Is a Career in Radio or TV for You

If you like the smell of grease paint, enjoy being in the spotlight or merely focusing one. If you get a bang out of helping construct the stage set or helping line up props or designing costumes for the school play. If you like to gather news for the school paper, write stories for your friends to read. If you're intrigued with the array of electronic equipment to put a radio or TV show together and to transmit it through the air >> area mostly sunny and slightly milder today, highs ranging. >> If you like to work around celebrities, disc jockeyies, or radio or TV personalities. If you can sing, dance, or like to tell jokes, or entertain at parties. If playing music is what you really want to do the rest of your life, or making tapes really grabs you, then this film may be of interest to you. The same is true if you love dramatics, making speeches, being on the debating team, or are involved in any one of the stage crafts. A career in radio or television may be for you. The same goes if you get a zing out of leading an orchestra, singing in a choir, arranging a trip, controlling expenses for a team or social club. You may be interested in some phase of radio and television broadcasting. If you've built your own radio or enjoy staying up all night talking to fellow radio hams, a career in radio or TV may be a natural for you to consider. Same is true if you're a shutter bug. Can't resist composing pictures with your 8mm camera or like to help operate the audiovisisual equipment at school. You may be a prospect for any one of a number of careers in radio and television. Entertaining educating, informing, careers in announcing, newswriting, advertising, >> musical careers, backing popular singers, >> creating the background music for TV and radio shows, selecting the records DJs will play on the air. Careers in programming, arranging and developing the programs you see each season on your local stations. Career occupations ranging from station engineers to performers, actors, dancers, singers. Careers behind the scenes as a producer, a director in management. Careers in commercial radio and television, educational TV and radio, pay TV, public broadcasting, information and educational programs, videotape and recording studios, meaningful careers in the electronic media. No other area of the world of work so directly influences the lives of so many people. Most jobs in the field fall into one of these four categories. Let's start with engineering. Differing from engineers in other industries, the engineer in radio and TV is usually a technician and not necessarily a person with a college degree. The size of engineering staffs varies with the size of the stations and the number of shows they originate. There are cameramen, broadcast engineers, video operators, recording engineers, technical directors, lighting directors, maintenance engineers, transmitter operators, videotape engineers, projectionists, and chief engineers. Most engineering and allied jobs require at least a high school education and technical training in electronics. Anyone who operates or adjusts a broadcast transmitter must have a federal license. Membership in a union is often required. The work hours vary with the policy of the station, the hours the station is on the air, and the requirements of production. Most young people interested in engineering start at small commercial stations or educational stations. Promotion is by seniority and experience or by applying for a better job at a bigger radio or TV station. As for sales careers in radio and TV, all stations need people to sell time since that's the primary source of the station's revenue. The product being sold is spot time. Time needed by a customer to broadcast or telecast a commercial on the programs he wishes to sponsor. Salesmen usually deal with media people and account executives of advertising agencies or the sponsor directly. Most work on a base salary arrangement plus commissions. As for business careers in broadcasting and television, bookkeepers, accountants, and clerks are needed to collect the fees, keep track of royalties and music rights, as well as keep records for the Federal Communications Commission. Management personnel are needed to quarterback the operation of the station, set policy, hire people to compute and pay the salaries. Management personnel usually have extensive experience in broadcasting, business, and management. Most have at least a college degree. Clerical jobs require a high school education or the equivalent in experience. Good working skills are essential. The programming area of the industry at first look seems glamorous and most intriguing, but that's not always so. For every guy you see taking a bow or speaking in golden tones over a microphone, many more people are sweating behind the scenes to make the star, the product, and the program look good. Writers produce the scripts, the jokes, >> who go >> the Kaiser. >> Oh, Johnny Joker. the songs. >> Prepare the news. >> Write the programs you find all over the dial. >> Cooking shows recently hit the highest weather shows to >> educational programs for both faculty and surgery programs treatment though combined. The stage sets are created by designers, scenic artists, carpenters, painters. Stage hands are needed and propmen. Makeup artists apply their magic. Hair stylist, too. Floor managers instruct the cast and crew by hand signals. Production coordinators and assistants look after the thousand and one details. Directors and producers mastermind the production. Announcing is one of the more popular and numerous jobs in the industry. If your voice, pronunciation, and English usage are good, there may be a spot for you in radio as an announcer. If your aim is a TV announcer, your personal appearance will be important. A pleasing personality and capacity for showmanship will help. Most announcers have at least high school and some specialized training. Most break in on radio, working on small stations for little pay until they develop a style. Most advance by moving up to bigger stations. The goal of most is to have their own show or network assignments. The hours are long, often irregular and on holidays. Where do people in radio and TV work? Everywhere. There are over 6,500 commercial radio stations in the United States alone. Some 850 commercial TV stations. Many in the field are employed by independent production firms, packaging programs or supplying production services. Others work for public broadcasting stations, foundations, religious and public service organizations. Still others work in advertising agencies preparing programs and commercials. Employment in radio and television is expected to increase moderately in the years ahead. Women hold 25% of the jobs now, mostly in programming and office occupations. One of seven jobs in the industry is clerical. One of 20 is in sales. Half are professional and technical jobs. 1/4 are managerial. You may like one or more career areas in radio or television. However, before you make a decision, check out the many other career areas in the world of work. You'll want to see the other titles in the library of career counseling films and talk to your teachers, your school guidance counselor, your parents. Dig into occupational information available in your library. Find out as much as you can about careers for yourself. Then from all the careers you like and find you're suited for, choose the career for you. Let your guidance counselor help you, advise you on your prospects, suggest further education or training you will need. Advisers in the local office of your state employment service will give you the local as well as the broad picture of the occupation you want to enter, job opportunities, job requirements, wages and conditions, and what lies ahead. Plan ahead. Know what your place, your proper place is going to be in the world of work and prepare for it. One's work is one's life. Start making a good life for yourself now. What you going to do when the time comes and you have to earn your way? What you going to do when the time comes and you have to learn your pain? What will you do when you're finally on your own? What will you do? >> What will you really do >> when you're finally on your own? What will you do?