(June 9, 2020) Kansas City native Andrew Pitkin longed to live closer to home. Now he is. Pitkin recently joined KNEM-AM/KNMO-FM Radio in Nevada, MO as News Director and Play-by-Play Broadcaster.
Pitkin moves to Western Missouri after spending the past two years as an account executive and play-by-play broadcaster in Brainerd, MN.
“When I saw that Nevada, MO was only an hour and a half south of Kansas City I figured it’d be worth it to at least submit an application,” he recalls. “I ultimately decided to take the job because it meant I would change my job title from Account Executive/Play-by-Play Broadcaster to News Director/Play-by-Play Broadcaster. After receiving advice from two broadcast mentors of mine, I decided being a full time journalist was a solid career choice along with the fact that I would live much closer to my girlfriend and family.”
Pitkin learned of the Nevada opportunity in an STAA Job Leads email.
“I sent in the link to my Talent Page as quickly as I could. Over the next nine days I had three phone calls with my current employer. The first two calls were job interviews and on the last one I accepted the job.”
Pitkin joined STAA midway through his senior year at Wheaton College in late 2017. “My STAA Membership was vitally important in helping me apply for this job quickly,” he says. “Seeing this job opening before other applicants because of my STAA membership gave me a leg up on the competition.”
Pitkin has enjoyed his first two months in Nevada. “I’m learning every single day how to better myself as a broadcaster and writer.
“Although moving to a new place during the coronavirus outbreak has made meeting people more difficult, as Missouri reopens I’m able to do so more and more and all who I’ve met so far are very friendly.”
(Visit Andrew”s STAA Talent Page).