When a GM or a PD tells an applicant that the radio station has received "hundreds of resumes and packages," that may well be true. But it did NOT hear from hundreds of potential employees. What that station did receive was hundreds of terribly crafted resumes, awful audio, and cover letters filled with poor grammar, bad spelling, deceptive statements, and outright lies.
I recently advertised for two separate positions. We were looking for a staff member on our FM and a staff member on our AM. These were two different positions, with completely different job descriptions.
I received 73 packages for one of those positions and 66 for the other. Nineteen of those were duplicates. The same person applying for both positions, never realizing that they were applying to the same company. Despite the fact that the job descriptions were vastly different, these 19 people sent exactly the same package for both jobs.
Hence this article.
Here are the five worst things you can do when trying to score that awesome radio gig.
1. Shotgun your package to dozens of openings, hoping something sticks. This is HUGE. I know it's tough out there, but sending the same package over and over to every advertised opening is not the way to get noticed. As hiring managers, we see through this, especially when we have seen your package before -- same letter, same audio -- same everything. This brings us to...
2. GENERIC PACKAGES. If I have an opening for a sports play-by-play person, I need to hear play-by-play audio. If you don't have it, you aren't going to get the job. It just isn't going to happen. And a generic cover letter isn't going to get it done, either. I judge EVERY package based on the cover letter first. So do most hiring managers I know. It is your first impression. This brings us to....
3. Badly written cover letters. If you have bad grammar, bad spelling, etc., that makes us think that you are lazy, and we won't hire you. If you do not know to whom you are sending the package, it's OK to address it to "Hiring Manager" or something generic. I would PREFER that you take the time to read the job announcement and do some research. If I put my name and e-mail address on the announcement, I expect a personalized letter. That doesn't mean I want you to stalk me. Which brings us to....
4. Friending me on Facebook. DO NOT DO THIS! This does not make you stand out, and it does NOT make us think that you have creativity and aggressive awesomeness. It makes us think that you are stalking us and won't leave us alone if we don't hire you. If I don't know you already and I get a friend request after seeing your name in the pile of resumes, it creeps me out. If your audio is no good, it won't help that you did this. And if your audio is awesome, I don't need you to do this. I will remember you. Which brings us to the worst thing you can do when looking for a job....
5. Sending bad or irrelevant audio. I am going to lay some truth on you. I know that we have all been hit by layoffs and firings and cutbacks. But it is my opinion that talented people will find something eventually -- and the vast majority of the packages that I and ALL of my PD and GM friends receive are rejected because the applicant is simply not talented. Do yourself a favor, send your audio to someone you trust who will tell you the TRUTH about your aircheck. Do this before you send your package to a potential employer. The first 30 seconds of your audio will tell me all I need to know. If I am still listening after one minute, it goes in the good pile.
Also, make sure your audio is relevant. As I said above, if the opening is for a PBP guy, then send PBP audio. If the opening is for a morning host, we need to hear you doing breaks that show that kind of skill. If the job is for a production director, we need to hear production! I know this seems simple, but I can tell you that more than 75 percent of the airchecks I received for these two openings had those issues and were rejected immediately.
Why did I write this article today? I want to help you. Also, I want to help all of the hiring managers out there who have to sift through e-mail after e-mail from applicants who will never be hired because of these simple issues.
Let me conclude with HARD numbers.
Of the 139 packages I received, I ended up with nine potential candidates who fit the criteria and had good, well designed packages with good audio. Of those nine, only three of them interviewed well. Which leads me to the next article: How to screw up a phone interview.
Good luck in your job search, but remember: Finding that right gig is 80 percent luck. GETTING that gig is all on you.
(8/17/2011 12:18:49 PM)
This is GREAT. I wish I could just respond to every candidate that sends me a resume/demo with your article! I fully AGREE with you.
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