I first came across this saying when I returned home from school one day saying to my mum “there’s a lad at school who stinks of poo”, “never judge a book by its cover” she replied. Nevertheless he did smell of poo and continued to do so until I left school and was a bit of bully too. But the saying stayed in my head and I like to think I’m not judgemental.
Anyway, I wanted to present this saying with a different idea to judging people. Instead I wanted to suggest never judging a job by your first perceptions. You might read a job advertisement and think ‘that’s no good for me’ and immediately dismiss the idea of applying. If you think about it, how do you know you won’t like any job until you learn more about it…i.e. give it a go or at least turn up for an interview. By just turning up to an interview you can gain a lot about the workplace and the job in question. The last interview I attended was useful just to fulfil my nosy and curious attitude. I got the chance to have a look around an unfamiliar workplace, spread my name and show my face to a few industry people and gain the ins and outs of the job –that’s far more than the advert told me on mediauk.com!!!
A job application only costs time, lets say an hour to write up a targeted CV and covering letter, and attending an interview only costs time (say two hours for travel and the interview) and your travel expenses (usually not more than £20). So for three hours of your life and £20 you’ve met more industry people, gained interview experience, hopefully got feedback on your CV etc and learnt more about the company and the available job if not got the job itself!
The same goes if you read a job advertisement and say ‘WOW!! I want THAT job’. You might put all your effort, time, money etc into an application to arrive at the station and find out that Assistant Producer really means making the tea and washing the presenters’ car having missed deadlines for all the other jobs advertised.
A University lecturer once gave me some great advice that I think applies here and that was to get your CV’s and applications out to as many people and vacancies as possible, attend as many interviews as possible. If you then get five people ringing you back saying you got the job you then have pick of the crop!
Be interesting to hear other people’s tactics on applications and their thoughts on this theory!! Email them to me: jay.dormer@hotmail.co.uk and I’ll list them on the blog!!
Happy applying, and shout out if you get any luck...Would be nice to hear some success stories for a change.
Wednesday 26 November 2008
Monday 3 November 2008
Thursday 9 October 2008
Jay's Quick Tip
Get a driving licence as soon as you can...it opens alot more doors for you and gives you the freedom needed to do cover and freelance work!
Monday 29 September 2008
Maybe I should follow the yellow brick road?
Here's just a few of the lines I've heard a number of times since deciding I wanted to work in radio:
-It'll take you longer than expected
-Make sure you get lots of experience
-It's very competitive you know!
-If your not determined don't even bother
-Good luck [sarcastically]
-That won't be easy
-Wouldn't you prefer to be an electrician (This one came from a Career advisor)
-So you want to be Chris Moyles?
-That won't be easy
Incase you don't get the picture yet....Getting a career in radio isn't an easy task. I've been trying now for five years and in that time i've managed to get a degree, loads of experience and a temp job doing administration for a car rental company.
Since leaving University in June 2008 i've applied to a number of jobs, been to a few interviews and received no offers. Everytime I get a letter saying 'On this occasion your application has been unsuccessful' I have to concentrate on the right thing to do. That is, for those that don't know, politely thank the interviewer, request critical feedback, suggest yourself for future vacancies and move on. All except one are fairly straight forward to achieve, even if you are absolutely gutted and wanting to go home and find the answers from Mr J. Daniels. Plucking up the courage to shrug off the disappointment, take on the feedback and look towards the next nerve racking interview takes a lot of determination. And it's exactly that which will land you your dream job, perseverance!
Okay in it's entire truth you need to add a sprinkle of skill, dash of experience and some luck but honestly, if you want something bad enough you can get it...you just have to know how much you want it and you need the patience.
>
>
>
There's a gap above because I stopped for a moment and gleared out the train window as I finished writing that paragraph. Patience, that's what i'm lacking. And there I was thinking that writing this blog was only going to be good for killing five minutes on this train whilst sitting opposite a sixty year old with MC Bonez as his ringtone...Now, anyone know where I can get some patience?
-It'll take you longer than expected
-Make sure you get lots of experience
-It's very competitive you know!
-If your not determined don't even bother
-Good luck [sarcastically]
-That won't be easy
-Wouldn't you prefer to be an electrician (This one came from a Career advisor)
-So you want to be Chris Moyles?
-That won't be easy
Incase you don't get the picture yet....Getting a career in radio isn't an easy task. I've been trying now for five years and in that time i've managed to get a degree, loads of experience and a temp job doing administration for a car rental company.
Since leaving University in June 2008 i've applied to a number of jobs, been to a few interviews and received no offers. Everytime I get a letter saying 'On this occasion your application has been unsuccessful' I have to concentrate on the right thing to do. That is, for those that don't know, politely thank the interviewer, request critical feedback, suggest yourself for future vacancies and move on. All except one are fairly straight forward to achieve, even if you are absolutely gutted and wanting to go home and find the answers from Mr J. Daniels. Plucking up the courage to shrug off the disappointment, take on the feedback and look towards the next nerve racking interview takes a lot of determination. And it's exactly that which will land you your dream job, perseverance!
Okay in it's entire truth you need to add a sprinkle of skill, dash of experience and some luck but honestly, if you want something bad enough you can get it...you just have to know how much you want it and you need the patience.
>
>
>
There's a gap above because I stopped for a moment and gleared out the train window as I finished writing that paragraph. Patience, that's what i'm lacking. And there I was thinking that writing this blog was only going to be good for killing five minutes on this train whilst sitting opposite a sixty year old with MC Bonez as his ringtone...Now, anyone know where I can get some patience?
Monday 14 July 2008
Make Stuff!, Guest Post By Sam Coley
Getting into radio: “Make stuff!”
By Sam Coley
A University Degree is not going to get you a job in broadcasting. Sorry to be so blunt - but there’s the reality. And while I’m at it - you can’t just click a button to gain easy access into the industry. So if you think that looking at a couple of websites and sending a few emails is going to bust you through the gates of radio – you’re mistaken.
I’ll spare you having to read through this entire post to get to my main point. Which is – make stuff. It’s that simple.
By constantly making radio you will by default get better and possibly even attract attention, stumble across genius, make contacts and force the fickle hand of fate.
A radio course is certainly not a bad place to start. These days a degree is almost an employer’s expectation so it’s definitely not a waste of time. By the way, you’ll find some excellent tips and advice on University life via Andrew Dubber’s website. He’d certainly value your input, so feel free to post a comment or two.
As I was saying… a degree’s a very useful tool. You’ll get to learn the craft of radio in both a theoretical and practical sense. You’ll also learn how to rite reel good – not to mention the valuable discipline of managing your own time to meet deadlines. Read the brochure to find out more,
I did a 12 week course at my local polytechnic back in 1988. Them were the days. Before that I’d only really imagined DJ’s working at a station. Episodes of the radio sitcom “WKRP” (well worth checking out) gave me a vague idea that other people might be involved – but the DJ’s were the face of the product. They were the guys you actually listened to. So I entered the course aiming to become a “jock”. I quickly became aware of the multitudes of other roles behind the scene and ended up choosing a career writing copy and producing radio. My point is this, a radio course can also be valuable in helping you decide what aspect of the industry you most enjoy as well as what you’re most suited to. (I was a crap presenter).
To use radio vernacular you’ve got to understand your target audience. Keep in mind that the guys doing to hiring and firing are super busy. These guys are flat out keeping their necks above water in stormy times. Try to think like them and produce material that’s snappy, professional and most important of all short and to the point. Make it easy for them.
Remember – they are paid to secure talent. So it’s in their job description to keep their ears and ears out for the next big thing – or the next over-night studio operator. Find out exactly who it is you need to reach and always follow up any correspondence with a phone call. Be persistent – but don’t be a pest. This is a fine line that you should be prepared to overstep from time to time.
You’re only as good as your showreel / demo tape / audio portfolio (?) so make it as mind-blowing as you possibly can. It must be no longer than 2 ½ minutes in length – just over 3 minutes tops. Keep it tight and keep them wanting more. Always start with your strongest punch, but keep in mind you wont always be the best judge of this. That’s why it can be helpful to play your audio to someone whose opinion your respect first. Hopefully they’ll offer you some advice and give you an idea of what’s your best material. Don’t get all shy and retiring about this. You want to work in radio don’t you? The whole point is to get your stuff out there – and heard by other people.
In Howard Stern’s movie “Private Parts” my favourite bit is when he’s working at a college radio station. Although it wasn’t until he started working on actual commercial stations that he began to improve – it was on a student station that he started out on the path to his million dollar radio empire. Use the opportunity to present on small community stations and try to enjoy it. You probably won’t get another chance to screw-up as badly as you can on small stations or hospital radio. Just get your foot in the door…
I remember during a Documentary Production class at Birmingham City University, a BBC radio producer asked the students “Who wants to be a radio documentary producer?”. A few tentative hands went up around B312. He then asked “Who is a radio documentary producer?” And there’s the heart of it. No one can bestow a title on you – you have to decide for yourself what it is you want to do. So think carefully about your best radio attributes – and then set off on your chosen career path anyway.
Don’t talk about it. Start producing your own work and keep doing it. You will get ridiculously better in a surprisingly short length of time. The good news is – the technology to record and edit your own documentaries / radio shows / commercials / imaging etc has never been cheaper or better. For a relatively small amount of money you can purchase everything you’ll need to produce award winning radio. This means the deciding factors in your quest for fame and fortune are the ideas in your head and your ability to present them. This is both a fantastic and terrible thing.
Deal with it – and start putting your ideas into practice. Make use of websites like PRX.org, produce podcasts and 365live.com etc. etc. to distribute your brilliance – then start shopping your work around by attaching links. By the way, if you’re not internet savvy about uploading audio and creating websites – make friends with someone who is.
…Of course, you don’t have to have a degree in the first place. Sheer talent and perseverance have worked for some of the world’s best. So if you can’t afford the spiralling costs of academia – just start doing whatever it is you want to do on a shoestring. Because, like I’ve already said - the key is to make stuff…
By Sam Coley
A University Degree is not going to get you a job in broadcasting. Sorry to be so blunt - but there’s the reality. And while I’m at it - you can’t just click a button to gain easy access into the industry. So if you think that looking at a couple of websites and sending a few emails is going to bust you through the gates of radio – you’re mistaken.
I’ll spare you having to read through this entire post to get to my main point. Which is – make stuff. It’s that simple.
By constantly making radio you will by default get better and possibly even attract attention, stumble across genius, make contacts and force the fickle hand of fate.
A radio course is certainly not a bad place to start. These days a degree is almost an employer’s expectation so it’s definitely not a waste of time. By the way, you’ll find some excellent tips and advice on University life via Andrew Dubber’s website. He’d certainly value your input, so feel free to post a comment or two.
As I was saying… a degree’s a very useful tool. You’ll get to learn the craft of radio in both a theoretical and practical sense. You’ll also learn how to rite reel good – not to mention the valuable discipline of managing your own time to meet deadlines. Read the brochure to find out more,
I did a 12 week course at my local polytechnic back in 1988. Them were the days. Before that I’d only really imagined DJ’s working at a station. Episodes of the radio sitcom “WKRP” (well worth checking out) gave me a vague idea that other people might be involved – but the DJ’s were the face of the product. They were the guys you actually listened to. So I entered the course aiming to become a “jock”. I quickly became aware of the multitudes of other roles behind the scene and ended up choosing a career writing copy and producing radio. My point is this, a radio course can also be valuable in helping you decide what aspect of the industry you most enjoy as well as what you’re most suited to. (I was a crap presenter).
To use radio vernacular you’ve got to understand your target audience. Keep in mind that the guys doing to hiring and firing are super busy. These guys are flat out keeping their necks above water in stormy times. Try to think like them and produce material that’s snappy, professional and most important of all short and to the point. Make it easy for them.
Remember – they are paid to secure talent. So it’s in their job description to keep their ears and ears out for the next big thing – or the next over-night studio operator. Find out exactly who it is you need to reach and always follow up any correspondence with a phone call. Be persistent – but don’t be a pest. This is a fine line that you should be prepared to overstep from time to time.
You’re only as good as your showreel / demo tape / audio portfolio (?) so make it as mind-blowing as you possibly can. It must be no longer than 2 ½ minutes in length – just over 3 minutes tops. Keep it tight and keep them wanting more. Always start with your strongest punch, but keep in mind you wont always be the best judge of this. That’s why it can be helpful to play your audio to someone whose opinion your respect first. Hopefully they’ll offer you some advice and give you an idea of what’s your best material. Don’t get all shy and retiring about this. You want to work in radio don’t you? The whole point is to get your stuff out there – and heard by other people.
In Howard Stern’s movie “Private Parts” my favourite bit is when he’s working at a college radio station. Although it wasn’t until he started working on actual commercial stations that he began to improve – it was on a student station that he started out on the path to his million dollar radio empire. Use the opportunity to present on small community stations and try to enjoy it. You probably won’t get another chance to screw-up as badly as you can on small stations or hospital radio. Just get your foot in the door…
I remember during a Documentary Production class at Birmingham City University, a BBC radio producer asked the students “Who wants to be a radio documentary producer?”. A few tentative hands went up around B312. He then asked “Who is a radio documentary producer?” And there’s the heart of it. No one can bestow a title on you – you have to decide for yourself what it is you want to do. So think carefully about your best radio attributes – and then set off on your chosen career path anyway.
Don’t talk about it. Start producing your own work and keep doing it. You will get ridiculously better in a surprisingly short length of time. The good news is – the technology to record and edit your own documentaries / radio shows / commercials / imaging etc has never been cheaper or better. For a relatively small amount of money you can purchase everything you’ll need to produce award winning radio. This means the deciding factors in your quest for fame and fortune are the ideas in your head and your ability to present them. This is both a fantastic and terrible thing.
Deal with it – and start putting your ideas into practice. Make use of websites like PRX.org, produce podcasts and 365live.com etc. etc. to distribute your brilliance – then start shopping your work around by attaching links. By the way, if you’re not internet savvy about uploading audio and creating websites – make friends with someone who is.
…Of course, you don’t have to have a degree in the first place. Sheer talent and perseverance have worked for some of the world’s best. So if you can’t afford the spiralling costs of academia – just start doing whatever it is you want to do on a shoestring. Because, like I’ve already said - the key is to make stuff…
Thursday 12 June 2008
Ian Devlin, Student Radio Association
Hello!
Jay has asked me to contribute to this blog and to give my thoughts about how to get a job in radio.
About me: I'm Ian, the new Development Officer of the Student Radio Association (SRA). My job is to assist stations who are members of the SRA to make themselves better, through various means and media. Before that, I was the Head of Engineering for BurnFM.com between 2005-7 and part my job included studio training.
I intend on covering all possible areas of work that you can get in the radio industry: it's not just limited to presenting. Every month, I'll cover a different area of the radio industry or provide more info as I find new information.
For this first post, I'll cover the possible routes you can take to get experience presenting radio shows.
Presenting a radio show is probably the most visible job you can get in the industry: after all, listeners will hear you voice on a regular basis. However, this makes it the most difficult job to get as competition is incredibly fierce. You won't be able to walk into a presenting job on Radio 1 without experience and can demonstrate your ability and suitability for the station.
There are three easy ways to get experience of presenting radio shows:
Student Radio
Community Radio
Hospital Radio
It shouldn't be too difficult to get air-time through any of these 3 routes, though don't expect to be paid: if anything, you may have to pay a fee to become a member of the station.
Each of these routes has an organisational body: the Student Radio Association, the Community Media Association and the Hospital Broadcasting Association. The websites are the easiest way to find your nearest station.
Student Radio offers the highest flexibility in the entire industry, in that you will gain the maximum amount of freedom to try innovative ideas for features. It is also the best of the three options for specialist music and speech based programming. However, most university radio stations won't allow non-students of the university in which they are based to present: some will, including Loughborough and Birmingham City universities, but the majority usually restrict membership to registered students, mainly for legal reasons.
Most student radio stations operate as a student society or group within a Student Union and most are operated by students in their free time and not as part of a degree. However, degrees in radio are available from some universities: this UCAS search for courses starting in 2009 is a good starting point if you're interested in studying for a degree in radio, which may provide guaranteed presenting time. Degrees in radio are also a good option if you want a non-presenting job.
Community Radio, as the name implies, is about serving a specific group of people: this can be based on a specific area of a city, or a specific ethnic group. While shows on Community Radio will be rewarding and arguably make a better CV addition, shows have to relate directly to the target audience, so you will be more restricted in terms of what you can say than on Student Radio.
The previous paragraph also applies to Hospital Radio, though the target audience is obviously different.
All three options are a good place to start gaining presenting experience and are relatively easy to get involved with. Student Radio stations usually target students during freshers weeks and should provide training and support for new presenters. In the case of Community and Hospital stations, I recommend contacting the Programme Controller or Station Manager directly. Which brings me onto an important point.
Always research the station you're contacting! People prefer to find emails or letters addressed to them by name, rather than their position. It shows that you've found out about the station and have dedicated the time to finding the right people. The personal approach also suggests that you're not sending out the same email or letter to everyone: even just by changing the name on each email you send will make a big difference to the person receiving the email.
By this point you may have noticed that I haven't said anything about what content you should use for a radio show, partly as different people prefer different styles. I'll cover content in a future post but as a starting point, Rad10 has five good articles about what to do when preparing for a show and things to avoid, which should get you started. Content is important and it helps to have thought about it before approaching a station, as you will have a better chance of being awarded a show if you can offer something unique to the station and demand for shows exceeds availability.
Note that there are other options to consider for gaining presenting experience: the British Forces Broadcasting Service is a possible option, as are in-store radio stations (e.g. B&Q Radio). Finally, Media UK is a good place to visit if you're considering working in the radio insdustry. It has lists of radio stations and jobs, both paid and voluntary.
Assuming you're already involved in radio at a voluntary level, how do you progress to a paid job in the industry?
Unfortunately, this has become more difficult in recent months since OFCOM allowed commercial stations to "network" certain stations overnight: essentially employing one person to present a show that is broadcast on multiple stations. That doesn't mean it's impossible to get a job, just a bit harder than it was.
All of the above in this post applies when contacting a commercial or BBC station but you'll need a good demo to have a chance of impressing potential employees... I'll explain how to make a killer demo next month.
Jay has asked me to contribute to this blog and to give my thoughts about how to get a job in radio.
About me: I'm Ian, the new Development Officer of the Student Radio Association (SRA). My job is to assist stations who are members of the SRA to make themselves better, through various means and media. Before that, I was the Head of Engineering for BurnFM.com between 2005-7 and part my job included studio training.
I intend on covering all possible areas of work that you can get in the radio industry: it's not just limited to presenting. Every month, I'll cover a different area of the radio industry or provide more info as I find new information.
For this first post, I'll cover the possible routes you can take to get experience presenting radio shows.
Presenting a radio show is probably the most visible job you can get in the industry: after all, listeners will hear you voice on a regular basis. However, this makes it the most difficult job to get as competition is incredibly fierce. You won't be able to walk into a presenting job on Radio 1 without experience and can demonstrate your ability and suitability for the station.
There are three easy ways to get experience of presenting radio shows:
Student Radio
Community Radio
Hospital Radio
It shouldn't be too difficult to get air-time through any of these 3 routes, though don't expect to be paid: if anything, you may have to pay a fee to become a member of the station.
Each of these routes has an organisational body: the Student Radio Association, the Community Media Association and the Hospital Broadcasting Association. The websites are the easiest way to find your nearest station.
Student Radio offers the highest flexibility in the entire industry, in that you will gain the maximum amount of freedom to try innovative ideas for features. It is also the best of the three options for specialist music and speech based programming. However, most university radio stations won't allow non-students of the university in which they are based to present: some will, including Loughborough and Birmingham City universities, but the majority usually restrict membership to registered students, mainly for legal reasons.
Most student radio stations operate as a student society or group within a Student Union and most are operated by students in their free time and not as part of a degree. However, degrees in radio are available from some universities: this UCAS search for courses starting in 2009 is a good starting point if you're interested in studying for a degree in radio, which may provide guaranteed presenting time. Degrees in radio are also a good option if you want a non-presenting job.
Community Radio, as the name implies, is about serving a specific group of people: this can be based on a specific area of a city, or a specific ethnic group. While shows on Community Radio will be rewarding and arguably make a better CV addition, shows have to relate directly to the target audience, so you will be more restricted in terms of what you can say than on Student Radio.
The previous paragraph also applies to Hospital Radio, though the target audience is obviously different.
All three options are a good place to start gaining presenting experience and are relatively easy to get involved with. Student Radio stations usually target students during freshers weeks and should provide training and support for new presenters. In the case of Community and Hospital stations, I recommend contacting the Programme Controller or Station Manager directly. Which brings me onto an important point.
Always research the station you're contacting! People prefer to find emails or letters addressed to them by name, rather than their position. It shows that you've found out about the station and have dedicated the time to finding the right people. The personal approach also suggests that you're not sending out the same email or letter to everyone: even just by changing the name on each email you send will make a big difference to the person receiving the email.
By this point you may have noticed that I haven't said anything about what content you should use for a radio show, partly as different people prefer different styles. I'll cover content in a future post but as a starting point, Rad10 has five good articles about what to do when preparing for a show and things to avoid, which should get you started. Content is important and it helps to have thought about it before approaching a station, as you will have a better chance of being awarded a show if you can offer something unique to the station and demand for shows exceeds availability.
Note that there are other options to consider for gaining presenting experience: the British Forces Broadcasting Service is a possible option, as are in-store radio stations (e.g. B&Q Radio). Finally, Media UK is a good place to visit if you're considering working in the radio insdustry. It has lists of radio stations and jobs, both paid and voluntary.
Assuming you're already involved in radio at a voluntary level, how do you progress to a paid job in the industry?
Unfortunately, this has become more difficult in recent months since OFCOM allowed commercial stations to "network" certain stations overnight: essentially employing one person to present a show that is broadcast on multiple stations. That doesn't mean it's impossible to get a job, just a bit harder than it was.
All of the above in this post applies when contacting a commercial or BBC station but you'll need a good demo to have a chance of impressing potential employees... I'll explain how to make a killer demo next month.
Friday 30 May 2008
Ian Camfield at New Yorks K-Rock
Ian Camfield has worked for a number of commercial stations in the UK and now presents a weekday show on New Yorks rock station; K-Rock.
Thanks to Sam Coley at Birmingham City University for sending a recording of Ian Camfield talking about his experience and offering some advice for anyone wanting to become a radio presenter.
The audio has been uploaded for you to hear on the 'So You Want To Work In Radio?' podcast!!
Click HERE to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.
Click HERE if you want to just listen to it online.
Or HERE'S the raw feed: http://jaydormer.jellycast.com/podcast/feed/17
Make some comments about what you think to Ian Camfield's advice and don't forget to tell anyone you know who might be interested in some advice for a job in radio.
Thursday 29 May 2008
Welcome!
So you want to work in radio?.....
I've decided to make a blog out of my efforts towards working in radio. Now i don't intend to act as a model, instead i thought all the things i learn i could pass on to the other millions of people wanting to get a job in radio. I've also decided to try and arrange meetings and guest posts from people in the industry!
If you work in radio and would like to make a post on the blog to pass on some words of wisdom get in touch with me. Or if you work in any other area of the creative industries and have some advice about CV's, Show Reels, Covering Letters, Networking, Contacting etc please get in touch (jay.dormer@hotmail.co.uk)
Like wise if you know anyone who might benefit from this sort of information...spread the word! Also chip in your views and make plenty of comments; more heads make for better results.
I've decided to make a blog out of my efforts towards working in radio. Now i don't intend to act as a model, instead i thought all the things i learn i could pass on to the other millions of people wanting to get a job in radio. I've also decided to try and arrange meetings and guest posts from people in the industry!
If you work in radio and would like to make a post on the blog to pass on some words of wisdom get in touch with me. Or if you work in any other area of the creative industries and have some advice about CV's, Show Reels, Covering Letters, Networking, Contacting etc please get in touch (jay.dormer@hotmail.co.uk)
Like wise if you know anyone who might benefit from this sort of information...spread the word! Also chip in your views and make plenty of comments; more heads make for better results.
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