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Your Advice Please
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[Deleted User]
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I am 16 years old and will be starting college in September.
I would like some advice as i am very interested in getting a job in the radio industry. Should i take a media course or take normal A Levels and get my media experience from a hospital radio.
All suggestions are very much appricieted. Thanks for your help
I would like some advice as i am very interested in getting a job in the radio industry. Should i take a media course or take normal A Levels and get my media experience from a hospital radio.
All suggestions are very much appricieted. Thanks for your help
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Also, sound confident behind the mike, but not too cocky. Be adventurous, and remember, there's always a new listener when you open the mike.
If you tell bits of news or experiences, don't read them out word for word, tell them in your own way.
Don't bang on about technical problems on air - you might like to make reference once or twice if something starts going astray that people can hear and you've got to pad whilst you or someone else sorts it, but don't launch into the semantics of how an audio compressor/processor works.
I don't know what you lot in the radio industry make of media courses, but I doubt if textually analysing the layout of a newspaper front page and then writing a 3000 word essay on its effects on the population will help you at all.
Best too get as much experince as u can from your local hospital radio station,whilst doing your education.
Hospital radio is a brilliant training ground,I was once in it myself,spent 9 happy years with mine,before breaking into professional radio.
Hospital radio gives you all the stuff you need to know,basically have fun and enjoy it.
And by the way m8,
GOOD LUCK.
Hospital radio is good, but remember that it's quite specialised, and has distinct differences to other sorts of radio, in that you have the ability to go onto the wards and meet your potential listeners before you go on air. Learning how to meet people and talk to them is another great skill.
One thing that dismays me more than anything else is presenters that go pro, and then ditch hospital radio for no good reason, other than they feel they "don't need it any more". What a great payback for the station that taught you everything you know! Unless contractually unable, your continued work in HR will help raise the station's profile.
Otherwise, yes, some student stations are good, some aren't (I was at a uni were the student station was so bad, that in the 3 years I was there, they never did as much as one RSL).
RSL and community stations are also worth getting involved with. You tend to get out what you put in. If you just turn up to do "your show", and nothing else, you won't learn much. You learn a lot about music by helping sort out computer music libraries (by getting to hear stuff you wouldn't normally consider listening to). There's also ample opportunity to get involved with programme scheduling, engineering, journalism (sports programmes, etc)...
It's up to you what you do in the end, but as I said earlier, you get out of it what you put in. Your radio experience will get you a job, and a good education will back it up.
1. Media Studies as a course at A Level is a pointless waste of time, (from my experience) you'll be taught by people who have never even been inside a radio studio or worked in the industry. Get as much work experience at your local station(s) as you can. I can't really speak about my own hospital radio station as they rejected me, but getting involved with RSL's if one appears in your local area would help, along with applying to any ILR or BBC stations.
2. If you do choose to go to Uni afterwards for a degree, do a course which is BJTC accredited. It will open a lot more doors for you later down the line. Also if you get the chance, become involved in the Uni radio station. I was lucky enough to go to a university which had a community/access station on its doorstep.
Although I would say if you have no ambitions to be a presenter, you'll find it a hell of a lot harder to get in now than ever before. About 3 years ago and before that, the BBC used to have Local Radio Trainee Schemes at about fifteen stations and Trainee Studio Manager (Entry Level)schemes on a yearly basis, in addition you would find a vacancy for a Broadcast Assistant position at least every couple of months. But since Greg Dyke left and Mark Thompson came in and the cutbacks began, those schemes seem to have disapearred whilst Broadcast Assistant positions appear far less frequently.
You have all really helped me with my choices
Thanks
Media courses (especially for Radio) are very useful - stick with it - send off as many CV's as you can - and see if you can get a look around some local stations near you.
Good Luck!
The Radio Kid.
http://www.csv.org.uk/Volunteer/Whats+Your+Interest/Media/Media.htm
CSV have volunteers working in (I think) all the BBC local stations and it's a great way to gain experience of all aspects of radio work and get to know people in the business. It sometimes leads to job offers, too ...