| Topic Name: |
Career Change |
| Message Name: |
TV person |
| Date Posted: |
05/06/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
My TV contact confirms that job market is not good now. Networks have either a hiring freeze in place or they are laying off (and there is no expectation for positive changes to that anytime soon). Check trade publications for the buzz on the industry. And go to the vault.com Broadcast & Entertainment message board, too (it??s under ??Industry Message Boards??).
Some questions for you to consider:
(1) What do you hate about your job? (2) Why is media/entertainment attractive to you? (do both involve the same kinds of negatives?) (3) What kind of job do you want in that field (writing, producing, on-air, being an agent, etc.)? Are you willing to start at the bottom and work up (which would probably mean an unpaid internship to start in TV)? (4) Do you have the financial resources to last you while you get started and progress through low-paying (or no pay) positions?
Some thoughts: You probably know that NYC is a very expensive city (perhaps even more than London). You can check the housing market online to get an idea of those costs. Talk to people in the industry about how they got started, what it takes to succeed, what additional experience/training you would need. You can do that in London or on boards. Do you have a tape/portfolio of your work? Since you already have PR experience, a good starting point might be trying to get a job as a "booker" (someone who contacts PR people to get celebrity guests scheduled for TV shows). Are those jobs out there? Do you have to know someone to get started in that? Or maybe you??re interested in the print side of the biz? The above questions would still apply.
Another question: Do you have to go to NYC right away? Can you switch fields in London (where I assume you have some contacts) and then plan to move to NY after you have some experience (and more contacts)?
Can you work at something else while trying to break into your job of choice? Is there anything else you can do to position yourself better for your ultimate goal? Unless you have unlimited finances to get you through a move and possibly a very long period of job searching followed by unpaid or low-paid positions, you must do a lot of research and give a lot of thought to these considerations before you pack up and head for The Big Apple.
Let us know what you decide.
Jane
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| Message: |
It is hard to break into TV right now. There are a lot of people looking for jobs so you'll be up against some folks with years of TV experience. That doesn't mean it's not impossible though.
Another idea to look for feedback is www.tvspy.com
This site is set up through the vault and it's message board is frequented by people working in tv news.
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