When I was at the old XTRA Sports 690 in San Diego, it took four years to find my next sports talk opportunity. It was at ESPN Radio Network.
These 8 top tips will help you land your next sports talk radio gig.
1. Get feedback
You don’t know what to improve unless somebody tells you. And request feedback only from people who are already where you want to be.
2. Build relationships
Moving ahead in sports talk radio is more about whom you know than what you know. Most employers prefer to high people with whom they are familiar.
3. Don’t send mass e-mails
Employers want to know you care about them and their station and that their situation is of special interest to you.
4. Lead with your fastball
Be as interesting as possible in as short of an amount of time as possible on your demo. Seize the employer’s attention.
5. Put relevant content on your demo
Anything more than 9-12 months old has expired and will not be of interest to people listening to it.
6. Be patient
The job market rarely unfolds on our preferred timeline. Keep chipping away at the stone. Eventually you will break it.
7. Use relationships
Tell everyone you know that you are looking for a job and ask what they are hearing about opportunities. If you know somebody with contacts to an employer to whom you are applying, ask them to put in a good word or even to deliver your demo for you.
8. Know when to say “uncle”
If you’ve reached out to an employer six times without hearing back, they’re probably not interested. Cut bait and move on.