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Getting a Television News Job

Few occupations are more competitive than television news. It is normal for news directors to have hundreds of applicants for a single job. Getting hired is a matter of persistence and standing out in the crowd in addition to talent.

Your resume tape must be impressive. If your tape is ordinary you will not be noticed and you will not be hired. The news director should see you immediately when he presses the play button and you must look spectacular. Your work must be dynamic, energetic and insightful. There are a lot of excellent journalists vying for the same job. You need to get noticed. For more details on how to make a resume tape, see the article below.

Many entry level television news anchors and reporters think getting an agent is the answer. Having an agent makes them feel important and they figure that the agent will do all the work. This is flawed thinking. Getting a television news job involves a lot of work regardless of whether you have an agent. Most agents are useless in the early stages of a career and will only hold you back. Entry level journalists should find jobs by themselves. Agents should only be considered when you are contemplating a move to a top 10 market. For more details about hiring an agent, see the article below.

Make sure that your resume tape is packaged to stand out in a pile. The sad fact is many resume tapes and DVD's are never viewed by news directors. They sit in huge piles only to be ignored. A news director needs a reason to pull one out of the pile and look at it. Be sure your tape is adorned with bright colors and large letters spelling out your name. If the news director decides to look at it, it better be easy to find.

Make a lot of copies of your resume tape and send them everywhere. Naturally you should send them to stations that have job openings, but you should also send them to stations that don't. There is a lot of turnover in television news. If there isn't a job opening right now, chances are there there will be soon. Identify markets that appeal to you and send your resume tape to every station in that market. That way if you get an interview you can visit several of them at once. The more tapes you have floating around, the greater your chances of getting a job. News directors often pass good tapes along to other news directors at other stations if they like you but don't have openings.

Follow up with emails and telephone calls. Pester the news director mercilessly. They will do their best to ignore and discourage you. Don't let them. The news directors are hiring anchors and reporters. They don't want people who are going to give up or take 'no' for an answer. Good journalists are persistent. Show them that's what you are. You have nothing to lose. The worst that can happen is they wont hire you.

Pursue every job as if it is the single thing you want most in life. If you don't go all out for a job then you wont get it. Even if you don't think that you are interested in the position, don't let that temper your job pitch. The only time you should ever think about whether you actually want to take a job is after it's been offered to you.

Be bold and go to the station. If you really want to work somewhere, don't wait to be invited for an interview. Tell the news director that you will be in town and would love to drop by to meet him face to face. Promise to only take up a few minutes of his time. Most news directors will let you do this if it doesn't cost them anything. A face to face meeting can propel you to the top of the list. If you are financing your own travel for the interview, stop by all the stations in that market. If a station is flying you out there, it is improper to interview with anther station on that trip.

Be persistent. Expect to be rejected by dozens, possibly hundreds, of news directors before getting a television news job. If you don't handle rejection well, this is not the career for you. If you are optimistic and determined, you might have what it takes to endure the job seeking process. For more details on what you can expect, see our page on The Truth About Television News Careers.

Making a Television News Resume Tape

A television news resume tape is a sampling of your on-camera work. The contents of your resume tape is the most important factor in getting a television news job. A marginally talented television news anchor has a very good chance of getting a job with an awesome resume tape. A phenomenally talented television news anchor most likely wont get a job with a terrible resume tape. Just like everything in television, it is all about the presentation.

Here are some insider tips revealing what news directors want to see on a television resume tape. We also show you how to put it together.

Realize that most news directors look at most resume tapes for just a few seconds before ejecting them and tossing them in the garbage. There are literally hundreds of resume tapes sitting on the news director's desk. It is essential to get noticed by the news director in the first few seconds.

For this reason, do not put a slate with your name and address on your resume tape first. Many journalism schools teach this, but it is wrong. The first thing on your tape should be your beautiful face. Start with three or four stand ups in a row. A "stand up" is the portion of a news story where you see the anchor or reporter on camera. These do not have to be from actual stories. They are only for demonstration purposes.

Just go out with a camera and shoot yourself in a variety of situations saying things a reporter would say. Use a microphone and tripod. Bad audio and shaky video will make you look like an amateur. One stand up should be from a breaking news story. Another should be you demonstrating something. Another should be a light-hearted story where you are smiling and happy.

All stand ups should be active and involve movement. Try to make use of your environment and justify why we are seeing you in the shot. Be sure to look amazing in all your stand ups. Also try to appear with slightly different looks. Wear different clothes, wear your hair differently, and try a few with glasses on and off. Give the news director a taste of your range.

If you are applying for a television news job that primarily involves anchoring, start with some anchoring and follow it with reporting. If it is primarily a reporting job, reverse the order. Every television news resume tape should include both anchoring and reporting. You need to show news directors that you can do it all.

Demonstrate your reporting skills by including three packages. A television news "package" is a story you would see a reporter do on the news. The mixture of packages should be similar to the stand ups. One package should be a breaking news story. Another should be an investigative or other "hard" news story. Finish with a "soft" feature story or something that shows off your personality. The stand ups in the opening montage should not be the same as the stand ups in your packages. They should be completely different looks, stories and backgrounds. Limit your stories to less than 1 minute and 30 seconds each.

Demonstrate your anchor skills by including a five minute anchor montage. It should be about five minutes long. Keep video to a minimum so you are seen as much as possible. Include a few short voice overs into sound bites. Avoid packages and anything that features anyone else but you. Do not toss to a package of yourself. This looks ridiculous. However, you can drop one of your packages inside your anchoring while reading the intro and outro from the set.

Feel free to edit the anchoring so you only show your best stuff. There should be no verbal flubs in your anchoring. Be sure there is a variety of story types. Include breaking news, serious stuff, and funny features. Don't forget to smile and be likeable.

Add a slate to end your resume tape. Make it a full-screen graphic with your name, address, phone number and email address. Adding a slate is not mandatory. After all, your personal information should be on your cover letter, resume, and cover of the tape. Adding a slate is a bit redundant.

Edit your resume tape on a computer, using editing software such as iMovie or FinalCut Pro. Entry-level television reporters are now expected to edit their own stories, so you better know basic editing. Here is an example of an ideal timeline:

three or four stand ups edited together right off the top
2 seconds of black
breaking news package (no longer than 1:30)
2 seconds of black
hard news package (no longer than 1:30)
2 seconds of black
feature package (no longer than 1:30)
2 seconds of black
anchor montage (no longer than 5:00)
slate with personal information

Keep your resume tape in your computer so you can update it whenever you get better material. Television news anchors and reporters never stop updating their resume tapes.

Pros and Cons of Hiring a Television News Agent

Picking a television news anchor is one of the most important decisions a broadcast journalist will make. A good agent can open doors otherwise closed to the unrepresented. They can negotiate more money and better terms than you could on your own. On the other hand, a bad agent can hold your career back, cause you to miss opportunities, and drain you of your hard earned income. Choose your agent carefully.

Determine whether it is time for you to get an agent. If you are new to broadcast journalism, you probably don't need one. You can get jobs in small markets by yourself. If you are ready to make the jump to a top 10 market, then it is time to consider hiring an agent.

Decide what you want your agent to do for you. Do you need your agent to pitch you to top level news directors? Your agent must have great contacts and long term relationships with those news directors. Do you need your agent to negotiate a contract for a job you already have? In that case a media attorney can do it for a flat fee. This will be much cheaper in the long run.

Ask around about an agent's reputation. Experience is vital in an agent. If no one has heard of your agent then no one will pay attention to them. Be prepared to hear both positive and negative things. Realize that a lot of people will hate a good agent. There will be plenty of news directors and rejected clients that the agent played hardball with. Consider everything you hear, not just the assessments of one or two people.

Be suspicious of an agent who approaches you. There are many wannabe agents out there who collect clients in smaller markets hoping that some of them make it to the big time. They don't do much for their clients because they don't have much influence in the industry. Check them out first. If no one you ask has heard of them then move on.

Pitch yourself to the agent of your choice. Most of the time it is up to you to approach a good agent. Getting one is like getting a job. Put together your best resume tape and send it to them. Follow up with telephone calls and email. If they like what they see they will let you know. If they give you the run around then they were not impressed.

Try another agent if you are rejected. Don't take it personally. You may have a lot of potential but not ready for the big time yet. They may have too many clients right now and taking on another isn't practical. Keep looking until you find one that is a good fit.

Negotiate a contract with your agent. Understand that once you sign a contract you will be bound to the agent. Be sure you like the terms you agree to. Most agents want to take 10% of your salary from any job they get you. Over time you may be able to negotiate this down. Term length is also important. Three years is standard. Make sure the contract includes a clause letting you out if the agent does not find you work for an extended period of time.

Build a relationship with your agent. It is a partnership that will last years. A good agent will always make your career the first priority and steer you clear of bad situations even if there is short term gain. A solid relationship is important so that there is mutual trust over the long haul.

Keep close contact with your agent. Call your agent often whether you are looking for work or in the middle of a contract. You want to keep yourself on their front burner. Don't be the kind of client who only calls when they need something.