A frustrated job seeker asked me what else he could be doing in the job market. I asked him, “What have you already done?”
I was stunned by what I learned.
The first thing this frustrated job seeker told me was that employers don’t recognize his greatness. “It’s their fault I’m not getting hired.”
It’s not the employer’s fault.
You hire you, and you fire you.
You have to make employers want to hire you and want to keep you.
The second thing I did was to ask this person to show me how he was addressing the five variables in the sports broadcasting job market: demo, resumé, cover letter, presentation and follow-up.
His approach was atrocious.
He thought he was doing a lot in the job market and giving great effort when really, he wasn’t. He wasn’t paying attention to the little things that add up to be big difference makers.
Be honest
Many job seekers refuse to honestly evaluate how hard they are working towards their goals — to see themselves as they truly are. Instead we tend to blame others when things don’t go our way.
Understand that sportscasting lives — yours, mine and everyone else’s — are all pretty much the same. We all start out struggling to pay our bills in small markets. As we move up, we feel underpaid, underappreciated and overworked.
It rarely happens as quickly as we want it to. Teams fold. Stations change formats. That stuff is not unique to you or me.
We all face the same challenges, yet some people crumble and others thrive in the same circumstances.
Why is that?
Look at what you’re doing. Honest self-evaluation is something of which we’re all capable. Once you do it, you will take a big step towards your sports broadcasting goals.