Tips, Lessons, and Advice For Television Jobs

What They Don't Tell You in EAS 387

By Meteorologist Justin Liles (SCSU B.S. Meteorology Class of 2002)

Date: January 2004

Note: I have merely edited this page for English, not content. Faculty rely on "reports from the field" for advice to future students. Justin based this upon his experiences in trying to land to his first TV job, with some input by Shaun Verbout (2002), and Sven Sundgaard (2003).

-Bob Weisman 28-March-2004

1. Introduction
   1. Obtaining a television job can be a long a tedious process. There are some forks in the road that you may come across that may have not been brought to your attention. Some of these obstacles can literally cause you to go mad You will leam things during the job search that can make you cringe in agony. Many times you may end up asking why did this happen to me. It is the point of this paper to provide you with a better understanding of the business end of television. This may also help you in skipping many hassles that can be expected while searching for a job. If this paper is able to do anything hopefully, it can be a guide to help you get that first job.
2. Training
   1. Having a meteorology degree is always a plus. You are probably thinking, "Well, Duh!" Well, you are right! However, let me be the first to tell you what many news directors will tell you. Having a four-year, meteorology degree does not mean crap! Yes, it is the truth. As hard as it may be to swallow, it is the truth. Many stations hire for personal looks alone. That means that a station will even go as far as hiring an actor. If you do not know this by now, I am going to let you in on a little secret. Mississippi State graduates rule the airways. Their education and weather background is that of a four-year degree (based entirely on) introductory meteorology course. I will get into these negatives a little bit later. However, there are some things that you can do to become more marketable. Some of these you may know already but, if you do not, here are some pointers:
      1. Get an internship at a station where the people will be reliable contacts. This can be a burden if they say that you can use them for a recommendation and later they will not even respond to your e-mails when your are asking for advice.
      2. Get some reporting experience! Take a class or do something. Learn how to edit and, most importantly, learn how to write the way the media wants you to write. Most first year meteorology jobs require you to do the weather on the weekends and report on the other three days of the week.
      3. Try to be open-minded. For instance, do not just intern at a television station. Do some work at the weather service, meteorologix, or any other type of weather related venue! Stations like to see you have other professional type of experience you have besides TV and radio.
      4. Get involved with campus television and campus radio. This will get you somewhat familiar with a working studio. Do not... I repeat DO NOT rely on your campus TV experience as enough experience to get you through the door. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN! (Ed. Note: This means working at both UTVS and KVSC-FM as a minimum)
      5. Get involved with other campus organizations. Employers like to see what else you did while in school. National Weather Association, American Meteorological Society, frats, and any other organizations are a plus.
      6. Lastly, (and probably the most important) never be afraid to ask a question. E-mail a former alumnus if you must but do anything to get your question answered.
3. Resume Tapes
   1. The resume tape is the single most important thing in getting that first job. You should already know that your resume needs to be perfect anyway. I will not spend anytime on the resume itself because everybody's resume is different. The first 10 seconds of your resume tape can help you get an interview. If the first ten seconds of the tape is not what they are looking for, you can kiss your chances good-bye. Listed below are some tips that you can use for putting together your perfect resume tape:
      1. First off, and probably the most important, do not send anything done at a campus television station. News directors want to see something that looks professional. This is where your internship contact comes into play. It is here where you should put together your best show.
         1. Points of emphasis
            • Good graphics
            • Getting work with transitioning between graphics
            • Feeling comfortable in front of camera
            • Conversing with another professional anchor
            • Creating your own show
            • tell a weather story.
      2. There should be no more than two shows on your tape. Make sure you know the time length of each show. I will explain this in detail in just a little bit. Remember, news directors will know if you can cut it within the first 10 seconds. It is here where you need to show ENERGY, ENTHUSIASM, KNOWLEDGE, and PASSION for what you are doing. This sounds like a lot to pack into 10 seconds, but it is possible and it needs to be done.
      3. Before your show starts on your resume tape, I would recommend you put a graphic on with the following information.
         • Your name and title (i.e. Meteorologist Justin Liles)
         • Your address
         • Telephone number
         • E-mail address.

         Let this graphic run for about 10 seconds. This graphic will be known as your introduction. Remember this.

      4. Make sure that you put that your shows are quality tapes. The VHS tapes that you have at your disposal are more than likely those 6 hr tapes that you can buy at the local Wal-Mart or Target. I would say it is more than OK to put your master copy on one of these tapes but not the ones that you send off. I recommend that you use 10-min VHS tapes.

         • You may be asking "where do I get 10 min VHS tapes?" There is a place in St. Cloud that helps touch up your resume tapes and is very inexpensive. The company is DMR (Diversified Media Resources). They are located at:
           22 5th Ave S.
           St. Cloud, MN 56301
           Their telephone number is 320-251-3935. They are located in the basement of the building next to DB Searles. This business not only has 10-min tapes, but they can also make the introduction graphic for you and put it at the beginning of your show. They also make your tape look professional by supplying necessities for a good-looking tape:
           • They put a typed-out label on the face of your tape.
           • They also provide a typed-out label for the column or spine of your tape. The sticker for the spine of your tape should have only your first and last name. The sticker for the face of your tape should look like what is provided below:
           • By stating the time on the label, the News Director will know the length of each show. It also lets him/her know that they do not have to search for what they are looking for.
           • DMR also provides a professional looking leaf to put your tapes in and can also make many tapes for you at one time. You can get 2, 5, 10 tapes made if you want. I strongly recommend not sending the tape in a sleeve that you get from a discount store.

         If you are unable to get to DMR to help you, there is another way. Most PC's have something that will allow you to print off stickers. You can go to Wal-Mart or Target and get stickers that can be used in a format on your computer. The two that you see above are ones that I created on my own. These work just as well.

      5. How do I find out about opening jobs? The best spot is http://www.tvjobs.com. You will be required to get a membership to use this site. Do it! Finding a TV job will become slim pickings if you do not. Most job listings on this site will tell you what you will need to do when applying for a particular job. In these listings, it will let you know if you should follow up on a tape or not. Some news directors encourage it. However, this irritates some news directors. My advice is to follow up no matter what because it shows your interest in the job.
4. References
   There is really not a whole lot that needs to be said about references. Make sure that when, you type out your references, put your professional contacts first. I know professors are professional contacts but news directors want to see related media contacts first. If you are applying for a weather job on TV, use your supervisor that you had during your internship first. For example, if you interned with Paul Douglas, put his name down first. Put any TV related contacts first. Professors should go last. Make sure that you provide all the information possible so that these people can be contacted.
5. Interviews and Contracts
   The interview can be a nerve-racking experience in itself. Every interview is different, and everybody interviews differently, so this experience I leave to you. However, if offered a job, more than likely you will sign a contract. Make sure you read and understand the contract before signing. This is extremely important. There is not a whole lot I can say about contracts because they are all different. This is a experience that you will have to gain on your own.
6. Other
   As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, the job hunt can be a long and tedious process. It took me about a year to land my first job. There may come a time when you want to call it quits. My advice is to hang in there and keep plugging away. Eventually it will happen. Always keep a positive attitude and stay the course. All of the comments listed below came from News Directors whom I have contacted and have spoken to. I will not mention what stations said these things due to possible future employment:
   1. " I don't care if you have a 2-year or 4-year degree. If you can point, talk, and look good in front of the camera, I will hire you. I would hire an actor if I had to."
   2. "You look too young for this job. You would not be able to establish any credibility."
   3. "If the Chief Meteorologist is a Mississippi State graduate, he/she can affect whether or not you get a job." This one actually happened to me. I had an interview and the chief refused to talk weather with me. He literally made me look bad in front of the News Director every chance that he got. I will not go into details but it was sickening. I will admit I am a little sour about this one. (Ed. Note: When younger people know more than older people, there is always a problem. I'd love to talk to anyone about this.)
   4. "You're one of the finalists and I'll give you a call tomorrow or the next day." They tell you this and then never call you.
   5. "You had all the qualifications that we are looking for; however, we went with somebody else." On four different occasions, these individuals were Mississippi State graduates (on-line program).

These are some of the things that were thrown at me and discouraged me at the same time. However, this is my experience and I am not saying all of this will happen to you. I hope that with the information that I provided your job searching will come a little easier than mine.

Send comments directly to Justin Liles or to Bob Weisman

Last updated: 28-March-2004 7:00 PM