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Author:	Jerry Williams
Published:	January, 1999

 

Wanted: Experienced communicator for prime air shift at major station. Great pay and benefits. T&R to...... You've found it. A position that would be ideal for you. You know you could excell in this position, you have the talent, the experience, the desire. The only thing standing between you and that big break are those three little characters: T&R. How do you effectively condense your talent into five minutes of tape and your experience on to a single sheet of paper? Your ability to do that could determine how far you go. In this month's edition of The Jocks Lounge we talk with Jon Hull (JH) and Doug Hannah (DH), OM and PD respectively of KSBJ Houston, about what you need to do to ensure not only that your T&R gets you an interview, but that someone actually reads your resume and listens to your tape. There are two instances when you'll send out your T&R: 1) In direct response to an ad for an opening (or a phone call from a pd asking you to submit before they make an opening public), and 2) When you feel so intensely the need to make a change that send out your T&R unsolicited. Of course, you're much more likely to land a job by submitting to a station that actually has an opening. But there have been times when an unsolicited T&R have been so impressive that stations have created openings for an exceptional applicant. Regardless of which circumstance you're facing, there are a few basics you need to follow. Let's start where you'll have to start; deciding what goes on youre tape. THE TAPE: DH: Make sure it's actual aircheck material...not something created just for the tape. The tape should be 5 minutes MAX. And the first 60 seconds should have whatever it is I'm looking for (news for a news opening, great production for a production opening, etc). The key is to grab the pd's attention, and you don't have much time to accomplish that. DH: It's unlikely I'll listen to much more than 60seconds if I don't like what I hear. Lots of quick examples are better than 2 or 3 long ones. Skip the "personal introduction" and get to the material.  The temptation is put a good deal of time and effort into grabbing the pd's attention with some sort of personalization at the head of your tape. But that strategy will more often than not backfire. I know of one pd who received such a tape a few years back, and still has it to this day. He pulls it out every once in while and listens to it again. Not when he has an opening to fill, but when he needs a good laugh. You want to highlight your strengths, while showing the pd that you have the particular talents he's looking for. DH: Phoners and other personality bits are great, but usually a witty communicator who can work his or her magic into a music hour is going to better get my attention. Qualities I'm listening for: articulate (but not overbearing); pleasant to listen to (has a good voice); friendly; intelligent; concise; encouraging. THE RESUME: DH: THE RESUME SHOULD BE ONE PAGE. It should highlight WHAT YOU'VE DONE, not just time logged and positions held. Accomplishments, goals achieved, milestones met, awards won. Useful resumes are the ones that answer the question, at a quick glance, "Has this person DONE the things that we need done in this job?". Too often resumes detail the minutia of a person's background. One page, easy to read, quick glance gets my attention. That's asking a lot, but it's what'll get your resume noticed and your tape listened to. A warning: don't pad. If you've only held one or two positions, state that without apologizing for it. Don't feel that you have to elaborate on every aspect of your duties to fill out the page. Bad example: "Did daily show prep using Just Radio and Bit Board, making sure every element was specifically targeted to our core demo. Printed out prep items on an HP Laser Jet. Turned out the lights before I left and put the seat down when I was done." A note on references: include them. The statement "References available upon request" at the bottom of your resume will almost guarantee that your T&R gets filed without a listen. If you have to, include a second page exclusively for your references, but include them. THE LETTER Once you have your T&R ready, you have to write your cover letter. The order in which you put your package together is the exact reverse of how it will be examined. You do your tape, polish your resume, and write your letter. The pd reads your letter, and if sufficiently impressed reads your resume. If the resume doesn't lose him, he listens to your tape. If the tape is what he's looking for, you get a phone call. And that's the ultimate goal of the T&R, to get you an interview. Your cover letter has to entice the pd to read your resume which has to promise enough to get your tape listened to, which has to deliver enough to get you the phone call. JH: What really gets my attention is when the respondent indicates to me (in whatever way possible) that he/she knows the type of station they're applying to. They know the format -- they know the principal players -- they understand the mission, and most importantly they have correctly ascertained that they would be a good fit. What turns me off is when the respondent indicates they would be a good fit -- but obviously doesn't have any idea of the station's personality. It boils down to homework done. If the respondent has done it -- I'll give them a listen. If they haven't -- the tape and resume get filed. DH: A well-written cover letter is the key that opens the door to my reading the resume. A cover letter that expresses confident interest, and a general knowledge of the opening I have really says a lot. I recently received a T&R from a person who spent the first two sentences of the cover letter telling me how much she wanted to work at KSBJ, then the next three paragraphs telling me all the things she thought were wrong with KSBJ and how we should hire her to change things. She's still at thebottom of the pile. Doug brings up a good point. You have to show that you know enough about the station you're applying to that you believe you'd love to be a part of what they're doing, while at the same time expressing confidence that you have something to contribute that will increase the effectiveness of the station. PACKAGING OK, you have your tape and resume ready. You've written your letter. Now you need to get them to the station, and on to the pd's desk. Problem is, if you're responding to an ad for an opening your package is competing for attention with dozens of other packages. If you're submitting unsolicited you're competing with everything in the day that eats up the pd's time. Just how important is packaging? JH: Packaging is good, but not necessarily a guarantee. It's the same with the type of tape, a good indicator, but no promises. DH: If the packaging isn't neat and designed to protect what's inside it, then it kind of says to me that the sender really doesn't care what they've sent. Spend a few bucks and get new tape as opposed to recycled aircheck or spec tapes. It doesn't hurt and again, it shows you care. If you overnight me your package, it doesn't guarantee anything, except that I WILL open it and look at what's inside. CONCLUSION: So that's all you need: a new, good quality tape with your best work in under 5 minutes; a neat, one page resume with references; a cover letter that shows that you understand the station you're applying to and that you're the best person to fill the opening; all packaged in a protective mailer, overnighted for maximum impact. Or is it? DH: Despite all the particulars here, I really don't sweat the small stuff when it comes to looking for people to work on the air. Send a good tape, show me that you know radio, and you'll win a hearing, even if you DON'T have years of experience. JH: The most important element of a hire is still the "face to face". I remember spending hours and hours on the phone with a prospective hire, spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars to fly respondent and spouse to town, put them up and feed them, only to find out on the last day of the process that they had an agenda significantly different from the station's. Nothing previous had tipped their hand, they'd said the right things, shown the right signals, only time had brought them to the point where they were ableto lower their guard, and reveal the true agenda. Sometimes it just takes time. Your T&R is only the first step in getting that next great position. But it's a vital step. Without a strong T&R you don't get to the next step and you never realize your full potential. Are you ready to make the move to that next great job, but unsure of your T&R effectiveness? RELENTLESS RADIO provides a premium service T&R Review. See our Premium Services page for details.