Sports coaches encourage their players to “keep pounding the stone” through tough times. Eventually it’s going to break. When the sports broadcasting job market got tough, Josh McGehee kept pounding the stone. Now he’s accepted a Graduate Assistant position to be the lead broadcaster at Upper Iowa University.
“This position gives me an opportunity to do play-by-play and color commentary for sports I haven’t had the chance to do yet,” he says. “It also allows me to be the singular voice of a Division II athletic program, which is a huge honor.”
A new strategy
McGehee learned of the opportunity in an STAA Job Leads email. At the interview, he chose to be more emphatic than he had been in unsuccessful interviews for other jobs. “I had never been able to clear the final hurdle during my pursuit of different positions. So this time, I made sure to state my claim as to why I was the best person for the job,” he recalls. “I also had questions prepared for each person on the interview panel to show how prepared I was and how much I wanted the position.”
The change in approach was key for McGehee, who had grown tired of being told “no” by employers. “Not just being told no, but the overwhelming silence from potential employers concerning job openings. It’s very easy to succumb to negativity when it comes to breaking into this industry, but the best way to fight it is to stay active. I ended up creating my own show that I recorded out of my laundry room. You just have to get creative in order to make something positive out of a bad situation.”
Referred to STAA
McGehee joined STAA in 2017 upon the recommendation of former Cincinnati Reds Major and Minor League Broadcaster Jim Kelch. Kelch is also an STAA member. “He came to speak to one of my classes at Bradley University and mentioned how STAA did an excellent job of posting job openings,” McGehee remembers.
One STAA resource McGehee especially values is his STAA Talent Page. “I really appreciate how much STAA organizes all of your application materials into one, centralized location. It’s much easier to provide potential employers a link to my Talent Page instead of a handful of attachments.
“I also appreciate the consistent flow of job postings STAA alerts us to. If it wasn’t for that email, I might never had known about the position with Upper Iowa.”
McGehee smiles when he adds, “Hopefully, this will provide the basis for my broadcasting career going forward.”