Skip to main content

Job Prep Workshop



As a student reporter, it is extremely important to think about your future, what you would like to do and where you would like to go. Although I am a junior and still have another year until graduation, starting the job prep and search process can never happen too early.

Today, I got the opportunity to participate in the Job Prep Workshop hosted by Harrison Hove, a news manager for WUFT and UF's Innovation News Center. During the six and a half hour workshop, we got to speak to professionals in the news business such as Tammy Phillips, a recruiter for Raycom Media, and Katherine Green, former News Recruitment National Director for Scripps Media. The workshop covered a variety of topics students who are about to graduate or have very little experience in the professional industry would greatly benefit to learn about.

Check out my live tweets during the workshop below.




After Harrison went over the schedule for the day, he introduced our first guest, Stacey Readout.


She gave us lots of tips on resumes, video reels, story concepts and story execution.


Next up, we had Tammy Phillips, who works for Raycom Media as a Senior Corporate Recruiter.


Tammy continued Stacey's process of sharing tips, but this time focused on the actual job application and interview process.


Tammy also touched on the important aspects of telling a story and how to portray the messages you told in your stories during an interview.


Following Tammy, we had Teresa Hein. She runs her own consulting firm that helps news stations and incoming talent find their perfect match.


Teresa shared that the first thing TV talent applicants can do is create a website or platform where they can post all of their work to for future employers to look at.


However, you must be aware of what you are posting and to where.


Next, we spoke to Rich Garcia from WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Florida.


Rich touched on how reporters or any incoming talent should research the companies they are applying to because you never know what questions employers might ask during an interview.


The last speaker of the day was Katherine Green. She has had at least a decade's worth of experience in contract negotiation.


One thing Katherine said was during her time both in undergraduate and law school, she realized knowing her self-worth was important to remember during the hiring process.


Also, it's important to remember that your first job may not be what you expected it to be.


At the end of the workshop, I was overwhelmed (in the best way possible) by all of the important information I gathered throughout the day from each speaker. I now know how to really sell myself to employers as a student reporter and the things I should do during the job search that will help me when I get to the interview process.

Some key takeaways I have from this job prep workshop are:

  • Be confident in yourself and the work you have done. If you aren't confident in either of those aspects, recruiters, employers and news directors will be able to tell and is essentially a turn off for them. 
  • Do your homework during the job search and interview process. Finding out pieces of information on the station you are looking to work for as well as the community and lifestyles you will be creating stories for/about. This will really show news directors your genuine interest and desire to work for them at their station. 
  • Know your value. In the news industry, it is extremely easy to settle because either you're just starting out and don't know how much you should be getting paid or you just aren't comfortable negotiating a contract with your directors. It is imperative to get advice from another professional or even a lawyer to make sure your contract (even when you first start out) isn't going to surprise you a couple months down the road with hidden clauses or restrictions. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let Me Introduce Myself...

I'm going to take a second and break from our tradition programming (aka blog posts) to take a step back and properly introduce myself...  For those that are just now tagging along to read my blog posts, I would like to say hi! I know I did a brief introduction a few months ago but I would like to give a more in-depth bio about myself that I never got the chance to do.  (Don't worry, I'm wearing shorts :) ) My name is Alexis Pastore. I am a 21-year-old fourth-year telecommunication major with a specialization in news and a concentration in sports management at the University of Florida. I was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, and grew up with a passion for sports, sharing stories and helping those around me.  I first found my love for broadcast journalism and news when I joined my high school's TV production program. There, I learned how to film, edit and write for newscasts, feature stories, public service announcements and music videos.  Then...
2 comments
Read more

How to Balance Getting Work Done But Also Doing Absolutely Nothing

I know I have talked about this before a while back on my blog , however, recently I have felt the urge to do LITERALLY NOTHING. I don’t know if it’s because I’m starting the whole “senioritis” phase in school (*cough cough 197 days left until I graduate*) or if it’s because I have been running around campus all week trying to finish my investigative project, do interviews, teach my class and doing homework. Let’s be real, it’s probably just a combination of all of the above. However, what do you do when you have so much left to complete but have NO desire to do anything? Right now I’m stuck in this dilemma. I have meetings tomorrow on campus, I have a LARGE paper due tomorrow for an online class but all I want to do is just hang out on the couch, watch TV and be lazy. I have found a great article from Psychology Today about how to overcome your lack of desire and tips on how to change your frame of mind in these situations. In the article, Heidi Grant Halvorson explains how oft...
Post a Comment
Read more

Interviewing Tips

As I've mentioned in my recent blog posts, I was getting ready for a few interviews with a couple of news stations. They all went pretty well and although nothing really came from those interviews in terms of a job or internship, they've allowed me to gain more experience talking with employers and have allowed me to understand the interviewing process more than before. However, I didn't just go into those interviews blindly. I did my research and looked up a few tips to help get me through the process. So, today I thought I'd share some of those tips in case you might be preparing for an interview of your own pretty soon. The first step is preparing for the interview and the possible interview questions that might get thrown your way.  Below are a few things Experis suggests you should go over before your interview. Research the company and person you are interviewing for Sure this may sound pretty basic and common sense but a lot of people get so caught up i...
Post a Comment
Read more