When I graduated from the Princeton of the Plains, Kansas State University, I thought I was going to immediately get a sportscasting job.
Nope.
It took seven months. I interviewed in person in Grand Island, NE and El Centro, CA and did a phone interview in Clay Center, KS. I finally got a job in the small town of McPherson, KS.
I wish I would have known then what I know now.
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I had a mentor in college who lived in Nashville, TN named Bob Sanders. Bob was big in the Nashville entertainment industry. He introduced me to local sportscasters Hope Hines and Joe Fisher. He even introduced me to Barbara Mandrell. That was pretty cool.
Maybe the most important thing Bob taught me was KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid.
Here are nine ways that a KISS will make your personal website rock.
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I love Kansas State football. I graduated from K-State and was a walk-on in the basketball program. But it’s the football program I’ve always had a deep passion about because of Bill Snyder.
One thing Coach Snyder’s teams did was enter and exit the stadium as a group. It was a show of solidarity and there is strength in numbers.
You can apply that same “strength in number approach” in the sportscasting job market using the Referral Request Email.
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I love reading books. The one I’m currently reading is the second time I’ve read it: The Last Coach. It’s a biography about Bear Bryant.
Another book I just read for the second time is one of my all time favorites, When Pride Still Mattered, by David Maraniss. It’s a fabulously researched biography about Vince Lombardi. And another I recently read — even though I’m a Kansas State Wildcat and this is a KU book — Phog, about the legendary coach Phog Allen. Fabulous book.
My favorite books are usually recommended to me.
Do you know what? It’s the same in the job market. The best opportunities are going to be recommended to you.
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Two years into my first job in McPherson, Kansas, the play-by-play gig at the University of Kentucky opened. Cawood Ledford had passed away. I naively thought I could go from doing McPherson High School games to the Kentucky Wildcats.
I must have spent 20 hours trying to find the best stuff for my demo.
Stupid.
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A sportscaster invited me to listen to the demo on his website. He pointed me to a specific basketball play-by-play track he wanted me to listen to. It was one of several on the page.
If you have a single sample you want to be sure an employer reviews, make it the only sample of that genre of sportscasting that you provide.
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A college play-by-play job opened. A broadcaster wanting to apply told me, “I worked with a guy who is close with the hiring manager at the university.” I replied, “That’s awesome! It’s terrific to have an ‘in.'”
Then he dropped the bomb.
“I haven’t been in touch with this guy for a year and a half. Should I still ask for his help?”
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A TV sportscaster in Georgia had a Skype video job interview with an employer for whom he desperately wanted to work.
He blew the interview.
Follow these three tips for Skype job interviews so you don’t make the same mistakes our friend did.
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“Do you have any questions for me?”
Invariably, most job interviews get to the point where the employer asks you that question. The absolute worst response is…
“Nope, I think you pretty much answered everything.”
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The more interviews you do, the more you will realize that many employers tend to ask variations of the same handful of questions.
Knowing what is (probably) coming gives you opportunity to prepare in advance.
Here are seven common questions in job interviews.
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