thread: Yup. Happened to me in October of 1993. I applied to numerous stations throughout the summer of that year while working in retail. Got either no response or a rejection letter for my troubles. The one station I never sent a tape or resume to that year was where I got hired, though having a friend work there at the time didn't hurt.

 

[hamNcheese]

Thats a weird scenario. Most, no I think all, quality companies would want you to interview, no matter how good your materials were. I could only see somthing like this happening in a smaller market, 3rd or 4th tier company. Some type of mom & pop station running out of a trailer. Hiring somebody, sight unseen, no interview? I would question the company and not take the gig. Almost as if the turnover is too great and they dont give a shat anymore and just want to get somebody in there.

These days, there is alot of good stuff going on with radio and different companies, you should be interviewing the company in an interview as well as them interviewing you. You dont want to get a position, god forbid relocate, to find out they are a bunch of sh!theads and fire people at whim so the PD or owner can feel like big shots. Or that hiring and firing of staff makes it look like they are actually doing somthing. The worst is sales that cant sell and then it comes down on a programmer or dj. You dont want to be a part of somthing like that. Make them interview you so you can see what they are all about.

That whole 'getting your foot in the door' or 'the opportunity to be on the mic' isnt worth squat unless its with a stable company that has their act together. If they are paying minimum wage, with no contract, no guarantees on remote fees, ect...you dont want anything to do with them. Let somebody else 'play radio' Your trying and build a career. Ive turned down as many jobs, hell I ve turned down interviews because I didnt like what I saw from a company. Why set yourself up for a waste of time? If they dont want to sit and talk with you before hiring you...thats a bit of a red flag.

 

[bazooka376]

The jocks name was "Bo Wiley". He had bounced around the south from station to station for many years. I worked with him in the late 70's in Goldsboro, NC........(can't remember the calls...It was a Beasley Group property). He was a goofball then. I was listening the day he went South". Locked himself in the control room at WRNS, (I think) and refused to come out. The management could have cut him off but decided it was too good to let go to waste. Finally the SWAT Team got there and things ended peacefully. Wonder what ever happened to Old Bo.......probably still jocking the hits somewhere!.

 

[N4GBK]

I got my first job in radio without an interveiw or resume. I had an FCC First Classradiotelephone License. It opened doors at AM directional stations. Hired with no experience. Learned it via school of hard knocks. Had to have a first ticket on duty whenever the station was operating with the directional antenna. FCC rules all different now.

I also worked with Bo Wiley at WFMC 730, Goldsboro around 1977. Don't remember much about him. Was shocked when I read years later about his breakdown in Kinston. Robert Bannavan or something like that is his real name. There used to be a lot of transient jocks who worked at a lot of stations. Most of them were good guys and did a good job. Sort of like gygpsies or circus performers. Went all over everywhere. They alwasy seemed to find a job somewhere at a DJ, PD or sales. Sometimes, they were also engineers. That's how I ended up with so many stations in about 10 year carreer. "WKRP in Cincinatti", the TV show, was a lot like working in real radio.

 

[WKCO79]

This is an old thread, but I think I worked with this same Bo Wiley in 1980. It was at WMJS-FM in Prince Frederick (southern Maryland), then calling itself Supercountry 92. It was my first job out of college. He was a tall, lanky Native American who was brought there by a salesman called Cliff (forget his last name). Bo told me he had worked in Seattle at KING among other places, but I surmised it was his issues with alcohol that led him to Maryland.

Lovely guy, heart of gold. I was told he died a number of years ago of brain cancer.

 

[bub]

If you're asking that type of question as alluded to on the title of this thread in the state of radio, 2009 going into 2010, that depends on a lot of factors. Given the current state of the economy, never mind the state of radio, I'm not sure it would apply; then again, I've been wrong. Unless the station is that desperate to get a body in there, and unless the prospective employee needs the job bad enough, for the most part, it's still a buyers market out there for employers in general; not just limited to radio. I'm pretty confident that companies doing the hiring right now are going to take their sweet time with face-to-face interviews in the hope of coming up with the right person. Just my two cents. Take it for what it's worth.

 

[chuckavillian]

I guess it depends how bad you want to work when your out of work. I was out of work in a top 100 and needed a job. I took a small market gig over the phone at a mom and pop station in the south. It paid the bills for a year and I moved on to something bigger. Great company and good people, no health insurance and no moving expenses.

The best money I ever made was an over the phone interview too.

As a rule of thumb personally. If a station does not fly you down and interview on their dime question their benefits and moving expenses. The majority of the time a phone interview should send out red flags but I guess it depends what kind of situation your in.